Wednesday Caps Clips: Statement Game
by J.P. on Feb 8, 2012 6:46 AM EST
in Caps Clips
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PrintYour savory breakfast links:
- Recaps and other assorted musings on last night's win from us, Caps365 video (Hunter, Caps players, Dineen, Panthers players), Vogs, Capitals Voice, NHL.com, WaPo (gamer, blog), WashTimes (gamer, article, blog), CSNW (gamer, blog), Puck Daddy (and again), PHT, SB Nation DC, Peerless, Frankovic, KOL, RMNB, DSP (plus pics), RtR, Examiner, Hockey Hourly, Homer McFanboy and clydeorama (pics), and for the view from the Florida side, On Frozen Pond and Litter Box Cats.
- Seemingly miraculously, Brooks Laich skated in the morning and then played the game. [CSNW (and again)]
- Nice cage, Dima. [Caps Outsider]
- Notes and assorted whatnot from yesterday's morning skate:
- In general. [Caps365 video (Two-Man Advantage, Morning Skate, Vokoun)]
- Earlier in the day, Coach Hunter called last night a "playoff game." From now on, all games are "playoff games." [Caps365 video, WaPo, CSNW]
- Laich stuff. [Caps365 video, WaPo, WashTimes]
- On the next couple of months. [Dump 'n Chase]
- Some thoughts on the upcoming trade deadline. [RtR, USA Today]
- A couple of young pivots step up. [Sick, Unbelievable]
- Sad link du jour: the Nicklas Backstrom Concussion Timeline. [WashTimes]
- A half-dozen things to know about Alex Ovechkin's new pad. [Yahoo!]
- Kevin Marshall brings some grit to the Bears... [Patriot-News, with notes from Tuesday's practice here]
- ... who will sport these, uh, sweet sweaters (and socks!) for warm-ups on Saturday. [@TheHersheyBears]
- Oh hai there, Evgeny Kuznetsov! Hope you packed your long underwear for Helsinki. [FanShot]
- Rock the binky. [RtR]
- Here's an awesome piece of Washington hockey history... and I do mean history. [Ghosts of DC]
- Finally, happy 45th birthday to Yvon Corriveau and happy 52nd to Hall-of-Famer Dino Ciccarelli (seriously, Bondra and Dino on back-to-back days?).
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I can’t make heads nor tails of this team.
by Acer Jonesy's Laughker on Feb 8, 2012 7:02 AM EST reply actions
they finally got Hunter’s system? Score lots of goals on a relatively low number of shots, limit the chances for the other team to “easy” chances from outside and have hot goaltending.
Hunter’s System = System of Jacques Martin 2008-2009 Montreal Canadiens. Note, who’s no longer with his team.
Rocking the Red for teams on the banks of the Potomac and at the Gateway Arch and Singing the Blues about Hockey.
That team also knocked off the President’s Trophy winner and the defending Cup Champs before bowing out in the Conference Finals. Just sayin’.
"Now fair's fair Henry. If I nail Hotlips and punch Hawkeye, can I go home too?
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Ron and Fez 11 to 3
by YvonLabresMoustache on Feb 8, 2012 8:04 AM EST up reply actions
A bit OT, but Caps-related. I put this in the recap last night, but maybe more folks will see it today.
Anyone else see the old-school Capitals mug on the desk of Neal McDonough’s character on last night’s Justified? Interesting since he’s supposed to be from Detroit.
I did e-mail Steinberg about it.
Just curious if anyone else saw it.
No, but I will look when I get home (unless someone has a screen cap, which would be helpful). It’s obvious someone on the crew and staff is a Caps fan. It’s like on Raising Hope, where the characters don’t seem to have any connection to DC but the show creator is a Caps fan. Or on Bones, where they have Flyers stuff show up once in a while because David Boreanaz grew up in Philly and he’s a Flyers fan. They do mention the Caps once in a blue moon though, since the show is set in DC.
by jopierce on Feb 8, 2012 9:07 AM EST via iPhone app up reply actions
there’s a huge poster from Ovie’s rookie season in the diner on Bones as well, although you have to be looking out for it.
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Yep, definitely seeing it (around the 4:24 mark).
"My favorite fan base in D.C. Is United's. Period. The end." - Steinberg
Winning trophies on your home field? DC United's done that. Twice. Help Keep United in DC so they can receive a fair deal on a lease and help develop a path to build a stadium with local investment and incentives.
by Bald Pollack on Feb 8, 2012 10:15 AM EST up reply actions
Don’t know how to use the SB Nation Link Tool either.
by Gin and Tonic on Feb 8, 2012 12:23 PM EST up reply actions
super easy! You type the text, such as Caps Mug on Justified, and then highlight it. See the little chain link button just above the text reply box? Click on it and a dialogue box opens up for you to past the link into. Make sure you check the “open link in new window?” option. Hit okay, and VOLIA!
This is what the end result will look like:
Caps Mug on Justified
and you can always use the preview button to see that you got everything right before hitting post!
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by RedBirdie on Feb 8, 2012 12:28 PM EST up reply actions 1 recs
Thanks. I am used to seeing a dialog box that allows me to type what I want to appear in the actual text after I insert the link.
So anyone else a fan of the show, who may have an idea how the mug got there?
by Gin and Tonic on Feb 8, 2012 12:38 PM EST up reply actions
I watched from home last night but VC sounded pretty damn loud for a tues night game, helps to score 13 secs in too
by Obi wan Knuble on Feb 8, 2012 7:47 AM EST via iPhone app reply actions
Really was. I noticed after MattyP’s goal the place still wasn’t full, but you couldn’t tell by the crowd noise.
"You can want to get to April but when you get to April you may not like the answers you get, so you might as well enjoy the ride while it's going on." - Brian McNally on JRR, 8/29/2011
Late arriving crowd, what can I say!
Rocking the Red for teams on the banks of the Potomac and at the Gateway Arch and Singing the Blues about Hockey.
It amazes me how people are there but not in their seats until the second period, yet even then not all seats were filled. The crowd’s excitement more than made up for it though.
Ovechkin on how he can help the team: "Score MOAR goals."
by capsyoungguns on Feb 8, 2012 8:01 AM EST up reply actions
I wanted to whack Chimera upside the head when he took that cross-checking penalty. You knew the moment he raised his stick that he’d be the only one called for a penalty, and I’ll bet he knew it too. I get it, it’s the heat of the moment, but a veteran needs to be smarter than that.
Also, much as I would have loved to see Ovi get the hat trick, it finally reached the point where I was yelling (figuratively, of course) for them to stop passing it and just shoot the damn puck. Not for the wings, mind you, I just wanted them to lay down the hammer harder. I’ll bet the SOG total could have been at least a half a dozen more, maybe even a couple of more goals.
"The Caps fan doesn't say, 'is the glass half full' or 'is the glass half empty'. He wonders when the glass is going to spill."
I get it, it’s the heat of the moment, but a veteran needs to be smarter than that.
I would agree it certainly was a heat of the moment thing. It was shown in his eyes.
"Now fair's fair Henry. If I nail Hotlips and punch Hawkeye, can I go home too?
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Ron and Fez 11 to 3
by YvonLabresMoustache on Feb 8, 2012 8:05 AM EST up reply actions 1 recs
Oh come on. I never meant to be so bad to you. It was the one thing that I said I would never do.
"Now fair's fair Henry. If I nail Hotlips and punch Hawkeye, can I go home too?
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Ron and Fez 11 to 3
by YvonLabresMoustache on Feb 8, 2012 8:23 AM EST up reply actions
Chimmer was probably gunnin’ for a Gordie.
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by J.P. on Feb 8, 2012 8:08 AM EST up reply actions 1 recs
Or if he’s a Sunderland supporter, he was gunnin’ for a Geordie.
"Now fair's fair Henry. If I nail Hotlips and punch Hawkeye, can I go home too?
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Ron and Fez 11 to 3
by YvonLabresMoustache on Feb 8, 2012 8:23 AM EST up reply actions 2 recs
With the competitive portion of the game over, I was OK with them bullying the Cats a little bit.
I thought the same thing about Alzner’s shot to the face of Fleischmann, although it was surely unintentional. Anyone that wants to punch Flash in the face is fine with me, as it will push him to the perimeter faster than anything.
Cats did look kinda dangerous on that PP, though…
Patron saint of quality footwear.
That Flash/Weiss/Versteeg line is stupendous. Unfortunately for the Cats, their other lines are not so.
"Now fair's fair Henry. If I nail Hotlips and punch Hawkeye, can I go home too?
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Ron and Fez 11 to 3
by YvonLabresMoustache on Feb 8, 2012 8:48 AM EST up reply actions
Not stupendous…Versteeg’s hair. Back in Florida he needs to hook up with Stamkos and go to a barber and get a trim.
(Yes, I know about the avatar hounding - just pretend mine is invisible.)
My wife: “He looks like a viking!”
"Now fair's fair Henry. If I nail Hotlips and punch Hawkeye, can I go home too?
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Ron and Fez 11 to 3
by YvonLabresMoustache on Feb 8, 2012 10:04 AM EST up reply actions
With the competitive portion of the game over, I was OK with them bullying the Cats a little bit.
All I could think about in the last 5-10 minutes was that these are two division “rivals” who are flip-flopping for the top spot. They play again in ten days, and one team just waxed the other. If this was the old Patrick Division, the end of that game would’ve been a bloodbath.
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Heh. I was waiting for the brutality to commence, too. Hockey: not what it used to be.
Fwiw, the FLA announcers were practically begging for a statement from someone on the Cats.
Patron saint of quality footwear.
Strachan seemed like he wanted to throw with Hendricks near the end of the 2nd but it wasn’t obliged.
"My favorite fan base in D.C. Is United's. Period. The end." - Steinberg
Winning trophies on your home field? DC United's done that. Twice. Help Keep United in DC so they can receive a fair deal on a lease and help develop a path to build a stadium with local investment and incentives.
“Release the Strachan!”
No? Okay.
by jopierce on Feb 8, 2012 9:24 AM EST via iPhone app up reply actions
Vogs tweeted something the other night about how Hendricks never fights with the lead. I don’t know if that’s hyperbole or fact (anyone care to check?), but obviously the point is a good one – no need to let anyone get an emotional boost.
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This season, it’s true. 6 fights while the score is tied, 4 while the Caps are behind, 0 when they’re winning.
Failure is always an option.
by timmyv38 on Feb 8, 2012 9:32 AM EST up reply actions 2 recs
Last season, he only had 1 when the Caps were winning – that was in the Friday Fight Night with New Jersey. He had 8 when the Caps were tied, 5 when they were losing.
Failure is always an option.
So the one was warranted (and not just obliging some douche who wanted to spark his team).
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Warranted might not be the right word – it was the 2nd of the 3 staged fights that took place in a 10 second span. Caps were up 7-1 with just over 4 minutes left, so it wasn’t going to hurt the Caps – so it wasn’t a bad time to fight from that perspective.
Failure is always an option.
totally warranted. new guy on the team doesn’t want to be the only one without a fight.
yes, snark.
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Btw, since we semi-called him out, Hendy has two goals and five fights in 15 games.
#correlationdoesnotequalcausation
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and it’s true for most players ‘if they are thinking’, don’t give the other team energy/momentum, etc.
As to last night, Barch looked like he was trying to start something a few times while waiting for faceoffs and he couldn’t find a Caps player to agree.
Too bad they already sent Rechlicz back down.
"Now fair's fair Henry. If I nail Hotlips and punch Hawkeye, can I go home too?
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Ron and Fez 11 to 3
by YvonLabresMoustache on Feb 8, 2012 9:46 AM EST up reply actions
Right. Of course. But Hendricks himself has nine fights over the past two seasons with the Caps trailing… obviously that means there were nine opponents fighting with the lead.
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Our guys are smarter than their guys?
"The Caps fan doesn't say, 'is the glass half full' or 'is the glass half empty'. He wonders when the glass is going to spill."
0000
“Well Scooby Doo can doo-doo, but Jimmy Carter is smarter…”
"Now fair's fair Henry. If I nail Hotlips and punch Hawkeye, can I go home too?
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Ron and Fez 11 to 3
by YvonLabresMoustache on Feb 8, 2012 10:03 AM EST up reply actions 2 recs
Right and one often hears (and I often say to myself) why did that guy agree to fight. There was a game earlier this year, I can’t recall what game now, but the team was in complete control, player agreed to a fight and the other team came back and it was frightening how much that fight appeared to have to do with the changes in the game.
