The Laich Effect for the Caps

Over the past two seasons, Brooks Laich, the oft injured, but versatile player generates points and energy for his teammates. The Laich effect for the Caps includes a 12-8 record this season when he's on the ice and a 1-6 record when he's off the ice. They play a better game when he's on the ice.

Laich has always been a hard working, lunch pail type of Capital, reminiscent of players from the overachieving Caps era, like the ones on their run to the Cup - Olie Kolzig, Peter Bondra, Dale Hunter. He struggled early on in his career, but blossomed even with the coaching merry-go-round in Washington. Laich overachieves because he works hard every night. He's a leader in that respect. If Laich stays healthy, that's a huge bonus for the he Caps.

But, Laich wasn't the only Capital flying around against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday. The Caps best game of the season showed how they're capable of playing. Alex Ovechkin started the 3rd game of what ended up being a 3-0 road trip, with 3 hits and a goal in the first 40 seconds. When Ovie starts a game that way, the Caps frequently win.

Read more here.

Let's go Caps!

The Caps got lucky

In staying with my "thinking positive" theme, I'm not going to talk about game 1 against the Rangers in the second round of the playoffs.  It's better that way.  Instead, I'll focus on what I liked about tonight's game, starting with the fact that the Caps got lucky tonight.  They don't often get lucky.

They got lucky when John Carlson's "what just happened here" moment, at the end of a power play, almost cost the Caps a goal as Carlson lost the puck to the rookie Chris Kreider (the one that got the GWG for the Rangers in game 1 coming out of the box.  Instead Braden Holtby made a great save and then the puck went back the other way.  Matt Hendricks got the puck, put it between his legs and tried to slide it past Henrik Lundqvist.  Lundqvist lost the puck, Jason Chimera shoved at it as he's draped around the goal post corner and it deflected off a Ranger's skate into the net.  That happens against the Caps not for the Caps.

The Caps got lucky because the Rangers hit a goal post and a crossbar.  On the last scoring chance near the end of the third period, the puck bounced off the underside of the crossbar and popped back out.  I watched that slow motion replay and thought, wow, that is usually a goal against for the Caps.

They also got lucky despite some early officiating that went against them.  How Marian Gaborik doesn't get a penalty for slamming Matt Hendricks into the boards headfirst by the team doors continues to make me shake my head. But, I'm getting used to this kind of officiating in the NHL.

Other efforts to applaud:

• Old man Mike Knuble winning the foot race and stretching out his stick to prevent the icing very late in the third.
• Mike Knuble/Joel Ward connecting again for the first goal on a pretty passing play by Ward.  He's earning more of his paycheck with every playoff game.  
• Alex Ovechkin blasting a beautiful game winning power play goal past Lundqvist.  
• Jay Beagle bringing it every night and getting rewarded by Dale Hunter with the highest forward TOI tonight.
• Karl Alzner burning out time on the clock at the end of the third by trapping the puck during a scrum with the Rangers behind Holtby.  Awesome.

It's an interesting strategy Coach Dale Hunter is using, but I'm willing to see where it takes the Caps.

Game 3 returns to the phone booth on Wednesday.

Let's go Caps!

How sweet it is

To watch the Caps win a game 7 in overtime against the defending Stanley Cup champions.  And, of course, it had to go to overtime.  But, it's over and the Caps prevailed to move on.  I decided to take Mike Wise's advice and think positive today.  All day, I kept telling myself that the Caps were going to win tonight.  That's tough to do that when you're a Caps fan and have seen more playoff misery than you care to remember.  Yes, there are highlights, like the current coach's game winner in overtime against the Flyers, but those moments are easily outnumbered by the failures.

Not tonight though.  Instead, Joel Ward earned his paycheck by cashing in on a Mike Knuble rebound in OT.  Knuble deserves tons of credit, too, for getting that puck to the net first.  I don't think he'll be watching any more playoff games from the press box.

