Couple of links

There's a couple of stories out there that I'm sure you guys will like to read.

First one is about 1st round draft pick in the 2008 draft, John Carlson and the London Knights. Here's one part of the article.

"The Knights don't have anyone on their blue-line who can match the 17-year-old Ellis' individual offensive prowess. But together, they have something pretty dangerous too. Plus they have Carlson, the Washington first-rounder who is an early candidate as the league's best all-around defender, especially with Drew Doughty in Los Angeles and Alex Pietrangelo still with St. Louis.

But the Knights know they have to be careful with Carlson, currently logging about 30 minutes of ice per game. He hasn't gone through the grind of a 68-game season before, plus playoffs."

The other article I've got for you today is Alexander Semin's interview.
Here's a little bit from the article.

"What's so special about [Crosby]? I don't see anything special there. Yes, he does skate well, has a good head, good pass. But there's nothing else. Even if you compare him to Patrick Kane from Chicago ... [Kane] is a much more interesting player. The way he moves, his deking abilities, his thinking on the ice and his anticipation of the play is so superb."

Check out the article. It's pretty good. TSN has got a hold of the story now.



Ok now that I've got that out of the way, here's what's actually happening on the ice.

Tom Poti has practiced the past 2 days and is ready to go for Saturday's game against Buffalo. Poti was paired with Schultz in practice and Boudreau expects Poti to log a lot of ice time. With Poti healthy, Tyler Sloan was sent back down to Hershey. Alex Ovechkin will miss his 2nd straight game due to his sick grandfather, but Ovechkin is scheduled to be practicing with the team on Monday.

Laich-Backstrom-Kozlov
Steckel-Fedorov-Semin
Flash-Nylander-Clark
Brashear-Gordon-Bradley

Green-Morrisonn
Poti-Schultz
Jurcina-Erskine

It sounds like Theodore will get the start in goal. I'll have a full game preview tomorrow.

Caps beat Preds 4-3 in the Shoot-out.

Since the game wasn't on T.V. I don't have much to say, so I'll just say the stats. Viktor Kozlov scored the first goal of the game. David Steckel scored the Caps 2nd goal, a short-handed goal from a pass from Semin. Then in the 3rd period Semin scored on the PP, from a pass from Backstrom. The game went to a shoot-out and Nylander and Semin scored the shoot-out.

That's about it. Nobody got to watch the game, expect the people at the game, so sorry for the crappy write-up.

10-28-08 Washington Capitals vs. Nashville Predators, 7:30 p.m.

Washington Capitals

Record-4-3-1

The Caps enter this game coming off of a 6-5 OT win over the Dallas Stars. The big news for this game against Nashville is that reigning MVP Alex Ovechkin won't be in the line-up. Ovechkin is back in Russia to visit his ill grandfather. With Ovechkin out, it's Alexander Semin's chance to show he can score with other teams top defenceman playing against him. The Caps are going to need Semin to keep up the scoring pace with Ovechkin out. It will also be interesting to see how Nicklas Backstrom performs with out Ovechkin. This is Ovechkin's 2nd game he'll have missed in his 4 year career.

Nashville Predators

Record-4-4

The Nashville Predators are coming off of a 5-4 win over the Los Angels Kings. The last time the Kings visited Verizon Center was Dec. 7, 2005. The Preds won that contest, 5-2. The Caps and Preds are different teams then that last meeting, so it should be an interesting game. The Preds will be without Russian superstar Alexander Radulov this game, and maybe for forever. Radulov bolted to Russia this offseason when the KHL started up. The problem is that Radulov was still under contract with the Predators.


