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!

History was made...just not the kind Caps fans wanted

Instead, the Caps made history with a new level of epic failure in the playoffs as the first number one seed swept in the first or second round of the playoffs since 1994.  Wow, that's some achievement.

The Tampa Bay Lightning out coached, out played and out hustled the Caps.  There is not enough heart, effort or desire in that Caps locker room to win a championship.  I feel like a broken record, but I'll say it again anyway.  It takes way more than talent to win a Stanley Cup and neither the Caps players nor their coaching staff seem to get it.

Reading GMGM's quotes that he doesn't see major changes being made to his team and organization means that the Caps will continue to go nowhere.  Thanks for pouring gasoline on any hope a Caps fan might have for a winning future George.  Because the results won't be any different with the players and coaching staff as is.

And, the injury excuse, also in his comments, is just that.  An excuse.  Pittsburgh took Tampa to seven games without Sydney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Matt Cooke (suspension not injury).  Tampa kicked the snot out of the Caps in four games without forward Simon Gagne, a 40 point contributor during the regular season and a point per game performer in their series against Pittsburgh.  They also lost Pavel Kubina, one of their top defense men.

So, there you have it Caps fans.  Another epically disappointing season.  Boy, does it suck to be a Washington sports fan.  Oh, wait, I said that last year, too....because nothing ever changes.

Another line change mistake results in another Caps failure

Who lost this game?  The coach.  Successful professional hockey teams don't take a too many men on the ice penalty in the playoffs. Last night, that was the difference.  If Mike Knuble's goal had counted on the power play in the first period, the score would have been tied in the third, even after Tampa's two goals in under a minute.  But, no, another stupid change cost the Caps another goal. Lackluster efforts from too many players aren't helping either, but these momentum swinging mistakes are killing them.

Being a Caps hockey fan truly fits the definition of insanity.

Teams rarely come back from being down 0-3 in the playoffs so whatever hope I had is gone now.

Let's go Caps!

Line Change Mistakes = Coaching Failure

Not that there aren't many other reasons the Caps are failing in the playoffs, once again, but line change mistakes are killing them in this series.  It led to the overtime goal that put the Caps down in their series against the Tampa Bay Lightning 0-2 last night.  Atrocious line changes during Friday's game contributed to that first game loss, too.  The coach doesn't get all the blame for this failure as the players play a role in making effective line changes, but he is the bench manager. Scott Hannan, however, made the line change mistake that led to the overtime goal on Friday.  But, this is "hockey for dummies" stuff and why the Caps can't get this right is beyond me.

Other reasons why the Caps still stink in the playoffs...

The Caps power play.  It's been ineffective for over a year now and that the coaches can't fix it means this could be a short series.  The Caps can't set anything up, they continue to disregard the effectiveness of putting big bodies in front of the net and they get cute, far too often, passing when they should shoot more.

Alex Ovechkin on the point during the power play.  It doesn't work and I'm tired of watching the puck go over Ovie's stick back into the neutral zone when he's on the point.  Why the coaches continue to try something that hasn't worked in over a year is maddening.

The disappearance of Nicklas Backstrom.  Where in the world did your game go Backie?  I don't know if he's struggling with the new way the Caps play, but, prior to this year, he's been one of the more consistent star offensive players.  It's so unusual to watch a consistent player's production go down the toilet.  It's a head scratcher.

The defensive pairing of Jeff Schultz with Mike Green.  Schultz ended the night minus-2 and Green was minus-1.  No other player on the team was worse in defensive play than these two.  Schultz was on the ice for all three Tampa goals and Green for two.  Seeing them together drives me insane because they're a huge liability together.  Schultz is struggling to keep up with the speedy Tampa players and looked horrible all night and in Friday's game.  I miss Dennis Wideman because he would be a huge help to the Caps with Tampa's speedy players and the power play.  Plus, the coaches could break up this awful pairing.

Tampa's coaching staff is out coaching the Caps, which is eerily reminiscent of the series against Montreal last year.

I have little faith that the Caps can win this series if these problems persist, but I also hope they prove me wrong.

Let's go Caps!

Braden Holtby helps Caps eke out a win

After an inauspicious start to their game against the Tampa Bay Lightning for first place in in the SE division, the Caps won a shootout match on a beauty of a goal by Alex Ovechkin and a stand on his head performance from goalie Braden Holtby.  Holtby entered the game cold after Michal Neuvirth didn't come back in the 2nd period because a piece of metal went into his eye after the puck hit his mask on a Tampa shot early in the first period.  That's frightening to me and I can't believe he continued playing after the shot.  I'm glad he's okay.

