Jump to content

The Washington Capitals (1974-), Eastern Conference, Metropolitan Division - Moved from Capital Centre in Landover to Capitol One Arena in Chinatown, 1997 - STANLEY CUP CHAMPIONS 2017-2018


Pool Boy

Recommended Posts

12 hours ago, Rovers2000 said:

I would say GMBM is likely going to be in the running for GM of the year after this offseason.  Took a team with a cap that could have been an absolute mess - and instead only the loss the current Stanley cup champions have to deal with is that of a 4th line center (I love Beagle and I’m thrilled he got paid...I’m just glad it wasn’t by us). 

Our cap is in a wildly better place and I think we struck a balance of giving some space to test out some of our up and coming prospects while keeping our foundation in tact.  I am already looking forward to next season.

I do not discount the roster moves the guy made, but to knowingly lose Trotz is perhaps a strategic error. That was my point in the original post you quoted.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

12 hours ago, Rovers2000 said:

I would say GMBM is likely going to be in the running for GM of the year after this offseason.  Took a team with a cap that could have been an absolute mess - and instead only the loss the current Stanley cup champions have to deal with is that of a 4th line center (I love Beagle and I’m thrilled he got paid...I’m just glad it wasn’t by us). 

Our cap is in a wildly better place and I think we struck a balance of giving some space to test out some of our up and coming prospects while keeping our foundation in tact.  I am already looking forward to next season.

I do not discount the roster moves the guy made, but to knowingly lose Trotz is perhaps a strategic error. That was my point in the original post you quoted.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

12 hours ago, Rovers2000 said:

I would say GMBM is likely going to be in the running for GM of the year after this offseason.  Took a team with a cap that could have been an absolute mess - and instead only the loss the current Stanley cup champions have to deal with is that of a 4th line center (I love Beagle and I’m thrilled he got paid...I’m just glad it wasn’t by us). 

Our cap is in a wildly better place and I think we struck a balance of giving some space to test out some of our up and coming prospects while keeping our foundation in tact.  I am already looking forward to next season.

I do not discount the roster moves the guy made, but to knowingly lose Trotz is perhaps a strategic error. That was my point in the original post you quoted.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I’m of two minds re: Trotz:

- As a person / culture builder he is tremendous.  

- That said, his roster moves / reluctance to use younger players unless he has the proverbial gun to his head have long been a source of frustration.  

For me, he falls into the Beagle category of - I’m happy that payday sets him and his family up for the rest of their life but I’m also glad it’s not us paying him that much. I will always be thankful to him for this year - but I respect GMBMs ability to separate that from the reality of the situation.  

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

13 hours ago, Pool Boy said:

I do not discount the roster moves the guy made, but to knowingly lose Trotz is perhaps a strategic error. That was my point in the original post you quoted.

I like Trotz, but I am unsure how much of the Cup win can be attributed directly to his coaching.  I guess we'll find out in the upcoming season.  The fact that the players have been largely silent on the issue after the 3-4 days post-announcement of his leaving indicates to me that they aren't bothered by the fact that he's gone, so they must be very comfortable with Reirden taking over HC duties.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

First game of the season tonight, 2018 Championship banner is being hung from the rafters, and Tom Wilson is being hung out to dry by the player safety dept. with a 20 game suspension.  That's a quarter of the regular season.  His previous suspension was 5 games, so a 10-game suspension would have been a standard escalation, so the league is going to make him change his play or put him out of business. 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

17 hours ago, weezy said:

First game of the season tonight, 2018 Championship banner is being hung from the rafters, and Tom Wilson is being hung out to dry by the player safety dept. with a 20 game suspension.  That's a quarter of the regular season.  His previous suspension was 5 games, so a 10-game suspension would have been a standard escalation, so the league is going to make him change his play or put him out of business. 

Thanks for the reminder.  I caught the cool pregame element and the first period.  Goals right away:  speed, hitting, ultra fast play.   All cool.

hmmm.   Have never watched much hockey.  Watched a fair amount of the World Cup this summer, after not watching much soccer in ages.  Played lots of soccer before that; fairly advanced level of American play for that time.   From an analytical level, much of the basics in soccer team offense is similar to hockey team offense.  Ooooooh.  But hockey played in a small space, super fast on ice, lots of hitting etc.  --its very different.  Neat to be watching now.  

 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

The Wilson saga, for now, is over.  He's back, in great shape, and opening up holes in the opposition's D, scoring, fighting, doing all the things he supposed to do.