Washington's top 3 goals

1. Alexander Semin-7 goals
2. Mike Green-4 goals
3. Sergei Fedorov-3 goals

Washington's top 3 assists
1. Alexander Semin-7 assist
2. Michael Nylander-6 assist
3. Sergei Fedorov-4 assist


Washington's top 3 points

1. Alexander Semin-14 points
2. Michael Nylander-8 points
3. Sergei Fedorov- 7 point

Washington Capitals line-up

Brooks Laich(21) - Nicklas Backstrom(19) - Viktor Kozlov(25)
David Steckel(39) - Sergei Fedorov(91) - Alex Semin(28)
Tomas Fleischman(14) - Michael Nylander(92) - Chris Clark(17)
Donald Brashear(87) - Boyd Gordon(15) - Matt Bradley(10)

Shaone Morrisonn(26) - Mike Green(52)
Tyler Sloan(89) - Jeff Schultz(55)
John Erskine(4) - Milan Jurcina(23)

Brent Johnson(1)
Jose Theodore(60)

Players to watch- Alexander Semin, Nicklas Backstrom

Nashville Predators line-up

27-Hornqvist, 19-Arnott, 71-Dumont
28-Jones, 11-Legwand, 10-Erat
29-Ward, 14-Bonk, 25-Smithson
22-Tootoo, 12-Nichol, 74-Tarnasky

6-Weber, 20-Suter
2-Hamhuis, 7-de Vries
4-Koistinen, 5-Zanon

35-Rinne
39-Ellis

Players to watch- Martin Erat, Shea Weber

Key to Caps victory

The Caps defence needs to be a little better then they were against Dallas. The offence seems to be on track, but the defence needs to step up without Tom Poti. Poti is the veteran, and this defence needs to play good without him. The key to playing good defence is to not take penalty's. The Caps aren't good at all on the PK, 78% is one of the worst in the league. So stay out the box, and clear the puck out the zone.

Versus sucks

The game will not be shown on T.V. at all because Versus holds the rights to the game, but they aren't showing it. They choose to show the Philly, Atlanta game. Here's a link to e-mail Versus.

feedback@versus.com

Ovechkin back in Russia; Will be Tuesday night's game

Alex Ovechkin will miss Tuesday night's game accoriding to the Washington Capitals website.

Ovechkin is back in Russia to be with his ill Grandfather. This will be the 2nd game that Ovechkin will not be playing. The previous game he missed was in his rookie year. He was held out of that game because of a groin strain. It's gonna be tough for the Caps without Ovechkin, but he's always put his family first.

I'm going to guess at what the lines would look like without Ovie.

Semin-Fedorov-Kozlov
Laich-Backstrom-Fehr
Flash-Nylander-Clark
Brashear-Gordon-Bradley

That's it for now, I'll post updates when I get them.

Sorry guys

I'm sorry guys, for not updating in a while. I've been on vacation, and I've had hockey, but I'm back now and ready to get going again.

Just in case you guys don't know, the Caps are 4-3-1 now.

10-16-08 Washington Capitals at. Pittsburgh Penguins, 7:30 p.m.

Washington Capitals

Record-2-1

The Caps are coming off of one of the most impressive wins in franchise history. They held the Vancouver Canucks to 10 shots, breaking the previous record of 11. The Caps have rebounded well after an embarrassing loss to the Atlanta Thrashers in the opening game of the season. Pittsburgh will be the first team the Caps face this year that made it to the playoffs last year, so this is the true test. The Caps have also lost 10 of the last 12 facing Pittsburgh, so you know the players want to beat this team. One problem for the Caps is that they will be without Viktor Kozlov for the next couple of weeks, and Donald Brashear may not play tonite. Pittsburgh could be trouble if Brashear is out, because Pittsburgh has both Matt Cooke, and Eric Godard.

Pittsburgh Penguins

Record-2-1-1

Pittsburgh is coming off of a 3-2 OT win against the Philadelphia Flyers. Pittsburgh may have a winning record, but to my eyes they haven't looked as good as they can be. They don't look like they are clicking yet. Hopefully they don't play to their potential tonite. Pittsburgh's superstars Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin have combined total of 4 points this year. That's not up to their standards, but you know they are always dangerous and you know that they will be ready to play tonite. The Penguins defence is an area of suspect early on in the season. With Ryan Whitney and Sergei Gonchar out with injury's the Pittsburgh defence is a big are of concern.


