This was supposed to be a great year for the Caps. This was supposed to be the year that they finally start to regain some of the respect we lost during the Jagr years. And while there's still time to turn things around to a certain extent, there just seems to be a rash of nonstop bad luck preventing a major renewal, the latest being the injuries to key players Clark and Gordon.
So my question is this - do you get the sense that this season might just be cursed?
Let's break it down...
- Alexander Semin goes down with a sprained ankle in preseason. Preseason. We didn't even make it to the regular season before losing our 38-goal scorer. The injury continues to crop up at inopportune times (read: every other day), keeping Semin out of the lineup and preventing any real chemistry from developing between him and the other forwards.
- A team with three 30+ goal scorers and bolstered by offseason offensive producers Nylander, Kozlov and Poti, finds it impossible to find the back of the net. This makes the fact that both goaltenders are standing on their heads irrelevant, as allowing one or two goals a game doesn't help when you can't score at all.
- Alex Ovechkin tries to kill Chris Clark with a slapshot to the head. At the same time Semin is out once more and Boyd Gordon then goes down with an injury, sending the Caps reeling. For the first time in years the Caps are in last place in the NHL.
- A fifth straight loss in which the Caps look flat and unable to do the basic things correctly costs Glen Hanlon his job.
- On new coach Boudreau's first day of practice with his team, Semin reinjures his ankle. Again. In his fourth game the Caps go to their first shootout of the season and lose Clark, Gordon and possibly Semin to injury. Again.
And so on and so forth...
But don't worry, Caps fans, because here's the good news - not only do we get to play Carolina and Florida in back to back games this weekend, but we also get to see each of them four more times before the season ends. (At least this is the last season with such a lovely schedule.)
The better news? Only 57 games left...and counting.
If you're looking for a gameday preview for our next two games go here and here. I'm running out of ways to make these "intense" division matchups interesting, and I'm inspired by the current writers' strike in Hollywood to just run reruns in protest. Luckily after next week we get a bit of a reprieve from the Southeast and I'll return to my usual witty self.
All photos courtesy of AP
Thursday, November 29, 2007
Bumps and Bruises and Voodoo Dolls
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Spooky Wednesday
It's a non-gameday Wednesday, so of course that means assorted goodies for your reading pleasure.
- First up - Mike Vogel, of course, has a great piece on Peter Bondra's retirement over at the Caps' website. Reading about the various milestones, the franchise records, the evolution of one of Washington's great athletes just reminds me how amazing he was as a Capital - something I think we forget from time to time with a couple of young superstars burgeoning here in the District.
- Morrisonn, Green and Jurcina stopped by the NHL Store in Manhattan and made an appearance on NHL Live on XM Center Ice. Some highlights:
- Jurcina talking about having to learn English and about the difference between playing in Boston and Washington.
- Morrisonn discussing getting "jumped" by Vinny and offering the quote of the day: "Next time I don't want to lead with my face onto the ice." Indeed.
- Mo grew up idolizing Cam Neely, switched his allegiance from Vancouver to Boston when Neely was traded and had the opportunity to meet him when he was drafted by the Bruins; Green idolized Scott Niedermayer; Jurcina was a fan of the Red Wings and Canadiens but loved Chris Pronger
- Favorite movies: Morrisonn, Braveheart; Green, Dumb and Dumber (oh Mike...really??); Jurcina, no favorite movies
- What they do on days off: sleep. Bet you didn't see that one coming.
- By the way if you've never heard Green, Morrisonn and Jurcina talking together before and you get the chance, be sure that you're caffeinated. Let's just say that Mo was probably the most animated of the three...
- Mr. Happy Sunshine Guy Tarik reports that its not looking good for any of our three injured players returning tomorrow night against the Rangers. Clark is still day to day, Semin skated with the team but not at full speed, and Poti is still nursing a groin injury - and we know how long those can take to fully heal.
