Osala Signs

More good news on the prospect front - the Caps have signed 2006 draft pick Oskar Osala to an entry-level two-way deal, beating the deadline to sign picks from that year by a little more than a week. Osala is a physical left-winger who played two years in the OHL before returning to his native Finland last year to play for Espoo of SM-liga, where he was named the rookie of the year.

If you read Finnish, you can find out more here...

h/t to Sonja for the heads-up

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Smackdown in Hershey

Apologies for the lack of recaps and previews this weekend - I've fled the confines of DC for the chocolatey hills of Hershey, Pennsylvania, where I'm immersing myself in all things Bears for a few days. Hopefully the Caps can pull out a win tonight to restore my faith but I'd be lying if I said I didn't need a little mental break.

So I headed off to Hershey yesterday where I met up with fellow hockey lunatics Teka (a Bears/Penguins fan) and Nadine (a Flyers fan). Needless to say, much hilarity ensued as we tried to convince one another that our respective teams were not, in fact, evil. You can guess how successful that was...

This morning we trekked over to Giant Center and caught the Bears' morning skate, which although optional was fairly well attended. The boys were in high spirits, having dispensed with the Baby Pens last night, and it was nice as always to see the familiar face of Ben Clymer among the smiles.

The Hersheyness continued with a sightseeing tour of the town. Local landmarks visited: the one Starbucks in town, Chocolate World (where we were accosted by a Hummer driver from New York...a rude New Yorker, go figure), and the local strip mall (including a happenstance sighting of the Bourquemobile).

And then tonight. The main event. Bears. Phantoms. A Caps fan, a Bears/Pens fan, and TWO Flyers fans. Who will win? Who will lose? Who will come out alive? Tune in tomorrow...hopefully...

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Training Camp Recap

Happy 22nd Birthday, Ovie!

Training camp is now in its fourth official day and things continue to click along for the Caps out at Kettler. I had the unique opportunity this weekend to share the full training camp experience with some of the ladies from HLOG, who traveled far and wide to see our very own Capitals in action.

Poor things.

They may have smirked at Semin falling to the ice or joked that Olie was too slow to stop a sleeping turtle, but I think the general consensus was that the Caps looked okay and a good time was had by all - so good that I forgot to update the Cheap Seats with the weekend's training camp activities! Oops.

Seen and heard this weekend:

- Bradley, Sutherby and Laich have been playing on a line together throughout camp and seem to have found some nice chemistry, providing gritty, hard-nosed play combined with some pretty passing sequences that are very promising.

- Michael Nylander is absolutely one of the best puck handlers I've ever seen. After drills yesterday Nylander stayed out on the ice with camp invitee Grant McNeill to work on puck handling. (Video is available by clicking on the picture at the bottom of this post, by the way...it's pretty impressive to watch, and I've even set it to dorky music just because I can.)

- Speaking of Nylander, he and Semin have provided a flashy one-two punch together and have really seemed to click, which throws even more line combination possibilities into the mix. I've said it before, though - it's nice to have options, and having a glut of players that can fill numerous positions with numerous partners is a great problem to have.

- Kolzig really doesn't like to get scored on. Especially by Matt Bradley.

- Classic moment of the weekend: Ovechkin vs. Kolzig in one on one drills yesterday. An increasingly frustrated Ovie is routinely stymied by the big goalie, who of course mocks him and even throws in a little celebratory dance for good measure (and if you've never seen Olie doing the cabbage patch in full goalie equipment, you haven't lived). Alex makes him pay on his next try, though, and responds with a victory dance of his own along the boards, much to the delight of the Sunday morning crowd.

- Jurcina and Klepis were messing around after Group A's practice yesterday and at one point Klepis came tearing around the net followed closely by Jurcina, who chased Jakub over the boards before skating away with a grin.

- I haven't really gotten a good look at Kozlov, although he and Ovie seem to have some nice chemistry in the few moments I saw them together during a scrimmage. Both Viktor and Semin have taken pucks to the mouth since training camp started, but both have been back out there the next day good as new.

