Countdown to Opening Night by the Elements: Number 16

After a night of Capitals hockey, we are down to 16 days to Opening Night, giving Fearless a chance to continue his jaunt through the rows and columns of the periodic table of the elements.  Next up…

Sulfur

“But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.”

We didn’t make that up. That comes from the Book of Revelation in the Holy Bible (Revelation 21:8, for those scoring at home).  Fire needs no explanation.  Brimstone?  That would be another name for sulfur.  You really, really don’t want a part of element number 16.

Sulfur has been known about for millennia, as its Biblical reference suggests.  In addition to its use in hellfire imagery, it found use as a fumigant and in Egypt to treat a peculiar case of conjunctivitis called “trachoma (granular eyelid).”  In Rome it was used for medicine and for bleaching cloth.  In ancient China it had medicinal uses and later was used in gunpowder.

Among scientists there was uncertainty over whether sulfur was a compound or an element.  It would be left to Antoine Lavoisier, considered by many to be the Father of Modern Chemistry, to settle the matter and identify sulfur as an element in 1777.

The name itself comes from the Latin, “sulphur,” which is derived from a word meaning “to burn.”  This has led to alternative spellings for the element, either “sulfur” or “sulphur” being acceptable.

Today, sulfur is used as a means to derive other chemicals that include it as a component.  Foremost among them is sulfuric acid, a highly corrosive mineral acid.  It is capable of corroding metals, human flesh, even stone.  Like an element from which it is derived, it has an alternative name – “Oil of Vitriol.” 

Sulfur is also used in the vulcanization process for rubber, making it more durable.  It is an important process in the manufacture of hockey pucks.  It is used in the manufacture of fungicides and pesticides, and in food preservation.  It is an essential component of all living cells, a part of amino acids produced or ingested by the body and contained in proteins and enzymes.  The bonds that sulfur forms in peptide chains (short amino acid chains as opposed to the longer amino acid chains that form proteins) lend durability and rigidity.  There are some organisms that use sulfur (via hydrogen sulfide) as an energy source.  Others “breathe” sulfur (via sulfates).  You might be familiar with the latter; some “sulfate-reducing” bacteria reside in the intestine and produce a foul smelling gas – flatulence.

To recap, we have the original “brimstone” visiting the horrors of hell upon the wicked.  Its name derives from words meaning “to burn.”  It is the business element in the highly corrosive sulfuric acid. It is also used to make things stronger, and more durable.  It can be used as an energy source.  It resembles a high-energy player who can be highly corrosive on the ice, a player who lends some strength and rigidity to his team, and who can serve something of a medicinal purpose through either his production or his physical style of play.

Sulfur… the “Tom Wilson” of the table of elements of the periodic table.

Washington Capitals 2013-2014 Previews -- Forwards: Alex Ovechkin

Alex Ovechkin

Theme: “Patience and time do more than strength or passion.”

-- Jean de La Fontaine

In 2004, when Alex Ovechkin was drafted by the Washington Capitals, the young winger said, “I've been waiting for this day for maybe two years."   Nine years later, Caps fans are still waiting for the Stanley Cup that was almost assumed to be waiting for the engraver on that draft day.  It certainly is not the fault of Alex Ovechkin that the Caps have not won a championship; there are too many factors that impact an outcome in hockey for even a player of Ovechkin’s stature to command.

It has not been the smoothest of rides for Ovechkin, even with all the individual awards and accolades bestowed upon him.  Hart Trophies… suspensions.  First team all-star nominations… bitter Olympic defeat.  Regular season titles… early playoff exits.  It has been an uneven ice sheet on which Ovechkin skated over his first seven seasons.  And, when he stumbled out of the gate to start the abbreviated 2013 NHL season after being an outspoken supporter of the lockout that consumed almost half of the regular season, it looked as if he would hit another deep rut on the ice sheet.

Ovechkin started the 2013 season learning a new position – right wing – while still being the go-to guy for the Caps.  It showed.  He started the season 5-5-10 in his first 16 games, at one point balking at the move to right wing, at which point new head coach Adam Oates reassigned him to his new position, only it was playing alongside Jay Beagle and Joey Crabb.  The Caps stumbled to a 5-10-1 record in those 16 games.