The Caps would have lost the game in regulation if not for the heroics of Alexander Semin and his timely goal 14:28 in the third period to tie the game.  Semin's play on both ends of the ice during the last couple of games has been impressive.  He has the talent to be one of the sickest players in the NHL when he's on, but, unfortunately, Semin being "on" ebbs and flows throughout every season he's played.  I have no doubt having Jason Arnott playing center with him helps Semin as his centers have constantly changed during the Caps quest to find a true second line center.  Here's to hoping we see the back checking, goal scoring Semin in the playoffs.

There is slight optimism rising among Caps fans this morning about this team.  Although the dreadful power play must be fixed in this last month before the playoffs and the Caps need to score more goals and score in the first period, they are winning close games and staying defensively responsible.  The Caps have won five one goal games in a row after getting pasted by the New York Rangers, 6-0.  Still, I won't be optimistic about this team making a long playoff run until they show me they can actually win a playoff series.

Before closing, I want to talk more about the young net minder and first star on nhl.com yesterday, Braden Holtby.  His last appearance in a Caps game came against the New York Rangers on January 24th and that game also ended in a shootout.  Holtby tanked badly in that shootout.  He overplayed every shot and was too jittery, which is not unexpected from a goalie that has only played a handful of games in the show.   Holtby dedicated himself to working on shootouts and breakaway when he went back to Hershey and it paid off.  I think that's awesome.

However, the real reason I love Braden Holtby is he's a typical quirky NHL goalie.  A lot of goalies are quirky or temperamental and it's just another reason I love the game.  Caps fans started hearing about his "holtbyisms" from those that get to watch him in Hershey. I enjoyed watching the Holtby shuffle and water bottle squirt routines the first time I saw him live.

Holtby's in net again tonight versus the Edmonton Oilers.  Michal Neuvirth is backing him up so I'm assuming his eye is okay.

This is a game this team should win even without Mike Green and Nicklas Backstrom, but that doesn't mean a thing.

Let's go Caps!

 

Two Good Games in a Row, Wow

I didn't watch the game on Friday, but I did hear the last ten minutes on the radio.  After listening to that, reading the hockey news and the Caps message boards, it's clear that the Caps came to play against the Tampa Bay Lightning.  Nice to hear Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom racking up points with Jason Chimera on their line.  I watched Sunday's 3-0 game against the Pittsburgh Penguins and both these games were great efforts by the Caps.

Does that mean there is hope for this team in April?  I've got to see a consistent effort for many more games before I'll believe that.  I get that the Caps have been implementing a new defensively responsible system these last twenty games (that time period started with a win against Ottawa at the end of the eight game losing streak in December).  They've won 50% of those games with a 1.7 goals against per game.  The goals against is astounding for a team that has played run and gun offense for the past several years and last year had a 2.77 GA/G.

However, implementing that new system doesn't excuse lack of effort which is still evident all too often with this team. The game a week ago against Montreal when the Caps went up 2-0 and then sat back until they lost the game in a shootout is a perfect example of how that lack of effort creeps in with this team.  The players, like Scott Hannan, said the same thing.

So, when and where will this team finds its consistent killer instinct?  In April?  I can only hope.

Let's go Caps!

Oh, yeah, I can't watch Caps tonight

Instead of getting pissed off at the lackadaisical play of the Washington Capitals, I'll be enjoying a nice dinner with some friends. I have no doubt that by the time I get home Tampa Bay will have shellacked the Caps. Amazing, the team that has Steve Yzerman as its GM will probably win another Stanley Cup before the Caps win their first one.

Here's hoping I can somehow get face value for my remaining tickets this year because I'm not going to care again until the Caps care again and that won't happen until there are major changes in this organization. Instead, I'm looking forward to, hopefully, recouping some of my money because I'm not going to waste it on this pathetic team.

Many could argue, rightfully so, that I'd shut up if I didn't care anymore. Point taken. But, I write because I can't believe the disaster this team has become and it's not due to a lack of talent, just a lack of heart.  With the organization as it is today, I don't expect any Washington team to hoist a Stanley Cup in my lifetime. Sad, really, after all the enthusiasm I had for the arrival of Alexander Ovechkin.

My husband-like boyfriend (yes, I edited that as it originally said boyfriend-like husband!), Jeff, and I talked during the game the other night about how we're not even excited to see Ovie on the ice anymore. I never thought I'd see that day arrive and I'm depressed about it, but it's where I am. He's not doing anything on the ice to cheer about and neither is Nicklas Backstrom or Brooks Laich or Mike Knuble or Eric Fehr and the list goes on and on.

The game's a sellout tonight in Tampa, Caps team, so they'll be pumped for this game.  If you care, you'll be pumped, too, and show it, but I'm not holding my breath.