Washington's top 3 goals

1. Mike Green-3 goals
2. Alexander Semin-3 goals
3. Alexander Ovechkin-2 goals

Washington's top 3 assists
1. Alexander Semin-3 assist
2. Michael Nylander-3 assist
3. Mike Green-2 assist


Washington's top 3 points

1. Alexander Semin-6 points
2. Mike Green-5 points
3. Michael Nylander- 4 point
Washington Capitals line-up

Alex Ovechkin(8) - Nicklas Backstrom(19) - Chris Clark(17)
Brooks Laich(21) - Michael Nylander(92) - Alex Semin(28)
Tomas Fleischman(14) - Sergei Fedorov(91) - Eric Fehr(16)
David Steckel(39) - Boyd Gordon(15) - Matt Bradley(10)

Shaone Morrisonn(26) - Mike Green(52)
Tom Poti(3) - Jeff Schultz(55)
John Erskine(4) - Milan Jurcina(23)

Jose Theodore(60)
Brent Johnson(1)

Players to watch: Brooks Laich, Alex Ovechkin


Pittsburgh Penguins line-up

Pascal Dupuis(9) - Sidney Crosby(87) - Miroslav Satan(81)
Jordan Staal(11) - Evgeni Malkin(71) - Petr Sykora(17)
Ruslan Fedotenko(26) - Max Talbot(25) - Tyler Kennedy(48)
Matt Cooke(24) - Michael Zigomanis(15) - Eric Godard(28)

Brooks Orpik(44) - Kris Letang(58)
Hal Gill(2) - Rob Scuderi(4)
Mark Eaton(7) - Alex Goligoski(13)

Marc-Andre Fleury(29)
Dany Sabourin(30)

Players to watch: Pascal Dupuis, Tyler Kennedy


Key to Caps victory

Do whatever you did against Vancouver. The Caps are going to have to control the game. We are going to have to have the puck for 65% of the time. I expect the 2nd line to have a big night, and to be a puck-possession line. I've said this in every game before, and I'll say it again. Stay out of the penalty box. The Caps PK right now is at 78%, that's not good at all. So stay out the box and it won't be a problem. Crosby and Malkin are to good of players to give them an advantage.

Prediction- 6-4 Caps win.


Highlights from last years game



Fights





Get pumped up

Wednesday practice

As most of you know, the Caps beat Vancouver 5-1 Monday night. Sorry for not having a post-game write-up, it won't happen again.

So...In Monday night's game, Viktor Kozlov, and Donald Brashear both suffered injury's. Brashear has a hurt hand, and is day-to-day. Boudreau didn't say if he will play Thursday against the Penguins. Kozlov's injury seems more serious. GM George Mcphee has said that Kozlov will be out for "a couple of weeks." It looks like Kozlov hurt his left knee during the game. With those two out, here's what the lines looked like in practice.

Ovechkin-Backstrom-Clark
Laich-Nylander-Semin
Fleischman-Fedorov-Fehr
Steckel-Gordon-Bradley

Boudreau has said that Fedorov will play defence against the Penguins, and he has said that Jose Theodore will start.

10-13-08 Washington Capitals vs. Vancouver Canucks, 7:00 P.M.

Washington Capitals

Record-1-1

The Caps won their first game of the year Saturday night against Chicago. The Caps offence has looked pretty good, but facing a great goalie in Luongo is going to be tough. The Caps defensively have given up 9 goals in the first 2 games, they can't play bad defence against Vancouver. Alexander Semin has been the best player so far this season. Ovechkin showed why he is the best player in the game with 2 goals against Chicago. I think the Caps 3rd line of Fleischman-Nylander-Clark is going to have to have score a goal for the Caps to win.

Vancouver Canucks

Record-2-0

Vancouver faced the Calgary flames in their first 2 games of the year, and they won the first game 6-0, and the 2nd game 5-4 in OT. Usually the Canucks are solid defensively and don't score a lot of goals, but the first two games shows that they can put the puck in the back of the net. Vancouver's offence is lead by the Sedin's twins, Vancouver doesn't have Markus Naslund on the team anymore, so the Sedin's are going to have to step up even more.

