Call it a case of (insert professional championship, such as the Stanley Cup) Hangover, but on a much smaller scale and without the championship. That’s basically what we saw with the Caps last night. Two days after the giant-killing in Ottawa, the Caps looked largely disjointed and, aside from a brilliant early power play that was criminally unscored-upon, unable to apply significant pressure through most of the night in falling 5-2 to Tampa Bay. That’s ok, looking at the big picture. Now with four days until their next game, the Caps can get their wounded stars healthy and prepare to make some real headway in the Eastern Conference standings (and given their last-place position in said conference as of this morning, there is nothing but headway to be had – but hey, we’re tied with Buffalo, and everyone always seems to think that Buffalo is on the verge of winning everything).
As always, there are positives to be gleaned, even from a loss. Mike Green again showed off his offensive stick-wielding prowess (the true likes of which we had not seen since early last season in Colorado) in driving deep into the offensive zone and feeding a pass into the crease, eventually deposited into the net courtesy of Ovie. Kolzig was completely sharp on a number of occasions, until the Caps shot-giveaway special attempted to again take over a game. The 14,617 Capitals faithful in attendance did not turn on their slightly underperforming team, instead saving their third-period ire for the referees and their non-calls on Matt Bradley short-handed breaks, non-calls on dislodged nets with pucks in them, non-calls on various trips and hooks, and the occasional offside-causing blockage of the puck (for the record, lest we be beset with “stop complaining about the refs, your team sucks”-type comments, it’s unlikely any of this really played into the ultimate result – it was just nice to have fans of a currently losing team find another demon to boo other than that team). Tomas Fleicshmann notched his fourth goal of the season, matching his career high, set last season. He’s rounding nicely into a solid second-line winger. Could there be a second-line-winger controversy when Alexander Semin is healthy? Of course not.
Speaking of Semin, these next four days off could be a good time for him to get healthy(-ier) and to come back to bring that wicked snap-shot of his to a lineup desperately seeking it. Captain Clark is reportedly coming back after the short break (we hope to reunited with Ovie on the top line), so the Caps could be returning to a semblance of what the team was really supposed to look like, and that team that thrilled and teased us all with the 3-0 start. With playoff positioning still only five points away, there is still time to make a run and make it happen, though it does have to start soon. The timing of Clark’s return and (we hope) Semin’s imminent return could not be better.
Coach Hanlon is, according to Tarik’s blog, a little angry over last night’s loss. That’s good. A little anger could be what the Caps need, as we’ve previously noted. Some coach-inspired anger spilling over onto the ice would be as useful as the aforementioned Semin snap-shot. Get furious, Caps, and make the run we know you can make.
Sunday, November 11, 2007
Thursday, November 8, 2007
Blocking the Shot, Stemming the Tide, Stopping the Bleeding
Perhaps in March and April, when the Caps are jockeying for playoff position, we will look back to Dave Steckel’s stick-less blocking of a shot while killing of a 5-on-3 power play as the turning point of the season. It could be the sort of moment that turned around the entire momentum of the season and not just this utterly perfect upset game in Ottawa. It topped even their home-opening shutout win of Carolina as far as complete efforts go, and definitely tops that win as far as potential season-long implications. It all goes back to that play. It was shades of six years ago and a different sport, when Lavar Arrington returned an interception for a touchdown to turn around the season of a Redskins team that at that point was 0-5 and disintegrating (interestingly enough, also with many calls to can the coach). Of course, that Skins team finished at .500 and out of the playoffs and the coach was canned, so perhaps an imperfect comparison, but the similar premise remains.
It was that “full 60 minutes” we’ve heard so much about, and it was never more evident than during the third period, when instead of sitting back and simply trying to survive an aggressive and desperate Ottawa attack, the Caps took shots of their own, eventually being rewarded with a vintage Ovechkin goal and a much-more-comfortable three-goal lead.
We’re sometimes asked what possible positives we can glean from seemingly completely negative situations (there have been some tough ones. In this situation, though, we need to ask: what possible negatives can be taken from tonight? A brief lapse late in the second period to give up the lone Ottawa goal? Nothing overwhelmingly terrible there, really. A bad penalty or two? Maybe, but that can even lead to the great positive of 5-for-5 penalty killing against that 50-goals-in-14-games Ottawa attack. The 2-on-1 break by the Senators eight seconds into the game? Again, it only reminds us that Olie made the save and went on to make many more in probably his best game of the season. So really, what awfulness can be spun from tonight, when the Senators were handed their second (and worst) loss of the season?
More good stuff:
-The much-needed re-emergence of Viktor Kozlov. Three points and the kind of bull-your-way-to-the-net goal that we need to see a lot more of
-Niklas Backstrom: temporarily tired of dishing assists, he finally gets the first of no-doubt many NHL goals
-The afforementioned Dave Steckel. Sure he finished -1 for the night with no points, but that blocked shot sans stick on the 5-on-3 was worth more than anything on the stats sheet could show
-Power Play. 1-for-4 and consistent pressure. Just like their now-second-best game of the season vs. Carolina at home
So yeah, that was enjoyable to watch. A truly major early-season upset. On Frozen Blog puts it in proper historical context.