- Poti is...huge. Between him, Morrisonn, Jurcina, Schultz and Pokulok, that is one big blue line for years to come.

Here are some pics courtesy of Teka, one of the HLOGgers whose camera frankly kicked my camera's butt:

Jamie Hunt...I think

Unknown baby goalie (who was pretty impressive) and Werner

Next stop for Matt Bradley: Riverdance

We don't think Semin was as big a fan of us as we were of him yesterday...

...but that didn't stop him from posing half-naked for us laterYou can check out a slideshow and a few little videos I've created from the last two days by clicking on the picture below:

Training Camp Videos

Update: Per Tarik, Hanlon is planning to start the season with Nylander and Kozlov as his #1 and #2 centers, leaving Backstrom on the wing for at least the first few games. Interesting. That explains the Backstrom-Nylander-Semin line Tarik reported on earlier today - there is some serious dangling power on that line, that's for sure...

Update: Bouchard, Alzner and Godfrey have been returned to their junior teams, which shouldn't be too much of a surprise despite their strong showing in training camp. I know a lot of people were itching to see at least Alzner attempt to crack the lineup, but he's 18 - I'd love to see him get a little more experience, a little more polish and a little more time to be a kid before forcing him into the NHL. He'd get minimal time in the regular roster if he were to stay, and he'll have prime minutes working with the Hitmen. Best of luck to all three and I'm sure we'll see them soon!

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Training Camp Schedule

The rookie and training camp schedule has been released - check out the details on the website, including information on the Caps FanFest to be held opening day of camp, September 14. (Guess none of the top Caps' brass are Jewish...)

Remember, all on-ice activities are open to the public, so I hope to see a lot of you out there getting a quick fix of hockey before the season mercifully gets underway!

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Friday Around the Interweb

Boy, those calendar pages are flying off reeeeally slowly, aren't they? Here's some more good summer reading for you:

- Show of hands, who here thinks this would ever happen in the States? TSN, Canada's answer to second rate ESPN, discovered that a scheduling conflict with football would prevent them from airing all eight games of the upcoming Super Series. Rather than leave a nation without coverage of this event, which commemorates the 35th anniversary of the Summit Series, TSN did the unthinkable - they turned to a rival network to pick up the slack.

And so it is that TSN will air games 1, 4, 5 and 6 with Rogers Sportsnet carrying 2, 3, 7 and 8. The two will share commentators, analysts, and online streaming (which we here in the States should keep our fingers crossed that we'll be able to access) throughout the series. Sure, they'll do the same for the Olympics in Vancouver, and yes, it's been done before. But that still doesn't detract from what it is - a truly amazing sign of sportsmanship and yet another reason why Canada is truly the first nation of hockey.

- The Caps' website has a Q&A with Karl Alzner with his thoughts on the new practice facility, rookie development camp, and his style of play. Anyone else just loving this kid?

- Kevin Hatcher Fan Club has uncovered a hidden corner of Alex magic on CCM's website with some funny videos of our young superstar and step-by-step instructions on how to score "The Goal"...for those of you practicing at home. Admit it, you know you've wanted to try.

- Check out what's going on with Al "Wild Thing" Iafrate (sans the long flowing locks) over at Japers' Rink.

- Thanks to super junior reporter in the field, Chris, for passing along this article about Willie O'Ree, the first black player in the NHL who is speaking at the Black Hockey and Sports Hall of Fame conference in Nova Scotia today and tomorrow. Interesting fact - the NHL didn't get a second black player in the league until 1974, 16 years after O'Ree made his debut...and he pulled on the red, white and blue - Mike Marson, original member of the Washington Capitals.

- Just a reminder that preseason tickets go on sale today, so get those phones dialing and those buttons clicking. Sure, they're meaningless games with less intensity than a box of Saltines and a roster more closely resembling the AHL...but its hockey!