Washington's top 3 goals

1. Mike Green-2 goals
2. Alexander Ovechkin-2 goal
3. Alexander Semin-1 goal

Washington's top 3 assists
1. Alexander Semin-3 assist
2. Tom Poti-2 assist
3. Mike Green-1 assist


Washington's top 3 points

1. Alexander Semin-4 points
2. Mike Green-3 points
3. Alex Ovechkin- 2 point

Washington Capitals line-up

Alex Ovechkin - Nicklas Backstrom - Viktor Kozlov
Brooks Laich - Michael Nylander - Alexander Semin
Tomas Fleischman - Boyd Gordon - Chris Clark
Donald Brashear - David Steckel - Matt Bradley


Shaone Morrisonn - Mike Green
Tom Poti - Jeff Schultz
Milan Jurcina - Sergei Fedorov


Jose Theodore
Brent Johnson

Players to watch-Tomas Fleischman, Viktor Kozlov

Vancouver Canucks line-up

Sedin-Sedin-Bernier
Raymond-Demitra-Pyatt
Burrows-Kesler-Hansen
Hordichuk-Johnson-Rypien

Ohlund-Edler
Mitchell-Bieksa
Salo-O'Brien

Luongo
Sanford

Players to Watch-Steve Bernier, Taylor Pyatt

Key to Caps victory

Stay out of the penalty box. We can't afford to take penalty's the way we have the past 2 games. Keep your sticks on the ice, and keep the checks clean. No need to put ourselves a man down. The Caps defence also has to step up again. Vancouver is surprisingly putting up a lot of goals, so the defence needs to be tight, and clear out Theodore's rebounds. If the Caps give up 2 or less goals, they will win.

Prediction-3-2 Caps OT.

Last meeting between teams



Rock the Red



Cool highlights



Let's go Caps song

Caps beat the Blackhawks 4-2.

The Washington Capitals got their first win in the 08-09 season, by beating the Chicago Blackhawks 4-2. Things didn't start off good for the Caps, or Jose Theodore. Theodore let in a goal on the very first shot he faced, 26 seconds into the game. Things looked like they were going to be ugly, and it didn't get better. Jose gave up another goal before the end of the 1st period, and Chicago was winning 2-0. Theodore settled down, and Matt Bradley scored late in the first period on a nice pass from David Steckel. Going into the 2nd period it was 2-1. MVP Alex Ovechkin scored 5 mintues into the 2nd period, it stayed that way until the 3rd period, when Brookd Laich scored a goal. Laich scored on a scramble play infront of the net. Ovechkin sealed the deal with a goal with 1:30 left in the 3rd period. That's how it ended 4-2.

I thought the Caps offence was great again. Every line was playing really good. The Brashear-Steckel-Bradley line was great on the forecheck, and was probably the best line of the game. Fleischman also showed his skills with a couple of nice dangle's. I didn't really notice Backstrom, so I hope he picks his play up. Fedorov is such a veteran. Everything is calm when he has the puck. I thought the defence was shaky in the first period, but they settled down in the last 2 periods. Jose Theodore also was shaky in the first, but played very, very well in the final 2 periods.

Here's the Caps post-game coverage, and he's the stat page.

10-11-08 Washington vs. Chicago, 7:00 p.m. Home opener

Washington's record-0-1 Chicago's record-0-1


Washington Capitals

The Washington Capitals started the season off on the wrong foot, with a 7-4 loss to the Atlanta Thrashers. The Caps offence looked good scoring 4 goals, and 2 of them on the power play, but Washington's defence and goaltending was, to say the least, terrible. Atlanta scored 3 power play goals on 9 chances. Bruce Boudreau wasn't happy with anybody's performence last night. Hopefully Washington gets back to playing they way they did at the end of last year. Jose Theodore is expected to get the start in goal tonite. The game is sold-out and the crowd will be rocking the red. This should be a huge boost for the Caps tonite.