Time now to build on this and continue the climb back to Eastern Conference relevancy. Next up: Tampa Bay, who are only two points ahead of the Caps. I'll be watching while enjoying my Family 4-Pack. The Lighting, incidentally, are 1-7 on the road so far (finally winning tonight at Carolina).
It was that “full 60 minutes” we’ve heard so much about, and it was never more evident than during the third period, when instead of sitting back and simply trying to survive an aggressive and desperate Ottawa attack, the Caps took shots of their own, eventually being rewarded with a vintage Ovechkin goal and a much-more-comfortable three-goal lead.
We’re sometimes asked what possible positives we can glean from seemingly completely negative situations (there have been some tough ones. In this situation, though, we need to ask: what possible negatives can be taken from tonight? A brief lapse late in the second period to give up the lone Ottawa goal? Nothing overwhelmingly terrible there, really. A bad penalty or two? Maybe, but that can even lead to the great positive of 5-for-5 penalty killing against that 50-goals-in-14-games Ottawa attack. The 2-on-1 break by the Senators eight seconds into the game? Again, it only reminds us that Olie made the save and went on to make many more in probably his best game of the season. So really, what awfulness can be spun from tonight, when the Senators were handed their second (and worst) loss of the season?
More good stuff:
-The much-needed re-emergence of Viktor Kozlov. Three points and the kind of bull-your-way-to-the-net goal that we need to see a lot more of
-Niklas Backstrom: temporarily tired of dishing assists, he finally gets the first of no-doubt many NHL goals
-The afforementioned Dave Steckel. Sure he finished -1 for the night with no points, but that blocked shot sans stick on the 5-on-3 was worth more than anything on the stats sheet could show
-Power Play. 1-for-4 and consistent pressure. Just like their now-second-best game of the season vs. Carolina at home
So yeah, that was enjoyable to watch. A truly major early-season upset. On Frozen Blog puts it in proper historical context.
Time now to build on this and continue the climb back to Eastern Conference relevancy. Next up: Tampa Bay, who are only two points ahead of the Caps. I'll be watching while enjoying my Family 4-Pack. The Lighting, incidentally, are 1-7 on the road so far (finally winning tonight at Carolina).
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
A POINT!
You know how sometimes scoring slumps can be broken by the ugliest of goals? You know, that bounces-off-two-defensemens’-legs-then-dribbles-in-type of goal? Then that goal usually ushers in a torrid streak in which everything, at last, goes in? Maybe that ugly goal is akin to a 2-1 overtime loss to a fellow bottom-feeder. Maybe in losing to the (formerly?) lowly Atlanta Thrashers, the Caps have scored their ugly goal, won their ugly single standings point to break the standings-scoring drought (a drought that even managed to foul the mood of the owner). Maybe this sets the stage for a shocking win in Ottawa on Thursday, followed by a healthy dose of games against Southeast opponents; games ripe for more streak-breaking. Included in there is a nice four-day break, a prime opportunity to get back those desperately needed injured 30-goal scorers.
While they now sit at the bottom of the Eastern Conference, tied with Tampa Bay and Buffalo (Buffalo? Didn’t see that one coming) for last place, the Capitals are only four points behind the Rangers and Maple Leafs, who are tied for 8th. Yes, a playoff spot. Four points and lots and lots of time to make up the ground.
I was only able to half-follow the game through internet updates, due to that Versus-imposed blackout I still don’t fully understand. Thus I’m not sure exactly what went on, though I do see the Caps scored a power play goal and killed off six Thrashers’ opportunities. That’s something. Tom Poti played, Michael Nylander scored, helping the Caps surge back from that one-goal hole.
At this point, it could still be worse (they could be Edmonton or Phoenix), and there is plenty of opportunity to get better.
While they now sit at the bottom of the Eastern Conference, tied with Tampa Bay and Buffalo (Buffalo? Didn’t see that one coming) for last place, the Capitals are only four points behind the Rangers and Maple Leafs, who are tied for 8th. Yes, a playoff spot. Four points and lots and lots of time to make up the ground.
I was only able to half-follow the game through internet updates, due to that Versus-imposed blackout I still don’t fully understand. Thus I’m not sure exactly what went on, though I do see the Caps scored a power play goal and killed off six Thrashers’ opportunities. That’s something. Tom Poti played, Michael Nylander scored, helping the Caps surge back from that one-goal hole.
At this point, it could still be worse (they could be Edmonton or Phoenix), and there is plenty of opportunity to get better.
Monday, November 5, 2007
At 5-3, Why Worry?
Following up on Bobtimist’s fine commentary on Clinton Portis’ resurgence and the means to keep it going, let’s look at countering naysayers who are pessimistic despite the Redskins’ win over the Jets.