And in the meantime, Holtby is out day-to-day with a upper body injury sustained in practice (puck to the neck?), Oshie is out day-to-day with an upper body injury (shoulder? concussion?) from a nasty hit that got the opponent an $8700 fine but no suspension, and Kuznetzov is out upper body day-to-day (concussion? neck?) from an elbow to the head that got a 2-minute penalty and no supplemental discipline at all. 

The good news is that our new back-up goalie, Phoenix Copley, is good and getting better with all these starts.  Game tonight against the Avalanche, where he gets to square off against our former back-up, Philip Grubauer.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Great show of sportsmanship by Ovi  in last night's game, where Price's magnificent stop kept Ovechkin from getting a hat trick  and getting the game winning goal.  Caps went on to win in OT, but this was the highlight of the night.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I am sure that lovehockey can give a better breakdown of the strengths and weaknesses of individual players.   I simply do not have that depth of experience.  

https://novacapsfans.com/      This website has a series of articles focusing on individual players as well as other general Caps news

Also, Russian Machine Never Breaks https://russianmachineneverbreaks.com/ has a lot of good articles but I don't know if they have a player-by-player series of posts.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Trade deadline is Monday the 25th, and the Caps put Devante Smith-Pelly on waivers to free up cap space.  No one claimed him (he's not had a good year) and so we keep him in the org and move him down to Hershey.  In the meantime, we picked up Hagelin for some draft picks from the LA Kings, where he has not had a good year, but they play a different system and he doesn't seem to have found his groove there.  He's a speedy player, good experience, and should be a good fit for the 3rd or 4th line, plus has 2 Stanley Cups from his tenure with the Penguins.  Looks like a good trade on paper at least.  

My guess is that Burakovsky is still on the trading block as well.  He's got talent but can't seem to reach break-out velocity with this team.  Rumors are swirling but nothing has solidified yet.

  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Going into the final quarter of the season and all the teams are either gearing up for a big push for the playoffs or know they are out of contention and have traded away all their decent veterans for draft picks and rebuilding to the future.  The Caps are looking good with their trades for Hagelin, who is slotting into our system very quickly, and Jensen, already signed to a 4-year contract, who is a speedy D-man with great hockey IQ, who will take a lot of the load off our top 3 defensemen so they aren't racking up 20+ minutes a night. 

Now that AHL players can be moved up & back without thought to waivers and cap space, I expect that defenseman Siegenthaler will return to the Caps come playoff time, even though he will likely be a healthy scratch.  Smith -Pelly may also return, but the acquisition of Hagelin makes it less likely, since DSP's play was only so-so all season and he doesn't have the speed of Hagelin.

Coming up tonight is a game with the other top of the division team, the NY Islanders, headed by Coach Trotz.  A young team doing well this season that hasn't had to face the crucible of playoff hockey.  It should be an interesting game.  Coming up this month, we're seeing a lot of Tampa Bay, who is pretty much a lock on the President's Trophy, way ahead in points for the season, so these games will also be giving us a preview for postseason action.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Weezy

Great analysis.  Hockey and winning the Stanley Cup is a marathon, not a sprint.  Evening up players minutes may seem trivial but harder to execute.  It all changes in the playoffs as teams tighten down and goals are much harder to come by.  Caps made 2 good trades with no apparent downside.  Both trades gave us speed.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

And not just speed, but smarts.  And with Hagelin, someone who is always troublesome for the opposition to cover.   Glad he's on our team now!  He was always such a pest with Pittsburgh.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Bizarre, indeed!  Something must be going on in NY because on Friday we get an empty net goal courtesy of their forward dumping the puck into his own net , and today the goalie pulls a move that  pee-wee hockey players on up are taught is an automatic goal against.  

It does tell me, though, that Ovechkin is totally in that goalie's head, which is a bit surprising, because Georgikiov stopped/blocked/deflected everything that Ovi had fired at him during the game....although he had to be hurting from them.   

And as a testament to how tough hockey players are, Shattenkirk took a puck in the face and had to get 6 stitches (3 inside his mouth, 3 in his lip) and only missed 4 minutes of playing time, and Kempny got a broken nose and only missed 3-4 shifts.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

In their win against Tampa Bay on Saturday night, Ovechkin got his 50th & 51st goals of the season, for the 8th time in his 13 seasons that he has hit the 50 goal mark, making him only the 3rd player in NHL history to achieve this feat, with Mike Bossy and Wayne Gretzky being the others (and one short season due to a lockout).  In this era of highly trained goaltenders, this is an even more remarkable feat.  