The other player I have to commend is, of course, Matt Hendricks.  He potted his first playoff goal in this game 7 to put the Caps up 1-0.  He continued to play his gritty and aggressive game throughout the game.

Braden Holtby, the 22-year old rookie goalie, played a stellar series against the Bruins.  There may be something to the rumor that the youngster needed his next challenge.  He had his weak moments and scared me early on tonight, but he's got confidence and is withstanding the pressure of the playoffs, so far.

And, then there was Dale Hunter's series strategy.  He matched up against Claude Julien quite well.  Whatever anyone thinks about Alex Ovechkin's lack of playing time in a series where it's hard to get him space against Charo/Seidenberg, it worked.  I don't think it will necessarily be that way against other opponents, but I'm not going to question it now.

The Caps won't know their second round opponent until tomorrow.  Tonight, it doesn't matter anyway.  I'm a happy Caps fan, for once.

Let's go Caps!
p.s.  This was the first time in NHL history that a playoff series had all 1-goal games.  As a Caps fan, I hated it.  But, for fans of hockey, this was a great series.

Who are these Caps?

The Caps went ahead 3 games to 2 in the series against Boston today with a gritty, gutsy performance.  After giving up two goals at the end of the 2nd period to let Boston tie the game at 2-2, I worried that the Caps would fold mentally.  I'm a long-time Caps fan, that's why I think these things.  I like it when they prove me wrong like they did today.

Today's game belonged to the heart and soul guys.  Mike Knuble and Jay Beagle scored and Troy Brouwer blasted the game winner against Tim Thomas.  Beagle deserved his first playoff goal for his constant hustling throughout this series.  And, it was great to see Knuble pot one.  Alexander Semin also contributed the first goal while displaying his otherworldly puck handling skills.

Like many Caps fans, I had my doubts about Dale Hunter's system because it appeared to have neutered the offense for long stretches of time.  Watching his game management, line matching and overall strategy in this series against Boston though, I'm becoming a believer.  The Caps are playing competitive playoff hockey, unlike in years past, and they're pushing the defending Stanley Cup champions hard.  Stellar goal tending from the 22-year old rookie Braden Holtby has helped the cause, too.

Other highlights and things I'm happy to see:

• Alexander Semin appears to be one of the Caps that has benefitted most from Hunter's coaching.  The enigma is playing Selke winner like, blocking shots, making smart defensive plays and scoring three goals in the series.
• Braden Holtby is a stud in net.  He lets softies in here and there, but he also makes the big saves when needed.  He made a smashing rebound save while sliding into the splits near the goal post to stop a Boston shot today.  Holtby also plays with fire in his eyes for anyone that gets near his crease.  He's fun to watch.
• Karl Alzner and John Carlson are back together and playing stellar defense.  Carlson appears to have removed his head from his rear end, where it was stuck for most of the season.  And, GMGM needs to resign Alzner ASAP.
• Hunter sat Jeff Schultz in favor of rugged defenseman John Erskine who hadn't played since February.  Schultz withers under playoff pressure where Erskine gets under the skin of his opponents and keeps players out of the crease.  Boston hasn't been crowding Holtby's crease and taking shots at him since #4 has been in the line up.  He makes mistakes, at times, but I'd rather have him out there than Schultz to play against the larger and more aggressive Boston players.  
• Troy Brouwer is becoming one of my favorite Caps for his gritty playing.  He is, without a doubt, one of the best trades GMGM has made in the past few years. 
• Alex Ovechkin gets the toughest assignment, of course, trying to make space for offense while fending off the Bruins defenders Zdeno Chara and Dennis Seidenberg. Ovie has 27 hits in 5 games and two of his hits against Seidenberg were featured in the Top 10 Playoff Hits review I saw today.  He has a goal, two assists and several blocked shots.  Ovie is playing a team game and that's what he needs to do.

I said I was numb to Caps playoff hockey in my last blog post.  I lied.  87 seconds left in the game today and my heart starts pounding.  Not to mention that I yelled at the TV when the Caps couldn't clear the defensive zone and starting giving up the neutral zone. 