Then, February 23^rd happened.  After a scoreless first period against the New Jersey Devils, Ovechkin scored on a one-timer from the left wing circle 5:20 into the second period.  By the time the final horn sounded, Ovechkin had a hat trick and an assist, and the Caps had a 5-1 win.  Starting with that game, Ovechkin would finish the last 32 games with a 27-19-46 scoring line, a 69-goal pace per 82 games.  He recorded a goal in 19 of those 32 games.  There were only 17 players in the league who finished the entire 48-game season with as many as 19 goals.

As Ovechkin went, so went the Caps.  He scored goals in 24 of 48 games overall.  In the 24 games in which he recorded a goal, the Caps had a record of 19-3-2.  Washington was 11-3-1 in games in which Ovechkin recorded a power play goal.  The Caps were only 8-15-1, however, in the 24 games in which he failed to record any goal.

However, this being Ovechkin, his high accomplishment – a regular season that would end with his third Hart Trophy as most valuable player and third Richard Trophy as the league’s top goal scorer – would be accompanied by another playoff low.  He would be held to two points in a seven-game first round playoff loss to the New York Rangers and would not score a goal after netting one in Game 1.  That he suffered a broken foot blocking a shot in Game 6, playing through the injury in the last two games of the series, is likely to be remembered far less than his suffering another early playoff exit.

Fearless’ Take…

Only three players in the history of the NHL have won more Hart Trophies than Alex Ovechkin – Wayne Gretzky, Gordie Howe, and Eddie Shore.  Only Gretzky and Mario Lemieux have won more Ted Lindsay Awards as most outstanding player.  No one has won more Richard Trophies.  He is one of only 26 players in the history of the league to win an Art Ross Trophy as leading scorer.  He is a six-time first team NHL all-star, including last season.  And, he has done this while being remarkably durable for a player who plays as physical a game as he does.  In eight seasons he has missed 21 of 622 regular season games and none of the 58 playoff games for the Caps in six post-seasons.  He has four 50-goal seasons in eight years and was on an 82-game pace for a fifth last season.  No other player has more than two 50-goal seasons over that period. 

Then there are the playoffs.  For all the grief Ovechkin has taken in six post-seasons, only six players have more goals in those six years (all of them have played in at least ten more games), and only 11 have more points (again, all have played in at least ten more games).  These are things to keep in the back of your mind when the inevitable Mike Milbury screed comes oozing through your television screen this season.

Cheerless’ Take…

We can put this whole thing about whether Ovechkin is a great player under the back porch for good.  He is.  But… there is that whole playoff thing.  And for a finisher, he hasn’t been too much of a "finisher."  In six seasons the Caps have played 12 games in which they could have eliminated their playoff opponent.  They are 3-9 in those games.  Ovechkin is 5-3-8, minus-3 in those games and has not had a point in his last four series clinching opportunities, three of which the Caps lost.  He is 2-2-4, minus-2 in Game 7’s and has not had a point in his last three such games, two of which the Caps lost.  In his last 21 post-season games overall he is 6-5-11, minus-4. When this trend gets reversed, maybe those early exits do, too.

The Big Question… Will moving to the Metropolitan Division cramp Alex Ovechkin’s style?

Alex Ovechkin has played his entire career to date in the Southeast Division.  In 203 career regular season games against the “Southleast,” Ovechkin finished 123-147-270, plus-35.  On a per-82 games basis that works out to 50-59-109, plus-14.  Impressive.  Now, what is his per-82 game scoring line against non-Southeast Division teams over his career?  It is 51-45-96, plus-10.  Ovechkin has hardly pumped up his numbers against the perceived “weak sisters” of the Southeast. 

One could, however, make the point that comparing last year’s production against the Southeast against that of the teams that would make up the new Metropolitan Division, Ovechkin did benefit from weak Southeast competition.  He was 16-13-29, plus-10 in 18 games against the Southeast, 10-8-18, minus-2 in 20 games against teams that today make up the new Metropolitan Division (he did not play against Columbus last season).

His career suggests that he will get his goals in the new division, but he might not get his points.  That is where the rest of the club is going to step up and finish or clean up chances or rebounds Ovechkin provides on the ice.

