The Fedorov versus Ovechkin discussion

Alex Ovechkin lands in Detroit tied with his Russisan countryman Sergei Fedorov as the most prolific Russian goal scorer in the NHL. Ovie scored his 483 goal against the Toronto Maples Leafs. The amazing thing is that he scored those goals in 772 games while it took Fedorov 1,248 games to reach the same mark. Think about that. Ovie nets goals in an era when goaltenders are far stingier than they used to be and it took him 476 less games to hit the mark. Fedorov is rooting for Ovechkin.

To be fair to Fedorov, he played center, not winger so it is no surprise that he has more assists than Ovie, at this point, with 696 to Ovie’s 428 assists. Ovie’s assist numbers would be much higher today if was passing to wingers who actually shot the puck instead of fumbling his pass. Working with a talent like T.J. Oshie on Ovie’s right wing helps with that challenge. Fedorov never had that challenge passing to his Russian Five teammates, Igor Larionov and Vyacheslav Kozloz.

Ovie and Fedorov are very different players. Ovie is the pure goal scorer in an era where it is difficult to score goals. Goalies are trained and coached like all players today, which was not true in the Wayne Gretzky days. Ovie plays smash mouth hockey. He is not a finesse hockey player, but he is a blast to watch. His highlight reel goals show his skill and effort to get that puck off his stick, even if he is falling to the ice or being harassed by a defender, and past the goalie in a flash before the goalie knows what happens. This is Alex Ovechkin’s gift.   

Fedorov was the two-way complete player that won two Selke trophies and three Stanley Cups. His line mates and defensemen, Vladimir Konstantinov and Viacheslav Fetisov made up Coach Scotty Bowman’s innovation, the Russian Five, that teams did not know how to defend. That line focused on puck control, as it seems, the Red Wings still do today. The Russian Five contributed to Detroit’s first Stanley Cup in 42 years.

Both players won the Hart and the Lester B. Pearson, but the bottom line is they are different. Smash mouth sniper Ovechkin versus elite two-way player Fedorov. The NHL will never forget either of them because Alex Ovechkin will follow Sergei Fedorov into the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Let’s go Caps!

Cardiac Caps Push It But Feds & Varly Win It 2-1

Simeon Varlamov - Tsarlamov, From Russia with Glove, Wallamov - whatever you want to call him, has been awesome in net, 2nd only to Roberto Luongo  in stats this playoff season and 1st star of the game 7 tonight.  He kept the Caps in it early in this game when they started out playing like shit - okay so let me define that - listless, not hustling, not battling, and generally not acting like it's a play or go home game.  Unbelievable, in fact.  The Caps believe their press clips way too much.  Much of the media handed the Caps the series on a silver platter.  That made me anxious all day.   Note - I agree that they Caps were way too anxious for this game - they just caused me a heart attack in the process. So my prior comments are reflective of being a frustrated, but passionate Washington Capitals.

Regardless, this game was all about Sergei Fedorov who got the 2nd star - he actually deserved the first star with the game winner. I was critical of his play during the first two periods because he seemed too slow and it seemed like Alex Ovechkin was always way ahead of Feds and Viktor Kozlov.  I wanted him off of Ovie's line and fast before the second period ended.  Don't get me wrong.  I love Sergei Fedorov and couldn't believe he ended up a Capital.  I mean, seriously, how did a legend end up as a Capital?  Sergei got the game winning goal on an absolutely beautiful shot at 15:01.  

In an eerily prescient moment, Craig Laughlin said on the broadcast something to the effect of Sergei will have something to say about how this series end. Wow.  He couldn't have been more right.

On a side note, Chris Clark played an up tempo, high energy game for his first game back since January.  

It took the Caps until the 3rd period to find their game.  They looked downright horrible during the first two periods.  And the last almost five minutes of that game after Feds scored were painful.  My heart raced way above normal during that time frame.  1998 was a long time ago, damn it, and I was tired of waiting.

Tonight, I don't have to wait anymore.  Thank you Washington Capitals.

The Pittsburgh Penguins are up next.

Let's go Caps!

The fighters give the Caps momentum in Nashville

The Caps won a hard fought game in Nashville against the Predators to get a rare win against a Western conference team.  The first period between these teams erupted with two fights. The first one ended with watching Donald Brashear crumple to the ice after getting decked by Wade Belak.  Brashear is one of the top fighters in the NHL and I've never seen him go down by like before.  Matt Bradley went for redemption 3 minutes after the Brashear fight by going at it with Jordon Tootoo and left the ice a bloody mess.  He came back after getting stitches.  The fights energized the Caps and they played for their battle weary teammates.  