Tomorrow is a huge game for the Caps.  Both teams look tired and they play another game 24-hours after the one today.  It's not going to be easy.  The team that can muster the most effort, after a grueling series, so far, will probably prevail.  I hope it's the Caps.

Let's go Caps!

p.s.  One of the things I'm not happy about - the awful officiating and inconsistent punishments being handed out during the playoffs.  The violence and shots to the head must be eliminated from the game, but that won't happen if the players don't understand what is, and isn't, a penalty.  When Shea Weber rubs out Henrik Zetterberg into the boards and gets fined $2500, but misses no games, and Nicklas Backstrom gets a 1-game suspension for a less egregious cross-check, there is something wrong. Those are just two examples. 

And, so it begins...with Caps down by 1 game

After the most tumultuous season of the Alex Ovechkin era, the Caps are in the playoffs, as the 7th seed, and playing the Boston Bruins.  As I watch the game, the Caps are playing Dale Hunter's defensive style of hockey, but they aren't generating any offense. 17 shots in a game is not going to win games in this series.


One thing that can win a series is a hot goaltender -- see Tim Thomas and Boston Bruins last year. The Caps have an untested, AHL, 22 year-old goalie minding the net in this series.  So far, Braden Holtby, has responded.   He played a great game tonight, even though he should have had the game winning goal.  I like his competitiveness and the way he defends his crease.  He reminds me of Olie, as many people have said.

So, what are my expectations for the Caps this playoff season?  I have none. None, none, none. The game tonight didn't even raise my blood pressure -- not even when the Bruins won. I'm numb when it comes to Caps playoff hockey.  It's better for my health that way.

Let's go Caps!

This perplexing team

I don't know what to think about this team anymore.  There are things I thought would change in the Dale Hunter era that haven't.  Caps playing with intensity is one of them. One of the reasons long time Caps fan love Dale is that he was a fierce, competitive player.

Tonight, the Caps played the Florida Panthers for first place in the division.  And, how did the Caps respond to that challenge? By playing lackluster, not competitive, hockey.  They played like they didn't even care.  And, no, I have no desire to hear the excuses - injuries, tough schedule, second night of a back-to-back series - because all hockey teams suffer the same thing.  Only the Caps lean on excuses like a crutch.

Other things that perplex me:

• Why are the Caps incapable of bringing the puck up the ice?  The amount of time they spent in their defensive zone tonight because they can't get the puck out was abysmal.  They kept tossing the puck to Florida in the neutral zone and turning it over.  If I remember correctly, the Caps transition game was a bit better, shortly after Dale arrived, as I know he focused on that.  It's regressed.
• Is "dump and don't chase" an effective hockey strategy?  I understand it happens when you need a line change, but there's far too much of that going on in Caps games.
• Is there any team that takes more delay of game penalties? That's a rhetorical question because, like the Caps, I'm too lazy to look it up.  But, there's no doubt that they take way too many of those stupid penalties.
• Have you ever seen a hockey team get a too many men on the ice penalty with seven men on the ice?  If you're a Caps fan, these are the things you get to see when you root for this team.
• Why does this team suck so bad on the road?  Lack of toughness seems to be a major part of that.  Thanks GMGM.

The sky isn't falling yet and there are lots of positive things going on with this team.  But, right now, I have Caps disappointment fatigue and I'm not in the mood to be a cheering fan tonight.

Montreal on Saturday.

Let's go Caps!

Subtle hockey qualities and Troy Brouwer

Plenty of hockey writers and bloggers use statistics to prove their point about this or that hockey player.  The problem with relying solely on statistics to evaluate a player is that it misses the subtle points of hockey that are just as, if not more, important to winning championships.  I'm talking about hitting, forechecking, parking your butt in front of the net and winning battles for the puck along the boards.  Things the Capitals have struggled with for years.