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

The CAPS played a decent game last night against a desperate Montreal team, trying to stay alive and get a playoff spot.  They played a tribute to Ovechkin's 50-goal seasons which was a compilation of clips from every 50th goal.  For the die-hard CAPS fans, Rod Langway "Secretary of Defense" walked in right in front of me and greeted people as everyone he walked by said hello.

Edited by Ferris Bueller
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Cool that you got to see Rod Langway.  My boss got to meet him thru a special all-access invite from a client/friend who is a big team supporter.  Boss is not a hockey fan, but he and Langway are from similar little run-down mill towns in Massachusetts and knew a lot of the same landmarks, etc., and the two of them were just chatting it up like old friends, while the client was staring, mouth agape, while boss casually hobnobbed with one of the client's heroes.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yea it was cool - he is a relatively easy person to talk to.  One thing that makes him unique is he was actually recruited to play collegiate football (Quarterback) at UNH and was also allowed to play NCAA hockey too.  He ended up getting to the NHL, even though he was an exceptional football player (and baseball too).  The guy is pretty humble considering his resume.  I always remember him as one of the holdouts who was grandfathered when NHL went to mandatory helmets.  The old guard was not required to wear them and he didn't.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Ferris Bueller said:

Yea it was cool - he is a relatively easy person to talk to.  One thing that makes him unique is he was actually recruited to play collegiate football (Quarterback) at UNH and was also allowed to play NCAA hockey too.  He ended up getting to the NHL, even though he was an exceptional football player (and baseball too).  The guy is pretty humble considering his resume.  I always remember him as one of the holdouts who was grandfathered when NHL went to mandatory helmets.  The old guard was not required to wear them and he didn't.  

He was a bad-ass - if I remember, he was the last person in the NHL to play without a helmet.

Hey, I don't know much about hockey, and I'm not sure whether or not I mentioned this ten-years ago, but does anyone know who Moe Mantha is? My big sister (my fraternity big sister) is married to him.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Good game, not a great game last night.  Scary at the end of the game when we were up 3-2, Oshie got a penalty and the Canes pulled their goalie with about 3 minutes to play, for 6 on 4 action.  We managed to kill the penalty and then Eller got an empty net goal with about 12 seconds left to close it out.  

Overall, Caps did not have enough shots on goal, and they dialed down the hits after the first period, so they can play a better game than the one last night, but still a good game overall.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Awful game last night by the Caps.  5-0 and they set (bad) records for lowest shots on goal in playoff games, etc.  They were out-everything'd by the Hurricanes.  The only Caps' achievement of note was Ovechkin KO'd a 'Canes young forward with 3 punches.  Hope the kid is okay, but he was dazed and confused and helped off the ice and apparently taken straight to the ER.  A fair fight, by hockey standards -- the kid called Ovi out, both dropped gloves and no sucker punches.  But just because Ovi isn't known as a fighter doesn't mean he can't fight.   

 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On Thursdays I work late at the bar school handling a once a week service we provide to grads.  About 7:45 I stepped outside and heard this huge singular cheer.   We are next door to the Arlington Roof Top Bar.

Immediately went to my cell and checked the scores.   Bingo....Ovi had scored and the Caps had tied the game 1-1. 

Not exactly sure what all that means....but it was nice to know Ovi tied up the game. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Very tough loss, I was hoping the CAPS would take one on the road as a good confidence builder coming back to CapOne Center for game 5.

Oshie being cross-checked and potentially hurt can do a number on the team.  He is a leader and really does a lot to help bridge the gap on this team.  I really hope he is OK.

Update: Capitals T.J. Oshie 'won't be playing any time soon' after being hurt in Game 4 loss by Mark Brehm USA Today

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The hit on Oshie was dirty (late, off the puck, cross-checked in the back in the numbers into the boards, should have been a 5-minute major.  Hope that Dept. of Player Safety reviews and gives Fogele a game suspension.  I know playoff hockey they don't call so many penalties, but the refs are letting this series get out of control.  It could be a turning point for the Caps in terms of determination.  Remember when Backstrom had his finger broken in the Cup run last year and was out several games, or when Kuzy had his shoulder separated, or when Wilson got the multi-game suspension, the guys rallied and brought the series back.   As far as lines go, Hagelin's style is probably the closest match to Oshie's, but he doesn't have that same hand-eye coordination that Osh uses in front of the net to deflect shots in.  However, no one was establishing a net front presence last night, so that becomes a moot point.

Kuzy really needs to show up in this series though.  He was looking better last night, but it's not enough yet.  Calling up Siegenthaler is helping the D, he was steady and smart.  And I know that Reirden doesn't seem to have chemistry with DSP but maybe it's time to call him back from Hershey for a 4th line grinder that comes up big in clutch situations.