Talbot vs. PHI is probably the best-publicized recent example, but yeah – if these guys (the fighters) were brainiacs, they probably wouldn’t be using their faces as punching bags for a living.
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by J.P. on Feb 8, 2012 10:05 AM EST up reply actions 2 recs
True. I wonder how his fights break out by game-situation (i.e. score).
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Don’t know.
Always amused that the Westgarth brothers and Parros went to Princeton (along with Halpern, Powe and others). Sure, it’s true that athletes at elite colleges don’t always have the same qualififcations/brains as others attending the school but some have the academic credentials to be there even without hockey.
Craig Adams (!) is a Harvard man.
You perhaps knew me better as "Your Nation's Capital." Same great commentary, now with 100% more transparency!
Neil Sheehy, too, and he liked to fight.
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And have a six year old YLM throw snowballs at him. And shit-talk Gretzky. And go on rides in limos.
"Now fair's fair Henry. If I nail Hotlips and punch Hawkeye, can I go home too?
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Ron and Fez 11 to 3
by YvonLabresMoustache on Feb 8, 2012 12:13 PM EST up reply actions
Reads a book on the team plane while everyone else eats candy and plays on their PSP
by discuit on Feb 8, 2012 12:12 PM EST up reply actions 1 recs
Gudbranson looked like he wanted to start something with several Caps.
(Yes, I know about the avatar hounding - just pretend mine is invisible.)
He had a nice temper tantrum at the bench after Chimmer x-checked him.
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I was wondering if that could result in an unsportsmanlike?
"He leaves every ounce of energy that he has on the ice and works very hard at it, and he wants to be the best and he wants to win, If you don’t follow that, you’ve got something wrong with you."
by nogoodtrying on Feb 8, 2012 10:06 AM EST up reply actions
He had a tantrum and got some shots in on Chimmer behind the net. Refs should have taken both off the ice.
(Yes, I know about the avatar hounding - just pretend mine is invisible.)
Still, he had miles to go to catch Skinner for “best opponent tantrum of the year.”
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Just because it never gets old...
You’re the boss, applesauce.
by SethB on Feb 8, 2012 12:53 PM EST up reply actions 14 recs
I’ve lost a lot of respect for Skinner this year between his on-ice hysterics and his sneakily dirty play.
"Now fair's fair Henry. If I nail Hotlips and punch Hawkeye, can I go home too?
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Ron and Fez 11 to 3
by YvonLabresMoustache on Feb 8, 2012 12:55 PM EST up reply actions
I’ll give you that, but some players never really grow out of that /coughMalkin/cough
"Now fair's fair Henry. If I nail Hotlips and punch Hawkeye, can I go home too?
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Ron and Fez 11 to 3
by YvonLabresMoustache on Feb 8, 2012 12:57 PM EST up reply actions
Malkin’s not a whiner, but he does enjoy the stick-work.
Crosby was a whiner, but he matured pretty quickly.
Maybe he doesn’t whine because he barely speaks English.
And an elbower.
And a kicker.
And a slew footer.
Please, call me F&B.
And a joker.
And a smoker.
And a midnight toker.
Eat, drink, and be merry! And then drink some more.
by SmallZ827 on Feb 8, 2012 1:07 PM EST up reply actions 5 recs
Well that’s the stuff I don’t mind about him.
Please, call me F&B.
by Rob Parker on Feb 8, 2012 1:07 PM EST up reply actions 1 recs
Couple games ago against the Caps he slewfooted Wideman near the boards. IIRC, he’s also gotten a bit high-sticky as well.
"Now fair's fair Henry. If I nail Hotlips and punch Hawkeye, can I go home too?
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Ron and Fez 11 to 3
by YvonLabresMoustache on Feb 8, 2012 12:59 PM EST up reply actions
I was flummoxed that it wasn’t an offsetting. Chimmer definitely earned his but to not take Gudbranson off too?
Comrades, leave me here a little, while as yet 't is early morn:
Leave me here, and when you want me, sound upon the bugle-horn
Refs almost always only see the retaliation.
"The Caps fan doesn't say, 'is the glass half full' or 'is the glass half empty'. He wonders when the glass is going to spill."
Gudbranson was also working the ref over for a long time, the Caps barely bothered. Work the ref better and get results.
(Yes, I know about the avatar hounding - just pretend mine is invisible.)
Better to keep your powder dry since game was already decided.
by mechanicsville on Feb 8, 2012 5:25 PM EST up reply actions
Broke his stick, no? I had no clue what he was so pissed at…he drew the penalty without taking an offsetting…shoulda been stoked.
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Speaking of the old Patrick Division-style, how about the tough guy square dance to open the Devs-Rags last night? Broadway theater at its best.
Cross check and all call.
Awful. Both teams should be fined for that staged idiocy.
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Laich: inspiring
Captain: himself
Schultz: 21 shifts
Vokoun: a little bit awesome.
Good morning!
Cross check and all call.
Schultzie made some really nice plays last night. I was impressed with his work.
"Now fair's fair Henry. If I nail Hotlips and punch Hawkeye, can I go home too?
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by YvonLabresMoustache on Feb 8, 2012 8:07 AM EST up reply actions
I still am not 100% confident he belongs paired with Wides, who didn’t look all that great last night. But 55 looked a little more fluid in coverage, wasn’t chasing as much.
Cross check and all call.
Wideman let a guy get behind him again, and only got bailed out by Vokoun doing GOB Bluth-level magic behind him. Looked just like the Lucic play.
"Now fair's fair Henry. If I nail Hotlips and punch Hawkeye, can I go home too?
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by YvonLabresMoustache on Feb 8, 2012 8:40 AM EST up reply actions
Agree.
Wides didn’t look great on D last night.
Glad to see Schultz back on the ice a fair bit.
Patron saint of quality footwear.
Well, if they wanna showcase him for the deadline, this is the way to do it. But with GMGM’s history, he usually adds defensemen at the deadline and doesn’t subtract.
"Now fair's fair Henry. If I nail Hotlips and punch Hawkeye, can I go home too?
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Ron and Fez 11 to 3
by YvonLabresMoustache on Feb 8, 2012 8:53 AM EST up reply actions
Shultz looked great last night.
"By far the worst performers on the (R*dskins) are in the front office." – Sally Jenkins
I definitely noticed him a few times, in a good way.
Hey, atta dinnin stick a who!
by Gould Old Days on Feb 8, 2012 9:33 AM EST up reply actions
Vokoun was in the zone.
It’s so good seeing Schultzie’s long stick at work again.
(Yes, I know about the avatar hounding - just pretend mine is invisible.)
You're a commenter with a long stick from time to time...
Release the Mackan!
by Killer_Carlson on Feb 8, 2012 11:52 PM EST up reply actions
Last night reminded me what I had been missing from this team. Winning with dominance and flair and energy. The arena was jumping.
Despite getting outshot, I never really feared those shots because they didn’t seem to be in prime scoring areas all that often. And Vokes was seeing the puck so very well. I need to check but it seemed as if the Caps’ had better and more scoring chances, and they rweren’t getting penned in and all scrambly but rather kept moving the puck back down the ice.
I wasn’t excited after their win over the Habs. Game didn’t have the same vibe of control that this one did. Good to feel that vibe from this team again.
Ovechkin on how he can help the team: "Score MOAR goals."
In his post-game interview on the radio, Vokes said that he knew he was being shot on quite a bit, but he felt they were just shooting easy shots towards him, hoping for a good rebound.
"You can want to get to April but when you get to April you may not like the answers you get, so you might as well enjoy the ride while it's going on." - Brian McNally on JRR, 8/29/2011
His positioning was solid all night. Lots of shots to the chest and good rebound control. Florida had lots of shots but not too many of them seemed dangerous. What was the final scoring chance tally?
Just trying to capture the spirit of the thing...
From last night:
Neil Greenberg @ngreenberg
Yes, #Caps got outshot, but that’s mostly due to score effects. They were up 16-12 in chances, 14-9 at even-str. It is a good win.
Failure is always an option.
Is it my imagination or have MP85’s recent goals all come between and below the dots. The high traffic area where guys his size don’t tend to have success. Others should take note.
Just trying to capture the spirit of the thing...
___
Here are his goals on the season (most-recent top left to earliest bottom right):
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by J.P. on Feb 8, 2012 8:35 AM EST up reply actions 9 recs
He scored from inside the net against Detroit?
"Now fair's fair Henry. If I nail Hotlips and punch Hawkeye, can I go home too?
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by YvonLabresMoustache on Feb 8, 2012 8:36 AM EST up reply actions 4 recs
Painstakingly – went to the CBS game page for a game, selected Perreault from the drop-down, screen grab, cut & paste, repeat.
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And it’s not just the goals (i.e. he’s not just shooting from distance but only finding success inside) – Perreault has the fourth-closest average 5v5 shot distance on the team (Halpern, MoJo, Beagle).
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I didn’t think AO was himself at all in the first period. Rushing down the wing…but wait!…puts on the brakes And that wasn’t the only occasion in the first period where he chose to pass. JoeB is just as surprised because he asks Locker if Ovie’s passing skills are underrated.
"And as it’s my personal opinion, I’d appreciate not being told it’s stupid, thanks." - BeccaH
(puts on the brakes…and passes!)
"And as it’s my personal opinion, I’d appreciate not being told it’s stupid, thanks." - BeccaH
It didn’t even result in a SOG, but he had a particularly nice thread to 90 in the second period when converged upon at the blueline. Underrated passer, the Captain.
Cross check and all call.
His first goal seemed kind of…sly? to me, like he’s added a change-up to his repertoire. I said long ago that real change to a game as big as Ovechkin’s couldn’t be easily accomplished, especially since ‘abandon’ was it’s cornerstone (how do you rein in a horse that’s unbridled?).
Bit by bit, I think AO’s creativity is flowing into the spaces from which his ferocity has receded.
....when the truth is if they knew anything about the game, they'd be in it.
--GMGM
by redlineblue on Feb 8, 2012 9:27 AM EST up reply actions 2 recs
First goal was a bit of a change up, but I also think his increased willingness to pass the puck helped contribute to the goal. Wideman’s entry caught their D so out of position Clemmonson was probably worried about someone coming late far post for Ovie to lay it off to for an easy tap in.
Everything ends badly...otherwise it wouldn't end.
by Davethecapsfan on Feb 8, 2012 1:56 PM EST up reply actions
We’ve both been pretty busy of late, he just hasn’t had time to record all the games and do the gifs. I still catch all of the games (even if some of them I have to dvr). Not sure when he’ll have time to really get back to the gifs. We’re both hoping the team is able to find a way to get to the playoffs and that Greenie/Backy get healthy.
Everything ends badly...otherwise it wouldn't end.
by Davethecapsfan on Feb 8, 2012 6:15 PM EST up reply actions
He had some great passes in the 3rd, but unfortunately to vacant areas. If the other people on the ice had their heads and asses wired together they’d have been great scoring chances.
Comrades, leave me here a little, while as yet 't is early morn:
Leave me here, and when you want me, sound upon the bugle-horn
Hard to get heads and asses wired together when they’re not playing together for more than one game (see comments below).
"You can want to get to April but when you get to April you may not like the answers you get, so you might as well enjoy the ride while it's going on." - Brian McNally on JRR, 8/29/2011
One thing I really and truly miss from 2009-2010 season was the Caps’ madd team passing skillz. It was insane that year watching the tic-tac-toes and laser-guided missiles. That really was the Disney on Ice aspect of their game.
Last year and this year, not so much.
You perhaps knew me better as "Your Nation's Capital." Same great commentary, now with 100% more transparency!
by EmilyB on Feb 8, 2012 10:06 AM EST up reply actions 1 recs
Rec’d for Disney on Ice.
"He leaves every ounce of energy that he has on the ice and works very hard at it, and he wants to be the best and he wants to win, If you don’t follow that, you’ve got something wrong with you."
by nogoodtrying on Feb 8, 2012 10:07 AM EST up reply actions
Except for that lovely tic-tac-toe goal between Mackan and Ovi. Very Disney-esque.