Chicago Blackhawks

Chicago started off the 08-09 season with a loss to the New York Rangers. Christobal Huet gave up 4 goals on 29 shots. Chicago did score 2 goals last night. The Blackhawks were 0-3 on the power play last night, and killed off all 3 off New York's power play chances. Chicago is a very young team this year, but they are really talented. They are a lot like the Caps from last year. I don't know who will start in goal for Chicago tonite


Washington's top 3 goals

1. Mike Green-2 goals
2. Alexander Semin-1 goal
3. David Steckel-1 goal

Washington's top 3 assists
1. Alexander Semin-2 assist
2. Mike Green-1 assist
3. Sergei Fedorov-1 assist


Washington's top 3 points

1. Mike Green-3 points
2. Alexander Semin-3 points
3. David Steckel- 1 point


Washington Capitals line-up

Alex Ovechkin - Nicklas Backstrom - Viktor Kozlov
Brooks Laich - Sergei Fedorov - Alexander Semin
Tomas Fleischman - Michael Nylander - Chris Clark
David Steckel - Boyd Gordon - Matt Bradley


Shaone Morrisonn - Mike Green
Tom Poti - Milan Jurcina
Jeff Schultz - John Erskine


Jose Theodore
Brent Johnson

Players to watch- Jose Theodre, Alexander Semin

Chicago Blackhawks line-up

Andrew Ladd - Jonathan Toews - Martin Havlat
Patrick Kane - Patrick Sharp - Dustin Byfuglien
Kris Versteeg - Dave Bolland - Jack Skille
Adam Burish -Colin Fraser - Craig Adams


Niklas Hjalmarsson - Brian Campbell
Duncan Keith - Brent Seabrook
Brent Sopel - Jordan Hendry


Christobal Huet
Nikolai Khabibulin


Players to watch-Dustin Byfuglien, Patrick Sharp


Key to Caps victory


The defence has to be better. So does the goaltending. The Caps can't score 7 goals a game, the defence has to step up and make some defensive plays. Erskine and Jurcina need to be more physical and Green needs to not be lost in the defensive zone. We also can't take 9 penalty's like last night. That's unacceptable. I'd also like to see Alex Ovechkin get on the board and score a goal.

ROCK THE RED

Caps lose 7-4

The Thrashers won the opening game of the year 7-4. Atlanta scored 3 straigh goals to make it 3-0 early in the 1st period. Semin scored for Washington to make it 3-1. The Thrashers and Caps both exchanged goals and it was 4-2 with Steckel getting a short-handed goal. Then Mike Green scored 2 goals late in the 2nd period to make it 4-4. Going into the 3rd period it looked like the Caps had the momentum, but Atlanta scored 3 goals in the 3rd period to finish the game.

Jose Theodore was pulled after Atlanta's 4th goal. The Caps outshot the Thrashers by 10 shots, but Kari Lehtonen was great tonite. The Caps goalie's looked shaky all-night long, giving up soft goals. Towards the end of the game, it got a little rough. Erskine, Brashear, and Bradley all got into fights.

Here's the stat sheet from tonite's game.

10-10-08 Washington Capitals at. Atlanta Thrashers

Washington's preseason record-5-1-1 Atlanta's preseason record-1-5

Washington Capitals

Washington dominated the preseason play this year, with a 5-1-1 record. The Caps defence was ranked 2nd in the preseason, only behind Detroit. Jose Theodore played 2 full games, and stopped 40 shots in the final game of the preseason. Overall the Caps looked pretty sharp. The biggest issue coming into this season is Jose Theodore. He's a huge question mark. Can he continue his strong play from last year? or will he play terrible like in 05-06? The Caps are hoping he can be a steady goaltender who can get the job done. Theodore won't have to win that many games by himself for the Caps this year. The offence will do that. Another question is, can the Caps continue there winning ways from the end of last year.