Sergei Fedorov, once again, showed why he's a future hall of famer by taking the puck from a pretty Viktor Kozlov pass and patiently stick handling until he could make a slick move and shoot the puck around backup goalie Dan Ellis for the game winning goal.  He was awarded the 2nd star of the game for his efforts.  Ellis got the first star as he stymied the Caps on 42 of their 44 shots.

Nicklas Backstrom was awarded the 3rd star for his goal and overall stellar play in 23+ minutes of ice time. He is playing mighty impressive hockey these days. I don't envy defensemen trying to get him off the pucks because it stays on his stick through tough battles along the boards.  Backie is playing physical playoff style hockey and it's only his 2nd year in the NHL.

The other two players playing like demons right now are Alexander Semin and Jose Theodore.  Semin is playing with playoff intensity and Theodore, at times, is standing on his head to keep his team in the game.  I'm not sure where this Theodore came from, but I like him a lot better than the Oct/Nov 2008 Theodore.

The Caps then traveled to Philly.

Let's go Caps!

Yeah, baby, Caps beat Senators 5-1

So, that's what happens when the Caps are healthy.  They beat the Ottawa Senators 5-1.  They got Mike Green and Sergei Fedorov back tonight and it showed as those two got the 2nd and 3rd stars of the game.  Feds and Greenie both had 3 point nights.

In the weird news of the day, the Caps had to dress their website producer, Brett Leonhardt as the backup goalie after Jose Theodore got injured in practice.  He's played Division III hockey and sometimes fills in for the Caps at practice, but tonight he got his 15 minutes of fame. Simeon Varlamov rushed to the airport from Houston where the Bears were playing and got to the phone booth during the first period game to take his place on the bench.  I'd like to see Varlamov tomorrow, but I don't want to see him killed by the Habs either so my guess is Johnson will play.

Brent Johnson got the first star of the game, deservedly so, as he stopped 32 of 33 shots on Ottawa.  He looked terrific again.

The SOB line continued to dominate with Alexander Semin getting 1 goal, Alex Ovechkin getting two and Nicklas Backstrom getting 3 assists.  I like the SOB line.

Does anybody want to play this team healthy?  I doubt it.

They play the Habs tomorrow night.

Let's go Caps.

The Russian line delivers to get the Caps 2 points

Coach Boudreau put the Russians - Alex Ovechkin, Sergei Fedorov and Alexander Semin - together on the top line last night and it worked.  The Russian World Champion gold medalists scored all the goals last night and Ovie got all 3 primary assists in their 3-2 win over the Carolina Hurricanes.  First, the Caps had to overcome starting from behind, again, as the Hurricanes scored first at 2:39 in the first period.

Fedorov started the scoring for the Caps in the 2nd period netting one off of Ovie's pass. Semin scored the 2nd goal, a beauty from behind the net and then over Cam Ward, with less than 3 minutes left in the 3rd period.  He got the game winner off another pretty Ovie pass with 11 seconds left. 

Three other players deserve kudos.  Brent Johnson played another solid night in net and Nicklas Backstrom played his best game of the season and he was on the ice for the last two goals.  He needs to play better consistently but maybe he's getting his game back.  Brooks Laich deserves kudos for breaking up a play while hobbling to the bench after blocking a shot.

So, the Caps get two points in their division and come within two of Carolina in the standings. It's only November, but that was an important game, particularly, considering they only play their division rivals six times instead of eight this year.  The game still lacked in many ways like Ovie not scoring, Nylander causing Carolina's 2nd goal, many Caps still forgetting to shoot the puck instead of passing it, 0 for 5 on the power play, Green playing awful defense, the Caps inability to get the puck out of their zone and undisclosed injuries to Fedorov and Shaone Morrisonn which left the Caps with only 5 defensemen.  

The Caps defense is bad enough without being handicapped by only having 5 players even if Morrisonn has been terrible this year.  It's a ridiculous situation for them to be in, caused by them carrying 22 players because they're too close to the salary cap.   

If Feds can play and Morrisonn can't I hope they call up Tyler Sloan instead of putting Feds on defense tomorrow.  Leave the Russian line together for a while, particularly, since they face the red hot NY Rangers tomorrow night.

Let's go Caps!

Semin helps Caps get 2 points from Dallas in OT

Since I was enjoying a Halloween party while the game was on, my perspective on this one is based on what I read.  It didn't sound like the Caps played a pretty game, at all, but 2 points in the standings is 2 points and this Caps fan is happy that they got that.  