The optimism-hating line of the week will be something akin to “they barely beat a terrible team.” This presumably takes the place of the recent discrediting attempt to the tune of “the Lions win was fraudulent because Detroit really stinks.” Well, Detroit is 6-2 and stuck 44 on the Broncos and their vaunted shutdown corners, and held their equally vaunted crazy successful running system to 47 yards. Somehow the Redskins withstood that high-flying Detroit offense and suffocating D, so let’s stop pretending that wasn’t a huge victory. With that win legitimized (and becoming important, if tiebreakers come up later on), detractors must find another outlet, and this OT win over a 1-win team would seem to be a fine candidate. Predictably, we disagree.
Reasons for optimism from yesterday, aside from the obvious huge positive of the win:
-We do not have to deal with the “they won because of the coin toss” detraction. The Skins lost the coin toss and had to face down the scary Jets’ offense to start the overtime. It looked bleak after that 39-yard gain pushed the ball into Skins’ territory, but the D, looking ripe for the vultures to jump on their somewhat subpar performance, stood up and didn’t even allow a field goal attempt.
-Santana Moss, despite limited output yesterday, showed us he is still capable of the big play, flying down the field in overtime and putting himself in prime position to catch a game-ending bomb. Only a slight overthrow by JC kept it from happening. But we can find a positive there, in that Santana looks to again be ready to haul in the long ones.
-Halftime adjustments, widely considered a glaring weakness of this year’s team, were brilliant, whatever they may have been. Maybe the Skins just needed to be losing by a little instead of leading by a little going into the half. Could Coach Joe finally be reviving his half-time-adjusting genius of years past? Perhaps even by getting angry at his team’s lack of effort in a first half against an inferior opponent? Combined with Glen Halon’s bench outburst on Thursday, maybe DC is getting a much-needed infusion of angry coach motivation.
- LaRon Landry is a quick learner. This has been evident all season long, as his contributions to the secondary undeniably have contributed to the lack of big bombs given up by the D this year. His specific lesson from yesterday was how not to destroy a QB. Following his 15-yard penalty for pummeling Kellen Clemens with his helmet, Landry continued to bring the blitz from the secondary, and on more than one occasion pulled up after the ball was thrown, still hitting Clemens, but not with the helmet-leading voraciousness that would draw a flag. Lesson learned, and another step taken on the road to being a true disciplined-yet-deadly safety.
- The coming-to-town Eagles looked utterly inept. McNabb threw INTs into triple coverage, the defense folded, and the fans were flabbergasted. Looking forward to seeing them on Sunday.
The optimism-hating line of the week will be something akin to “they barely beat a terrible team.” This presumably takes the place of the recent discrediting attempt to the tune of “the Lions win was fraudulent because Detroit really stinks.” Well, Detroit is 6-2 and stuck 44 on the Broncos and their vaunted shutdown corners, and held their equally vaunted crazy successful running system to 47 yards. Somehow the Redskins withstood that high-flying Detroit offense and suffocating D, so let’s stop pretending that wasn’t a huge victory. With that win legitimized (and becoming important, if tiebreakers come up later on), detractors must find another outlet, and this OT win over a 1-win team would seem to be a fine candidate. Predictably, we disagree.
Reasons for optimism from yesterday, aside from the obvious huge positive of the win:
-We do not have to deal with the “they won because of the coin toss” detraction. The Skins lost the coin toss and had to face down the scary Jets’ offense to start the overtime. It looked bleak after that 39-yard gain pushed the ball into Skins’ territory, but the D, looking ripe for the vultures to jump on their somewhat subpar performance, stood up and didn’t even allow a field goal attempt.
-Santana Moss, despite limited output yesterday, showed us he is still capable of the big play, flying down the field in overtime and putting himself in prime position to catch a game-ending bomb. Only a slight overthrow by JC kept it from happening. But we can find a positive there, in that Santana looks to again be ready to haul in the long ones.
-Halftime adjustments, widely considered a glaring weakness of this year’s team, were brilliant, whatever they may have been. Maybe the Skins just needed to be losing by a little instead of leading by a little going into the half. Could Coach Joe finally be reviving his half-time-adjusting genius of years past? Perhaps even by getting angry at his team’s lack of effort in a first half against an inferior opponent? Combined with Glen Halon’s bench outburst on Thursday, maybe DC is getting a much-needed infusion of angry coach motivation.
- LaRon Landry is a quick learner. This has been evident all season long, as his contributions to the secondary undeniably have contributed to the lack of big bombs given up by the D this year. His specific lesson from yesterday was how not to destroy a QB. Following his 15-yard penalty for pummeling Kellen Clemens with his helmet, Landry continued to bring the blitz from the secondary, and on more than one occasion pulled up after the ball was thrown, still hitting Clemens, but not with the helmet-leading voraciousness that would draw a flag. Lesson learned, and another step taken on the road to being a true disciplined-yet-deadly safety.