Atlanta Thrashers

Obviously by looking at Atlanta's record, you can tell that they didn't do to well in the preseason. 1-5 is never any good. It's really not good, when you have a new head coach. Atlanta's new head coach is John Anderson. John Anderson and Bruce Boudreau are best friends. They've know each other since they were 14 years old. Anderson is the god-father of Boudreau's youngest son. Anderson isn't the only new face in Atlanta this year. Atlanta added free agents Ron Hainsey, and Jason Williams. These new players will have an impact but Atlanta didn't adress their biggest need, which is a top line center for Kovalchuk. Atlanta also added Mathieu Schneider from Anaheim. Atlanta added offence on their blue-line, but they are still very weak defensively.

Washington Capitals line-up

Alex Ovechkin "A" - Nicklas Backstrom - Viktor Kozlov
Brooks Laich - Segei Fedorov "A" - Alexander Semin
Tomas Fleischman - Michael Nylander - Chris Clark "C"
Donald Brashear - David Steckel - Matt Bradley

Shaone Morrisonn - Mike Green
Tom Poti - John Erskine
Jeff Schultz - Milan Jurcina

Jose Theodore
Brent Johnson

Players to Watch-Alex Ovechkin, and Chris Clark

Atlanta Thrashers line-up


Ilay Kovalchuk - Todd White - Jason Williams
Slava Kozlov - Eric Christanson - Colby Armstrong
Eric Perrin - Marty Reasoner - Brett Sterling
Eric Boulton - Jim Slater - Chris Thorburn

Nicklas Havelid -Tobias Enstrom
Garnet Exelby - RonHainsey
Zach Bogosian - Matheui Schneider

Kari Lehtonen
Johan Hedberg

Players to Watch-Ilay Kovalchuk, Zach Bogosian

Key to Caps victory

I think the Caps have to attack the Thrashers defenceman. Atlanta's defenceman aren't great defensively, so the Caps will have to put pressure on them and forecheck and create turn-overs. Also games in the past have gotten rough, and the Caps need to stay out of the penalty box. A team with Kovalchuk is always deadly on the Power Play.

Video's

Caps-Thrashers brawl



Highlights from last meeting



Unleash the Fury



Caps season highlights



Is this the year?

Caps team photo

Here's the video from the Caps website.



Something to note from that video is, that Chris Clark has the "C" again(no surprise). Ovechkin has an "A", and the other "A" belongs to Sergei Fedorov. Last year Brashear wore the 3rd "A", but Fedorov gets it this year.

Also, here's a quote from Laich about why Clark is the captain.

"I think it is undisputed that Alex is the face of the Washington Capitals and a leader on this hockey team. Chris Clark is a veteran that has been around and knows how to handle a hockey team and how to be a leader. Alex is a superstar. We all know that, but [Clark] has a great relationship – as does Alex – with all of the players. [Clark] has a bit more of a calming presence and we missed him last year. We missed him dearly. I don’t think either of those guys are worried about titles and who has the ‘A’ or who has the ‘C.’ Those guys are both leaders and they just want to win."

Collin McKinney's story

Onfrozenblog has a great story about Caps fan Colin Mckinney. He's one of the biggest caps fans, and I suggest you check the story out. Part 1 Part 2. It's a really good story.

Bourque, Alzner and Laing sent to Hershey

I'm pretty upset that Bourque and Alzner didn't make the team because wavier status, and money. The Caps are trying to win the Stanley Cup this year. Alzner was one of the best 6 defenceman in camp, so he should have a spot on the team. Bourque out-performed a lot of the forwards, and he proved he can be a good NHL player. With that said, here's you 2008-2009 Washington Capitals.

Ovechkin-Backstrom-Kozlov
Laich-Fedorov-Semin
Fleischman-Nylander-Clark
Brashear-Steckel-Bradley
Fehr, Gordon

Morrisonn-Green
Poti-Jurcina
Erskine-Schultz

Theodore
Johnson

Boudreau's new job.

Yeah...Boudreau should stick to coaching the Caps.



Looks like his 3 second role in Slapshot didn't help his acting. Seriously Bruce, leave the acting to Ovechkin.