ETA:  Devante Smith-Pelly has been called up from Hershey

 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

14 hours ago, Ferris Bueller said:

Very tough loss, I was hoping the CAPS would take one on the road as a good confidence builder coming back to CapOne Center for game 5.

Oshie being cross-checked and potentially hurt can do a number on the team.  He is a leader and really does a lot to help bridge the gap on this team.  I really hope he is OK.

Update: Capitals T.J. Oshie 'won't be playing any time soon' after being hurt in Game 4 loss by Mark Brehm USA Today

The second he got up from that hit I said "Dislocated shoulder", then the way he was hunched over supporting his arm on the way off the ice.  If he "merely" separated it and they popped it back in there is a chance we see him again during a deep run, but probably no chance the rest of this series.  If there was ligament damage he's done for the remainder.  Someone else said he thought maybe a broken forearm, but I've seen my share of shoulder dislocations during play and that was my hunch based on the impact and how he reacted after.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We went to the CAPS practice today, and it was pretty busy.  The DSP jerseys were on sale again, which was interesting to see.  Hopefully they can get back in the groove at home and end this in 6 games.

They were working Holtby really hard.  Nic Dowd kindly stayed after practice and signed every, single person's stuff, and posed for numerous pictures; VERY cool of him as he was there for probably 30 minutes after practice ended.  

 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

A gorgeous game by the Caps last night in a pounding, all-in, 200-foot effort all game long for a 6-0 shutout.  The goal above shows just how in much pain the 'Canes are in at this point, with Dougie Hamilton makes the decision to not touch the puck as he sees Ovechkin coming up behind him.  As Laughlin said after the game "it was a business decision" to leave the puck.  Fabulous penalty killing, and it looks like rookie Jonas Siegenthaler is a wonderful fit beside John Carlson, settling the D pairings into 3 solid L-R pairs.  Scoring last night was Backstrom, Backstrom, Connolly, Wilson, Dowd and Ovechkin.  Ovi's goal was on the power play, and was in the back of the net 1 second after an offensive zone puck drop on the far side of the ice from his office.  

A lot of stats in this game, but star among them, Braden Holtby becomes the top playoff shutout goalie for the Caps, with 7 in his career, besting Olie Kolzig.  Nic Dowd scores the first ever playoff penalty goal by the Caps.  

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On a side note I was interacting with a grad of the bartending school who bartends at Cap One Center for Caps and Wizards games.   During the playoffs this year she has been earning roughly twice what she makes at any regular game.  Actually great money for an event that isn't that long.  

I think the employees at Aramark at the Cap Center are rooting as hard as anyone for the Caps to win tonight.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

A sad day for Caps fans.  Tough loss last night in a double OT in a game that saw the Caps start strong and slowly lose their mojo.  From my POV, the loss is almost equally spread between coaching errors (esp. power play), injuries, player errors, bad officiating and bad puck luck.   One or two can be overcome if the other components are solid, but not when they all are present.   Hats off to Ovechkin, he played lights-out hockey all series long. 

curious to see what the off season will bring.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, weezy said:

A sad day for Caps fans.  Tough loss last night in a double OT in a game that saw the Caps start strong and slowly lose their mojo.  From my POV, the loss is almost equally spread between coaching errors (esp. power play), injuries, player errors, bad officiating and bad puck luck.   One or two can be overcome if the other components are solid, but not when they all are present.   Hats off to Ovechkin, he played lights-out hockey all series long. 

curious to see what the off season will bring.

Louise, 

I watched that game, mostly on silent TV, from the end of the 2nd period onward. Knowing nothing about hockey, but a great deal about sports and games in general - I know that, almost without exception, controlling the center of the playing field gives one opponent a better chance to win over the other - what I saw was Carolina tending to control the center of the rink, and more often than not, push the puck down towards the Caps goal. What I also saw were two teams that were completely gassed - after the Canes' brief celebratory scrum, the teams' handshake line showed two exhausted foes, both in complete respect of the other. Did this series not boil down to a Rocky vs. Apollo-level brawl, where the team that could dig deep for that one last oomph of energy was in slightly better position to produce a final punch?

(I don't know when the second round starts, but often after a series such as this, the winning team won't have the stamina to survive the next round - I know that's small consolation and cold comfort. There's losing big and there's losing honorably, and in my eyes, the Caps lost honorably to a fantastic team.)