- The coming-to-town Eagles looked utterly inept. McNabb threw INTs into triple coverage, the defense folded, and the fans were flabbergasted. Looking forward to seeing them on Sunday.
A Win Is A Win, But We Need to Hate Harder
Surely the DCO nation would be happy with their beloved Redskins overcoming a fourteen-point deficit on the road against an opponent firing with Kellen cannons of desperation. Surely the DCO nation would be happy with a five-and-three midway point with the three losses coming to a 2-loss, a 1-loss, and the greatest team of all time, respectively (or respect-less-ly), right? Surely the DCO would laugh in the face of those curmudgeons at the Washington Post (save one), who basically note that all of the adversity overcoming didn’t matter as the Redskins just couldn’t beat on those lowly Jets enough to properly savor this victory. I mean, why would the DCO guard the ‘tism on this victory, one where Clinton Portis’s spryness again returned, as he danced between the Pete Kendall-Chris Samuels hat-on-hats to the tune of 196 yards and a touchdown? Why would they temper any sort of reaction to the fifth, game-winning overtime upright-splitting performance by current DCO hall-of-famer Shawn Suisham? Well, the reason isn’t that we aren’t impressed with the ‘skins overcoming another bottom-feeder with guile, guts, and ‘ggressiveness, it’s that the positivity that we could possibly be emanating in response could be detrimental to the team.
This is evidenced in a gross misjudgment by the current beacon of ‘tism at the Post, Mike Wise, who after telling us all to relax, and that everything was going to be fine™ on Friday, distributed a bevy of happy backslaps to the aforementioned Portis in light of his stellar performance and back-carrying tendencies. While we of course loved the positivity in the face of Les Carpenter’s scoffing at the lack of hearty victories against the league dregs, we can’t help but feel that a column like this is not going to help Clinton go back to being the reason the Redskins were good two years ago and terrible last year. See, what we know about C.P., other than the fact that he has a penchant for intensely entertaining pressers, is that the haterz are his motivation this year. We attempted to heighten that motivation before a week 2 victory over the Eagles with this post, summing up all of the reasons we should hate Clinton and his ways. The purpose of this post was to further motivate Clinton to two-step in front of his detractor sect and rip off 30-yard scampers behind solid blocking and (slightly) improved quarterbacking. Portis didn’t quite respond the way we had initially hoped, but the team responded with a fantastic in-division victory.
With the Iggles again flailing into town, now is not the time to tell Clinton how much we love him and realize how important he is to the team. Now is not the time to bask in the team finally realizing that they have a solid left side of the line that can, with their all-pro pedigrees, open up holes for a guy who had 1,500 yards the last time he was healthy. We shouldn’t be feeling better about the Redskins holding precocious team-only meetings where offensive philosophies were chiseled out, and a superstar pledged his back to team-carrying. No, we should instead dwell on the fact that Clinton hasn’t been able to have performances like this against teams that aren’t the New York Jets. Why, Clinton, couldn’t you have run for close to 200 yards in another game this year? Was it because you were too busy referring to yourself in the third person, butchering proper English dialects, and loafing throughout the much important preseason? Could this performance be on the heels of organizational whispers that deem your backup Ladell Betts as the more competent ball-carrier, thus making your outlandish contract stipulations as unnecessary? Why now Clinton? It’s not like you will be able to continue this torrid pace against the “tougher” part of the schedule, again taking the skins to the playoffs and beyond. Why, your performance wasn’t even the most fantastic running back performance of the week.
No, we need more motivational hatred to be guided Clinton’s way, for a victory over those insufferable Iggles and their insufferable suffering fanbase would be just delightful to us. Would a blowout sweeping victory over the Iggles be the final nail in the Andy Reid “5 passes per run” era’s coffin? Will this win finally lead the Eagles’s franchise quarterback, Donovan “bouncepass” McNabb to end up being the next QB savior of the Chicago Bears? Will a T-shirt that reads, “T.O. Swallows Pills Supplied By the Reid Family Drug Emporium,” as suggested by my mother, be a bit too classless? Only 93,000+ haterz can influence those answers.
This is evidenced in a gross misjudgment by the current beacon of ‘tism at the Post, Mike Wise, who after telling us all to relax, and that everything was going to be fine™ on Friday, distributed a bevy of happy backslaps to the aforementioned Portis in light of his stellar performance and back-carrying tendencies. While we of course loved the positivity in the face of Les Carpenter’s scoffing at the lack of hearty victories against the league dregs, we can’t help but feel that a column like this is not going to help Clinton go back to being the reason the Redskins were good two years ago and terrible last year. See, what we know about C.P., other than the fact that he has a penchant for intensely entertaining pressers, is that the haterz are his motivation this year. We attempted to heighten that motivation before a week 2 victory over the Eagles with this post, summing up all of the reasons we should hate Clinton and his ways. The purpose of this post was to further motivate Clinton to two-step in front of his detractor sect and rip off 30-yard scampers behind solid blocking and (slightly) improved quarterbacking. Portis didn’t quite respond the way we had initially hoped, but the team responded with a fantastic in-division victory.