In the end…

We are past the time when a Stanley Cup is to be assumed in the Ovechkin era.  The Capitals are thought as much to be no more than a playoff bubble team as they are a real contender.  Whether the Caps are or are not a playoff team, let alone a serious Stanley Cup contender, Alex Ovechkin is likely to get his goals and points.  He and head coach Adam Oates seem to be on the same page to a greater extent than Ovechkin has been with any of his previous three coaches.  Oates, who had no training camp and barely half a season to find ways to deploy Ovechkin, has a full training camp to add new wrinkles, and Ovechkin has the benefit of 48 games plus a post-season at a new position.  He might not score goals at a 55-goal pace over 82 games, as he did last year in 48 games, but that might be a product a number of factors over which Ovechkin has little control.  For example, the current state of the NHL these days, scoring-wise, or the fact that the power play will have changes made to it with the departure of Mike Ribeiro to Phoenix.

Still, Ovechkin is – and will remain for the foreseeable future – the proverbial straw that stirs the drink for the Caps.  If he is not the rambunctious kid who celebrated every goal by abusing the glass along the walls or putting teammates in physical jeopardy, he seemed to have a bit more joy about him last year than he had in either of the previous two seasons.  That sort of energy can be a source of momentum for the club as much as the volume of production he generates at the offensive end of the ice.

Alex Ovechkin is still compiling a body of work, but he is now a much more fully formed player than in those early days.  As far as his total game is concerned, he is not likely to ever approach his goal-scoring peak, but he is probably a more rounded all-around player (even if there will be times when his defense looks uninspired).  Whether that will be enough to finally push him – and the Capitals – to the summit of the league, well, we are at the point where we can only be patient and let time answer that question.

Projection: 82 games, 44-46-90, plus-16

Photo: Source: Bruce Bennett/Getty Images North America

Washington Capitals 2013-2014 Previews -- Forwards: Brooks Laich

Brooks Laich

 Theme: “The beast in me is caged by frail and fragile bars”

-- Johnny Cash

With 1:26 gone in an October 26, 2005 game against the Buffalo Sabres, Brooks Laich took to the ice for the Washington Capitals to take a faceoff against the Sabres’ Tim Connolly (Laich won it).  That started a string of 483 games in which Laich would appear 470 times.  He four of those games late in the 2009-2010 season when he suffered a freak cheekbone injury when a puck shot by John Carlson in practice struck the crossbar of the goal, then struck Laich.

At the time, then teammate Mike Knuble quipped, "He's a young buck; he isn't cut up too much yet.  You don't have a career in the NHL until you break your face once."  Well, Brooks Laich is not so much a “young buck” anymore (he turned 30 in June), and the threat of having his face broken was the least of his problems in the 2012-2013.

With the NHL having locked out its players to start the season, Laich caught on with the Kloten Flyers in Swtizerland.  On November 16^th, in an 8-0 win over the SCL Tigers, Laich injured his groin.  It was an injury that would derail Laich’s entire season.  He could not answer the bell to start the late-starting NHL season and did not make his first appearance until Game 29 of the 48-game regular season for the Caps.

Laich played in nine consecutive games, getting progressively more ice time over the first seven games he played (from 12:51 in his first game to 20:28 in his seventh game).  Then, in his eighth game, he skated 17:02 followed by a 14 minute effort in his ninth game on April 4^th.  In that last game, Laich was on pace to finish with perhaps 16 minutes of ice time, but after finishing a shift at the 10:34 mark of the third period, he would not return to the ice in what would end in a 2-1 shootout win for the Caps.  It was the last time Laich skated for the season.

Despite having sports hernia surgery that might have made him available for a second round playoff matchup (one that did not materialize for the Caps), it was a lost season for the nine-year veteran – 19 games with Kloten, where he was 6-12-18, and nine games with the Caps (none in the playoffs), where he finished with one goal and four points.  And now, with his having left the ice ten minutes into his first training camp practice with what was described as a hip flexor injury, one might be left to wonder if the iron man of his first seven full seasons with the Caps (appearing in more than 97 percent of the Caps’ games) can return to that level of reliability.

