Marc Staal hits Semin, then Ovechkin hits Staal, then it looks like Semin crashes in the goalie intentionally and Staal takes offence to that and drops the gloves. The only problem is the skilled Russian looked like a little girl when he was slapping the sh*t out of Staal in their brief tilt. The play by play guys get a good laugh out of it. So did I.
Tech Tags: Alexander+Semin+fights+Marc+Staal video joke girl+fight slappy Rangers Capitals
A six-foot-seven website producer for the Washington Capitals prepared to dress as the team's backup goalie for Friday night's game against the Ottawa Senators because of an injury to Jose Theodore.Remember the last time something like this happened? Canucks fans may know.
Brett Leonhardt, who played Division III hockey in college, signed an amateur tryout contract before the game. If he were to actually get on the ice, he would tie the record for tallest goalie ever to play in an NHL game.
Theodore suffered a hip flexor injury during the Capitals' morning skate, and Simeon Varlamov was recalled from Hershey, the team's AHL affiliate, to back up starter Brent Johnson.
But Hershey happened to be on the road in San Antonio, and Varlamov's plane wasn't expected to land in the Washington area until close to the 7 p.m. ET game time.
So the Capitals received special dispensation from the league to dress three goaltenders. Varlamov was to take Leonhardt's spot on the bench upon arrival.
It's a similar situation to the one faced by the Vancouver Canucks in December 2003. After starter Dan Cloutier suffered a groin injury just before a home game against Pittsburgh, the Canucks were forced to call up Chris Levesque - the third-string goalie from the University of British Columbia.It may never happen, but I wish one time one of these emergency backups would actually be forced into the net just t see how they would hold up. Hell, records could be made! 30 shots against, 29 goals let in...
He was on the ice for warmups and backed up Johan Hedberg, but never appeared in the game. Levesque returned to his university team the next day.
"It was a great view. Usually I'm up here with you guys in the press box," Leonhardt said. "Mike Green started laughing his head off."
During the first half of the first period, Leonhardt sat at the end of the bench in a white baseball cap. He looked down sheepishly when shown he was shown on the huge replay screen along with the caption: "1st NHL game." The crowd roared. -AP
Labels: Capitals
That's the risk a GM takes putting a guy on waivers in the first place. Pettinger was placed on re-entry waivers as the Canucks have injury problems, as was Kyle Wellwood, and Tampa scooped up the depth forward. Maybe this was Gillis' plan all along since Pettinger cleared waivers a few days back. He wanted to get rid of him. Who knows for sure.
So what now? Is it time for Michel Ouellet to get a chance? The Canucks need another winger for tonight's game. Stay tuned.
Good luck in Tampa, Matt. Thanks for all your hard work here.
T Tags: Lightning+claim+Matt+Pettinger+off+waivers Canucks
Maybe it's the fact that the Canucks' lousy schedule comes into play now, or maybe it's just that Washington really is this good, but this game is so one-sided that I regret paying the $12.95 for it on Canucks PPV.
The Capitals are taking it to the Canucks in every way. Their puck control is near perfection. They are hemming the Canucks in their own zone for the majority of the game, and the Canucks just can't get it into a higher gear.
Kyle Wellwood has not done much tonight except cough the puck up leading to the Demitra penalty and the Caps' 2-1 goal and also get hammered by Ovechkin for viewing pleasure.
Yes, our 2nd line continues to suck. They are soft. They miss the net. They are perimeter. But the rest of the club is not exactly in sync either.
After 2 periods the Caps are outshooting the Canucks 25-3. Good god.
Nylander has 3 points. Ovechkin has none. You can keep AO off the sheet but there's plenty of other guys that can do damage in Washington.
PERIOD 3: LET'S JUST GET THIS OVER WITH
This a very good time for AV to do some line shuffling and that is exactly what he's doing.
Sedin-Sedin-Demitra
Pyatt-Wellwood-Raymond
Burrows-Kesler-Hansen
Rypien-Johnson-Bernier
- It seems as though the Canucks are aware that they could beat an old record of the fewest amount of shots in a game by Vancouver in their history. The current record is 8, which happened at the hands of the Devils in 1996. The Canucks currently have 5. They are now shooting the puck from anywhere.