With the Iggles again flailing into town, now is not the time to tell Clinton how much we love him and realize how important he is to the team. Now is not the time to bask in the team finally realizing that they have a solid left side of the line that can, with their all-pro pedigrees, open up holes for a guy who had 1,500 yards the last time he was healthy. We shouldn’t be feeling better about the Redskins holding precocious team-only meetings where offensive philosophies were chiseled out, and a superstar pledged his back to team-carrying. No, we should instead dwell on the fact that Clinton hasn’t been able to have performances like this against teams that aren’t the New York Jets. Why, Clinton, couldn’t you have run for close to 200 yards in another game this year? Was it because you were too busy referring to yourself in the third person, butchering proper English dialects, and loafing throughout the much important preseason? Could this performance be on the heels of organizational whispers that deem your backup Ladell Betts as the more competent ball-carrier, thus making your outlandish contract stipulations as unnecessary? Why now Clinton? It’s not like you will be able to continue this torrid pace against the “tougher” part of the schedule, again taking the skins to the playoffs and beyond. Why, your performance wasn’t even the most fantastic running back performance of the week.
No, we need more motivational hatred to be guided Clinton’s way, for a victory over those insufferable Iggles and their insufferable suffering fanbase would be just delightful to us. Would a blowout sweeping victory over the Iggles be the final nail in the Andy Reid “5 passes per run” era’s coffin? Will this win finally lead the Eagles’s franchise quarterback, Donovan “bouncepass” McNabb to end up being the next QB savior of the Chicago Bears? Will a T-shirt that reads, “T.O. Swallows Pills Supplied By the Reid Family Drug Emporium,” as suggested by my mother, be a bit too classless? Only 93,000+ haterz can influence those answers.
Sunday, November 4, 2007
Brendan Haywood: Looking Good!
If you look past the ultimate competitive results of the most recent Wizards games, you'll see an improvement in what most consider the Wiz's most glaring weakness. When people begin their harping on the Wizards team construction, they immediately point out what they think is a lack of a big man of adequecy. Just about every pundit would opine, if the Wiz had someone like Tim Duncan or Shaq, they just might be competitive enough to be worth our preseason prediction love. While they may be slightly correct in that assessment, what they don't see is that the Wizards actually have a big man of note on their roster. His name (which aparently, still remains on his locker in the Verizon Center), is Brendan Haywood.
In the first three regular season games, Haywood has been most impressive, snagging 11 offensive boards in Indiana on the first game helping the Wizards to not lose the game in regulation time. On Friday, Haywood continued to shine, earning a double-double and a posterization of referee sweetheart Kevin Garnett (blocks look really cool when you actually foul the guy and the ref ignores it). On Saturday, Brendan continued his most rare display of competitive play, garnering a career-high 16 rebounds on his way to playing competitively against also-balyhooed Dwight Howard. 'wood continues to utilize whatever is motivating him, whether it be a guaranteed starting lineup spot, Eddie Jordan possibly being on the coaching hot seat, or being given props on various internet outlets by guys like Roger Mason Jr., Dan Steinberg, etc.
A happy Haywood was hard to come by last year, but at his most-motivated, 'wood was the Wizards' best five-spot option. However, possessing the inate knowledge of this fact made Haywood a bit lackadaisical, earning scorn from experimental Eddie Jordan, who would insert a dreadlocked, poetic motivator in the form of Etan Thomas in lieu of the woodman playing adequetly. Haywood curiously responded by loafing, knowing deep in his heart that his last name was meant to be uttered in the same hallowed breath as Unseld, Muresan, Booth and Bol.
Even if the Wizards have had a tough time with the whole winning thing, one has to think that since this big man situation has ultimately been solved, the Wizards are bound to reach the Eastern Conference Finals at the very least. With this big man thing out of the way, the Wiz can concentrate on the important things, like maybe hitting a three-pointer or two or five or something that would make them slightly more competitive.
In the first three regular season games, Haywood has been most impressive, snagging 11 offensive boards in Indiana on the first game helping the Wizards to not lose the game in regulation time. On Friday, Haywood continued to shine, earning a double-double and a posterization of referee sweetheart Kevin Garnett (blocks look really cool when you actually foul the guy and the ref ignores it). On Saturday, Brendan continued his most rare display of competitive play, garnering a career-high 16 rebounds on his way to playing competitively against also-balyhooed Dwight Howard. 'wood continues to utilize whatever is motivating him, whether it be a guaranteed starting lineup spot, Eddie Jordan possibly being on the coaching hot seat, or being given props on various internet outlets by guys like Roger Mason Jr., Dan Steinberg, etc.
