Hanlon's Choice

- According to Capitals Insider, both Pothier and Erskine have been cleared to play tomorrow night in Tampa (YAY!).

Of course, that means the Caps now have an influx of defenders - and unless there was some rule change that allowed all of them to be on the ice in front of Johnny, two poor souls will be on the next train to Chocolateville. So who goes?

It's probably Schultz and Nycholat - Schultz has played well but is still young and will benefit from continued play in the AHL, and Nycholat, a healthy scratch the last few games, has seen his production and ice time diminish over the past few weeks. It'll be good to have Pothier and Erskine back again - my guess is we'd see Pothier and Green paired up to allow Mo and Jurcina to continue their successful pairing, leaving Erskine to his old buddy Eminger...here's hoping he can spark Emmy back to his brief period of brilliance.

- NHL.com continues to reaffirm my belief in the presence of good in the world, with yet another sparkling piece on Ovechkin. You get the usual quotes from Kolzig and McPhee about their love for Ovie, but I personally loved Shanahan's quote, which just oozes admiration:

"What a great, great kid [...] what is there not to like with a kid who is extremely driven like Alex? Everyone knows about the great speed, the moves and unbelievable hands to score like he has. But what I like most about him is his passion for the game, passion for the stage. He competes. Gets his nose dirty. He hits and gets hit and pops right back up again with a big smile on his face. Is he the face of the future? You bet. He’s a guy who really cares ... and hates to lose. He gets it, plain and simple."

And I had to laugh when I read John Davidson's remark comparing Ovie to the shark in Jaws - how funny would it be if they started playing that theme song at VC every time Ovie took the ice?

- I once again find myself behind the 8 ball, struggling to catch up, but I found this little article on Semin from the local ABC station that I thought was kind of cute. It's actually from a few other sources, but this is the most recent one...anyways, I love that he's got a reputation as a practical joker - just another sign that he's definitely fitting in much better this year. Now if he could only start scoring goals again...