- And finally, more treasures plumbed from the depths of YouTube for your Friday viewing pleasure. Today we'll go with a compilation that's a little older - check out Jagr with his mullet, Stevie Y. with some sick moves, a little love between Detroit and Colorado goalies, and a Hurricane tripping headfirst into the bench. Ah, memories...

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Caps on the Cusp

The other day I talked about the Caps' overflow of what is known as the role-player, the guys who do a lot of little things well but may not get the glory of say, an Ovechkin. In my little fantasy world we would keep all of these guys, and any that are scratched could come and sit with me during games.

Alas, it probably is not to be. Returning to the real world its obvious that somethings gotta give, whether it means shipping someone off to Hershey or shipping them off to another club. OnFrozenBlog recently did a great rundown of the forwards and defensemen in the system as we head into next season, but here's a look at just the guys on the cusp:

Brian Sutherby - His scouting report says that he "will be limited in terms of offensive production at the NHL level", aka checking line forward. Limited is one thing, 7 goals is another. Still, I've always defended Sutherby on the grounds that the organization and his teammates love him and there is more to a player than offensive production. Brian is one of those players the Caps love to develop, the gritty players with loads of heart; having said that, the recent one year deal given to Sutsy and his declining numbers seem to signal that he has one more shot at proving himself.
Verdict: He'll crack the opening night lineup; whether he's here come the trade deadline remains to be seen.

Steve Eminger - Like Sutherby, Eminger is one of those players who has been "developing" for a long time but has yet to really break through. In drafting him 12th overall the Caps put their hopes into Eminger one day becoming a top two defenseman. But injuries and mistakes cost Emmy a lot of playing time last year and there were many nights when he was watching the action from the press box while a youngster took his roster spot. Signs of improvement towards the end of last year and a desire to prove himself could make him a dangerous contender in September. He'll still have to fight it out in training camp and his one-year deal, like Sutherby's, is a sign that he's using the last of his nine lives.
Verdict: Look for him to hold on to his spot come October, but he could be potentially packaged with other prospects/picks for that stay-at-home defenseman everyone seems so high on.

Matt Bradley - Bradley is always good for a funny quote or a nice black eye, and his effort and his willingness to drop the gloves when necessary make him a perfect checking line forward. However, he faces stiff competition for his role-playing slot from current and future Caps and there doesn't seem to be much room for him anymore. 13 points in 57 games just may not be good enough.
Verdict: As sad as I am to say it, I don't see Bradley being with the organization much longer.

Dave Steckel - Having really achieved everything he could at the AHL level, Steckel will be looking to make the jump to the big club this fall. His penalty-killing and leadership skills are not in question, but its his mobility that raises some eyebrows and he'll need to learn how to use his body and his legs more effectively if he wants to stick around in the NHL.
Verdict: He may need a little more time to cook in the AHL but look for him to be a frequent call-up and potentially a mid-season roster addition a la Brooks Laich two years ago.

Brooks Laich - Called up to fill a roster spot in December of '05, Laich took his opportunity and made the most of it, earning a permanent spot with the club through the end of the season then returning to Hershey in time for their Calder Cup run. Last year he admittedly had a slow start and paid for it with a run of healthy scratches and limited ice time. Still, he started to pick up the momentum mid-season and was showing definite improvement. He's versatile in his ability to play center or wing but will probably be relegated to wing with the sudden glut up the middle, and he has developed an edge to his game that makes him a much more attractive third or fourth line candidate.
Verdict: He'll be in the red, white and blue when the season opens and should maintain his position on either of the bottom two lines.

Boyd Gordon - Last year was definitely Gordon's coming out party, as he put together a fantastic season and proved why he made the roster in the first place. His 7 goals were nice, but its the 22 assists and the +10 on a team that routinely was a minus squad that really make him stand out. And if you've never seen him out there killing penalties, you haven't seen it the way its supposed to be done. He made a believer out of a lot of us.
Verdict: Definitely a lock for third line center, and look for his offensive numbers to increase as his confidence and ice time go up.