People need to stop panicking, though. We beat Toronto...and no, the Leafs are not exactly a formidable opponent. Who says the Rangers are? They have Jagr and a slew of centers unable to play with him; they have a defense about as good as Toronto's; their only asset really is their goaltending. If the Caps play like they did north of the border, they'll be fine.
Plus I'm not ready to count Clark out for the game until I hear official word otherwise. The fact that he flew to NYC when the Caps return home again on Friday gives me hope that he'll be back sooner rather than later - I guess we'll wait and see.
- Finally, happy 24th birthday to injured (or "injured"?) defenseman Steve Eminger - you still have the love of the Cheap Seats, Stevie!
Saturday, October 27, 2007
Clark Update
So it looks like Clark is out for tonight's game, which considering how much pain he looked to be in last night isn't altogether surprising. The good news - no concussion, no lasting damage other than what sounds like a crazy amount of stitches.
The better news - he could be in the lineup as soon as Monday when the Caps travel to Toronto.
Friday, October 26, 2007
Caps Power Play Not Enough
I'm not exactly sure what I expected out of this game - I saw enough of the Canucks in the playoffs last year to know that they've got tons of offensive talent but they like to just kind of lull opponents to sleep and then let Luongo do the rest, which is fine. I like the Canucks when they're not playing the Caps so I won't pick on them too much.
I guess I was hoping that the Caps would let their offense and speed dictate the type of game we'd see and they never really did. The game was, quite frankly, pretty dull.
Let's get right into the good and bad of the game before I fall asleep...
Good
- The power play connected. Twice. Hallelujah.
- Both goals involved players crashing the net. Double hallelujah.
- Ovechkin scored and added an assist, marking his second straight multipoint game of the year
- Clark continued to roll, adding two assists of his own
- After starting off the season fairly shakily, Pothier has really impressed me over the last four or five games and seems to be settling down, making smarter plays and better passes. (I know, I can't believe I just wrote that either...)
- The last 3 or 4 minutes of the game - apparently desperation kicked in right then and the team started playing well. Of course, it helped that the Canucks took a couple of bad penalties to let the Caps' thrilling power play go to work (yeah, I know, I can't believe I just wrote that either...)
Bad
- This is the first time this season that I have had to say the following: Mike Green had a very rough night, which included a horrible turnover that led directly to a Vancouver tally.
- Add Semin to the list of guys with sloppy turnovers tonight (although he did have some sneaky shots that seemed to catch Luongo off guard).
- Schultz had a Mike Green-esque night in that he balanced out some really horrifying shifts with some smarter defensive plays. I guess he's starting to improve? I don't know. Until he learns how to hit I'm not really interested in finding out. Bring back Eminger.
- Snarky AP reporters. Observe:
Vancouver Canucks coach Alain Vigneault was getting a bit nervous while watching Alex Ovechkin try to rally the Washington Capitals to a victory. Perhaps Vigneault forgot for a moment one salient fact: His goalie, Roberto Luongo, simply doesn't lose to the Capitals.
Is it true to a certain extent? Yes. Is it necessary to write it that way? No. Absolutely not. Obnoxious.
- Never leave a Sedin twin open. Ever. Sneaky little buggers...
- Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.
In the "make CapsChick's heart stop beating" category, Clark taking a slapshot to the head was probably the scariest thing I've seen since...well, the last time he got a puck to the head, only this time he stayed down. And when Clarkie goes down and stays down, you know it's bad. He had to be helped off, looking extremely shaky on his feet, and word is he got stitches in his left ear. The only thing I've read about it is a quick, unexplained quote from Hanlon that said "it's not going to be good." I'm not even sure what that means. Scary, scary, scary.
So best wishes to Clark on a speedy recovery. Hopefully you were just a little shaken up and true to Chris Clark form you'll be back very, very soon.