- You can tell that the Caps have not made a lot of changes to their roster. The way every line moves the puck around you can tell they've played together for a long time. That is not the case in Vancouver... yet.
- Sanford is playing well in relief of Luongo.
- How many goals is Mike Green going to score this year?
- Just under 4:00 left and the Canucks register their 9th shot on goal. Phew. 35-9 are the totals now. Ouch.
- If you took a shot every time Demitra-Wellwood-Raymond coughed the puck up or missed the net, odds are you can't even walk right now. It's hard to pick on them when the whole team stunk it up tonight.
- The good news is that we play Detroit next. Why is that good news? Because the Canucks play hard against the Wings. It is also 3 days away, so the team can forget about this one and re-energize to play the Champs.
-BOXSCORE / GAME SUMMARY FROM YAHOO
So, which Canucks players had the worst +/- rating tonight? Take a guess.
T Tags: Canucks+lose+to+Capitals October+13+2008
The Canucks cannot access the MRI's on Bieksa's leg today but Vigneault did say:
"We put him on IR and hopefully he'll be back some time later this week," Vigneault said.So that is good news, or, better than I expected it to be. Shane O'Brien will take Bieksa's spot. That's a good thing. Let's see what O'Brien can do with more ice time. He doesn't have the same offensive flare as Bieksa, but judging by what I saw from him after Bieksa injured himself in game 2, he is a steady defenceman who makes good passes coming out of his own zone. He is quite aggressive and gets in passing lanes effectively, especially along the boards.
"It's the scenario that, according to (the team doctors), it's a mild MCL sprain."
In case you missed it, TSN aired a video segment about Ovechkin having rockstar status, and showed a clip made by the Capitals of Ovechkin and a few of his teammates "playing" on stage to generate some hype. In all it's cheeziness it's worth a look if you missed it.
Shit dudes, lose the makeup!
One thing is for sure, this clip was a hell of a lot better than watching Crosby 1-on-1.Boooorrrring.
T Tags: Ovechkin+rock+star stage band Capitals video
It just keeps getting better and better for Matt Cooke these days. At last season's trade deadline, he was traded to the surging Capitals and made a playoff appearance with Ovechkin and co. Now he has been signed by the Pittsburgh Penguins to play with a team that went all the way to the Cup Finals. Imagine playing with Ovechkin and then Crosby in the span of a year.
It is a 2-year deal, and I'm not sure of the moolah per season. Cooke will replace some of the sandpaper that the Penguins lost by letting Jarko Ruutu got to free agency.
T Tags: Penguins+sign+Matt+Cooke Unrestricted+free+agent
It doesn't happen very often that a professional sports athlete recieves the prestigious key to the Capitol City. It has not happened since 1983. But when Ovechkin won NHL MVP in the form of the Hart and Lester Pearson trophies as well as the Rocket Richard and Art Ross trophies for his uncanny scoroing ability, the honor was his. Oh, and he has brought hockey excitement back to D.C.
Ovechkin didn't dress up like all of the suits around him. He chose the more casual approach: dress shirt, unshaven, and his humor abounded.
"Today is a big day," said Alex Ovechkin, standing on the front steps of city hall. "I have a key for the city. And I'm the president this day in the city, so everybody have fun - and no speed limit."Rather than anyone frowning at that ruling by the new king of the NHL, it was met with huge laughter.
"I love that his first order of business was to say party all night and no speed limits," Capitals owner Ted Leonsis said.I would expect nothing less from Leonsis. Great stuff.
It is difficult to pick the Flyers to win tonight's game against the Caps. The Caps have caught fire again and must be primed after erasing a 2-0 deficit in Game 6 and winning 4-2 to stun the Flyers and their fans in Philly's building. Ovechkin had not scored a point since Game 1 and the pressure was building. Even amongst all the tight-checking and banging done to him, he broke out last game, scoring the winning goal and the killer 4th goal. The Caps are not a 1-man team. Teaming Semin with Backstrom has proven to be magic, while Kozlov, Fedorov and Alex play well together as well.
Bad news for Philly indeed. They are going to have to buckle down and score in bunches to beat the Caps. But that's a tall order with Huet in net.
I say the Caps win 4-3.