Fearless’ Take…

When he was growing up in Canada, Brooks Laich played baseball as a pitcher, catcher, and shortstop.    You won’t find three more different positions on the diamond.  That sort of versatility has become a hallmark of his game as a hockey player.  He can play any forward position and do it, at least on a fill-in basis, on any of the top three lines.  In his seven full seasons with the Caps ending with the 2011-2012 season he averaged more than two minutes of ice time per game on both the power play and on the penalty kill.  With that versatility has come production.  Although his goal scoring dipped the last two seasons from a career high 25 goals in 2009-2010, he finished with more than 15 goals in each of the last five seasons ending in 2011-2012.  Among current Capitals, only Alex Ovechkin has more goals scored than the 101 scored by Laich in those five seasons (Nicklas Backstrom also has 101, and the departed Alexander Semin had 149).

Cheerless’ Take…

A lot of that “production,” cuz, was because he was scoring power play goals in those 2009-2010 and 2010-2011 seasons.  Of the 48 goals he had in those two seasons, 21 of them came on the power play.  If you look at his even strength goals over that five-year stretch you looked at, he goes: 11, 13, 12, 11, 10.  Consistent, yeah, but not what you’d call high volume.  Is he going to get enough time as a third line left wing or enough power play time to be a 20-goal scorer again?  Is he going to be healthy enough to play in enough games to get to 15?

The Big Question… What is Brooks Laich’s role on this team?

The easy question to ask here would have been whether he would be restored to good health.  We do not pretend to having special insights into anyone’s future health.  But even absent that talent, we are left with the matter of Brooks Laich still having blanks to be filled in by the coaching staff, relative to those players who played a full season last year.  Laich’s versatility makes him the kind of player you can plug in at any position on any of the top three forward lines.  Conversely, it means he doesn’t have a home.  Until Mikahil Grabovski was signed, he was going to be the second line center.  After Grabovski was signed, he was penciled in as the third wing left wing.  If, say, Mathieu Perreault stumbles, he could be the third line center.  Intuitively, having a consistent, well-defined role provides the stability one might like to have to be comfortable and productive, whatever that role might be.  Perhaps Laich does not need that kind of continuity, but that’s what makes it the big question, too.

In the end…

If you are the hopeful and confident sort of Capitals fan, one might think that Brooks Laich would appeal to the mad scientist in Adam Oates.  Laich is versatile enough as to be something of a collection of raw materials and talents that Oates might deploy in a variety of ways.  Here is an example.  Last year Laich had a six-year streak in which he scored at least one shorthanded goal come to an end.  Do you know how many players had a shorthanded goal in each of the six seasons from 2006-2007 through 2011-2012?  Eight.  In addition to Laich: Antoine Vermette, Anze Kopitar, Chad LaRose, Mike Richards, Radek Dvorak, Rene Bourque, and Tomas Plekanec.

Over those same six seasons Laich had 40 power play goals, making him one of only ten players with at least nine shorthanded goals and at least 40 power play goals over that period.  The other nine include: Patrick Marleau, Rick Nash, Marian Hossa, Martin St. Louis, Jeff Carter, Patrick Sharp, Anze Kopitar, Daniel Alfredsson, and Ryan Kesler.  That’s not bad company to keep.

In this formulation, Laich is something of the secret weapon Adam Oates can deploy, but we are still left with that sense of uncertainty that losing almost an entire season to injury engenders.  We will just have to see if the beast can be released from those frail and fragile bars that undid his 2013 season.

Projection: 72 games, 14-21-35, plus-4

Photo: Bruce Bennett/Getty Images North America

Countdown to Opening Night by the Elements: Number 17

We are down to number 17 in Fearless’ walk through the periodic table of the elements.  Surely there is a Washington Capital who can be matched to this number…

Chlorine

Chlorine is a member of the “halogen” family of chemical elements.  As a group, halogens are very reactive.  In fact, if you were to put chlorine and hydrogen together (you want to be far away when you do this), you would get a pretty big bang.  But, chlorine happens to react this way under a very narrow set of conditions.  It has to be in the presence of light and heat.  Doing it Nome, Alaska, under a dark winter sky is not likely to have the same effect as doing it in Rock Creek Park at high noon on one of those 100 degree days in August.  Not that we intend (or that you should contemplate) carrying out that experiment.