Troy Brouwer shows those qualities every time he's on the ice.  I started this post during the 1-0 win over Pittsburgh the other night when Brouwer had 11 hits!   Tonight against the Tampa Bay Lightning, he's on fire.  Brouwer started by screening goalie Dwayne Roloson on Alex Ovechkin's power play goal.  Then, he scored his first goal.  On that one, he was to the side of the net and looked like he was going to pass.  Roloson thought so, too, as Brouwer five-holed him.  On his second goal, Brooks Laich snatched the puck out of the air from Mike Knuble's poke check behind the net and passed it to Brouwer who shot it into a wide open net.

And, he ended the game with an empty netter goal for his first official NHL hat trick.  Not so subtle tonight.  Congrats Troy!

The Caps need more gritty hockey players like Troy Brouwer.  Those type of players win the battles a team needs to survive the sixteen game slugfest that allows them to drink from a shiny silver chalice.  I'm enjoying watching Brouwer play.

Other Notes...

• Can the Caps PLEASE stop getting stupid, ridiculous delay of game penalties late in the third period that cost them a damn goal?   Roman Hamrlik cost them a goal with that penalty tonight.  Arghhhhh......
• I really don't want to watch Karl Alzner fight Steve Downie as I envision Alznar going out with a concussion.  But, I'm impressed by his passion and he got a couple of good shots on Downie.  Alzner continued jawing hard at Downie in the penalty box. 
• Congrats to Ovie and Dennis Wideman for their selection to the All Star game.  Wideman seems to be pumped from his all star selection as he had two assists tonight and was visible all over the ice.
• A friend of the Capsdreamer household recently witnessed Dale Hunter checking Jason Chimera into the boards at practice.  Have I mentioned that I love Dale?

So, the Caps managed to hang on for the win tonight, 4-3, but, I witnessed some ugly hockey during that third period. Caps have two more games against teams on the 2nd night of back-to-back games.  Four more must win points.

Carolina is next.

Let's go Caps!

Encouraging signs

The Caps continued their mini four game winning streak with a 4-1 victory over the Calgery Flames tonight.  Under Coach Dale Hunter, the Caps have gone 7-3-1 in their last 11 games, after dropping their first 3 of 4 in the Hunter era. Dale said he was going to instill his system for this team from the blue line out and slowly, but, surely, his system is showing, ending with the offense finally coming alive.

Scoring production is rising fast for the offensive stars.  Alex Ovechkin looks like he's enjoying playing hockey again.  Watch out when Ovie has fun.  He's scored 8-5-13 in these past 11 games, with 5 of his goals coming in the last 3 games.  Alexander Semin's (out tonight, unfortunately with an injury) scored 5-5-10 in 10 games.  Nicklas Backstrom, the assist machine (3rd in NHL), has 10 assists and 2 goals in that same stretch.  When this trio does well, obviously, the Caps do well. The scoring started slowly in Toronto on December 9th, then really went into overdrive beginning against Nashville 11-days after the Toronto game.  In those last five games, Semin is 3-2-5 and Backstrom is 0-6-6 and Ovie is 6-2-8.  Nice...

Other notes:

• Dmitry Orlov - the 20-year old blue liner, with all of 25 AHL games to his resume, continues to play impressive hockey for a young defender.  Tonight, as Tomas Vokoun fended off a volley of shots and drifted to the side of the net, Orlov laid down in the net and stopped a goal.  He impressed me by his willingness to leave Russia and play in Hershey at the end of last season so he could learn the North American game.  Orlov hustles every game and is a delight to watch.
• John Carlson - is suffering a significant sophomore slump and I long to see the player from last year.  I've worn your jersey with pride since right before your World Junior gold medal game winner, Carlson, so, please get back to playing good defensive hockey.  It's my hope that his juniors coach, Dale Hunter, helps him to get his game back.
• Tomas Vokoun - seems to be regaining his confidence in net and made some highlight reel saves against the Flames.    Dale seesawed between playing Michal Neuvirth and Vokoun because they both were letting in softies, but Vokoun has clawed his way back to #1, for now. I need to see more games to be convinced.