Let's go Caps!

A visit to Florida nets Caps 4 points & Green into history books

What a satisfying weekend if you're a Caps fan.  Mike Green broke an NHL record by scoring in 8 games in a row in front of his father on dads weekend, a feat not accomplished since 1984 by the Boston Bruins Mike O'Connell. Oh, and the Caps won 5-1 over the Tampa Bay Lightning. 

Michal Neuvirth started in net for the Caps, the 8th player to debut for the team this season and got his first NHL win. His glove hand is something to behold.  Neuvirth stonewalled Vinnie Lecavalier with that glove and he used it often during his first NHL win.  In fact, he would have had a shutout if Caps new blue liner Staffan Kronwall hadn't been credited with putting the puck into his own net.  Oh, well, every win can't be perfect as much as Caps fans wish it so.  It was two points on the road with Neurvirth letting in 1 shot out of 32 and garnering the 3rd star of the game. Wow, nice to see the Caps have two good goalie prospects.

The Caps traveled to the Florida Panthers for a 5:00 start today less than 24 hours after that 7:30 start against Tampa Bay.  It was an U-G-L-Y game, the Caps spent 16 minutes in the penalty box, but it was a game that made Caps fans happy because Alex Ovechkin is a Capital. Not only did he score the game winner on a shot that I still can't believe went past Tomas Vokoun by using a defender as his screen again, but he ended up with a hat trick on an empty netter by clearing the puck out of the defensive zone in the last 21 seconds of the game.

Have I mentioned how much I love Alex Ovechkin?  I've been watching the Washington Capitals since 1974 and it's never been nearly as entertaining as the Ovie years.  He's the league leader in game winning goals because the guy wants nothing more than to win hockey games. Wow, just wow. He's unreal and I marvel at the fact that I get to watch him play night after night.

The other person from today's game that deserves mention is Jose Theodore, 3rd star of the game.  I've been one of his most vocal critics, but he's played great in net lately and it's been quite a while since I've complained about him.  

Bottom line....this Caps team is fun to watch. Do I think they're going to win a Stanley Cup this year?  No. Their defense is far too suspect for that (and if I have to eat those words, I'll do it gladly) but I'll be thrilled if they win a series or two in the playoffs.

The Caps have a rough stretch coming up with Montreal, Flyers, Penguins, Atlanta, Avalanche for a 5 game home stand (I'll be there on Friday for the Avs game) and at the Bruins right after that.

Let's go Caps!

Caps win a sloppy 7-4 game against Lightning

The Caps played a sloppy game last night and came away with 2 points against the Tampa Bay Lightning.  Brent Johnson, in net for the Caps, probably wishes he had 1 or 2 of those goals back and I can guarantee you that Mike Smith, the Lightning's goalie, wishes he had several of the Caps goals back, particularly, the one where he was out of the net and Boyd Gordon took advantage of the puck that landed on his stick right in front of the empty net.

The highlights:

• The Caps got seven goals from seven different players.  That's some nice secondary scoring by the 3rd and 4th line players and the defense.
• Sean Collins played a stint in the ECHL last year and last night he potted his first NHL goal on a pass from Alex Ovechkin.  It dribbled past Mike Smith.
• David Steckel got the 2nd goal of the first period off a beautiful pass from Matt Bradley.  The puck landed perfectly on his stick and he shoved into the net.  Bradley was awarded the first star of the game for an overall inspired performance.  Brads scored the 4th goal in the second period.
• Boyd Gordon is playing great hockey.  His between the legs pass back to Bradley made the 4th goal happen.  And, he also quickly capitalized on Mike Smith's mistake to get the 5th goal of the game in the 3rd period.
• Chris Clark appears to be back in good form. He's such an agitator out there and he finally scored for the first time since November 2007.  Clarkie got the 2nd star of the game.
• Mike Green, in addition to, getting his 9th goal of the season from a perfectly placed pass by Ovie, played good defense last night.  He played +2 hockey although he did have 5 giveaways.  Ouch.  Regardless, he stopped a Steve Stamkos goal and twice made great plays knocking pucks off Lightning sticks on players streaking towards Johnson.  The second time was against Adam Hall and the refs awarded him a penalty shot on a bogus call.  Luckily, Johnson made the save.
• Alex Ovechkin got the 7th goal of the game by using Steve Eminger as a screen.  He had two assists and one goal for the night.