Ovechkin on how he can help the team: "Score MOAR goals."
by capsyoungguns on Feb 8, 2012 12:58 PM EST up reply actions
Fixed For You
He had some great passes in the 3rd, but unfortunately to vacant areas Fedorov wasn’t looking. If the other people on the ice Fedorov had their his heads and asses wired together they’d have been great scoring chances won that series against Philly.
by HockeyGoalie29 on Feb 8, 2012 1:53 PM EST up reply actions
The pass to Halpern was pretty good. A little more starch and it would have been a goal.
by Gin and Tonic on Feb 8, 2012 1:58 PM EST up reply actions
___
I know some people want to get worked up about the shot differential, but the Caps were in decent control as long as it was a game:
#scoreeffect #chillout
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plus how many PP shots did Florida take? the Caps made the most of their 1 PP shot.
I’d think at ES it wasn’t nearly that lopsided.
ES shot differential was 32-21, but much of that difference was in the second (12-6) and third (12-6) periods. FLA outshot Caps on their own power play 10-2 (both SH shots coming from Chimera, one goal), and Caps outshot FLA on their own power play 1-0 (goal).
If you've read this far...seek help.
I like how MP85’s goal was so early that the line is barely visible on the left-hand side of the chart.
Nice guys finish first, but sometimes the season is awfully long.
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As someone already noted, Vokoun’s post-game interview was particularly telling. The shots he faced were lukewarm at best. He did have a couple of bitchin’ saves that kept the momentum but for the most part he just stopped the puck and dished it out. Did anyone else notice how much he was dishing out the puck this game and, more importantly, from locations that didn’t take him too far out of position? Can’t help but feel like that was somehow really important last night.
"He leaves every ounce of energy that he has on the ice and works very hard at it, and he wants to be the best and he wants to win, If you don’t follow that, you’ve got something wrong with you."
Betcha the Fenwick timeline is even more in the Caps’ favor?
Watching the FLA feed, the PxP guy grumbled that the Caps had only one shot but one goal to show for it. I thought at the time they’d had 3-4 more real dangerous chances that failed to register as a SOG, and that the Caps looked like the more dangerous team out of the gate.
Vokoun did nail the door shut on some glorious chances for the Cats to get back in to it, though.
And FLA lay down like dogs on the shortie.
Patron saint of quality footwear.
Betcha the Fenwick timeline is even more in the Caps’ favor?
That’s what that is.
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Marcel Goc was a -3 last night. Campbell and Garrison were both -2’s. Ouch.
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by YvonLabresMoustache on Feb 8, 2012 8:27 AM EST reply actions
Garrison was also on-ice for that PP goal, as was Bergenheim, who was also on for two other goals.
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by YvonLabresMoustache on Feb 8, 2012 8:31 AM EST up reply actions
I consider myself a fan of hockey generally more than just a Caps fan, and in that respect I just want to say that I was personally offended by the terrible defense by the Panthers on the first three goals last night, and by the horrible goaltending on the fourth. Wow, was that some awful hockey by the Cats.
Getting beat by three Caps to your own net right off the opening draw. Mike Weaver entirely forgetting to defend the Caps’ best player while killing a penalty. Getting beat by three Caps to your own net while on a power play. And then Clemmensen losing track of that long shot by Ovechkin, wow. There were a few nice things to build on in this game, but goals like that aren’t going to be available too often against quality teams. Luckily, there aren’t many quality teams in the Southeast this year.
Hey, atta dinnin stick a who!
I think if they played Ottawa in the playoffs, the average score of those games would be 10-9.
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by YvonLabresMoustache on Feb 8, 2012 8:31 AM EST up reply actions
Speaking of Weaver, it always amazes me how much Ovechkin’s stock has fallen. In his early years it was only players like Timonen that really could defend him. Now people talk about how Mike Weaver gives him fits. Yes, nothing new, but still frustrating.
Clearly though last night was a bit different.
Once you take the fisting element out, it's not romantic anymore.
by Steckel Me Elmo on Feb 8, 2012 8:31 AM EST up reply actions
Nah, that second goal just demonstrates that a complete absence of Mike Weaver does not give Ovi any fits. Doesn’t prove anything about what the presence of Weaver might do.
Hey, atta dinnin stick a who!
by Gould Old Days on Feb 8, 2012 8:42 AM EST up reply actions
Oh no. That just might prove the Mike Weaver Fits Theory. Luckily the Caps are playing against a team with an absence of Weaver far more often.
Once you take the fisting element out, it's not romantic anymore.
by Steckel Me Elmo on Feb 8, 2012 8:44 AM EST up reply actions
Not sure about that. Ovi faced Weaver/Campbell more than any other pair and was easily the most dominant skater in the game. I’d say he did just fine.
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I’m just snarking on his matador defense tactics on that second goal
Hey, atta dinnin stick a who!
by Gould Old Days on Feb 8, 2012 8:58 AM EST up reply actions
Yeah, that was some serious olé shit.
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Yeah, he was on the right – correct – side, the left.
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I do think it’s funny how the bloggers for every other team still consider it a huge feat to keep AO off the scoresheet.
Please, call me F&B.
Opposing coaches, goalies and defensemen do to. Maybe there’s something to that.
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Makes sense to me. He may be easier to shut down than in the past but if you’re not paying attention he can still burn you – and do so multiple times. He’s still talented even though he’s become predictable; just knowing what he’s going to do doesn’t mean you can stop it from happening, no?
The definition of being a Caps fan is watching the same team over and over and expecting different results.
I’d say his numbers suggest that knowing what he is doing does make it a lot more likely that you can stop it from happening. He’s still a good player. He’s not one of the Rocket Richard front runners and it would take a pretty drastic change for him to get into that class.
It doesn’t exactly take Suter/Weber to keep AO under wraps these days.
Please, call me F&B.
No doubt. But he’s still a) dangerous and b) the team’s most dangerous player. Whether it’s the result of coaching (i.e. not getting him away from top D’s) or the lack of depth (i.e. opposing coaches can load up against him b/c no one else can beat you), he faces tough comp all the time. For example, last weekend both he and Malkin faced Chara. Chara was on for ~75% of Ovi’s shifts and ~60% of Malkin’s.
I don’t think 8’s easily shutdown, and I do think teams can take some pride in doing it. But obviously it’s not as hard as it used to be.
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Maybe he’s the team’s most dangerous player that isn’t on LTIR, but a perfectly healthy squad I don’t think he’s the most dangerous guy anymore. (And with every passing day it looks like Mike Green’s team MVP bona fides have been seriously overlooked.)
I guess that’s fair. He’s still a 30 goal scorer so you can’t just let him run around and do his thing. I just think opposing recaps write “Subban did a great job keeping Ovechkin in check” like he kept 2009 Ovechkin in check.
Please, call me F&B.
Who is going to end up with a better NHL career? Malkin or Ovechkin?
If you asked before the start of last season, nobody would’ve picked Malkin. But now…
It’s still Ovechkin.
Please, call me F&B.
by Rob Parker on Feb 8, 2012 1:02 PM EST up reply actions 2 recs
Yeah who knew Malkin had the potential to lead the league in scoring. He’s really opening some eyes this year.
Please, call me F&B.
by Rob Parker on Feb 8, 2012 1:04 PM EST up reply actions 1 recs
Well I’d hope so because I’m laying it on pretty thick.
Please, call me F&B.
by Rob Parker on Feb 8, 2012 1:08 PM EST up reply actions 2 recs
Yeah, no doubt he’s not what he once was. Want to be depressed? Here are his 5v5 G/60 over the past five years:
2007-08: 1.68
2008-09: 1.57
2009-10: 1.87
2010-11: 0.99
2011-12: 0.85
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It used to be impossible, meaning that you could do everything right and he would still score.
Now, possible, although still a noteworthy task, and if you do everything right he probably doesn’t get one.
I will note that I believe he has 12 PP goals among his 21 this year.
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I share your sentiment.
I was offended by the hard work of the Capitals behind the net on the first goal, and MP85’s movement towards the open space and sliding the puck under a slow-to-move Clemmensen.
I was offended that Wideman drew both defensemen towards him on the PP goals, and then I was offended how Ovechkin waited until Clemmenssen committed himself, before sliding the puck five-hole.
I was offended by the Capitals’ ability to break out 3-1 when shorthanded, and the quick passing by Hendricks and Carlson to leave Chimera open in front. I was further offended by Chimera’s unwillingness to give up after Clemmensen’s initial stop to put the puck in the net.
Finally, I was brutally offended by Brouwer’s pinch along the boards that allowed Ovie to take the puck and then pour in an (offensive ) shot that perfectly crossed-up Clemmensen by finding a small space above his right shoulder, yet under the crossbar.
Yes – an offensive game all around.
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by STLSpidey on Feb 8, 2012 8:33 AM EST up reply actions 13 recs
How about letting Ward dominate them on the boards? Even if those plays didn’t directly contribute to the goals.
Once you take the fisting element out, it's not romantic anymore.
by Steckel Me Elmo on Feb 8, 2012 8:37 AM EST up reply actions
That was incredibly offensive.
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Hey, good on the Caps for taking advantage of what was handed to them. Don’t get me wrong, I cheered those goals. But still, yeccchhhh. That was some ugly hockey last night being played by Dineen’s squad. I sure hope they keep it up — I don’t much care how the Caps get into the playoffs as long as they do.
Hey, atta dinnin stick a who!
by Gould Old Days on Feb 8, 2012 9:10 AM EST up reply actions
The Panthers haven’t won a road game in regulation in two months. That’s a pretty unreal stat.
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by J.P. on Feb 8, 2012 9:25 AM EST up reply actions 3 recs
For it was about how the Caps played. And despite a few mistakes and unnecessary penalties I thought they played well—as a team and with aggression.
We have seen them come out flat and passive against teams and have hated it. We’ve seen them play hard for only one period. We’ve seen them come out timid in the first ten minutes, setting the reactive rather than proactive tone for the game. We’ve seen them hunker down in a protective shell, nursing a slim lead.
Ovi looked scary and for the first time in a long time had the crowd gasp in anticipation as he grabbed the puck and race down the ice. Vokes seemed to know where the puck was coming before the Cat’s player got the shot off, and also was out of the net a lot without it seeming like a recipe for disaster. The guys were tough on the boards winning the battles for a change. Even Carlson seemed to be a groove and didn’t have more than one or two turnovers.
So the Cats weren’t good last night. But then again the Caps didn’t let them find their groove and become good as the game wore on. That made me happy. For one night at least.
Ovechkin on how he can help the team: "Score MOAR goals."
by capsyoungguns on Feb 8, 2012 9:45 AM EST up reply actions
Samuelsson on Perreault’s goal was riotously funny. As was Campbell (and the whole team) on the shorty.
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Campbell was amazing on Chimera’s goal. It’s hard to think of a better combination of ineptitude than Campbell’s waving his stick at a high puck instead of gloving it down and then standing around watching while Chimera skated behind him and scored a goal. He was totally checked out, I loved seeing the moment when he realized what the hell was going on and futilely tried to do something.
Release the Mackan!
by Killer_Carlson on Feb 8, 2012 1:54 PM EST up reply actions
Well, y’know…Washington isn’t Montreal or Philadelphia, and sometimes it’s hard to get up for teams like the Caps.
If you've read this far...seek help.
by ThePeerless on Feb 8, 2012 8:44 AM EST up reply actions 5 recs
Uff, looks like Backstrom is months away, if we’re lucky.
What doesnt kill you makes you stronger.
by BetterOffWith28 on Feb 8, 2012 8:37 AM EST via mobile reply actions
Doesn’t look good. Not at all.
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by YvonLabresMoustache on Feb 8, 2012 8:39 AM EST up reply actions
What are you guys reading?
Nice guys finish first, but sometimes the season is awfully long.
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It’s just 19s injury timeline in the links. Nothing new, but I wasn’t aware nick tried to skate two weeks ago, he was half speed and stopped after less than five minutes. Not encouraging at all.
What doesnt kill you makes you stronger.
by BetterOffWith28 on Feb 8, 2012 8:44 AM EST via mobile up reply actions
For me, it was Whyno’s Backstrom Timeline
Jan. 23 — Backstrom stepped onto the ice by himself wearing a hat, red hooded sweatshirt and sweatpants. Not taking shots, he stick-handled a bit and appeared to be skating at half speed.
He came off after just five minutes.
He was not made available to speak to reporters.
"Yeah, he skated," Hunter said. "So that’s good. He’s back on the ice and we’ll go from there."
Backstrom has not skated since. Those five minutes represented his only time on ice in the past month, as he has missed 15 straight games.