Chlorine has been used by humans almost since there were humans.  It is one of the constituents of common salt, but there is archeological evidence that it was used as brine as far back as 8,000 years ago.  It was not discovered as an element until 1774, by – yes, another Swedish chemist – Carl Wilhelm Scheele (what, did these guys have side bets on who could discover the most chemical elements?).  He was much more creative than his chemist brethren, naming the newly discovered element “dephlogisticated munatic acid air.”  He should have paid more attention to what he had than naming it, since he might not have actually “discovered” the element.  He isolated it as a gas, which was not the same as actually discovering it in its elemental form.

It took Sir Humphrey Davy (coming up on the outside on the Swedes in the Discover That Element sweepstakes) to actually establish chlorine as an element.  He named it “chlorine” for the greek word, “chloros,” meaning “green-yellow,” since chlorine is a greenish yellow gas.

That mystery finally solved, it was left to find a way to put it to use.  Chlorine does have its place in manufacture and consumer products, found in such things as plastics, solvents, household cleaning products, insecticides, and agricultural products.  One of the more common uses it has is as a disinfectant, and this is one of those things in which science meets game show. 

Back in the day, folks found interesting uses for animal guts – strings for musical instruments, as an aid in the manufacture of gold leaf, and any number of other exotic uses.  But processing the animal guts into a useable product was an unpleasant and unhealthy endeavor.  An organization engaged in the promotion and advancement of the Industrial Revolution in France held a contest.  Really.  The call went out to find a less unhealthy, less unpleasant way to separate the inner membrane of animal intestines without causing decay. 

It would be a chemist by the name of Antoine Germain Labarraque who figured it out.  For solving the problem with a chlorinated bleaching concoction that would be named “Eau de Labarraque (we are not making this up),” he won the princely sum (in those days) of 1,500 francs.  No word on if he shouted “I’m going to EuroDisney” upon being named the winner.

All this is a roundabout (wa-a-a-a-ay roundabout, cuz) way of saying that chlorine is an element that has been in use for quite a while, one that can be a quite reactive element, but only in a limited range of situations.  When it does react, it can do so explosively.  It is kind of like a veteran player who might get regular shifts at 5-on-5, but who does not get much time on either the power play or penalty kills.  When he is out there, he can be “explosive” with bursts of speed that leave defensemen wheezing as they try to catch up.

Chlorine… the “Jason Chimera” of the elements of the periodic table.

Countdown to Opening Night by the Elements: Number 18

Fearless is down to just a few elements and at number 18 finds himself face to face with a noble gas (and we don’t mean Don Cherry)…

Argon

Argon is an odd element.  As a noble gas it is, like the rest of its family, colorless, odorless, and essentially unreactive.  It is kind of just, well…there.  The thing is, though, there is a lot of it that is…there.  There is almost 25 times as much of it in the Earth’s atmosphere as carbon dioxide. 

But it doesn’t do much of anything, which makes its name apt.  You see, “argon” is named for the greek word “argos,” meaning “inactive” (or less charitably, “lazy)…

Oh crap, speaking of “lazy,” here comes my layabout cousin.  Cheerless, what are you doing here?

“Cuz, you make this stuff so hard.  You ain’t teaching any chemistry lab here, it’s just hockey!”

And your point?

"Well, the way I see it, “argon” just means, “are gone.”  Y’know, like Wojtek Wolski.  He “are gone,” in a manner of speaking.  Joey Crabb… “are gone.”  Roman Hamrlik…"

“Are gone”… I get it.

But hey, it’s the new season, and we ought to be thinking about the good times and the guys who “are gone” from recent years, but not forgotten. 

Like Sergei Fedorov…

Like Mike Knuble, grindin’ and diggin’ and making it possible for Joel Ward to win a series…

Like “The Professor,” Matt Bradley, taking things into his own hands and doing the unexpected…

Like Chris Clark, who was a rock for a team that just wasn’t so good… Tomas Fleischmann, David Steckel, Boyd “Muffins” Gordon.  Sasha, good and bad.  Even Michael Nylander doing circles, but still playing hurt until his shoulder couldn’t take it anymore.  Tom Poti, who took more than his share for the team and climbed all the way back.  And Quintin Laing, whose was borderline nuts with going down to block all those shots, even tearing his spleen in the process.   Brian Pothier, Viktor Kozlov, and Steve Eminger.  Milan Jurcina, Shaone Morrisonn, and Motzko!