**UPDATE**
I'm not sure when or how it's OK for Thoreson to push the Caps D-man into Huet and then Kapanen scores, but that's how it was. In the end, I thought the Capitals were explosive, but the Flyers put out a massive gutsy effort. No Gagne. No Knuble. These Flyers are good.
You can toss the Sharks into the big heap of trouble as well. What is it going to take to inspire these guys to match the Flames' physicality and desire? Does Thornton need to snort a bowl of coke before he goes out there? How about Michalek and Campbell show something? Do Ryan Clowe and Nabokov have to do it all by themselves?
Habs-Bruins Game 7
What a game this is going to be. After a thrilling finish to Game 6 and a Bruins win to force this series to 7 games, who really knows what to expect in Game 7. I would 
say that you won't see what happened in the 3rd period last game to happen in the final game. Both teams should be a little more cautious.
A big key to this game may be how composed the Habs will be after brain farting in Game 6. Is Carey Price going to be the difference?
Something I really noticed in Game 6 was the asshat play of Alexei Kovalev. I think a really big reason Kovalev did not show up was because Saku Koivu returned from a broken foot for the first time in the series and the spotlight wasn't on the Russian anymore. Think of it this way: Kovalev wore the "c" in Koivu's absence and was a force to be reckoned with just before the playoffs and in the first 5 games of the series as well. Hell, he had 6 points in the first 5 games. Koivu comes back in game 6, and Kovalev plays 21:46, has only 2 shots, no points and was a -3. Some guys love the spotlight, and Kovalev is one of them. Let's see how he rebounds (or acts) tonight.
Personally, I think he's a highly gifted selfish jackass.
5-2 Habs win tonight is my prediction. But I sure hope I'm wrong.
**UPDATE** 2 assists for Kovalev and a bunch of points for the Kostitsyn Buthas and the Habs destroy the B's 5-0. Carey Price showed a lot of composure for a kid in Game 7.
Even better news from the Ducks camp is that Scott Niedermayer has been fined $500,000 by the League for not reporting to training camp last fall, as he was considering retirement. Ha! (Update: Bob McKenzie says that the team itself fines Niedermayer.) I guess there is a rule about that in the CBA. Couldn't happen to a better Duck and a bigger cheating GM in Brian Burke, who really kept Niedermayer and Selanne out of the Ducks lineup to save cap space. (Burke is fighting this fine and trying to reverse it. So then, Selanne WAS at training camp then?
Unreal. The Canes could not clinch the Southeast Division tonight and now the Capitals can finish tops in that division and 3rd in the East. Amazing how lousy that division is. The Canes can drop all the way out of a playoff spot down to 9th on Saturday if the Caps beat the Panthers on Saturday.
Why oh why don't I have NHL Center Ice again? I want to watch that game!
The Panthers are not to be taken lightly though. They are 6-3-1 in their last 10 games. However, the Caps are 9-1-0 in that span.
Geez, the second year in a row that the east has a playoff spot up for grabs right at the end of the season.
Also amazing is how both the Canes and Senators have not played well since their big pre-trade deadline deal, swapping Stillman and Commodore for Eaves and Corvo.
Go Caps! I want to see Alex the Gr8 in the playoffs.
T tags: Hurricanes Panthers Capitals Playoff+spot Southeast+Division
Labels: Capitals, Hurricanes, Panthers
Pettinger has made it very clear in a press conference today that he doesn't bring the same elements to the game that Matt Cooke does. He's less of a pest. His strengths are in his skating and his shooting, plus he can be aggressive.
So Pettinger was Nonis' salvation army choice this year. We knew he wouldn't trade the farm for a big-named guy by the deadline. Pettinger is going to get the chance to excel in Vancouver. If he plays well, he is going to play more.
He is a native of Victoria, BC. I love how Nonis gets these BC guys. Smart move. Apparently Pettinger's wife is ecstatic about coming to Vancouver because she has so many friends there, Matt had explained at the press conference.
Matt Cooke on the other hand, snuck out of GM Place after learning that he had been traded, and avoided the media. Apparently, Cooke and Vigneault did not see eye-to-eye, where Cooke was one of Marc Crawford's favorites. Cooke said to TSN today:
"Definitely there was a big change two years ago."
Came across this image at the HF Boards today of Alex Ovechkin and Andrei Markov partying it up it what looks to be Russia. The ladies look Russian don't they? Ah yes. Nothing like being a celebrity. This crap circulates around the web faster than a turd in a toilet bowl.