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by YvonLabresMoustache on Feb 8, 2012 8:45 AM EST up reply actions
As bad as Whyno’s timeline looks, keep in mind he’s only relaying what the press has seen/heard, and that’s over two weeks ago. I’m encouraged by Malin’s more recent tweets that he had the team over to watch the Super Bowl (meaning he’s not hovering in a dark and quiet room) and that his personal trainer is over here now.
"You can want to get to April but when you get to April you may not like the answers you get, so you might as well enjoy the ride while it's going on." - Brian McNally on JRR, 8/29/2011
After I tweeted about the Super Bowl dinner, I got some replies about partying, no surprise there, but I got more “oh that’s so cute” replies. That got me thinking that if it was another player that organized a team activity like Nicklas did, with his team fighting to make the playoffs, the response would be different.
For example, if David Backes did something similar when his team was in deep trouble it wouldn’t be called cute, it be called showing great leadership because he was trying to bring his team together.
I guess I shouldn’t be surprised at the responses to Nicklas though because people thought it was so adorable when he called a another player a f-g pussy. For the record, I have zero problem with a hockey player calling another hockey player a pussy on the ice, I just think that calling it super cute is sort of weird.
To follow up on the Sebastian Falk thing:
Falk and his two co-workers are leaving for Florida today to work with the Panthers organization. Jakob Markström was part of the same Sebastian Falk led training group as Nicklas this past summer. I have written a little bit about the training group before, including some information about the training methods. I’m not completely sure but I think some of the people in Falk’s group are physical therapists. Redcord was originally developed to be used in physical therapy.
I still don’t know if Nicklas was working with Falk during his visit in Washington. Falk just posted that he was at Kettler with Nicklas, but he said nothing concrete about working with him. He did however work with another Caps player. Here is a translation of part of what he wrote about working with Joel Ward. Let’s hope I don’t get Falk in too much trouble by posting it. At the top of his post Falk is saying: “Joel no longer has a problem with his groin, he is better now.”
Nicklas led us through the door to the most holy place, the Washington Capitals locker-room. Behind a glass wall a man sat with his computer working on some training programs for injured players. Mark got up and greeted us.
When we were at the game on Sunday, we could see that Ward had some limitations in his skating. At the time and from far away Ove and I guessed that it was Ward’s hip that was bothering him.
Mark had had a visit earlier from people that worked with Redcord and was interested in knowing what exactly we are doing when we work with the cords. The Capitals had already invested in a couple of Redcord sets, but it is completely new equipment for him and Washington. After a long theoretical discussion I asked if he had any player that needed some help that we could work with instead. He did and that player was Joel Ward.
We performed a full screen of Joel. Ove with his expertise, Ola with his expertise and I contributed with the things I know. With big eyes and a burning desire to learn new things, Mark also got involved in the process. I think it was a bit strange for Mark to come to terms with the fact that it was Joel’s shoulder that caused his skating problems. Once we got the shoulder to work like it should, Joel’s groin pains were gone. Everything worked out according to plan.
by Malin A on Feb 8, 2012 1:58 PM EST up reply actions 8 recs
Could some of Joel Ward’s improved play of late be attributed to solving this injury issue?
Good to hear, but makes me a little concerned about the ability of the Caps training staff.
by Gin and Tonic on Feb 8, 2012 2:03 PM EST up reply actions
I have been concerned about the Caps training staff for a long time. But nothing about the things I translated makes me worried. Not being afraid to try new things to solve a problem is a good thing in my book.
The part that made me worried is that it took an outsider to point out a problem – and an issue that may have been bothering a player for weeks or months, was resolved during a brief visit.
The fact that they are open to new ideas is great. Just wish they looked for them sooner.
by Gin and Tonic on Feb 8, 2012 3:02 PM EST up reply actions
As a former dancert, it doesn’ t raise flags for me. Look how long and how many specialists it took to diagnose Pothier’s problem. Some of these connections aren’t easy to see and there aren’t many people thoroughly trained in these areas. It’s more specialized than physical therapy.
As for trying new things, the important thing is that Nemish is open to new ideas. Some things are developed for entirely different sports or are developed in certain countries. It takes time to learn that a new way of doing things can have a broader application. Also, despite increased sharing and cross-training, some creators/innovators, sports, and countries keep a proprietary hold on what they develop.
For a while I have wondered how common it is for NHL trainers (or pro-sport trainers in general) to share ideas during the season or meet in the off-season and attend workshops/demos.
(Yes, I know about the avatar hounding - just pretend mine is invisible.)
If you are translating his words, I don’t see how you’d be the one getting someone in trouble. Thank you for posting this, it possibly explains a lot about Ward and why he has played the way he has, which would be nice if the case.
You are probably right, but I can’t imagine the team being happy about Falk being so open about the exact nature of Ward’s injury.
Falk worked with Ward two days ago. It might just be a coincident but I thought that Wards game last night was one of his better games as a Caps.
I think it was a bit strange for Mark to come to terms with the fact that it was Joel’s shoulder that caused his skating problems. Once we got the shoulder to work like it should, Joel’s groin pains were gone. Everything worked out according to plan.
Shit, did they check Poti’s shoulder while they were here too?
by HockeyGoalie29 on Feb 8, 2012 2:07 PM EST up reply actions 2 recs
If I were doing a timeline for Nicklas I would have included:
Jan 19: Nicklas talks about his injury for the first time in 13 days. He hasn’t talked to the press again since then.
by Malin A on Feb 8, 2012 1:22 PM EST up reply actions 4 recs
Un-doomed!
"Shots aren't the important thing. Scoring chances are way more important than shots." - Bruce Boudreau
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Shame on you for relinquishing the “nothing matters if the Caps don’t get lots of shots” mantra last night.
Were you drinking? Tired? For me it’s death, taxes, and Neil harping on the Caps’ number of shots and scoring chances.
Nice guys finish first, but sometimes the season is awfully long.
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Not to answer for Neil, but it’s probably “harping on the Caps’ number of shots and scoring chances” when the game’s still in doubt.
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And based on my lyin’ eyes, the Panthers had by far the better scoring chances in periods 1 and 2. They missed a lot of open nets in the first 30 minutes, and Vokoun made a whole lot of saves that I didn’t expect him to make.
This was a Vokoun shutout, not a defensive gem. I sure hope he keeps it up.
Hey, atta dinnin stick a who!
by Gould Old Days on Feb 8, 2012 9:00 AM EST up reply actions
It looked a lot more like the Boudreau Caps, frankly, and I agree that it seemed there were more chances-against (even if they didn’t end up in scoring chances – 3-on-2’s and whatnot) than we’d seen in a while, but I’m not sure the Caps weren’t right there with them in terms of opportunities.
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The biggest difference I noticed was the Caps made much better decisions wrt first passes and D2D passing. In recent games too many of both types of passes were alternatively: rushed and passed well out of reach resulting in turnovers and icings; or hesitant, resulting in turnovers and either scoring chances or extended shift time in their own zone.
It certainly seems to be something that other teams have noticed and were acting upon. I can’t recall too many non line-change shifts in the 5 games before last night that the opposition didn’t have 2 forecheckers and a third man above center ice.
So last night it was great to see FLA retreat from that strategy after getting caught chasing the play a few times.
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I know. He is a bit of a broken record, though. I enjoyed his tweet last night that ended with “not hacked.”
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Look. I certainly don’t want to tell anyone how they should feel or anything, but the folks dwelling on the negatives about last night or harping on “I’m not convinced that everything’s fixed” after last night are… well, what they are.
No one thinks last night was perfect or a silver bullet even if it was. But they went from dead-in-the-water (with 21 presumed done) to waxing the top team in the division to retake first place in the span of 12 hours. If you can’t allow yourself a few moments of happiness… you’re doing it wrong.
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by J.P. on Feb 8, 2012 9:22 AM EST up reply actions 7 recs
JP – you should know by now that I am the last person to dwell on the negatives. My rose-colored glasses are among the largest, strongest ones here, although Becca’s may be bigger.
I was ecstatic to see his tweet and admire him for dwelling on the positive last night.
Nice guys finish first, but sometimes the season is awfully long.
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Oh, I know – my mini-rant was more general, not directed at you (or anyone here, for that matter).
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I feel like I have to give the D’ohboy disclaimer here. I loved that game last night. I’m not grousing or anything. But still, the two most apparent things to me in watching that game were how badly the Panthers played on defense, and how many golden chances they shanked. I mean, we’re talking empty net, and you hit the puck with the heel of your stick and it goes sideways type opportunities.
If Jason Chimera was a Panther last night, he’d have accidentally flipped that SHG over the net. It was that kind of night for them.
Hey, atta dinnin stick a who!
by Gould Old Days on Feb 8, 2012 9:37 AM EST up reply actions
I don’t disagree, though I’d add to your list of “most apparent things” the Caps’ breakout – it was quick and clean and allowed for the forecheck we all saw (I know I’m a broken record on “forechecking starts in the D-zone,” but last night we saaw it). It’s no surprise that guys like Ward and Chimera (to say nothing of Ovi) were able to have strong games.
(And I really wasn’t directing my mini-rant at you, either.)
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and I wish I’d read further down….oh hello box, set it for 2. shame.
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There’s never any shame in agreeing with me.
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It’s a shame he has to share airspace on The Hotstove with Milbury and Francis. I wish it was just a one-on-one with him and MacLean.
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by YvonLabresMoustache on Feb 8, 2012 8:54 AM EST up reply actions
No kidding. Though I do miss the days of J.D. on The Hotstove. Especially how he’d start every sentence with a :“Hey guys….”
A panel of Friedman, J.D. and Pierre LeBrun would pretty much make it right.
If you've read this far...seek help.
No way JD’s getting fired now. I wish St. Louis still sucked.
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by YvonLabresMoustache on Feb 8, 2012 9:01 AM EST up reply actions
He should be on there just for his contributions to music.
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by YvonLabresMoustache on Feb 8, 2012 9:03 AM EST up reply actions
A tad off topic, but about 10 years ago when I worked at a Queen Street record store in downtown Toronto JD came in one Sunday afternoon. He was looking for some records by “his friend Kinky Friedman” ( I thought it was funny that JD was friends with the singer of “Asshole From El Paso”) We didn’t have any in stock at the time. He ended up settling for vinyl copies of Glenn Frey’s “The Allnighter” and “The Monkees’ Greatest Hits”.
He also is a big guy.
Kinky’s the best. If I lived in Texas, I would have voted for him.
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by YvonLabresMoustache on Feb 8, 2012 9:10 AM EST up reply actions
If NSH wants to win now, maybe they should just pick up Semin. He’s going to be one of the best Fs available and he won’t cost a whole lot compared to other impact forwards.
Please, call me F&B.
And bullet 16 is for anyone who wonders whether arbitration hearings involve non-traditional stats.
Please, call me F&B.
How is % of goals/points a “non-traditional stat?”
"Shots aren't the important thing. Scoring chances are way more important than shots." - Bruce Boudreau
See my work in the Washington Post and on ESPN Insider.
Follow me on Twitter @ngreenberg
Guess it depends how you define the term.
Who leads the Cap in that metric? Is it easy to find on the Internet? No? Maybe that’s “non-traditional.”
Is it easily derived from readily available “traditional” stats? Yes? Maybe not “non-traditional.”
How do you define the term?
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But (that one, at least) is easily derived from stuff that is on both.
Then again, if I came up with a metric that was ((G/GP)/S%), I’m fairly confident it would be considered “non-traditional.”
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I think a lot of the other non-traditional stats could be calculated from traditional stats if you really wanted to. They’d take a while but it could be done.
The broader point is that if agents are looking at these numbers that aren’t normally publicized then why would you think they aren’t also looking at BTN, etc. They are savvy people that are representing a client. They are going to look at anything that makes their client look better, including traditional stats, non-traditional stats, and pure narrative.
Please, call me F&B.
Is the question what’s admissible in arbitration or what they’d want to use?
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Well both are issues but there’s literally nothing in the CBA that says non-traditional stats would be prohibited. There is a line that says affirmatively that traditional stats are permitted but that is not in an exhaustive list and is only an example.
Please, call me F&B.
None really. There’s just been an ongoing discussion about whether non-traditional stats are used in arbitration and there are a few people that think they aren’t or can’t be. As you know, I require total submission.
Please, call me F&B.
So my understanding is that the only stats allowed in arbitration hearings are those tracked by the NHL, and that the NHLPA would readily confirm this if you asked them.
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by J.P. on Feb 8, 2012 1:48 PM EST up reply actions 1 recs
Makes no sense to me but there must have been a miscommunication on my end somewhere.