Just a lot of guys who put in an honest day’s work for times we remember, some that we don’t, and even some we would just as soon forget. 

When you get to this level, you’re noble indeed.  Maybe they “are gone,” but not forgotten. 

Countdown to Opening Night by the Elements: Number 19

Less than three weeks to Opening Night, and Fearless is now in the teens in the periodic table of the elements.  Which Cap will he find to match to…

Potassium

Potassium is one of those elements you really do not want to leave lying around in the open.  Oh, it looks harmless enough, a soft silver-white metal.  But leave it out in air, and you are going to have a world of problems.  It is extremely reactive with water (even water vapor in air), generating both extreme heat and intense light.

It is really impressive on the ooh-ahh scale.  In addition to its reactivity with water, there is the demonstration most any high school chemistry student has seen – potassium permanganate is placed in a bowl, and glycerin is added to it.  After five or ten tense seconds, the mixture will ignite with a bright purple-hued flame.  One would get similarly violent results mixing potassium permanganate with hydrogen peroxide (warning: DO NOT…REPEAT, DO NOT TRY ANY OF THIS AT HOME! GO WATCH IT ON A YOUTUBE VIDEO)

It makes sense, in a cosmic sort of way.  Potassium, you see, is created in a rather violent manner in supernovas as a product of nuclear fusion.  Here on Planet Earth, it has been in use in a variety of forms dating back to the Roman Empire.  Salts of potassium were known as such and distinguished from salts of sodium (which resembles potassium chemically) as far back as the early 18^th century.  However, it took another century for potassium as a metal to be discovered.  Sir Humphrey Davy (who we just saw in our look at calcium) is credited with the discovery.

While potassium has some violent and intense reactivity characteristics, its applications are rather common – fertilizer, industrial cleaners, gunpowder, and a process called “saponification (production of soaps from fats and lye, produced from carbonates of potassium -- potash).” Of course, there is also potassium nitrate or “salt peter,” a substance thought to induce impotence (pure legend).

It is, however, an essential nutrient.  As potassium chloride it can serve as a substitute for table salt.  It is found in baking powder and in food preservatives.  It is critical to efficient brain and nerve function, in regulating fluid and electrolyte balance in the body, and preventing muscle contraction, for example.

Potassium… an element with a robust ooh-ahh factor, and has its place in biological applications but one with less brilliant uses in the physical world.  It sounds like a limited-use forward to can provide some life to a moribund team from time to time with his “reactive” style of play, making life difficult for opponents in a physical way.

Potassium…the “Aaron Volpatti” of the elements of the periodic table.

 

Washington Capitals 2013-2014 Previews -- Forwards: Marcus Johansson

Marcus Johansson

Theme: "There is no royal road to anything, one thing at a time, all things in succession. That which grows fast, withers as rapidly. That which grows slowly, endures."

-- J. G. Holland

Marcus Johansson was taken 24^th overall by the Washington Capitals in the 2009 entry draft, right between Tim Erixon and Jordan Caron.  Today, Johansson has played in more games that both combined (183 to 137), has three times as many goals (33 to 11), has almost three times as many points (95 to 32).  In fact, out of the 2009 draft class Johansson ranks fifth in goals (behind John Tavares, Matt Duchene, Evander Kane, and Ryan O’Reilly) and fifth in points (behind the same four players).

And yet, for a number of Caps fans, it is not enough.  He’s too soft, he’s the passenger on the Backstrom-Ovechkin express, he’s…something that just does not seem right.  He is also a player who will not turn 23 years old until the first week of the NHL season.  Part of the problem might derive from the fact that when Johansson was drafted out of Farjestads Bk Karlstad in Sweden, his countrymate Nicklas Backstrom had just finished posting a sophomore season that ended 22-66-88.  To that point since the 2004-2005 lockout, only four players recorded more points in their sophomore season: Sidney Crosby, Alex Ovechkin, Eric Staal, and Evgeni Malkin.  Caps fans might have been thinking about a decade or more of center play with a distinct and high-powered Swedish influence.