A happy Haywood was hard to come by last year, but at his most-motivated, 'wood was the Wizards' best five-spot option. However, possessing the inate knowledge of this fact made Haywood a bit lackadaisical, earning scorn from experimental Eddie Jordan, who would insert a dreadlocked, poetic motivator in the form of Etan Thomas in lieu of the woodman playing adequetly. Haywood curiously responded by loafing, knowing deep in his heart that his last name was meant to be uttered in the same hallowed breath as Unseld, Muresan, Booth and Bol.
Even if the Wizards have had a tough time with the whole winning thing, one has to think that since this big man situation has ultimately been solved, the Wizards are bound to reach the Eastern Conference Finals at the very least. With this big man thing out of the way, the Wiz can concentrate on the important things, like maybe hitting a three-pointer or two or five or something that would make them slightly more competitive.
Saturday, November 3, 2007
All is Not Lost (This Weekend or Otherwise)
We certainly didn’t mean to lay all the blame of the Capitals’ loss in New York on the inexplicable-double-penalty-calling officials, but we may have given off that impression. With last night’s loss against the Flyers seemingly un-blamable on the refs, we must of course fall back on the usual (though in this case completely legitimate) scapegoat of injuries. Two words: Clark, Semin. Perhaps a third as well: Poti. Not many teams could well-endure the absence of a pair of 30-goal scorers (not to mention the absence of a valuable PP-point-playing defenseman).
I do truly hate to keep bringing up the name of this team, but the Rangers have only one more standings point than the Capitals right now (and 12 fewer goals; why isn’t Henrik Lundquvist getting Scott Gomez/Chris Drury money. Maybe he is; I don’t care). The lauded Rangers are supposed to be dominating the East with their ridiculous offense. They’re not. But critics continue to cling to hope that this is a Cup-worthy team. The Caps haven’t earned such benefit of the doubt yet, but that’s to be expected. A 3-0 start garnered no respect, so a 2-8 record since then will bury them in many people’s minds.
A pessimist might point out that the Capitals are 14th in the East with 10 points, only two ahead of those knee-jerk-coach-firing Atlanta Thrashers. A more optimistic look at the early-season standings, however, would reveal that the Caps are merely four points out of fifth place; not really a bad place to be with months to go in the season.
Going back to those ESPN power rankings for a moment: New Jersey at #30, the absolute bottom of everything? Wow. Check out the Thrashers above the Devils. New Jersey has been christened by the Chris Berman/Stuart Scott network as “The Worst Team in the NHL.” I never thought I’d live so long. Is Dainius Zubrus not the dynamic difference maker so many thought he was?
Yahoo!’s teaser for the Caps-Flyers game recap read “The Flyers finally broke the Capitals’ dominance…” Now, this dominance could really only refer to last season’s four-game sweep of the Flyers, but still it’s an indication that, even last year, the Caps were not, and currently are not, quite the pushovers many see them as.
Watching the game on TV, it seemed that the crowd was not quite as overrun with Flyers’ fans as it has been in years past. And by years past I mean prior to last year, when personal experience at MCI/Verizon Center revealed a much smaller (or at least much quieter, possibly because of the last-place nature of their team) Flyers’ fans contingent than I was used to. Maybe that’s an encouraging sign (if my perceptions were accurate), that there is at least one less visiting team this year to potentially overwhelm the Caps’ faithful with their own legion of unwashed.
It was a one-goal loss, a loss that the aforementioned 30-goal-scorers and PP-quarterbacking defenseman could have made a significant difference in. It’s these types of games that those three will make a significant difference in as the season goes on. While we look forward to the day when one-goal losses such as this one will turn into one-goal wins (or at least overtime games), we nevertheless take heart in the fact that the Caps (again) turned a 2-goal deficit into a 1-goal hole to make for an interesting finish. Such finishes will ultimately result in lots of victories; we are sure of that.
So yeah, it’s not the best start to what we’d hoped would be Rebound Weekend, with the Caps and Wizards going down. There still are, of course, the 1-7 Jets on the horizon, so that at least could be some measure for joy before Monday comes. Mike Wise thinks so. Seriously, this guy has gone from out-and-out optimism-hating to virtual optimism-marrying. Dmitri Young is jealous of his comeback. Pushing local-sports-‘tism even a little farther, maybe we’ll even be able to rejoice in the first Navy victory over Notre Dame in 43 years. Yes, perhaps that does not strike quite the emotional note that victories by the Caps, Wizards or Skins would strike, but it’s at least one other potential positive to look forward to.
We can salvage this weekend. We will not use such a word (salvage) for the Caps’ and Wizards’ seasons, however. There is too much hockey and basketball left for such surrender-ific words. Things will get better.
Relax. Everything’s going to be fine.