The lowlights:

• Alex Ovechkin's hit on Jamie Heward had him out motionless on the ice for several minutes.  Apparently, Heward has a concussion and is going to be okay.  I like Heward. After viewing the hit several times, it appears to be an unfortunate accident where Jamie was in an awkward position with his head down when Ovie hit him.  Of course, there are hockey fans all over the place looking for Ovie to be suspended, but I hope that doesn't happen.  The Lightning didn't retaliate against Ovie so they didn't think that hit was that bad either.  
• After going up 3-0 in the first, the Caps, once again, played a bad second period. The Lightning scored 2 goals within the first 2:37 of the second period.  On the second one, Michael Nylander spun around and lost the puck.  Ryan Malone capitalized on that one.  
• Apparently, Brent Johnson thought icing was being called and Sean Collins let up on the play that ended with Vincent LeCavalier getting the 3rd Lightning goal from Vaclav Propsal to end the second period at 4-3.  
• The Caps still need to play with intensity for 60 minutes, but I'm happy with the two points and the 10 wins in 11 games.

The New York Rangers visit the phone booth tomorrow night and I'm looking forward to going to that game. They'll be ready for revenge after the Caps beat them 5-4 at Madison Square Garden. Caps are 4 points ahead of the Rangers in the Eastern conference.  Let's make it 6 points.

Let's go Caps!

Caps get 2 points against Olie, Tampa Bay

The Caps beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 4-2 at home against their long-time former netminder, Olie Kolzig. The Caps gave Olie a nice welcome, plenty of applause, "O-lie" chants and a video tribute at the first tv timeout. I wore my Olie jersey with pride even though I couldn't be happier that the Caps beat him and got two points against a division rival.

The highlights:

• Alex Ovechkin ended his 9 game scoring drought with a garbage goal from a Alexander Semin shot in the 3rd period. I don't think any fan at the phone booth last night cared that it wasn't pretty. There seemed to be a collective sigh of relief followed by enthusiastic applause.
• Brent Johnson, 3rd star of the week in the NHL and 1st star of the game, continued his stellar play stopping 36 shots from the Lightning. The defense seems to play more confidently in front of him than Jose Theodore. Overall the defense had a pretty good night last night. However, Johnson's play will make Coach Boudreau's decision tougher on when to put Theodore back in net.
• Eric Fehr got the hard hat for his hard work last night. He got the 3rd star of the game not just for his goal but for his hustling and hard hitting play.
• Tom Poti has rediscovered his offense (and, on this team, his defense is way more important than offense). He got the 2nd star of the game and his goal came from a beautiful spin around pass by Donald Brashear, of all people. Brash looked almost Semin-esque.
• John Erskine played a solid game last night even if he made a couple of plays near the end that still made me want to scream. Ted's blog this morning references a great blog post on Erskine's value to this team. Here it is from the Red Skate.

The lowlights:

• The second period. After going up 3-0 the Caps were outshot in the 2nd period, 18-6. Did the Caps want to lay off Olie? Did they want to sit on a lead like they've done before? I don't know but Coach Boudreau wasn't happy about it either.
• The Caps goal scorers getting cute with the puck when they should shoot the damn thing. Coach Boudreau called out Ovie and Semin specifically. See Tarik's blog here for more on that.
• The Caps passing is still awful. Those cross ice passes make me want to scream with regularity since they usually result in giveaways.
• The power play stinks as evidenced by the Caps 26th ranking. They were 0-4 last night. Teams are not, repeat, are not, successful in the NHL unless they can score with the man advantage.

Next up, the Carolina Hurricanes for first place in the SE division (on November 13th, at least).

Let's go Caps!

Caps Fan Frustration in Tampa Bay

The game last night made me want to hurl my remote control through the TV once Tampa went up 5-4 in the 3rd. The Caps really needed to win that game. Okay, so the offense went on another tear - with 2 from Semin, 1 from Chris Clarke and 1 from Ben Clymer (What? 2 goals in 2 games from Clymer?), but offense is irrelevant since they lost. It just highlights the glaring problems on defense. Olie made 20 saves instead of the 40+ the last time they played Tampa so I guess I should be happy that the shots against has improved since the beginning of the season. But, I'm not.

Hanlon & the coaching staff apparently handed over the "leadership" role for the team to the captains & assistants starting with the win over Montreal. Hanlon mentioned that he thought the coaching staff was getting too crazy about where they are in the standings (boy, do I understand that since I only look at standings points and ignore the record). Interesting...read more here in the Washington Post.

In other Caps news, Brent Johnson got signed to a 2-year contract extension. So, Hanlon, when in the hell are you going to rest Olie and put Brent back in goal? I think it's ridiculous that Olie's played 9 games in a row. I'd really like him to be around for another few years when the Caps have a legitimate shot at going deep in the playoffs but he shouldn't be playing 9 games in a row now.

Caps visit the Florida Panthers tomorrow. If they don't win that game, I'm not quite sure my TV will survive.

Let's go Caps!