Please, call me F&B.
Well, there is something in there about an grievance agreement about RTSS statistics which isn’t defined, so it may be one of those things agreed to, but not in the CBA that’s available to the public.
"Money talks. I listen."
I’m not sure what exactly you mean.
But based on some follow ups I’ve had this afternoon I’m back to my original position, mostly. I believe that advanced/non-traditional stats are allowed in arbitration hearings but they are rarely, if ever, actually used for strategic purposes.
Please, call me F&B.
I was just saying that there may be some agreement that’s not in the CBA that only the NHL’s statistics are usable. Unless someone asked GMGM this question at CapsCon or reporter asked an agent about this, we wouldn’t know for sure.
"Money talks. I listen."
Yeah, I think there may be amendments to the CBA that aren’t public.
I’m satisfied that advanced stats are allowed but aren’t used as a matter of practicality, like RFA offer sheets.
Please, call me F&B.
Love EF, of course, but if you’re going to mention a guy’s killing it on Twitter, throw him a bone and link to him so folks can follow him more easily.
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Ha. Guess I’m somewhat guilty of what I was ragging on EF for. To rectify:
Japers' Rink: Hockey blogging from the most powerful city in the world
And that final bullet should at least be food for thought when people try to condemn fighting for all the problems the hockey community saw over the summer.
Please, call me F&B.
Agree for people who point to this summer as a reason, but of note, some people (including this poster) don’t care for fighting and it has nothing to do with the 3 specific deaths this past summer.
See: Ralph Nader’s letter to Bettman— http://www.freep.com/article/20120208/SPORTS18/202080416/Ticker-Wanna-stop-Ralph-Nader-asks-NHL-commissioner-Gary-Bettman-to-ban-fighting
"He leaves every ounce of energy that he has on the ice and works very hard at it, and he wants to be the best and he wants to win, If you don’t follow that, you’ve got something wrong with you."
by nogoodtrying on Feb 8, 2012 10:05 AM EST up reply actions
Fun fact… in 53 games this season, the Caps have yet to chase a goalie. But I’m guessing Brian Foster was feeling a mighty queasy about getting tapped on the shoulder when Clemmensen looked so shaky early on.
If you've read this far...seek help.
I thought he was going to go that way after the 4th goal and subsequentg timeout, then when he didn’t I thought they’d change in the break, surprised that neither happened.
"My favorite fan base in D.C. Is United's. Period. The end." - Steinberg
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Sometimes you need to swap them to send a message to the 18 other guys in front of you. It either makes the bleeding worse or it doesn’t.
"My favorite fan base in D.C. Is United's. Period. The end." - Steinberg
Winning trophies on your home field? DC United's done that. Twice. Help Keep United in DC so they can receive a fair deal on a lease and help develop a path to build a stadium with local investment and incentives.
The counter would be would want to run the risk of ruining his confidence by throwing him to the wolves? Imagine if he goes out there and gives up 4 or 5 goals of his own on 15-20 shots. now you’ve got a rookie with no confidence and you are double screwed.
If they had someone with any sort of experience I think they would have made a switch.
In a situation where they’re down 4 already (against a team that didn’t crack 20 shots after two), I think looking to tell something to the guys who’d been underperforming after said two periods is a little more important than this worst case scenario you’re tossing out there.
"My favorite fan base in D.C. Is United's. Period. The end." - Steinberg
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by Bald Pollack on Feb 8, 2012 10:03 AM EST up reply actions
yeah, I don’t disagree with you I was just trying to put out why they may not have. Regardless I’m glad they didn’t do anything to spark their team.
Agreed of course.
"My favorite fan base in D.C. Is United's. Period. The end." - Steinberg
Winning trophies on your home field? DC United's done that. Twice. Help Keep United in DC so they can receive a fair deal on a lease and help develop a path to build a stadium with local investment and incentives.
by Bald Pollack on Feb 8, 2012 10:07 AM EST up reply actions
Is there any downside to “ruining” Hunter? As far as I know, he’s only here because Markstrom is injured. Once Markstrom or Theo is available, it’s back to the bus leagues for him. He did, after all, jump from the E to the N in one season.
He’s roster filler, nothing more.
Patron saint of quality footwear.
“Foster”
Yes, the 2005 draft pick is 25yo as he played 4 years of college, but note, it’s only his 2nd pro season.
Caps have had goalies play in the E/A/N all in one season and more used as a temp. back-up in the N in a season where playing in E/A. Playing in the ECHL is different for goalies.
He came in for a short stint relief once already, but definitely pros and cons for the putting him in last night. As noted, swapping out the goalie isn’t always about the goalie.
As Locker & Joe B said last night, if there was a veteran goalie on the bench, Clemmenson would’ve been chased last night.
"By far the worst performers on the (R*dskins) are in the front office." – Sally Jenkins
If there was a veteran goalie on the bench last night, it would have been Clemmensen. Foster’s what, the equivalent of Grubauer for the Caps?
"The Caps fan doesn't say, 'is the glass half full' or 'is the glass half empty'. He wonders when the glass is going to spill."
Foster’s what
Australian for beer.
by Rather Bengt on Feb 8, 2012 9:49 AM EST up reply actions 6 recs
Is there any chance he won’t?
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God I hope so, at least the top two lines. They were buzzing last night. Let these guys develop some chemistry. Drives me crazy that breakouts stop because the puck carrier has no idea where his line mates are (except for Marcus, who seems to have no fear in throwing out passes anywhere).
"You can want to get to April but when you get to April you may not like the answers you get, so you might as well enjoy the ride while it's going on." - Brian McNally on JRR, 8/29/2011
The top line was, of course, Ovi/Johansson/Brouwer. The second line, based on TOI, was Hendy, Halpern, and Ward. Guess who’s moved up in the world! The third line was Chimmer/Perreault/Sasha.
So where will Laich go?
Rocking the Red for teams on the banks of the Potomac and at the Gateway Arch and Singing the Blues about Hockey.
I wouldn’t be surprised if the only change is switching Laich and Halpern, if Laich’s knee is better.
Failure is always an option.
Mikhail Grabovski
I know there are various Rinkers interested in the Leafs’ Mikhail Grabovski. Friend of the Rink James Mirtle writes a story in today’s Globe and Mail about Grabs’s worth. Mirtle estimates that it’s around $5 mil per, comparable to Plekanec’s deal with the Habs (minus the turtleneck sweater endorsement dollars).
I’m a buyer at that price. I agree with Mirtle that he’s very underappreciated. I hope he hits the market in the summer.
Is he skating with Kessel? His resurgence alone could get Grabovski some cash.
Comrades, leave me here a little, while as yet 't is early morn:
Leave me here, and when you want me, sound upon the bugle-horn
The centre has either been Bozak or Connolly. Mostly Bozak.
All hockey all the time at The Globe and Mail
Whoa, celebrity sighting!
"My favorite fan base in D.C. Is United's. Period. The end." - Steinberg
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by Bald Pollack on Feb 8, 2012 8:26 PM EST up reply actions 1 recs
Hope this is not OT, There is a link to a Caps segment that we have seen before...
I am amazed at how fast this unravels once the forwards get a taste for it.
We were trying to interpret something we read on twitter after the game. Were Joe B and Locker a little loopy late in the game with the score so lopsided?
"The Caps fan doesn't say, 'is the glass half full' or 'is the glass half empty'. He wonders when the glass is going to spill."
Maybe they had some extra “cheer” on account of it being the sound guy’s birthday?
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by YvonLabresMoustache on Feb 8, 2012 9:51 AM EST up reply actions
Malkin's shootout goal last night
Saw some replays of this on tv this morning and in the attempt, Malkin essentially stops in front of the net, does a spin-o-rama and backhands the shot just inside the far post. The goal counted, but I was hoping that someone with more knowledge on the subject explain why it should have been allowed or disallowed in view of the rule that the puck/shooter are supposed to be moving towards the net? Thanks.
I don't want to work, I want to hang on the blog all day.
Spin-o-ramas are exempt and that rule is a joke anyway. Unless someone goes all Mighty Ducks and tries a wrap around or stops to tee up a slapshot then just pretend the rule doesn’t exist.
Please, call me F&B.
FTFY
Spin-o-ramas are exempt and shootouts are a joke anyway.
"He leaves every ounce of energy that he has on the ice and works very hard at it, and he wants to be the best and he wants to win, If you don’t follow that, you’ve got something wrong with you."
by nogoodtrying on Feb 8, 2012 10:04 AM EST up reply actions
Eric Staal is minus a billion, but he has a PDO under 1000. I just assume it’s all bad luck.
Please, call me F&B.
No you don’t understand. He just misses Erik Cole.
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by YvonLabresMoustache on Feb 8, 2012 12:22 PM EST up reply actions
Pretty funny, though the comments make it clear that Staal was delayed in getting on the ice because Sutter was hurt/arguing with the refs and thus slow to make a change. Big time smakedown on Nodl though. Yeesh.
by Dirk Dangler on Feb 8, 2012 12:47 PM EST up reply actions
yeah it seemed pretty misleading. he was hanging back because the 5th jet was too…as he should have been.
someone has to hang back and nobody else on the canes was. even if what you said were true as a general rule, that would take a back seat to that particular situation. otherwise, there’d be a jet just sitting there waiting for the breakaway.
This interview with head coach Zinetula Bilyaletdinov is fascinating, as he frets about the weather and especially when the reporters press him on the leaked reports that Kuznetsov will be centering the top line for Team Russia, just weeks after his 20th birthday.
Forgive me, does Kuznetsov normally play center? I thought he was typically a winger.
Tu ne cede malis
He goes back and forth. He plays wing mostly for Traktor, and started at wing for Russia in the WJCs, but when Grigorenko went out with his broken foot, Kuz moved to center and dropped 9 points on Latvia.
Any way you cut it, it’s a calculated move to continue the flattery/bribery to keep Kuz in Russia.
You perhaps knew me better as "Your Nation's Capital." Same great commentary, now with 100% more transparency!
It’s also a great example of why Russia’s biggest obstacle to international tournament success will continue to be themselves by playing politics with lineups.
"You do that, you go to the box, you know. Two minutes, by yourself, you know and you feel shame" -Denis Lemieux
This game won’t provide much benchmarking if they are playing in -15 degree weather.
I don’t want to dis Kuznetsov – his skill is obvious to anyone with eyes and he has had international success (though under a far less political coach) – but his handling by Russia beginning at the All-Star break last year is only getting more obvious.
Bykov tried to resist the pressure to put Kuz on the men’s team and got fired in part because of that. He was forced to add Kuz and all that happened was Kuz got his shoulder pulled apart and had to have the surgery.
You perhaps knew me better as "Your Nation's Capital." Same great commentary, now with 100% more transparency!
Even when firing Bykov the Russians did it for the wrong reason.
Please, call me F&B.
by Rob Parker on Feb 8, 2012 12:38 PM EST up reply actions 1 recs
I don’t think it’s simple flattery at play here. Their other center options stink. Seriously, that roster isn’t very good.
what’s the chance that the flattery/bribery works? How sure a thing is he to come to Caps next season. If it is in doubt, does he become a tradable asset?
by kingbonehead on Feb 8, 2012 12:32 PM EST up reply actions
If in doubt, what value does he have in a trade? Not much, IMO. Haven’t heard of anyone that is expecting the ELC contract system to change with a new CBA; so it’s not like another team can offer him a ‘better financial’ situation in his first 3 seasons than the Caps while playing in the NHL if the max performance bonus ELC is offered.
He is untradeable until he is here and signed. If he is willing to sign and come over, we keep him. If he is unwilling to sign, GMGM can not trade his rights in good faith knowing that the other team is going to get screwed.
You perhaps knew me better as "Your Nation's Capital." Same great commentary, now with 100% more transparency!
So why did he trade Varly?
Please, call me F&B.
by Rob Parker on Feb 8, 2012 12:40 PM EST up reply actions 1 recs
Because Greg Sherman is a silly man?
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Winning trophies on your home field? DC United's done that. Twice. Help Keep United in DC so they can receive a fair deal on a lease and help develop a path to build a stadium with local investment and incentives.
by Bald Pollack on Feb 8, 2012 12:43 PM EST up reply actions
I don’t agree with the GMGM can’t trade his rights part of Emily B’s comment, but I do think he has limited trade value unless signed.
As to Varlamov, different situation, IMO, given he had been playing in NA and as evidenced, was ready to sign an NHL contract if the right offer was made.