I do truly hate to keep bringing up the name of this team, but the Rangers have only one more standings point than the Capitals right now (and 12 fewer goals; why isn’t Henrik Lundquvist getting Scott Gomez/Chris Drury money. Maybe he is; I don’t care). The lauded Rangers are supposed to be dominating the East with their ridiculous offense. They’re not. But critics continue to cling to hope that this is a Cup-worthy team. The Caps haven’t earned such benefit of the doubt yet, but that’s to be expected. A 3-0 start garnered no respect, so a 2-8 record since then will bury them in many people’s minds.
A pessimist might point out that the Capitals are 14th in the East with 10 points, only two ahead of those knee-jerk-coach-firing Atlanta Thrashers. A more optimistic look at the early-season standings, however, would reveal that the Caps are merely four points out of fifth place; not really a bad place to be with months to go in the season.
Going back to those ESPN power rankings for a moment: New Jersey at #30, the absolute bottom of everything? Wow. Check out the Thrashers above the Devils. New Jersey has been christened by the Chris Berman/Stuart Scott network as “The Worst Team in the NHL.” I never thought I’d live so long. Is Dainius Zubrus not the dynamic difference maker so many thought he was?
Yahoo!’s teaser for the Caps-Flyers game recap read “The Flyers finally broke the Capitals’ dominance…” Now, this dominance could really only refer to last season’s four-game sweep of the Flyers, but still it’s an indication that, even last year, the Caps were not, and currently are not, quite the pushovers many see them as.
Watching the game on TV, it seemed that the crowd was not quite as overrun with Flyers’ fans as it has been in years past. And by years past I mean prior to last year, when personal experience at MCI/Verizon Center revealed a much smaller (or at least much quieter, possibly because of the last-place nature of their team) Flyers’ fans contingent than I was used to. Maybe that’s an encouraging sign (if my perceptions were accurate), that there is at least one less visiting team this year to potentially overwhelm the Caps’ faithful with their own legion of unwashed.
It was a one-goal loss, a loss that the aforementioned 30-goal-scorers and PP-quarterbacking defenseman could have made a significant difference in. It’s these types of games that those three will make a significant difference in as the season goes on. While we look forward to the day when one-goal losses such as this one will turn into one-goal wins (or at least overtime games), we nevertheless take heart in the fact that the Caps (again) turned a 2-goal deficit into a 1-goal hole to make for an interesting finish. Such finishes will ultimately result in lots of victories; we are sure of that.
So yeah, it’s not the best start to what we’d hoped would be Rebound Weekend, with the Caps and Wizards going down. There still are, of course, the 1-7 Jets on the horizon, so that at least could be some measure for joy before Monday comes. Mike Wise thinks so. Seriously, this guy has gone from out-and-out optimism-hating to virtual optimism-marrying. Dmitri Young is jealous of his comeback. Pushing local-sports-‘tism even a little farther, maybe we’ll even be able to rejoice in the first Navy victory over Notre Dame in 43 years. Yes, perhaps that does not strike quite the emotional note that victories by the Caps, Wizards or Skins would strike, but it’s at least one other potential positive to look forward to.
We can salvage this weekend. We will not use such a word (salvage) for the Caps’ and Wizards’ seasons, however. There is too much hockey and basketball left for such surrender-ific words. Things will get better.
Relax. Everything’s going to be fine.
Thursday, November 1, 2007
Not the Worst Shutout Ever
Well, it was going to be a truly, truly compelling final ten minutes or so of hockey until a pair of nonsense elbowing calls on the Caps gave a gift 2-man advantage to the Rangers. No, we’re not getting into blame-the-refs mode here, but rather looking at the positive results this negative action begat. Glen Hanlon yelling! Glen Hanlon turning red yelling! Glen Hanlon turning red yelling and waving his arms! Glen Hanlon, who usually handles himself with a Joe-Gibbs-like stoicism (rhymes with ‘tism), losing it just a little bit and showing some welcome healthy anger, letting the officials know of his disdain for the calls, while imploring his ever-improving penalty killers to get the job done. While the PK unit couldn’t quite overcome the injustice of a two-minute 5-on-3 disadvantage, they made a great effort, and did kill off the ensuing traditional power play.
The 4-minute Caps’ power play a few minutes later was a nice attempt by the officials making peace. It’s just too bad the one-goal deficit couldn’t be “restored”, thus bringing back the potential for late-third-period gripping, scrambling hockey.
Back to the positives. We’ve know how much ridiculous offensive talent the Rangers have bought. For the Caps to hold such Patriots-like talent to 28 shots and 2 goals (one on that aforementioned nonsense 2-man Rangers power play) is a big step up for a team whose defensive prowess was questioned before the season began. Addendum: questioned in the pre-season and positively savaged in some quarters (we’re looking at you, ESPN hockey power poll) after the October Shot Clearances in NYC and Buffalo. I mean, Drury and Gomez might as well be Brady and Moss, right? They’re supposed to catapult their team to unheard-of offensive levels, what with the great Jaromir Jagr and all, right?