Towards the very end of the 3rd, when the puck was buried against the boards for seemingly forever, and then it popped out to Ovechkin, you could almost feel how badly he wanted a second chance at his shot that bounced off the goalie.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Definitely that was part of the coaching errors combined with player errors -- both in trying to move the puck up the boards, getting pinched down and then turned over.  Yes, both teams were gassed, but the Canes team overall is one of the youngest in the league and the Caps are middle-aged, and young legs are young legs. 

A weird little factor that helped the Canes last night was the ice got worse as the game went on.  The 'Canes arena has really lousy ice and has had it most of the season, so their players are very accustomed to playing on it.  It's part of the reason we did so badly in PNC Arena, since the Caps are known for play making through passing and puck handling (as opposed to shoot it at the net with a scrum there and jam it in).  The Ovi to Wilson goal illustrates that style beautifully.  If we can't pass well, that pretty much negates Backstrom and Kuznetnov.  That's just part of the puck luck.

  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

First preseason game of the new season tonight.  Puck drop at 7.   Tom Wilson is the only top line player on the ice tonight.  Lots of the lower line players who are fighting for a regular spot in the lineup (Stephenson and Boyd, notably), and a bunch of the guys who rotate in from Hershey in the AHL who are also in the fight for a berth, plus a few of the young prospects who are working their way up for a shot at making the NHL in the next year or two, or if they show really well in preseason, may be able to make the team (Gersich).  Also getting a look at the hoped-for goalie of the future, Ilya Samsonov.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Season officially started last night, first time the schedule worked out so the defending Cup winners played the penultimate Cup winners in their season opener.  Caps looked rusty for the first 5-7 minutes and St. Louis then made them look foolish and got out to a quick 2-0 lead, but then the Caps found their game and played fast & heavy, dominating possession for large swaths of time.  Kudos to their goalie b/c he was outstanding.  Ovi scored once but hammered the goaltender with multiple shots, so Binnington must be nursing a bunch of bruises today.  Stats show 5 shots on goal, but I don't know precisely how that stat is calculated because I would have thought it was in the 10-12 range.   We got the 2 goals back in the 2nd period  and then had a few minutes of bonus hockey that ended with Vrana using his speed to get inside a defender and flip one into the net in OT.  

 I'm looking forward to watching this season. The new additions have added size and speed to the lineup and the team looks dangerous.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I watched the baseball game last night and switched over to see a glimpse of hockey before trundling off to bed.  The Caps were down 5-1 at that point in the late 2nd period.  I figured lost cause and was very surprised to find out this morning that they came back and won the game 6-5 after  overtime and a shootout.  I am going to have to find a replay of that game because the 3rd period must have been wildly exciting.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I strongly suggest attending a game in person.  Owners have spent $$$ on team, new scoreboards, sound, seats , bathrooms and concession to create a top notch experience.  I go to 5 games a year and it is always a great time.  Had a Heavy Seas IPA on tap Saturday, very good beer.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Live Hockey is one of the best sports to attend.  We have been going to 10+ games/season the last 7 years and are never disappointed. We were there Wednesday and had tickets for last night but could not attend.

The upgraded scoreboard, better seats, added TVs and lighting is really great. The sound system and graphics are second to none.

Parking = Easy

Surrounding food choices = excellent

Metro access - simple

This is the difference when an owner wants to deliver an exceptional experience and realizes happy fans come back and tell friends.

  • Like 5
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Caps finished their California road trip / west coast swing undefeated.  That's the first time in franchise history.  All four games, all played without Backstrom and  some without Hagelin, but Hags was cleared to play again and made his presence felt immediately.  These guys look even better than the Stanley Cup winning team.    Carlson is one of the league leaders in total points while being the leader in time on ice for the team and still playing stellar defense.  #JohnnyforNorris.  Ovechkin is currently on pace for another 50-goal season.  Kuzy is contributing every shift.  They are just a joy to watch right now!

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just FYI, for all their winning, the Caps haven't had their full, healthy roster on ice one time thus far this season.  Tonight's game will be the first time ALL the team will be healthy and ready to hit the ice.  Coach Rierden is keeping the Oshie-Kuzy-Vrana line together because they have created some great chemistry, and Backstrom will be centering Ovechkin & Wilson.   Puck drop at 7:00 tonight.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, weezy said:

Carlson did some fine , fine work last night capping things off with the game winning goal.  But as nice as that goal was, the really sick goal was TJ Oshie's second one:

 

Yes-Oshie had a great night! I was actually referring to Carlson’s outstanding defensive play throughout the game. The goal was just icing on the cake.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...