Yeah his value is obviously limited or he wouldn’t have fallen to 26. Talent was never the question.
I was more snarking on her line that GMGM can’t trade a guy if he knows the other team is going to get screwed. That’s not his concern. He can’t flat out lie to the guy, but he has no obligation to save another GM from himself.
Please, call me F&B.
I don’t think Varly is the best example in this situation. He obviously agreed to sign with CO beforehand, in fact I was reading an old interview recently and he was given the terms of the deal (salary and years) before the trade was officially made. He also seemed willing to play for any NHL team other than the Caps from his comments, so he was only a big flight risk to the Caps.
I think more interesting would be to look at a player where there was more doubt attached as to whether they would return/stay in the NHL and how a trade would go down in that situation.
I had a twitter exchange (and by exchange, I mean I asked questions and he was gracious enough to answer) with Pronman about this. The concerns with Kuz were two-fold: signability and work-ethic/motor/whatever. Scouts were concerned that he wasn’t going to work to improve his talent or that he didn’t work hard enough on the ice. Other scouts saw him as a read-and-react type of player (sounds a lot like Semin, actually), rather than a proactive player. Both approaches can work (Fedorov as a for instance), but it’s hard to tell if a guy is lazy, reading and reacting, or both.
"Essentially, all models are wrong, but some are useful" George E.P. Box
I have $50 to Olie's autism charity or So Kids Can and a beer on the under for 50/57/107 as AO's final stat line for 2011-'12
And on Pekka Rinne's PK SV% dropping under .920 by the end of the '12 season
by Knee high to a duck on Feb 9, 2012 11:13 AM EST up reply actions
I put this on twitter last night, and then sk8 tried to help me find the answer, but no luck. I spotted a six star Kolzig 33 jersey last night. Does anyone know if he wore that number in an early call-up with the team, or is this some really bizarre jersey foul?
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Could be? He’s listed on All-Time Sweater numbers as 31, 35, and 37
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by YvonLabresMoustache on Feb 8, 2012 12:15 PM EST up reply actions
Also, are you sure it wasn’t a Skipjacks jersey?
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by YvonLabresMoustache on Feb 8, 2012 12:16 PM EST up reply actions
0000
"Now fair's fair Henry. If I nail Hotlips and punch Hawkeye, can I go home too?
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by YvonLabresMoustache on Feb 8, 2012 12:17 PM EST up reply actions
hmmm, good call. I didn’t get a good look at the front, so it’s possible it was skipjacks.
Pledge Drive 2011-2012: CARSON KOLZIG FOUNDATION! Season Pledge total--$1210.35!
Olie in the Osgood/Glenn Healy/Reggie Lemelin Special helmet is awesome.
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by YvonLabresMoustache on Feb 8, 2012 12:37 PM EST up reply actions
Loved the fishbowl.
Can you imagine if Vokoun had been wearing THAT and taken that Chara slapshot off the head? My goodness.
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by YvonLabresMoustache on Feb 8, 2012 12:48 PM EST up reply actions
33 was his number from the Tri-City Americans (the team he eventually ended up co-owning), which they retired in his name (wiki)
"You can want to get to April but when you get to April you may not like the answers you get, so you might as well enjoy the ride while it's going on." - Brian McNally on JRR, 8/29/2011
As I mentioned, he did wear a jersey other than 37 early in his career with the Caps, but I couldn’t recall what 30 something number it was. Looked it up just now when you reminded me of your question, he wore 31 and 35 (according to the ’06-07 media guide.)
However, he did wear 33 with the Skipjacks. here’s more about Kolzig and the number 33.
Are you sure it was a Caps jersey?
by sk84fun_dc on Feb 8, 2012 12:19 PM EST up reply actions 1 recs
OikY4ZQBMW4ibGnDw~~_3.JPG)
The ghost of Alex Ovechkin was haunting the All-Star Game. LOL.
You perhaps knew me better as "Your Nation's Capital." Same great commentary, now with 100% more transparency!
When I was watching that third period, I knew that there was plenty of things that the Capitals screwed up could improve on, but you know what, I didnt care. For the first time in a while, I wasn’t nervous and waiting for the other shoe to drop in the third period. I could just sit back, relax, and enjoy hoping for Vokes to get a shutout or Ovi to get a hat trick. It has been a while since I got to do that. It was quite nice, hopefully it continues, although I wont hold my breath on that.
http://thecapitaloffense.blogspot.com/
Sasha and the Stick?
Did anyone else notice Sasha slamming his stick against the wall when he went back to the bench after shanking a shot (or something-not sure exactly what precipitated it.) I was surprised they didn’t whistle him for unsportsmanlike conduct…
Photography: I Rock the Red
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by IRockTheRed on Feb 8, 2012 12:36 PM EST via iPhone app reply actions
He made a pass which didn’t connect with Perreault; never saw the replay so my first reaction was Perreault missed the pass, but maybe it was a bad pass? It was after that play was blown dead that he slammed his stick on the boards heading to the bench.
Outdoor game overload:
Winter Classic – Ann Arbor, Toronto vs Detroit
OHL (2 games: London, Windsor, Plymouth & Saginaw) – at Comerica Park
Great Lakes Invitational – at Comerica Park
AHl game at Comerica Park, too, according to this article
(doesn’t “officially” get announced until tomorrow)
at the Big House, plenty of Toronto fans will be spending money given the location and the Original Six match-up.
They haven’t confirmed that 24/7 is definitely happening again next year, have they?
The definition of being a Caps fan is watching the same team over and over and expecting different results.
Haven’t seen confirmation, but then until tomorrow this location/match-up, etc., isn’t confirmed. I’d be shocked if they didn’t.
Then, there’s the CBA issues and when does the season start, etc.?
Right, but the Det-Tor matchup has been floating around for a long time regardless of confirmation, lots of people in and around the League have said it would be those two teams. 24/7 isn’t a given.
I’d bet it continues, too, just trying to keep everyone from getting overly excited about the prospect of Brian Burke uncensored in case it doesn’t actually happen.
The definition of being a Caps fan is watching the same team over and over and expecting different results.
Sure it has, I think the issues with the season starting on time is the question mark related to 24/7.
Sure sounded to me from past comments that NHL wants to do 24/7 and makes it a requirement for teams to participate in the WC. So my guess if it’s at question, it would be related to the CBA/season issues and HBO’s interest level.
I can’t wait for the Burke/Wilson stuff myself. That’s going to be off the charts awesome.
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by YvonLabresMoustache on Feb 8, 2012 12:50 PM EST up reply actions
Also, will be great to see Babcock Face and get a in-depth look at his strategies.
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by YvonLabresMoustache on Feb 8, 2012 12:51 PM EST up reply actions
Maybe, but I’d still like to pick his brain and see how he sees the game. Guy’s a really good coach.
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by YvonLabresMoustache on Feb 8, 2012 12:57 PM EST up reply actions
He is, but I don’t know how well he’ll translate to TV. He’s a better coach than Tortorella, but I know who I’d much rather watch.
Ha, damn right :) I actually stopped by the McGill campus over the weekend and popped into the bookstore – they had a sign up with a picture of the tie and a story about how it became lucky, it was pretty neat. To me. Because I’m a dork.
I actually think Hockey Ken would be more interesting than people assume he would be…
The definition of being a Caps fan is watching the same team over and over and expecting different results.
Disagree. I think Kessel is a real ball buster.
by Dirk Dangler on Feb 8, 2012 12:52 PM EST up reply actions
They’ll do a billion dollars in merch sales from the Leafs fans alone.
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by YvonLabresMoustache on Feb 8, 2012 12:51 PM EST up reply actions
GLI at Comerica Park is awesome!
That'll make your weagle wink!
"You're the boss, apple sauce" - @GreenLife52
Comerica will host an AHL game between the Grand Rapids Griffins and Toronto Marlies, the minor league affiliates of the Red Wings and Maple Leafs.
The baseball park also will host the Great Lakes Invitational, which will include Michigan Tech, Michigan, Michigan State and St. Cloud State, and a pair of OHL games, involving the Saginaw Spirit, Plymouth Whalers, Windsor Spitfires and another team.
In addition, Comerica will host high school and youth games, and possibly the Red Wings-Maple Leafs alumni game.
I would almost rather go to those events than the actual game at Michigan Stadium.
That'll make your weagle wink!
"You're the boss, apple sauce" - @GreenLife52
Understandable, if anyone sees dates for the college and OHL games please post!
TSNBobMcKenzie Bob McKenzie
Marquee event for Comerica on Dec. 31 will be Legends/Alumni game between ex-Leafs and ex-Wings. Then it’s off to Big House on Jan. 1.
There’s so many guys they could trot out there, they could almost have TWO alumni games.
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by YvonLabresMoustache on Feb 8, 2012 1:01 PM EST up reply actions
As the trading deadline approaches, there will be the inevitable calls for a ‘legitimate 2C.’ This has made me wonder, however, whether we have to necessarily get a center or (and this is my hypothesis) any top 6 forward regardless of position to improve our offensive needs of shots, goals, possession, etc. The common agreement seems to be that teams need a strong center core (see the hated Pens for example), but I wonder if we go with that model like last year and get marginal offensive value (Arnott) we might not get as good as value if we simply selected the best top 6 forward available. Nicky should obviously stay at center, but going forward it looks like our in-house likely center candidates – MarJo and Kuz – can play both. (Don’t get me wrong I would take a Carter in a heartbeat with the right deal. But that is the point; there might not be a ‘right’ center deal for GMGM.)
If you don’t have centers who can drive play, you need a wing who can do it. Those rarely exist, and aren’t available at the trade deadline. Hell Semin doesn’t drive play and he’s getting $6.7MM. So adding a 3-6 forward (you’re not going to find someone at the Ovi/Nick/Semin level, and probably not even at the Laich/Brouwer/Knuble of 08 – 11 level) isn’t going to drastically change this offense.
J.P.: You might be the king of all geeks here…
by Alz Well That Ends Well on Feb 8, 2012 1:54 PM EST up reply actions
I am not sure what you mean by ‘drive,’ but if, say, ‘difference makers’ was the standard, I have to believe we could swap Semin plus ? and get a legit 4 – 6 winger. Whereas, other than Carter, I don’t know if we could get that kind of a value for a center seeing who might be available. I am not disagreeing with you; just trying to figure out who can help take the load off Ovi and Nicky when he returns (please, soon).
FWIW, if Semin were traded both Carter and Pahlsson could fit under the cap.
by Gin and Tonic on Feb 8, 2012 2:17 PM EST up reply actions
drive play
I want to banish this term.
Unleash the Apathy.
by D'ohboy on Feb 8, 2012 2:22 PM EST up reply actions 1 recs
Do you dislike the term or disagree with the concept?
J.P.: You might be the king of all geeks here…
by Alz Well That Ends Well on Feb 8, 2012 2:28 PM EST up reply actions
A bit of both. I think it has become an inaccurate replacement / shorthand for “that guy is good.”
The concept bugs me in particular because it was used to describe Alex Semin so frequently and, by all accounts, he really doesn’t “drive play” anymore. (And if you believe that “driving play” is about gaining and maintaining puck possession, I’d argue that almost all wings, by definition, cannot “drive play” since they’re largely irrelevant to gaining puck possession in their own end.)
Yet another issue I have with it is the notion that it’s derived from a more sound analytical base because the folks who often use it are versed in advanced metrics. “Drives play” has become shorthand for “drives possession” which is likewise a shorthand for “that guy has good Corsi ratings, etc.” The idea being that this is somehow a superior analysis because it has the ability to sift luck from true performance. To wit, Alex Semin’s fantastic Corsi ratings were always used as examples of how valuable he was and why he “drove play.” Well, now we’re just left with $7m of talented shit that is only driving me to drink.
It’s just a flawed term that’s used in a flawed manner.
Unleash the Apathy.
by D'ohboy on Feb 8, 2012 2:40 PM EST up reply actions 2 recs
I had a great response typed up, with examples, and stories about Ovechkin and Zubrus, and agreeing with most of what you said, and 27 8″×10″ color glossy photos with a paragraph on the back of each one explainin’ what each one was, and then Firefox crashed.
J.P.: You might be the king of all geeks here…
by Alz Well That Ends Well on Feb 8, 2012 2:51 PM EST up reply actions 1 recs
:(
That’s a perfect example though – I don’t need fancy stats to tell me that the career journeymen Clark and Zubrus were being dragged along by Ovechkin, just like I also don’t need those stats to tell me that Chris Simon never scores 30 goals without Adam Oates feeding him the puck.