It was probably disappointing to discover that Johansson and Backstrom were as different as players as their hair color was.  Backstrom was putting together a resume that looked like a classic playmaking center – heavy on assists, being a distributor who could chip in goals – with a solid defensive aspect to his game.  Johansson did not move up through the Swedish hierarchy of leagues quite as quickly, was not drafted as high as Backstrom (who was taken with the fourth overall pick in 2004), did not post numbers equal to Backstrom’s rookie season (Backstrom was a Calder Trophy finalist), and was giving evidence of being more of a player who depended on his speed and skating ability to create what offense he could.

What he has in common with Backstrom in their early careers, other than the country of their birth, is steady improvement.  His goals per game has been a constant (0.19, 0.18, and 0.18 in his three seasons), but his assists have increased from 0.20/game to 0.40 to 0.47 over those same three seasons.  Part of that, no doubt, is skating on a line alongside uber-finisher Alex Ovechkin.  However, Johansson has been efficient in his own right, shooting to a career 14.2 percent.

Fearless’ Take…

Johansson, in a quiet way, gave opponents grief last season.  Only Alex Ovechkin among Caps forwards playing in at least 20 games drew more penalties per 60 minutes at 5-on-5 (1.5) than Johansson (1.3).  The delta between his penalties drawn and penalties taken per 60 minutes (+1.2) was far and away the best among Caps forwards.  That ability should not be underestimated, given the ensuing results on Capitals power plays – they led the league in efficiency.

At the other end, after he was on the ice for 10 of 28 goals scored against the Caps in the 2013 season over his first seven games (35.1 percent), he was on ice for only 15 of 70 goals scored against the team over his last 27 games (21.4 percent).

Cheerless’ Take…

You’d sure like to see better possession numbers out of him.  He was seventh among 15 Caps forwards playing in at least 20 games last year in relative Corsi (difference between Corsi/on-ice and Corsi/off-ice) at 5-on-5.  And he had the worst team on-ice save percentage among all forwards at 5-on-5 (numbers from behindthenet.ca).  Someone has to be last, and it’s not all Johansson’s fault, but it sure would be nice to have all the offense with the top line on the ice coming from the Caps.

You’d like to see him shoot more, too.  He had nine fewer shots than Wojtek Wolski in seven more games played.  For a guy who finished fourth among all Caps forwards in shooting percentage, it might be good if he took more advantage, especially since his shots per game was 20 percent below what he did in his rookie season.

The Big Question… Can Johansson develop as a threat on his own on the left side to take some pressure off his linemates?

Johansson’s goals per game in his first three seasons in the league have been almost unchanged (0.19, 0.18, 0.18), this despite his shots per game dropping from 1.48 in his rookie season to 1.13 in his second season and 1.13 last year.  One might chalk up last year’s result to their being only so many shots available on any line, and Alex Ovechkin records most of them on the top line (we don’t subscribe to that notion, but it sounds good).  Johansson could carve out a bigger slice of shots by expanding the population of shots on goal.  That means he is going to have to become stouter, bolder, better able to fend off checks and win battles for pucks when they occur to maintain or gain possession for his line.

In the end…

Marcus Johansson is a tantalizing player in this respect.  Last year was more or less two separate mini-seasons within its own mini-season.  In the first, he played in nine of the Caps first 11 games and went 1-0-1, minus-7.  Small wonder; he was suffering the effects of a concussion, likely sustained when he collided with Alex Ovechkin in training camp in January.  Johansson returned after finally acknowledging the physical problem and sitting out 12 games.  After his return he finished 5-16-21, plus-10 in 25 games, a 16-52-67, plus-33 pace over 82 games.  Yes, it was a mini-season in a mini-season, but that is what makes it tantalizing.  One wonders if that was merely a blip on Johansson’s resume or if he is poised to take the next big step in his developmental arc.

Johansson might not be progressing as fast as some Caps fans like, but his improvement has been steady and consistent.  He compares favorably in terms of his career offensive production to date with his draft cohort.  He is not a dominating player, but he does not have to be on this team. He complements his linemates well and has the skating skill to carve out a bigger role on that line.  It would be the next step on Johansson’s royal road of development.