For the first time this season, I'm starting to feel some hope about this team.  Of course, that's usually when they stomp on my heart.  There's a lot of hockey left to be played.

Caps have a tough two game Western road swing coming up to San Jose and L.A.  They typically stink on these road trips, so it'll be a good test for the Hunter team. 

And, finally, welcome back Mike Green.  Here's to hoping you stay healthy.

Let's go Caps!

Whew....a 2-point night

After that abomination of a game against the Flyers the other night (which, thankfully, I couldn't watch), long-time Caps fans began wondering.  Is this team just awful?  Will they ever be able to get it together, even under new coach Dale Hunter?  It seems like every season Caps teams are lacking in one way or the other - lack of talent, lack of heart or lack of coaching.  This has been the situation since 1974 and this current team is no exception.  It remains to be seen if this team can overcome its issues, such as, goaltending inconsistency, defensive breakdowns, lack of strength down the middle and high-priced talent that isn't scoring.

But, tonight, at least, the Caps accomplished what they were supposed to in beating the Jets 1-0.  Michal Neuvirth kept the Caps in the game during the first period making some beautiful saves on 14 shots on goal.  The rest of the team caught up and helped Neuvirth out in the last forty minutes, limiting them to 8 shots in the 2nd period and 3 shots in the 3rd.  It appeared like the players gained more confidence because Neuvirth bailed them out in the 1st period and they responded by shutting down the Jets the rest of the game.  Neurvirth got the first star of the game for his efforts.  It was great to see him pumping his fist and smiling under his helmet after getting the shutout.

Besides Neurvirth's performance, the highlight of the game was Marcus Johansson's drop pass to Alex Ovechkin with 1:14 left in the 3rd and watching Ovie blast the puck past Ondrej Pavelec for the game winner.  It's no secret that if Ovie isn't scoring, the Caps aren't going anywhere and he hasn't been doing much scoring lately, but he's getting a lot more shots on goal in the DH era, which is encouraging.  

It's getting easier to see Coach Hunter's system as the Caps get more adept at playing it. I like the other things Hunter is doing, too.  He rolls the appropriate personnel for the appropriate situation - no Alexander Semin out there on Ovie's line with under two minutes left in the game, no Jeff Schultz playing much, at all, lately, and no John Erskine when they need a goal to win the game (don't get me wrong, I adore Erskine for the role he's meant to play and plays well) .  Hunter hands out ice time based on performance, too, as evidenced by limiting the struggling Cody Eakin to 7:12 in the game tonight. 

Although my optimism and pessimism about this team swings wildly based on how they play on any given night, I'm happy with tonight's 1-0 win.  I'll be even happier if they make a repeat performance in Colorado on Saturday.

Let's go Caps!

Confidence

The Caps need confidence desperately. Hopefully, their 5-3 win in Ottawa will give them some of it back.  They scored on a power play, finally, after blowing a 5 on 3.  Alex Ovechkin scored a goal after turning away from the d-man, stopping in an instant, sending ice shavings into the air, and lifting a wrist shot past Craig Anderson.  Troy Brouwer scored 15-seconds later on a pretty pass from Marcus Johansson.  Brouwer got the Gordie Howe hat trick tonight - a goal, an assist and a fight (nice fight for Brouwer, too).  And, the Caps survived a late third period penalty to Joel Ward, after giving up a goal on an Alexander Semin hooking penalty.

There were times during this game that I still yelled at the TV and threw things around my room, like the hooking penalty to Semin and the goal five seconds later or the John Erskin/Tomas Vokoun out of position Ottawa goal.  But, this team appears to be getting better in the Dale Hunter era and, I guess, for right now, that's good enough.  It's either that or give up on this team and I'm not ready to do that yet.  Hunter hasn't had enough time.