Unleash the Apathy.
It’s a classic case of American Blind Justice!
Reporter: "What’s your Mom’s birthday?"
Tortorella: "I have no idea."
by Wheeler on Feb 8, 2012 3:06 PM EST up reply actions 1 recs
driving play has more to it than just corsi afaik. i’m no expert on the concept, but it also implies that the player generates positive shot effects independent of his zone starts, quality of teammates and quality of competition. if a player generates a positive shot differential while getting tough minutes, it means something beneficial for the team. how important that contribution is can be debated, obviously, but it does mean something.
driving play has more to it than just corsi afaik. i’m no expert on the concept, but it also implies that the player generates positive shot effects independent of his zone starts, quality of teammates and quality of competition.
To me, all of those things are tied into Corsi, since they’re used primarily to give context to raw Corsi ratings.
Again, I’ll point to the narrative that accompanied Ward’s signing here in DC. He was supposed to “drive play” by “eating tough minutes” without getting hammered on Corsi.
My thoughts were that he was a good defensive player who probably benefited from playing for Barry Trotz in Nashville’s system and that he’d probably fail to live up to his contract.
Unless somebody convinces me that the “drives play” narrative is worthwhile, I think it’s a stupid term, both descriptively and predictively.
For one thing, it conflates different things. Guys can get good Corsi ratings a variety of different ways. During his heyday, Ovechkin did it primarily by directing a buttload of shots against the opponent’s net. Ditto for Semin (albeit to a lesser degree).
Ward’s Corsi rating likely came more from shot prevention than generation. “Drives play” doesn’t differentiate.
I think a “slightly” more accurate term would be “drives possession,” but in that case, there’d be precious few players who actually “drove” possession, and they’d be limited to centers and defensemen, in large part because wingers aren’t responsible for acquiring possession of the puck in their own end.
Unleash the Apathy.
by D'ohboy on Feb 8, 2012 3:18 PM EST up reply actions 2 recs
Again, I’ll point to the narrative that accompanied Ward’s signing here in DC. He was supposed to "drive play" by "eating tough minutes" without getting hammered on Corsi.
he kinda has, fwiw. he gets tough zone starts, tough competition, and still has a positive relative corsi.. in other words, he’s not getting pummeled. he also happens to be scoring at a greater clip than laich. he’s gotten less ice time and is not matching up as often with the other teams’ top lines than he was in NSH, but that’s on the coaches.
but it doesn’t sound like that’s really the heart of your complaint, which apparently is that the term can mean different things with respect to different players. i can agree with that, but it doesn’t make the term meaningless. i think most people who use the term understand that it’s nuanced. i think it was pretty well understood that if ward drove play it would be through his defensive skills. so calling him a good defensive player isn’t any more useful a description, imo.
Agreed. I certainly can’t do it but I wonder if there were a way for some of the impressive stat heads on this board to quantify precisely the type (and name!) of an available player who could address our POD, Corsi, Fenwick, etc. deficiencies. In other words, try to wrap numbers around, for example, guys like Carter, Roy, Grabovski, etc. who would ideally fit our ‘core’ guys.
It’s subjective. Basically, have a good Corsi given your circumstances (not being carried by teammates like Flash and, this season, Ovechkin, not be the beneficiary of easy zone starts like Perreault has been, etc). Not being a passenger.
You just look around, see what guys have a history of doing better in situations than you might expect, scout a little to see how they play and gain some more insight into how they’re used, and there you go. There are plenty of those guys around, but not as many that do it almost entirely as the product of good offense (like Ovechkin 07-11), which I think is what this team needs more than anything else considering they don’t run power versus power.
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by red army line on Feb 8, 2012 2:38 PM EST up reply actions
Yeah, but these same metrics convinced everyone that Semin and Ward “drove play” when it appears as though they may not have.
Again, I just don’t think it’s an accurate term and I think it’s overused.
Unleash the Apathy.
You think Semin was a passenger the last few seasons, like he has been this season (at least, to a more glaring extent)?
Maybe those metrics were wrong on Ward, but OtF sure misses having him on the Preds.
Red Line Station and @RedArmyLine, featuring coverage of the most frustrating team in the NHL
I believe in next year.
by red army line on Feb 8, 2012 2:49 PM EST up reply actions
I don’t think Semin was necessarily a “passenger” but I do think that he made a lot of really atrocious decisions on the ice, both with and without the puck. I think that, as the Caps’ scoring has slowed down, Semin’s bad decisions are more frequent and more salient than his ability to score.
I don’t think I foresaw Semin dropping off this much, but I never thought he was worth his salary on this team.
Unleash the Apathy.
So are you criticizing the predictive or descriptive aspect of “driving play”?
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by red army line on Feb 8, 2012 2:56 PM EST up reply actions
You don’t think Green or other puck moving defensemen drive the play?
Comrades, leave me here a little, while as yet 't is early morn:
Leave me here, and when you want me, sound upon the bugle-horn
I think they do a variety of things, but I think folks ought to be much more specific about what roles players actually fill.
What does “drive play” mean? If you can say that Ovechkin “drove play,” what does that mean? How does it compare to how Ward supposedly “drove play” in Nashville? How does it compare to what Mike Green or Nicklas Lidstrom does? How does it compare to what the Sedin’s do?
All of these things are objectively different, and yet we’re using one catch-all term to describe them.
Unleash the Apathy.
Driving plays has to do with puck possession and passing ability. It can be the guy who ultimately pulls the trigger, or someone who fits a niche (think Holmstrom) but in general it’s someone who can either get open and make a play or who has the ability to allow someone else to make a play.
Semin has limited acumen at puck possession — he can get tossed off of it, loses an edge often, makes ill-advised plays and doesn’t always do the greatest job of getting open while he has the puck.
Comrades, leave me here a little, while as yet 't is early morn:
Leave me here, and when you want me, sound upon the bugle-horn
Or what about this — who has the ability to elevate the play of those around them? Clark only had as many goals because Ovechkin was capable of driving plays. Neal has as many goals because Malkin is capable of driving plays. Same for whoever was lining up on the wings besides Crosby (when is he finally coming back already? I can’t even remember who they were, Kunitz and Dupuis?)
Comrades, leave me here a little, while as yet 't is early morn:
Leave me here, and when you want me, sound upon the bugle-horn
Driving plays has to do with puck possession and passing ability. It can be the guy who ultimately pulls the trigger, or someone who fits a niche (think Holmstrom) but in general it’s someone who can either get open and make a play or who has the ability to allow someone else to make a play.
Right here you’ve just summed up my dislike for the term. You’re using it as a catch-all to describe a buttload of different things.
Unleash the Apathy.
So it’s a hack term like “moving your feet” or playing hard. It still matters when talking about players.
Comrades, leave me here a little, while as yet 't is early morn:
Leave me here, and when you want me, sound upon the bugle-horn
And my point is that it’s a terrible hack term and it’s used in lieu of more accurate descriptions.
Unleash the Apathy.
Yeah, well, join the club, bub. I feel the same way about the term “luck”
Comrades, leave me here a little, while as yet 't is early morn:
Leave me here, and when you want me, sound upon the bugle-horn
Agreed on that one. I think there’s “luck” and “that which we can’t measure accurately or consistently.”
Unleash the Apathy.
Which wouldn’t necessarily be a problem if people were clear about which term they were using.
Please, call me F&B.
by Rob Parker on Feb 8, 2012 4:13 PM EST up reply actions 1 recs
Alex Semin isn’t that good of a player, and Jeff Schultz is lucky he can drive plays. Fire Boudreau, trade Green and bring back Fleischmann. The beer selection at the Verizon Center is paltry and I don’t like the Red Rockers.
Comrades, leave me here a little, while as yet 't is early morn:
Leave me here, and when you want me, sound upon the bugle-horn
I had a longer response typed out but accidentally hit backspace with the cursor out of the reply box.
In short: not great examples.
Like you said, no one saw Semin dropping off so much (which I think is overstated—he’s top-4 on the team in basically every category, and first outright in scoring chance differential, and that’s with pretty poor linemates overall). Sure, last year was much more impressive with fancystats, but scoring chances backed them up, too.
I don’t think anyone, with any metric, claims to be able to predict something without first assuming that the player’s playing ability will change as expected (usually, stay similar). That hasn’t happened, like you point out. It’s a flaw, sure, but by no means a unique flaw.
On the Ward example, his fancystats are exactly where one would expect them to be (not counting SC% as fancy here). His play has not, so either the fancystats didn’t predict his play to be bad, or didn’t describe how bad his play was in Nashville, but I don’t think it applies both ways, here. If they were wrong descriptively in the first place, they can’t really be used to be predictive, and if they were right in the first place, but wrong as being predictive, well, fine.
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by red army line on Feb 8, 2012 3:28 PM EST up reply actions
Carter. The guy is a good hockey player. He’s going to be available for pennies on the dollar. If you’re a fan of the 85 (now 25)-cent club, Carter’s your man.
Unleash the Apathy.
Also, before everyone says, “. . . but his attitude!?!?!” recall that Fedorov, Arnott, Knuble, Hamrlik, Ward and Halpern were all acquired with the aim of bringing more veteran maturity to the Caps’ locker room and it hasn’t had much of an impact yet. Remember all those folks who talked about how Fedorov would provide a positive leadership example for Ovie and Semin? How did that work out?
Unleash the Apathy.
If this team needs “veteran leadership” at this point, they drafted the wrong guys. All of the “Young Guns” have more than 350 games of experience and have been with the big club since at least the 2007-2008 season (when Backstrom came on board). Same goes for other players coming through the Caps’ system such as Laich or Schultz.
That “they’re young” argument is officially “old.”
If you've read this far...seek help.
Is there not some value to having a guy who’s ‘been there,’ for lack of a better term? Yeah, the young guns have 350+ games of experience, but none of them have ever won a cup or made a deep playoff run.
Brouwer’s won a Cup. Knuble’s won a Cup. Hamrlik’s been to the Conference Finals. Lots of Calder Cups on the roster. Etc.
All that experience is non-transferrable. It helps, but not as much as narratives would have you believe, for my money.
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Which goes back to the point that we briefly touched on earlier in the week. There are guys on this team that have won Gold or the Calder Cup, but that’s not helping them win a Stanley Cup.
Please, call me F&B.
Yeah, that’s what I was thinking about.
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The Caps have need of skill — a second line center, another defenseman. If they can get a skilled player with character, fine. But this team is not especially talent rich at the moment.
If you've read this far...seek help.
How about Carter and Pahlsson?
For Semin, a pick, and a prospect?
by Gin and Tonic on Feb 8, 2012 4:02 PM EST up reply actions
After Zherdev and Filatov, CBJ (and what’s left of their fanbase) are allergic to Russian forwards. There’s no way they try to reprise “Filly don’t do rebounds” with Alex Semin.
Besides that, who’s better between Semin and Nash? Even if they’re close, it’s redundant. Carter is by far their best C. If they move him, I have to imagine that a C is coming back.
"Essentially, all models are wrong, but some are useful" George E.P. Box
I have $50 to Olie's autism charity or So Kids Can and a beer on the under for 50/57/107 as AO's final stat line for 2011-'12
And on Pekka Rinne's PK SV% dropping under .920 by the end of the '12 season
by Knee high to a duck on Feb 9, 2012 11:19 AM EST up reply actions
Oh, don’t get me wrong, I don’t at all think ‘veteran leadership’ is a pressing need for this team at the moment; just that 350+ games of NHL experience doesn’t necessarily equate to a Sergei Fedorov-level of leadership value.
And what, exactly, is that leadership value?
“Guys, I’ve won before. The key, come May, is outscoring your opponent.”
“Oh yeah? Please continue, oh wise oracle.”
“Of course, Grasshopper. As I was saying, you need to score more than your opponent – that means limiting their goals-for to something smaller than yours on a game-by-game basis. Trust me, I’ve been there. I know.”
“Though my mind is blown already, I ask that you continue.”
“Only because I believe you’re ready to hear what I have to say next: in the playoffs, you have to… wait for it… work harder.”