Next up the Caps wing off to St. Louis for an 8:30 matchup with the Blues tomorrow night. Here's your gameday preview: thank you NHL schedule, I have no idea what the Caps will see when they play the Blues because we haven't seen them since 2005. They have Weight and Tkachuk and Kariya and a bunch of good young kids that we never get to watch firsthand. Johnson will be in net against his old team. St. Louis is a place with...a giant arch. Or something.
But the good news is we have eight games against the Panthers. It's all about perspective, people.
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Buh-bye, Joey
Hang in there, Caps fans - one more day until we get to put this losing streak behind us and get back to some real hockey...
- That "paper" transaction has now become a real transaction, as Joe Motzko is headed back to Hershey. Poor Joe. It's not really his fault. Had he been used on a third or fourth line rather than thrown to the wolves alongside Ovechkin and, dear god, on the power play point, he might have made a better impression. As it was I think the majority of people saw what I saw - a fairly balanced combination of decent plays and forehead-slapping blunders. Back to Hershey you go, Joe, and best of luck.
- Motzko's departure means but one thing - Alexander Semin is back. And not a moment too soon, if you ask me. Scary stat of the day: Semin's power play goal total from last season (17) is greater than the total number of goals scored by the entire team to this point (14).
- Hanlon is taking the opportunity (i.e. the horrific losing streak and continued ineffectiveness of the power play) to mix things up a bit, moving Clark back up to the top line alongside Ovechkin and Kozlov and shifting Steckel up to the checking line in his place.
This is one of those "good in the moment" moves, because as much as I like Clarkie and as much as I want to see some sort of production out of him, he's really much better suited to a checking line role. And anyone who doubts the beauty that was the Pettinger-Gordon-Clark line only has to see the number they did on Crosby Saturday night - the Kid had only 2 shots. That's it. Brilliant, brilliant work against a very tough player.
- Tinkering continues on a flailing power play and Mike Green makes his return to the point alongside Poti, which is good news for everyone. I know that ideally you want at least 4 forwards out there, but Greenie's got more points than a lot of our forwards right now and he doesn't seem to have this crippling fear of shooting the puck. And with Semin coming back you have to think that they're bound to get one in eventually...right?
- Good piece in the Times today about bloggers working with the Caps to lead the interweb revolution, filling a void left by shrinking mainstream media budgets and attention spans. Oh, the irony.
- Kind of a big night around the NHL, as the Canadian media is wetting themselves over Ryan Smyth's return to Edmonton - the city he left in tears last season. Meanwhile a true battle of the titans takes place across the border as the Maple Leafs host Atlanta, and Sidney Crosby is revealed tonight before the Pens-Rangers game. Revealed as what, they don't say...I'm guessing some kind of robot.
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
Captain Clark, the Extended Edition
In a move that I'm pretty sure no one can find fault with, the Caps have signed captain and all-around heart and soul Chris Clark to a three year extension. Read about it here - I have nothing more to add except to merely say thank...god.
Clarkie, we love you here in the Cheap Seats!
Monday, July 09, 2007
Welcome to Town, Here's a 'C'
The Islanders announced today that they were naming Bill Guerin, who signed a two year deal last week, their new captain. The move was a surprise to Guerin, who apparently had no idea of the decision until he was handed a jersey with a 'C' on it during the press conference announcing his arrival and that of the other new inhabitants of the Island
Bill Guerin, who has been a member of the Islanders for exactly four days, is the newest captain of the Islanders.
Guerin, who was a member of another team until July 1, is the Isles' new captain.
Sorry, it doesn't matter how many times or how many ways I say it - its still weird. Weirder than Sidney Crosby, who is still learning how to tie his shoelaces and not wet the bed like a big boy, being captain of the Penguins?
...okay, no, not weirder than that. But it's still strange, right? I always find it weird when teams make brand new players the leaders - it seems to fly in the face of any logic that would usually take into account team chemistry, leadership, etc. Had Halpern departed our nation's capital a year earlier than he did, I doubt very much that the Caps would have named Clark as the captain at that point.