And I'm just here to keep the circulation going :)
Bottom's up, Alex. What a dude.
T Tags: Ovechkin+Markov+drunk picture party
Washington will pay Alex the Great $9 million per year for the first 6 years and $10 million per season for the remaining 7 years. This is the biggest contract in NHL history. Worth it? Hell yeah! Down the road, this could actually be a bargain.
Caps GM George McPhee has finally gotten over his Jagr Syndrome and doled out serious cash on a franchise player. It was being reported recently that Ovechkin was turning down $7.5 million per season and that there could be movement. But toss that kind of talk in the trash can.
Now McPhee has some serious dilemnas. The biggest issue is that Olaf Kolzig's contract expires this summer and he is worth a few pennies. McPhee will also have to somehow surround Ovechkin with some decent talent. Someone who's last name is NOT Nylander for starters.
T Tags: Capitals+sign+Ovechkin biggest+deal+NHL+History
Labels: Capitals
Well, I'd say last night's game did not live up to the hype. Mike Brown fought Voros early in the 1st period and the rest of the violence never really materialized. The first period was more wide open than expected, with both teams scoring twice, but then they clamped down defensively in the 2nd and 3rd period. The Canucks didn't really disrupt the Wild too much physically, but played their game and won 4-2 in solid fashion.
I'm loving Kesler's end-to-end goal still. He is bringing it this year and earning all of his $1.9 million.
Naslund's hatrick was a thing of beauty as he tied Tony Tanti for the all-time Canucks leader in hatricks at 10. Nazzy has his game now, and is finally clicking with the Sedins. Fun to watch.
Almost as enjoyable, was seeing Boogaard get next to no icetime at all. He played 3:53 total and sat on the bench for the whole 3rd period. I laughed. I guess Lemaire didn't want to start a riot, or was encouraged not to.
More comments from Wild and Canucks players prior to last night's game from the Star Tribune:
-Gaborik (in reference to why he elbowed Kesler last week):
"It's not like I'm doing it every game," Gaborik said. "It was kind of a one-time deal. ... Guys like Kesler, Cooke run around, especially Cooke. He's always chirping everyone. In [the 2003] playoffs, he was just doing stupid things. He's just like that."
"He runs around, he tries to hurt you, he talks a lot on the ice -- too much," said Bouchard, who's not friendly with Burrows despite them skating together during summers. "Sometimes he just says some stupid stuff, and I know a lot of guys ask him to [fight] and he doesn't want to go."Yeah, that's the agitator's role, dumbass. Esa Tikkanen made agood living out of stuff like that.
"The egos those guys have are sad," Boogaard told the Minneapolis Star. "Pretty soon, it'll catch up to them, whether it be this year, or next year, it always does with those kind of guys. I mean, it caught up with Kesler. You watch the clips of the Boulerice thing [Flyer Jesse Boulerice was suspended 25 games for cross-checking Kesler in the face on Oct. 10], you see Kesler hooking him and slashing him before it happened. And obviously there's just a time when you snap. Boulerice did. It's bad, but I don't feel sorry for Kesler. I did before, but hearing these comments and seeing him play on Saturday, he's just a bad guy."I see Boogey is up on his history. As for the rest of his rants I say: STFU blockhead.
Boogaard also took a swipe at Canucks' coach Alain Vigneault.
"That's almost a point for me that they feel they have to call somebody up to look after me," Boogaard said. "It's funny, the [Canucks] said last year they don't like tough guys and don't need a tough guy. Obviously, they feel they do now for some reason. I don't know why."
"It's silly," McCabe said of recent suggestions that Maurice's days might be numbered. "There is absolutely nothing wrong with Paul or any of our coaches.Yes, McCabe it IS yours and the players' fault. Unfortunately, it's the coach that gets fired first when the players tune him out. A public statement of defence won't stop that.
They have us prepared every game. Our practices are as good as they've ever been.
The blame is 100% on us, the players. It has nothing to do with the coaches."
Well, that was a hell of a lot better. The Nucklebutts showed up tonight and played pretty well. Ovechkin's late goal only put a damper on Vancouver's effort and made it unnecessarily close. I thought the Canucks played their game very well tonight.