John Erskine - Erskine is the kind of defenseman that Caps fans love in the sense that he'll drop the gloves at any time or just lay someone out with a monster hit. He started last season as a welcome surprise, turning a lot of heads as he came out of nowhere to establish himself as one of the top defenseman - and helped boost defensive partner Eminger's game, to boot. Still, the shine started to wear off midseason and a series of injuries including a devastating foot fracture really seemed to take him off his game.
Verdict: Will probably make the roster, but may spend many nights as the 7th defenseman in the press box.

Ben Clymer - Its hard to judge Clymer for his rocky season last year - after a failed experiment that saw him back on the blue line, Clymer had to readjust to his forward position and then found himself hampered by an abdominal injury that nagged him all season before finally electing for surgery in the last month. He's got the physical aspect down and, as we all remember from that infamous Atlanta game, isn't afraid to drop the gloves with someone much bigger and nastier than himself. I don't think the Caps are giving up on him just yet and will be looking for him to replicate his numbers from his first year in DC now that he's healthy again.
Verdict: Third or fourth line winger, will be around for opening night.

Tomas Fleischmann - Flash has shown, well, flashes of brilliance at the NHL level but has yet to find his consistency that made him so potent in Hershey. He's got talent but seems hesitant to shoot the puck - something you can get away with in the AHL but in the faster, bigger world of the NHL that just won't fly. He needs to find his game and quickly or he'll be another prospect who just didn't pan out.
Verdict: Could start the season with the Caps if his training camp is spectacular, but may be shuffled back and forth from Hershey or could be packaged with another player for a veteran.

Jakub Klepis - Poor Jake. First no one could pronounce his name, now no one wants to. A lot of people were high on Klepis for a long time but he's really just never shown that he's ready to make the jump. Besides a lack of offensive production he has an annoying tendency to take ill-advised penalties at bad times, putting his team at risk too many times.
Verdict: Back to Hershey with Klepis, with the possibility of a trade somewhere down the line.

Eric Fehr - For a long time Fehr has held the mantel as the Caps' bright new future and showed some signs of this in the few stints he had with the Caps last season. Still, hampered by a nagging back/hip injury and unproven at the NHL level, his time may be running out.
Verdict: Could potentially crack the lineup but needs to have a spectacular camp and start to the season if he wants to make it permanent.

Jeff Schultz - Schultz is one of those defenseman the Caps really need to hang on to. He does the little things correctly and quietly, becoming invisible on the ice in all the right ways. Towards the end of last season he really started to show what he was made of as he gained ice time and confidence in his abilities. If he can learn to use his size and develop a snarl he'll be very scary to play against - and that can only be good for the Caps.
Verdict: May fall victim to the fact that he's not forced to clear waivers and could see another year in Hershey, but there's a spot for him if he earns it in camp.

Mike Green - Its hard to figure Green out sometimes. There are times when he makes an absolutely brilliant defensive play; there are times he makes a completely bone-headed mistake; and there are times when he shows an offensive brilliance that makes you wonder if he's forgotten he's a defenseman. A full season in DC may have been a bit much for him last year, considering he's just 21 years old and defenseman take quite a bit longer than forwards to develop.
Verdict: Probably returning to Hershey for more development and more minutes, but could be a frequent call-up should one of the top 6 d-men go down with injury...or just go away.

Josef Boumedienne - Um...he's Swedish, right?
Verdict: Sorry, Boomer - back to Sweden with you, one-way contract in your hot little hand.

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Caps Prospects Get High Marks

Over the past few weeks the Caps have received some reluctant respect for their drafting ability and their free agent signings. Now the focus shifts to the youngsters..and even NHL.com is taking notice.

Caps' Prospects a Growing Storm

From the article:

Change is painful, the Washington fans and management would agree, and results don't come quickly, but like a Doppler weather screen, a storm can be seen brewing and it will soon be bearing down on the Capitals.

Just as only a small part of an iceberg is visible above the water line, you have to look below the current Capitals' roster to see the talented group of Capitals prospects being groomed in the American Hockey League and in a variety of other developmental programs.