[Faints]
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by J.P. on Feb 8, 2012 3:26 PM EST up reply actions 6 recs
That’s a bit of an oversimplification, no? You don’t think a guy who’s seen and done it all is going to be less likely to get caught up in the emotional highs and lows of a game or playoff series? You don’t think he might be able to relate to a younger guy who might be slumping or holding his stick too tight, or feeling the pressure of a big game, and say something to help him out? You don’t think it’s reassuring to have a battle-hardened veteran with you who can give advice or something? Hell, when I’m at work doing something I’ve never done before, I lean like hell on my co-workers to help me out when I’m trying to do things I’m not totally familiar with. It’s not an exact comparison, but neither is it apples to oranges.
And honestly, at least in Fedorov’s case, you really think playing alongside a living Russian legend wasn’t motivational for Ovechkin (or hell, anyone on the team who grew up watching Fedorov)?
What a terrific discussion. Can we all agree, then, that TALENT might be the best descriptor of what we need? No more ‘grit’ or ‘veteran leadership’ or ‘drives plays.’ So, what is ‘talent’? Per the discussion, it seems to be ‘scores goals,’ ‘facilitates teammates’ scoring’;‘ability to posses puck,’ ‘generates offensive chances,’. These seem to have enough subjective – and objective – power to identify possible trades.
Oh, don’t get me wrong, I don’t at all think ‘veteran leadership’ is a pressing need for this team at the moment.
I’m not saying we should go out and get another Arnott. I agree that a second-line center is a bigger need. My point is that Ovechkin’s 350 games of NHL experience does not equate to Sergei Fedorov’s numerous Stanley Cup rings, and that there is value to having a guy like that on the team. NOT that that is what this team needs.
That’s a bit of an oversimplification, no?
Of course. All your points are fair. I just question the ultimate impact and think it’s more narrative than anything. Arnott’s won Cups. He was a good fit here – held guys accountable, was a calming influence, etc. But if you had a choice between a veteran 2C with rings and a younger 2C with more talent, you’d want the latter every time, no?
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And there were attitude issues on at least one of those guys when the Caps got him. From Columbus. Maybe Columbus just sucks to play for. Couldn’t be…
Please, call me F&B.
by Rob Parker on Feb 8, 2012 4:15 PM EST up reply actions 2 recs
I would love to see a trade that brings Carter and Pahlsson here.
What do you all think of lines like these?
8-19-20
90-Carter-85
25-Pahlsson-21
42-15-26
Pahlsson could likely be had for a 2nd or 3rd round pick. What do you think about Carter for Semin and a pick/prospect?
by Gin and Tonic on Feb 8, 2012 1:55 PM EST up reply actions
What do you think about Carter for Semin and a pick/prospect?
I would find that mighty enticing and have to think long and hard.
I want Semin gone for multiple reasons, but the risk with that move is Carter (and his attitude)
also his contract.
"By far the worst performers on the (R*dskins) are in the front office." – Sally Jenkins
Aside from the partying reputation, what I’ve read is that his attitude was a product of his situation in Cbus and how the Flyers treated him when they sent him there.
I think he’d be all right here.
Aside from the term, I see nothing that scares me in that contract.
by Gin and Tonic on Feb 8, 2012 2:14 PM EST up reply actions
That’s the explanation of his attitude but it’s not certain that’s the case.
That’s the risk I see. The question is what one believes, and whether it is worth the risk.
Does this team need a 2C badly enough to make that deal.
"By far the worst performers on the (R*dskins) are in the front office." – Sally Jenkins
If a 2C has been a weakness for this team for years, which it has, I think so.
by Gin and Tonic on Feb 8, 2012 3:06 PM EST up reply actions
Made a fan post on Monday about why we should trade for Carter
http://www.japersrink.com/2012/2/6/2775456/why-the-caps-should-trade-for-jeff-carter
Lots of good comments, mostly why we shouldn’t do this. :)
So if we pick up Carter, does that mean MoJo goes on the trade block? Seems like between Backstrom’s and Carter’s (and to a lesser extent, Laich’s) contracts, we’d be set for the next decade down the middle. Is there a reason to keep him around at that point?
Sure – he’s cheap and under the team’s control for a while.
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I feel like it’d be a total waste (and probably detrimental to his overall development) to use him as a 4th-line center or play him in Hershey. Though I suppose there’s always the option to make him a winger.
Why not use him on the wing? Or put 21 on a wing? And what are the odds that the team’s top-three centers would be healthy at any given time?
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The MoJo-at-wing argument is the best one IMO, and if that’s what they go with this discussion is moot. Not sure shifting Brooksie to wing solves the problem because I don’t think Johansson’s skillset is particularly suited to a checking role.
As far as health, for me, it’s at least partially dependent on Backstrom’s recovery and whether he has any lingering issues. But if not, from the team’s perspective, I think MoJo’s arguably worth more as trade bait than he would be sitting around waiting for someone to get injured. And from his personal perspective, I think it’d be much better for him to play full-tome on a scoring line somewhere else than to play bottom six with spot top-six duty here.
I get the feeling Laich may be much more effective at LW, unfortunately. As far as Johansson on a checking line, a) he somehow ended up with the top competition rating on the team last year, even though I don’t think BB intended it to be that way, and b) there’s always the “screw it, I’ll put out my players, if you want to match feel free” strategy.
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I believe in next year.
by red army line on Feb 8, 2012 3:31 PM EST up reply actions
Well, as far as B goes, I agree, but I also don’t think Hunter is that kind of coach, as he seems to like matchups. As far as A goes, I think that’s a product of BB as a coach, because he was ‘that kind of coach’. So yeah, I can see Johansson being effective on a Boudreau third line, but not a Hunter third line.
Beats me, but I do recall that when Hunter was hired there was a whole lot of talk about how much he tried to play matchups. Whether or not that has changed is up for debate (and I haven’t been paying a huge amount of attention to it lately), but I don’t think there’s much dispute that he had a reputation for being that kind of coach when he was hired.
So why did AO get such a huge dose of Chara at home?
Because Chara plays huge minutes and if Dale got caught up in hiding 8 from Chara all day he’d look up with a couple of minutes left and see AO’s TOI at 12 minutes.
In that most recent game, Chara played ~41% of the ~52 ES minutes. Ovechkin ended up playing ~21 ES minutes. So at a minimum, Ovi was going to play 52% of his minutes against Chara (or play fewer minutes). He ended up playing ~75% against Chara. When you consider that Chara was on the ice for 11 of 20 defensive-zone (Caps’ O-zone) draws (and I’d bet most of the bigger ones), draws that you’d want AO on the ice for if you’re Dale Hunter… I’m not sure how much differently you’d want things to turn out.
Essentially, would you rather have AO out for an O-zone draw against Chara or not have him on? I’ll take the former and take my chances.
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Shit, lousy math by me up top. Disregard. (Though some of the points still are valid.)
Japers' Rink: Hockey blogging from the most powerful city in the world
some of the points still are valid
Namely that “feeding easy minutes via zone starts” and “feeding easy minutes by getting him away from Chara” are somewhat at odds.
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Yeah, fair point. I just thought that there were some opportunities to get them apart when I watched the game. I also thought you said they were on for about 90% of AO’s shifts when you compared it to the Pens who got Malkin down to about 70%.
And to be fair, Dale was doing some stuff on the fly to get AO out there against other D pairs, so he wasn’t completely ignoring match ups like BB frequently did.
Please, call me F&B.
And we won’t know if Nick is “fully healthy” or has “lingering issues” until he gets his next concussion or doesn’t.
Please, call me F&B.
this seems like a good place to drop a “fuck rene bourque”
by Ginga on Feb 8, 2012 4:22 PM EST up reply actions 3 recs
Where isn’t that a good fit?
Please, call me F&B.
by Rob Parker on Feb 8, 2012 4:23 PM EST up reply actions 4 recs
That’s where I put both of those guys in my imaginary line combos. FWIW, MP would be a wing too.
by Gin and Tonic on Feb 8, 2012 4:04 PM EST up reply actions
I also wouldn’t be too quick to say “oh shit, we’ve got too many centers…” A little depth isn’t bad. Keep Johansson if you can.
Hey, atta dinnin stick a who!
by Gould Old Days on Feb 8, 2012 5:59 PM EST up reply actions 1 recs
In the game last night Beninnati mentioned that Vokes is on his fifth set of goalie pads this year. Does anyone have any insight in to why that is? Just trying different things?
Tu ne cede malis
Leakage?
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by YvonLabresMoustache on Feb 8, 2012 1:54 PM EST up reply actions
Stay away from the Olestra…
Tu ne cede malis
by _Skullduggery_ on Feb 8, 2012 2:00 PM EST up reply actions 1 recs
40 shots/game will wear some pads out!
by mechanicsville on Feb 8, 2012 6:08 PM EST up reply actions
hey, forgot to ask, but did anyone else see Vokoun reverse Avery a Florida player last night? I think it happened in the first. Can’t remember which Caps player had the puck behind the net and was waiting to start the breakout. Florida player standing around the crease, and Vokoun starts waving his stick!
Pledge Drive 2011-2012: CARSON KOLZIG FOUNDATION! Season Pledge total--$1210.35!
I didn’t notice the stick, he definitely was trying to block the Fla players vision with his catching glove though.
right, glove, sorry. I got stuck on “stick” because of Avery.
Pledge Drive 2011-2012: CARSON KOLZIG FOUNDATION! Season Pledge total--$1210.35!
Yeah, it was hilarious. I was wondering what the exact wording of the Avery rule was.
"Money talks. I listen."
An unsportsmanlike conduct minor penalty will be interpreted and applied, effective immediately, to a situation when an offensive player positions himself facing the opposition goaltender and engages in actions such as waving his arms or stick in front of the goaltender’s face, for the purpose of improperly interfering with and/or distracting the goaltender as opposed to positioning himself to try to make a play.
Goalies, however, are apparently free to wave their gloves in front of an opposing player :) Is the Vokoun Rule on the horizon?
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Does anyone think we could get Roy from the Sabres for Semin ? 19 – Roy – 21 would be a pretty solid and not overly expensive Center core.
by heraldofmanwe on Feb 8, 2012 2:16 PM EST via mobile reply actions
Has Buffalo made noise about moving him? He’s I know they’re looking pretty much out of the playoffs at this point, but he still has a year on his contract so I’m not sure moving him at the deadline makes sense unless they’re looking to go into rebuild mode.
That said, I’d love to have him for the right price.
There’s been a lot of talk about moving him. I don’t think the Sabres would do it for just Semin – they’d need to be assured they could resign Semin at the end of the year – but he’d fit OK with the Caps. I’d prefer someone a bit bigger than Roy, though.
Reporter: "What’s your Mom’s birthday?"
Tortorella: "I have no idea."
I’m sure Roy is available (everyone currently on that team save Myers should be, I think), but I think the Sabres would want more.
Frankly, I think if you can’t get a prospect or young player that projects to the top-6/top-4 or a 1st, I think the Caps should just hang onto Semin, especially if Backstrom stays out for an extended period of time.
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I believe in next year.
by red army line on Feb 8, 2012 2:41 PM EST up reply actions
What would a team that’s going nowhere want with an expiring contract?
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In his last 12 games (i.e., since Nicklas Backstrom has been out), Mathieu Perreault has six goals, three assists, and eighteen shots on goal. If you discount the first four games (in which he played under ten minutes), he has eight points (5g, 3a) in eight games… and seventeen shots on goal.
He’s also a fairly respectable 36-70 (51.4%) on the dot over those 12 games. In the eight games he’s played over 10 minutes, he’s a less-respectable (but still OK) 25/56 (44.6%).
So the goal numbers will come down – no way that he continues to maintain a 29.4% shooting percentage, which he’s had over those past eight games – but even a more pedestrian 12% shooting percentage gives him 2 goals, 3 points over an eight game span, which is a positive development in the consistency department for him.
Small sample size and all that, but it’ll be interesting to see if he can continue to build off of this stretch of good play and look like a viable option for the Caps at center going forward.
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Tortorella: "I have no idea."
happy 52nd to Hall-of-Famer Dino Ciccarelli
Dino Ciccarelli: giving a whole new meaning to the term, “breezers”.
by Acer Jonesy's Laughker on Feb 8, 2012 7:19 PM EST reply actions
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- Driven DeBoer delivers Devils back to NHL's elite
- Driven DeBoer, fired by Panthers, delivers Devils back to the land of elite in just one year
- Bruins acquire son of Hall of Famer Ray Bourque
- Bruins add a Bourque: Chris Bourque, son of Hall of Famer Ray Bourque, acquired from Capitals
- Shinnimin named CHL's Player of the Year