Sergei Fedorov scored twice to become the leading Russian goal scorer in the NHL, Tomas Fleischman scored twice, the AHLer Tyler Sloan scored his first NHL goal and, thankfully, Alexander Semin scored the game winner in overtime to make it 6-5. 

The defense played terrible according to Coach Boudreau. There's a shocker.  The Caps blue line has been the weakest link since the season started.  I was hoping one more year of maturity for some of the younger players might improve the defense, but this team is desperately missing injured Tom Poti.  Mike Green and Shaone Morrisonn were on the ice for 3 Dallas goals so they're not getting the job done.  Milan Jurcina and Jeff Schultz/John Erskine were on the ice for the other 2 goals.

I'm not sure where the Caps energy has disappeared to, but I hope they find it before they dig themselves a hole.  They've played 1 complete game out of 8 total and that was against the Vancouver Canucks. It's a long season, but come on Caps, let's wake up and play like you did last year. 

What are the problems?

• Ovie's lack of scoring?  Of course that's going to have an impact, but others need to step it up besides Semin and Fedorov.
• Backstrom's slow start?  Chris Clark's slow start? (I'm not going to bash Clarkie as he's been out for a long time recovering from that groin injury so it'll be a while before he gets his game back.)
• Trying to figure out how to mesh Michael Nylander's fancier style of play with the Caps uglier, but get it done style of play from last year?
• Tom Poti's injury?  And, while we're on the blue line, way too many ugly defensive mistakes?  Yes, that one is a given.

I'm not sure what the issue is, I just hope they get it together.

Tomorrow night, the Nashville Predators visit the phone booth.  I'll miss watching Alex Ovechkin as he's home with his sick grandfather.   I hope your grandfather is okay Ovie.

Let's go Caps!

Final Cuts and Preseason Recap

In sad, but certainly not unexpected news, the Caps waived Quintin Lang today.   He is a fan favorite who played his guts out every single shift and blocked so many shots with his body it hurt to watch.  He will never be a star hockey player but there is a lot to be said for a humble athlete that pours his heart and soul into every minute of his playing time.  There are so many prima donna professional athletes today that don't give their all and they're paid a lot more than Lang ever has been.  Thank you for that Quintin and good luck as I hope some other team gives you a chance!

The Caps also sent winger Chris Bourque and blue liner Karl Alzner to Hershey.  Bourque had a great preseason and played like he belonged full time with the big club.  But it was a numbers game and the Caps had to get below the salary cap by opening night.  Bourque didn't have to clear waivers to get sent to Hershey so that didn't work in his favor either.

I also think that playing more minutes every night in Hershey will be good for Karl Alzner's development.  He played well in the preseason and seemed to get better with each game (listening to the games on the radio when I couldn't get the Internet feed to stream correctly makes it tough to assess player performance too deeply) but there is no need to rush the Caps top 2007 draft pick.  

Now, turning to the Caps preseason games.  They ended with a 5-1-1 record and their last game against Boston was by far the worst game they played.  It was a 5-4 loss in a shootout, but the score doesn't begin to reflect how sloppy they played that game.  Prior to that, the Caps played a lot of high energy games with Coach Boudreau mixing up the lines, playing  Sergei Fedorov on defense and Alex Ovechkin on penalty kills, until he got hammered with a puck to his leg, certainly kept things interesting.

My highlights:

• The Caps have some impressive young prospects that will be playing in the NHL within the next couple of years and a couple of them made it to the Caps camp and stayed with the big club through part of preseason.  18-year old defenseman John Carlson impressed fans from rookie development camp in July through his preseason appearances as he played well enough to stay with the big club for quite a while.  He'll develop under Dale Hunter's juniors team in London.  I'm not the only fan that will look forward to his return next summer.
• Center Jay Beagle, a checking line grinder, played for Hershey last year and will return there this year.  He's a high energy player and fans loved him for getting the best of agitator Steve Downie from the Flyers at Downie's request to drop the gloves. 
  