But I guess...congrats, Bill.
Thursday, March 15, 2007
Oh Captain, My Captain
Forget the shootout loss. We know by now if it gets past the overtime, they're probably going to lose. And forget about the three power play goals allowed. We know by now that the Caps penalty killing needs work.
Using that selective amnesia, I think I can safely say this was one of the best performances by Washington in weeks. Despite the brief flurry when a 3-1 game became a 3-3 game, and despite the shootout, the Caps looked very sharp. You have to figure Olie's return gave them exactly what I and everyone else predicted - an emotional boost. And for his part, Olie looked incredible in his first game back, making some, well, Olie-esque saves. I think he's all better, although that was a scary moment late in the game when Chara rifled the puck right at Olie's other knee. Thanks, Zdeno.
A few thoughts: Maybe I wasn't watching carefully enough, but I can't figure out why Clymer was benched...Green with the lowest ice time tonight - poor kid was probably better off staying in Hershey...Ovie looked good and even got around Chara, forcing the big goon to take a hooking penalty to stop him...Semin HITS THE POST in overtime, making the loudest and most painful sound ever because it means....Shootout, where Ovie's goal was old school Ovechkin, good to see him get one...
But let's talk about the real story of the night, and that is Chris Clark. If someone had said that one player would get not only a hat trick but the only 3 goals the Caps would score, the obvious choice would be Ovechkin (since he's done it twice already), but leave it to the captain to pull of the unbelievable. All three were nice goals and they put Clarkie just three away from the 30-goal plateau...and if anyone's keeping track, that would give us three 30+ goal scorers on one team. That's something to build on for sure.
What I found funny for some reason, and we all know how easily entertained I am, were the assists on his goals - 2 by defenseman (Eminger and Pothier), 2 by gritty checking line guys (Laich and Gordon) and 2 by the Alexes. I don't know why, but I'm giggling like a mad woman.
Ahem. Anyways.
Good game all around, but a truly great performance by the two leaders of the team and that's how it should be. What else can you say?
Meanwhile this Boston win makes the Eastern Conference a little more interesting down the stretch. I'm pulling for my Habs to sneak in (something the Caps can help with tomorrow...just a thought) so I have someone to root for in the playoffs. The West is no problem, but right now the top 8 spots in the East are pure evil, with the exception maybe, maybe being the Senators. Maybe.
Maybe.
On to the Leafs - preview lite to come!
Monday, November 20, 2006
Underrated Hero
- Much has been made over the last few days about the recent courageousness shown by captain Chris Clark, who got hit in the face by a puck in the loss to the Bruins Wednesday night. After taking a clearing attempt square in the mouth, losing some teeth and fracturing his palate, Clark remained on the ice until the Caps finally iced the puck.
I guess I just don't know why everyone is so surprised.
It was amazing and brave...and downright Clark-like. Honestly, any of us who have watched him over the last season and a half know the heart, the work, the energy that the captain brings to the ice each and every game. He's one of those rare players who doesn't take off a night and who rarely gives less than 110% during each shift. Even before he had the 'C' stitched on his chest, Clark was leading by example, working in the trenches and helping his two well-known linemates reach new offensive heights.
This is why we love him so much - said Clark this morning (as reported by Mike Vogel), "[t]here’s no sense in laying on the ice. My legs didn’t break; I could get up and skate."
True, he could still skate. In fact, if his mouth hadn't been filling up with blood, I'd bet that Clarkie would have finished the game. He's just that kind of player. Missing teeth and mouth pain can wait - there's a game going on. It's for this reason, among many others, that Clark is one of the most underrated players in the league today. For all his hard work and, this season, offensive production, most casual fans wouldn't be able to pick him out of a lineup.
But that's okay. We know what we have.