That's a lot of metaphors, but you get the idea. The Caps' future is looking pretty bright.

It's so nice to see a piece on the Capitals basically saying what a lot of us have known all along - that this team is quietly, slowly building a foundation that will hopefully keep it competitive and ultimately successful for many years to come. Anyone who caught even the smallest snippet of last week's development camp can attest to that fact, and if you missed it there are assorted video clips circling the interweb as we speak.

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Punches and Munchkins

- Derek Boogaard is giving back to his community in what some might think is an unusual way. Some people have hockey camp, Derek and his brother Aaron hold fighting camp.

Hearing the name, I'm sure most people's initial reaction is to roll their eyes, whether it is at the player or the activitiy itself. It's easy to criticize something like this as unnecessary and merely a way to glamorize what a lot of people see as one of hockey's weaknesses. Believe me, I was all set to hurl a bunch of insults at professional jackass Boogaard when I read the headline - that is until I read this:

Their intent, Derek said, is not to create teenage bruisers. "A lot of times when people don't understand something, they don't like it," he said. "We're not teaching kids how to fight and how to hurt people. We're teaching kids how to protect themselves so they don't get hurt on the ice."

We have camps to teach kids how to skate safely, how to check someone so they don't get hurt, how to wear the appropriate padding. Kids go through years of training to learn to play a game that can at any point be extremely dangerous. So as long as fighting remains a part of NHL hockey and regardless of one's personal feelings about that, maybe there's something to say for more "hands-on" training like this.

Hell, at $40 a pop maybe I'll sign up - could come in handy the next time Penguins fans come to town...

- Caps development camp has officially come to an end. For anyone who made it out to Kettler this week the sentiment seems to be unanimous - hockey in July just can't be beat. It provided us with relief from the heat, the humidity, the tourists, the mind-numbing months that separate one season from the next. Kudos to the organization for continuing to make strides in bringing the game and the team closer to their fans; having the development camp in the DC area for the first time was a remarkable experience and turnout was amazing.

I'm not good at saying who did what well and who stood out, per se. Just as I am admittedly not a draft geek, I am also not a prospect geek.

I can say with a fair amount of certainty, though, that our last two top draft picks are well on their way to being very skilled, very valuable franchise players. Thursday's scrimmage saw Backstrom putting on a puck-handling clinic, weaving in and out of the opposing team as though they were pylons or Philly defensemen. Alzner was equally impressive, showing great presence of mind in controlling the puck and making the timely passes to his teammates, promising skills for a young defenseman.

→ At one point I found myself sitting one row over from Assistant Coach Jay Leach and what I can only assume was the scouting staff, which was interesting. They seemed to be getting a kick out of the volume of scoring from what they termed their "no-name line", centered by local product Luke Lynes.

→ Joe Finley is huge. I mean absolutely massive. Hard not to notice him on the ice, and if he can get his skating skills up to par with his incredible reach he is going to be a tough defenseman to get by.


→ I've heard of changing on the fly, but Thursday's scrimmage featured a new trick I had never seen: changing goalies on the fly. Not only was it entertaining but it also provided me with my first look at suddenly controversial goaltender Varlamov, who held his own amongst the bodies crashing the net.

→ There were some good hits all over the place, more so on Thursday then during the brief snippet I caught on Wednesday, with Osala and Leffler throwing the body around pretty consistently. It's nice to see some intensity even in what amounts to meaningless scrimmages and some of these guys have the potential to really throw it around at the NHL level in the next few years.

→ Others I thought stood out: Mathieu Perreault, Kyle Wilson, Stephen Werner, Oskar Osala, and Francois Bouchard, whose recent success is profiled in tomorrow's Post. I have to say it's refreshing to see the WaPo giving any coverage to the development camp in the first place, let alone two straight profiles.

Bouchard also wins my award for the best hockey hair (with the runner-up prize going to Backstrom...)