Hunter's nine day era hasn't been easy. Caps lost two 2-1 games to St Louis and Pittsburgh, lost to Florida 5-4 (an ugly game), beat Ottawa 3-2 in OT and beat Ottawa tonight 5-2.  The Caps confidence has been visibly missing for a while and neither goalie is playing well enough to bail out the team, although Tomas Vokoun played a strong game in net tonight. But, there have been encouraging signs that the Caps are starting to turning things around like:

• Ovie played a monster game tonight and is playing inspired hockey again.  Hunter's increasing Ovie's minutes and it's helping.  Ovie's getting more chances and more shots.  An added bonus is seeing Ovie pressuring in the d-zone.  That's never happened.
• Hunter is implementing a 1-2-2 trap type system to cut down on goals against and it has done that, although Florida nailed the Caps for five goals.  The Caps are playing much more structured and disciplined hockey, in general, including using shorter passes in their transition game.  Those cross-ice, fifty-foot passes have mostly led to the puck going back to the d-zone so I'm happy to see less of those.
• Jeff Schultz only played 3:55 because "he didn't fit the game," according to Hunter.  Hmmm, they were down a goal in the 3rd period and Hunter wanted his offensive d-men out there.  John Erskine wasn't out there either.  Interesting...
• Although they don't consistently play sixty minutes of hockey yet, see first period against Florida and various times tonight, they're still playing more aggressively, winning puck battles, hustling, and hitting.

There is still a lot of work to do.  The Caps power play connected once tonight, but it's still dreadful.  The power play has sucked since before the 2010 Montreal playoff series so why is the power play coach, Dean Evason, still here when the other coaches are gone?  That's a mystery to me.

Toronto comes to town on Friday.

Let's go Caps!

Welcome back Dale

Most Caps fans felt like Christmas came early today as Dale Hunter took to the ice at Kettler for his first practice as the new head coach of the Caps.  Hunter is a legend to Caps fans and that is my biggest fear about him jumping from the OHL to the NHL as a head coach.  I don't want anything to tarnish his legend.  All day, I've alternated between insane excitement about Dale being here and that lingering fear about his place in Caps history if this goes awry.  That fear won't go away -- I am a Caps fan, after all -- until I see how this unfolds.

I think this is GM George McPhee's last stand with owner Ted Leonsis and it's clear from McPhee's comments that he had to convince Ted this was the right direction.  Either Dale works out or GMGM won't be GM for life anymore which, after thirteen years, is as it should be. It's far more patience than I would ever have had.

GMGM's been in contact with Dale, for years, while Dale amassed an impressive 451-189-23-24 (.691%) coaching record for the Ontario London Knights. His team made many playoff appearances, won one Memorial Cup and Dale won the Coach of the Year award.   Everything I've read and listened to today about his coaching career and through following his team when John Carlson played there, makes me think Dale's a good choice for the Caps. But coaching teenagers, even in the world of rough and tumble Canadian junior hockey, is not like coaching adult multi-millionaires.  They've got to want the Stanley Cup not think that they can win it on talent alone (cue Herb Brooks).  That's the biggest task for Dale.

Now I have a new set of questions for the rest of this Cap season:

• Can Dale turn this team around and make them play hard-working, gritty, disciplined hockey like he did as a player?  He gave it all every night. It would be nice if the Caps gave 75% on a consistent basis.
• Will he easily adapt to the NHL from the OHL?
• Will the players respond positively?  Caps, just be warned, if you mess with Dale, you're going to face one angry fan base. 
• Can Dale bring back Ovie's love of the game and competitive fire? Can he teach Ovie how to become a better and more mature player?  Will Ovie take those lessons to heart?

"It's my team," Dale said in his press conference before laughingly saying it was really Ted's team. But, I like that thinking.  And, getting his name on the Stanley Cup as the coach, since he was denied that honor as a player, would make all the misery of being a Caps fan go away in one game.

Let's go Caps!  

P.S.  Thank you Bruce Boudreau for a good ride for a while.  I enjoyed the romp to the playoffs, your first year here, and that last game against Florida to get there was unreal, rocking the red at the phone booth.  I've been hard on you, but I wish you luck in your future endeavors.