Good on Pyatt to bag 2. We need more offence from him.
Badda bop bop bop....I'm loving Kesler's play this season. Hope he keeps it up.
Vigneault got some response from his squad by mixing up the lines again.
- Shots were close: Caps 28 Canucks 26.
- Canucks were 2-for-5 on the power play. The Caps were 2-for-4.
- Luongo continued his stellar play tonight.
So, put away the panic meter for now. But let's be realistic here. The real challenge comes on Sunday night, where the Nucks play the Wings....at home. Hopefully they can carry some momentum from tonight's game. I think they just might.
As a side point....don't you feel a little bad for Ovechkin? He needs better talent around him. He plays well with Semin but needs something more. You can't deny that his efforts are second to none.
T Tags: Canucks Capitals review
I'm not going to give a big analysis on tonight's game except to say that the Canucks had better win this one. I'm pretty sure that if they lose, the panic button will be nearing the red, if it isn't already.
Strangely enough, both teams have only won one game in their last 5. I don't know what Nonis is going to do to motivate this bunch of clowns for tonight's game, but I say a shakey Canucks team squeaks one out in Washington 2-1.
From Canucks.com:
The Capitals haven't beaten the Canucks in regulation since March 28, 1998. They are 2-6-1 in the last nine meetings, with both wins coming in overtime.Now that's pretty positive isn't it?
Bryan McCabe. Interesting how once again, when the Leafs lose key players to injury they start winning. That was a hell of a job by them and especially Jiri Tlusty last night shutting down the Penguins. Too bad McCabe couldn't go out long term. Remember how the Leafs rallied when Sundin went out with an injury last year? Or was that the year before? I'm thinking they'll do the same with the Tucker/McCabe injuries.
My world just got a bit smaller today. I noticed through Eric McErlain from Off Wing Opinion that Washington Capitals, Wizards, etc owner Ted Leonsis is on Facebook. So I took the opportunity to ask him a question there that has plagued me about the Caps just to see if he'd answer it.
I know the Capitals have signed Nylander this year to center Ovechkin and that was a good start. However, with all of the Cap space you have, why wouldn't you have made a pitch at Briere or Gomez?To my suprise, he answered my question within a few hours.
Are the Caps slowly building from within and not dishing out big bucks on UFA's?
I'm sure you've heard that question a million times.
I dont intend to use my Facebook as yet another way to answer Caps fan's questions-- if you would like--please email me at Washingtoncaps@aol.com and I will be glad to answer.However...Points well made. I guess my question would have been better off asked last summer. This is the first summer in a while that the Caps have actually made a bit of noise in the signings of Nylander, Poti and Kozlov. All 3 players I would not have chosen, but that is just my opinion.
Why do you think signing Nylander at $5.5 million; and Poti at $ 3.5 million; and Kozlov at $ 2.5 million not dishing out big bucks? That is $11 million in new salaries out the door. We will sell $2 million more in tix next year for those signings:-). We pay Olie $ 5.5 million. We will soon have to pay Ovechkin and Semin huge dollars-- and there ya go-- the entire salary cap will be spoken for.
Labels: Black Hawks, Capitals, Coyotes
It was reported late last night that the Oilers were close to signing Nylander, but Washington landed him today, signing him to a 4-year contract. No money figures have been released yet.
Now, will he click with Ovechkin? And if he does, how many points will he put up?
He had 83 points in 79 games with the Rangers last season.
The Canadiens have signed Roman Hamrlik to a 4-year deal today. No terms released there either.
Hawks' GM Dave Tallon, fresh of a 2-year contract extension, has signed Robert Lang to a 1 year contract this afternoon. Lang will center Havlat and perhaps Vrbata if Handzus signs elsewhere. The Hawks are still trying to sign Handzus though. Maybe this is a sign of that possibility not happening.
T Tags: Capitals+sign+Nylander Canadiens+sign+Hamrlik
Labels: Capitals
THE NEW
What's on the shoulder (thanks, Japer)
THE OLD
The Stupid
Labels: Capitals
My other site: The best historical NHL trades site on the web:
EACH TEAM NAME HEADER IS A LINK THAT LEADS TO THAT CITY'S MAIN NEWSPAPER HOCKEY SECTION
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