All in all I was very impressed with everything - the skill level, the dynamic within the two teams, and of course just the hockey in general. I can't really add much more to the thoughts of others who took in one or more days of the camp other than to say I'm glad I wasn't the only who found it to be just a fantastic event. In the blazing Virginia sun its nice to get a little respite from the mundane day to day July and take in the coolest game on earth - hope everyone made the trip out to see the future Caps!

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Roux-ster's a Thrasher

I really will have my thoughts on Thursday's scrimmage as well as a few pictures sometime in the next day or so...hopefully before the start of the regular season!

- Alexandre Giroux, one of the Caps' up and coming youngsters and one of the leaders of the Hershey Bears last year, has been snatched up by Atlanta and signed to a multi-year deal. The 26 year old center had four points in nine games with the Caps this past year and scored one of the flukiest goals ever against Toronto's Andrew Raaaaaaycroft.

He's in there somewhere...

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Quick Hits

Sorry for the lack of updates today, kids - I was unavoidably removed from my computer and thus the hockey world. I did manage to sneak out to Kettler today for the entire rookie camp scrimmage and I'll have more on that tomorrow. For now, though, I leave you with a few random slices of hockey life...

- I'm sure most people saw this already but if you haven't, check out the Post's article on Backstrom. He may not be as flashy and unintentionally entertaining as Ovechkin, but he seems like a good kid not lacking in sense of humor...always important when moving to DC.

- Souray is an Oiler..........okay, I'm still laughing hysterically at that one, for many, many reasons.

- If you haven't heard, Versus is systematically screwing over the millions of people in the States who want nothing more than to enjoy a hockey game on a Monday or Tuesday night. Thanks, Versus - I'm so glad I've defended you for the last two years. Anyone (of the 10,000 people who actually get the damn channel) interested in a little boycott? Anyone think they'll even be able to tell the difference? Yeah, me neither. Oh, well.

- And finally, my favorite item sent in by, who else, one of my super junior reporters and favorite Canadian ex-pats, Chris:

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Caps Prospect Camp Roster Announced

- The Caps announced the roster for this week's development camp out at Kettler, including a lot of familiar names such as super Swede Niklas Backstrom and newly drafted defenseman Karl Alzner.

All on-ice sessions are open to the public free of charge, just another in a long line of things this organization has done to provide access to its grateful, hockey-starved fans this summer. And while all eyes will likely be on the Caps' top picks from the last two years, Backstrom and Alzner, I will be looking forward to getting my first glimpse of a few others that have been floating around the system.

Want to see how the Caps' blue line corps looks for the future? Check out Patrick McNeill, Sami Lepisto, Viktor Dovgan and the twin towers, Sasha Pokoluk and Joe Finley (6'5", 220 lbs and 6'7", 233 lbs respectively...those are big boys). How about the next generation of flashy wingers? Oskar Osala, Andrew Gordon, and local boy Steve Werner should provide plenty of killer dekes and blazing slapshots for anyone in attendance. Up the middle is looking pretty promising, as well, with new Cap Kyle Wilson leading the way.

And let's not forget the anchor of the team, the man between the pipes - the Caps will have their eyes peeled for the heir apparent to Olie's throne, and this is the first chance for many of us to see highly touted prospects Simeon Varlamov and Michal Neuvirth.

As if that wasn't enough, George McPhee went on SportsTalk 980 this morning and apparently provided a little teaser for fans still on the fence about checking out this year's camp, implying that the tone will be much more competitive than in the past to see how the players perform in gamelike situations - so there will be contact. (h/t to OrderedChaos for paraphrasing...)

Sounds good to me!

- Mark your calendars for September 25th - that's the only confirmed preseason home game I've seen for the Caps as they take on the Carolina Hurricanes, 7:00 pm at Verizon Center. Two other games on the schedule (and there may be others confirmed, this is just what I've pieced together) will be September 16th in Raleigh and September 22nd in Tampa. More as the dates trickle in...

September, eh? A little over 2 months and counting.

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