• Sergei Fedorov plays defense almost as well as he plays center.  He'll be the Caps 7th defenseman after notching 2 secondary assists on outlet passes and playing +3 hockey against the Flyers.  I have to pinch myself to remember that it's The Sergei Fedorov that is now playing for the Caps.  He's absolutely amazing even at the age of 39.
• Alex Ovechkin is his normal self only he looks leaner and stronger so watch out opponents.  Ovie came out for his preseason debut against Carolina hitting every thing in sight (I had the pleasure of watching that game!).  He netted more than a point per preseason game he played, including two short-handed goals on the PK.  I don't want Alex on the PK as the shot he took to his leg shows how dangerous that is, but I have no doubt he'd play all 60 minutes if coach would let him.
• Captain Chris Clark returned after a long recovery from a groin injury.  He understandably looked tentative at first but by the end of preseason he looked like his old self - crashing the net, potting rebounds and defending his teammates.  Welcome back Clarkie!  
• Jose Theodore, the Caps net minder, is the big unknown for the Caps going into the season.  He didn't have a stellar game against Boston, but he also made 40 out of 44 saves. And, the Caps played a lousy game or they wouldn't have allowed 44 shots.  I'm not a fan of Theodore after watching his streaky play with the Colorado Avalanche, but he was the best option the Caps had after Cristobal Huet turned down GMGM's offer and Olie Kolzig left.  I hope Theodore rises to the occasion of an energetic young team that has a lot of potential.  But, the Caps also have some impressive prospects at goalie, as Simeon Varlomov played like a beast in his preseason outing against Carolina and Michal Neuvirth played well during his outings after getting over his nervousness.   The future looks bright indeed.

The opening game for the Caps starts Friday night against the Atlanta Thrashers and Saturday they raise the SE Division Champs banner at the phone booth.  Ahhhh, I can't wait to be there, but they need to win Friday night's game first.

Let's go Caps!

"We have great fans--and I love playing in this building".

From Ted's USA Today journal - We arrive at the arena and my son and I go shake hands with our coaching staff. We see Sergei Fedorov in the hallway. He stops his stretching and comes to see me, shakes my hand and says "thank you — this is so much fun." I say "No, thank you — I appreciate all you have done and will do for our team." We hug and he has a twinkle in his eye. He says, "We have great fans — and I love playing in this building".

What I want this to mean (even though reading between the lines is a pretty useless exercise)....is that Sergei Fedorov wants to come back here next year and Ted wants to find a way to keep him.

I'm all for that.

Let's go Caps!

SE Division Champions...what just happened here

From the high of training camp and the anticipation of the season because of the new additions to the team (Poti, Kozlov, Nylander and rookie Center Nicklas Backstrom ) to the low of Thanksgiving morning when the Caps organiziation finally fired Coach Glen Hanlon to the resurgence of the history making Caps (last in the NHL at Thanksgiving to first in their division), it's been a roller coaster of a season. The Caps are playoff bound for the first time since the 2002-2003 season. The Florida Panthers did the Caps a huge favor last night in beating the Carolina Hurricanes. It was up to the Caps to beat Florida tonight and take the playoffs and the SE Division title away from Carolina. The Caps did what they needed, too, beating Florida 3-1.

This wasn't a game for the rabid fan to enjoy, it was a game to endure. Most of the people around us felt like we did, clock watching, and just wanting the damn game to be over. The Carolina win was more fun. But, the Verizon Center rocked even louder than the Carolina game (the echo was amazing) and the end of the 3rd period was awesome with everyone standing up and clapping.

Tomas Fleischmann put the Caps up 1-0 in the 1st period, netting his 10th of the season. For someone who gets so much grief from Caps fans I was happy for him to get that goal. He's young. Watching Brooks Laich blossom this year makes me realize patience is needed before giving up on these young players.

The trade deadline players, once again, stole the show. Sergei Fedorov showed everyone just how much he wants to go back to the playoffs with his game winning goal at 15:03 in the 2nd. Matt Cooke made his presence felt everywhere and Cristobal Huet continued his sparkling net minding. Alexander Semin, 1 goal, 1 assist (to/from Fedorov) is clearly learning much from Fedorov (boy, I really want him to stay!!!!). Nicklas Backstrom got an assist on Semin's goal meaning he now holds the rookie assist record for the Capitals (1 better than Ovie!) Go Nicklas!

This night wasn't about Alex Ovechkin, who was held scoreless, but nevertheless, the MVP chants rang down at the phone booth. To those who said his team had to make the playoffs to be considered, well, how do you like this team & Ovie now?

Thank you Coach Bruce Boudreau. Everyone loves what you've done with this team. I know why your team in Hershey did so well and we're glad you're here now.

And, finally, my tribute to Olie Kolzig. In the season review the Caps played, they highlighted Olie's 300th win. He's a special and elite goalie, so congrats again Olie. The cheers of "O-lie" rang out loud. Thank you Olie.

Wow, the Caps now have home field advantage in the playoffs. How in the world did that happen? There are some injury issues (Brooks Laich, Jeff Schultz...ugh), but for one night, who cares. The Caps are in the playoffs and they just won the SE division.

Plus, there is more hockey for Caps fans coming soon...it's been way too long :)

Let's go Caps!