By the way, I love the end of Vogel's post today - after he had described the injury to Clark and repairs that poor Clarkie had to undergo, he had this to say about the Wizards:
Wait, this just in. One of the basketball dudes had a back bruise. Oh. No wonder there was such concern. Hope he is okay now. At least he didn’t get soap in his eyes. That can really hurt.
Hilarious.
- Every day it seems like I find yet another blogger who is calling for Zubrus to be on the ballot as a write-in. All of these posts, whether they came before me or after me, can only help the cause (and validate my rantings so I know I'm not completely insane...) Add Bleatings from a Caps Nut to the growing list of crazy Caps fans who know the worth of one Dainius Zubrus.
But just putting it on a blog isn't going to be enough - people, it's time to get out there and preach to the non-choir. Tell your friends, co-workers, siblings, grandparents, enemies; show them stats, screen highlight videos, or just point them in the direction of any Caps blog. Hell, if you have to, find some women (or men, I'm not judging) with puckbunny potential and show them a picture of good ol' Zubie before sitting them down at a computer to vote.
I'd say he's vote-worthy, am I right ladies?
Or men, I'm not judging...
Thursday, September 14, 2006
The Captain Has Arrived
Clark has been all over the local media as he is introduced to the fans as the 13th captain of the Washington Capitals - okay, maybe not all over, but he did force CSN's SportsNite to take a timeout from the Redskins/Ravens lovefest to insert some *gasp* hockey into the broadcast...
By the way, did anyone notice that they interviewed him wearing an ill-fitting, awkwardly draped jersey next to an ice rink? As if to tell the Redskins faithful, "Psst...this guy's a hockey player. It's that game they play on that frozen stuff." Whatever works, I guess.
Anyways, so far Clarkie has done us proud, saying all the right things and being so self-aware that he almost seems embarassed to be the center of attention. It's what all good captains do - Sakic, Yzerman, heck, let's throw Hunter in there for good measure - represent the team without acting like you are the team. Look at all of the current NHL captains and try to find an ego among them (okay, Yashin maybe, but could you really call him a captain? Really?)
And let's not forget the most important thing - Clark is a Red Sox fan, which as we all know is a sign of intelligence (and sometimes insanity, but they really go hand in hand). How can you not love a guy like that? :)
R-E-S-P-E-C-T
I have just finished listening to new captain Chris Clark on this week's Caps Report Podcast, and I just have to say that he sounded downright Captainish, er...Captainlike? Captain-y? Well, whatever the word, he sounded great - he was poised and modest, excited about the upcoming season, and already working on how he will lead this young team.
As I listened to the final Caps Report before the start of preseason, I started to look back on the many weeks that I have tuned in to hear different players over the summer. What has really come across is not only their pride in last season and their excitement for the upcoming one, but also the respect that they have for one another. For example, every week Vogel has asked each player who they think should get the captaincy, and every week they say the same thing - there are lots of guys who could do it and it doesn't matter, because Olie is and always will be the leader of this team. Even Clark said it, and he is the captain.
All I can figure is that this is a team of basically nice guys who put the team ahead of individual goals, who get along with one another, who respect each other and the coaching staff - all things that over time and with the right configuration will lead to championships. I think we often forget what we have and what it could be - could you imagine spending a whole season listening to Sean Avery mouthing off, or watch as night after night Sidney Crybaby complains to the refs about yet another 'bad' call? Give me a hard-working bunch of guys with grit and determination over flash and diva-dom any day of the week...
Bottom line - we've got a great bunch of guys reporting for camp tomorrow (okay, technically it's today).
Are they going to win the Stanley Cup this year? Probably not...but will they still be fun to watch? Absolutely!
Wednesday, September 13, 2006
And the 'C' goes to...
...Chris Clark! This is such a great move by the Caps - a gritty, hard-working player who seems to have the respect of his teammates and who has clicked on the ice with Ovie. In his short time here he has made believers and fans out of a lot of people, myself included. Congrats, Chris!