Not exactly, of course, as the Rangers’ offense has largely languished this early season, despite the flashy and expensive additions (we all know what’s really missing of course). Still, considering what happened last time at MSG, when the Caps were down 3-1 in goals and 20-7 in shots after one period, tonight wasn’t all bad, even with the ultimate result of a shutout. Teams get shut out, even good ones. These powerful Rangers themselves have pulled it off three times already. The ever-mighty-or-seemingly-on-the-fringes-of-mighty Lightning were blanked this very day by the Islanders.
One other specific note: Brooks Laich made some ridiculous moves to power to the net late in the third period. He could very quietly put together a 15-goal season. There’s something about this guy; I just like him and his hybrid fourth-line-invisible-ness/nice-move-making-or-goal-scoring-ness.
Even looking past the usual positivity that naturally pervades and clouds this blog’s vision of every event in Washington sports, this was a pretty well-played game by the Caps, despite the fact they scored no goals. The 2-0 final score could really read 1.5-0, considering that ill-gotten PP goal the Rangers put in to double their lead. Sure they’ve now dropped to 5-7, but we really, really feel that things (ie, defense) are falling into place, and with Clark, Semin, and Poti on the mend, the offense (particularly the power play) will follow suit.
The 4-minute Caps’ power play a few minutes later was a nice attempt by the officials making peace. It’s just too bad the one-goal deficit couldn’t be “restored”, thus bringing back the potential for late-third-period gripping, scrambling hockey.
Back to the positives. We’ve know how much ridiculous offensive talent the Rangers have bought. For the Caps to hold such Patriots-like talent to 28 shots and 2 goals (one on that aforementioned nonsense 2-man Rangers power play) is a big step up for a team whose defensive prowess was questioned before the season began. Addendum: questioned in the pre-season and positively savaged in some quarters (we’re looking at you, ESPN hockey power poll) after the October Shot Clearances in NYC and Buffalo. I mean, Drury and Gomez might as well be Brady and Moss, right? They’re supposed to catapult their team to unheard-of offensive levels, what with the great Jaromir Jagr and all, right?
Not exactly, of course, as the Rangers’ offense has largely languished this early season, despite the flashy and expensive additions (we all know what’s really missing of course). Still, considering what happened last time at MSG, when the Caps were down 3-1 in goals and 20-7 in shots after one period, tonight wasn’t all bad, even with the ultimate result of a shutout. Teams get shut out, even good ones. These powerful Rangers themselves have pulled it off three times already. The ever-mighty-or-seemingly-on-the-fringes-of-mighty Lightning were blanked this very day by the Islanders.
One other specific note: Brooks Laich made some ridiculous moves to power to the net late in the third period. He could very quietly put together a 15-goal season. There’s something about this guy; I just like him and his hybrid fourth-line-invisible-ness/nice-move-making-or-goal-scoring-ness.
Even looking past the usual positivity that naturally pervades and clouds this blog’s vision of every event in Washington sports, this was a pretty well-played game by the Caps, despite the fact they scored no goals. The 2-0 final score could really read 1.5-0, considering that ill-gotten PP goal the Rangers put in to double their lead. Sure they’ve now dropped to 5-7, but we really, really feel that things (ie, defense) are falling into place, and with Clark, Semin, and Poti on the mend, the offense (particularly the power play) will follow suit.
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Chris Clark Is a Hockey God
While we eagerly await the Wizards’ impending eight-month reign over the Eastern Conference, a tip of the ‘tism cap to the Captain of the Wiz’s Verizon Center co-occupier is in order.
As information continues to filter in regarding Chris Clark’s recentinjury injuries, the inevitable (and apt) comparisons to Dale Hunter gain momentum. The terms “grit” and “scoring touch” seem to be getting paired a lot. After his impressive-enough shift-finishing-following-tooth-loss almost a year ago, we might have wondered what it takes to actually prematurely end one of Clark’s shifts. Now we know: chipped tooth and a slapshot-butchered ear. As nasty as the ear business looked and sounded, the added knowledge of a second injury incurred just seconds before adds to the growing stature of #17.
We already know he doesn’t shy away from whatever tough questions come his way, and we’ll soon find out it takes much more than just a chunk of tooth and ear missing to make Cap’n Clark shy away from his grittiness-with-a-30-goal-scoring-touch style of play.
We hope he makes it back tomorrow to play the Rangers, who are dressed in their usual Halloween fare of a high-priced, underachieving alleged Cup contender.
Until then, bring on the Wiz.
As information continues to filter in regarding Chris Clark’s recent
We already know he doesn’t shy away from whatever tough questions come his way, and we’ll soon find out it takes much more than just a chunk of tooth and ear missing to make Cap’n Clark shy away from his grittiness-with-a-30-goal-scoring-touch style of play.
We hope he makes it back tomorrow to play the Rangers, who are dressed in their usual Halloween fare of a high-priced, underachieving alleged Cup contender.
Until then, bring on the Wiz.
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