Projection: 77 games, 16-35-51, plus-7

Photo: Bruce Bennett/Getty Images North America

Countdown to Opening Night by the Elements: Number 20

Fearless had to take a break from the exhaustive work that is winding through the periodic table, but he’s back to take a crack at number 20 among the elements and the Washington Capitals…

Calcium

If you look at all the elements that comprised our planet, calcium is the fifth most abundant in the earth’s crust. You would also find that it is the fifth most abundant element dissolved in seawater. Among all the metals it is not especially hard. It will react with water, but not especially vigorously. It occurs naturally as a compound (with phosphate) to form the business portion of human bones and teeth. As a compound with carbonates it can be found in limestone, chalk, or marble.

Calcium has had its applications for quite some time. In the form of lime it had been used as a building material going back several millennia. It was not isolated as an element, however, until the early 19^th century. That honor went to Sir Humphrey Davy, and English chemist, who might be better known for having invented the miner’s lamp that allowed them to work safely in the presence of flammable gases. Davy made the discovery of calcium just before Jöns Jakob Berzelius (a Swedish chemist…what a surprise), who was working with calcium compounds trying to isolate the element.

By itself, calcium has few applications – an alloying agent and cheese-making among them. But calcium forms any number of compounds with a wide variety of uses: cement-making, insecticides, ice removal, a sweetening agent, propellant for rockets, textile production, blackboard chalk, paints, fluorescent lighting, fireworks, and paints among them.

It is also a necessary element for living processes, such as muscle contraction, bio-electrical processes in the body, and blood clotting, in addition to its presence in healthy bones and teeth.

What we have is an element that is not the hardest metal we have in the table, one that has limited value on its own but that can be quite useful and diverse when in combination with others. Fifth most abundant element in the earth’s crust and seas. Sounds like a defenseman who might be a bit undersized, but who might make his contributions when paired with the right partner. Good enough to get the fifth most average ice time among defensemen in the 2013 season.

Calcium… the “Jack Hillen” of the elements of the periodic table.

Washington Capitals 2013-2014 Previews -- Forwards: Mikhail Grabovski

Mikhail Grabovski

Theme: “The greatest virtues are those which are most useful to other persons.”

-- Aristotle

Being the second line center for the Washington Capitals has been like looking at some perverse hockey version of a game show almost since the 2004-2005 lockout.  Jeff Halpern, Kris Beech, Michael Nylander, Sergei Fedorov, Brendan Morrison, Mathieu Perreault, Marcus Johansson, Jason Arnott, Cody Eakin, Keith Aucoin, Mike Ribeiro, Brooks Laich… come on down!

Laich would have been the next contestant to play center on a semi-permanent basis on “What’s My (Second) Line?”  In fact, the team professed as much early in the unrestricted free agent signing period this past summer after the last contestant – Mike Ribiero – departed Washington for Phoenix.  

That was then.  The Caps signed another new contestant to fill the spot when Mikahil Grabovski signed on the bottom line of a one-year/$3.0 million contract on August 23^rd.  Grabovski comes to the Caps at something of a discount, his new deal substantially less than the five-year/$27.5 million deal he signed with Toronto in March 2012 from which he was bought out by the Maple Leafs last July.

The problem with the Leafs, such as it was, seems to have been his production.  Here was a player who, in his previous four seasons in Toronto compiled a per-82 game scoring line of 23-31-54, plus-3.  The 2013 season was quite another matter – nine goals, 16 points, a minus-10, and almost four fewer minutes of ice time per game than he averaged in 2010-2012, when he recorded a career high 29 goals.

Why?  Well, the player had an explanation…

"I play in the [expletive] Russian KHL, I make lots of [expletive] points and what's going to happen? He make me [expletive] play on the fourth line and he put me in the playoffs on the fourth line and third line again.  Yeah, I don't score goals. I need to work more about that. I know that. But if you feel support from your coach [you'll find success]. I don't feel any support from this [expletive] idiot…[former Leafs coach Ron] Wilson [expletive] pushed me same hard as this but don't be an [expletive] with me. If you don't like something tell [expletive] right away, don't put me on the bench, healthy scratch [me] or something. Don't put me on a [expletive] third line and then [expletive] play me six minutes in a game."

It would be hard to argue with Grabovski’s characterization of his use by head coach Randy Carlyle (the embellishing language notwithstanding).  Among Maple Leaf forwards playing in at least half the team’s games last season, only one – Nikolai Kulemin – had a lower offensive zone start value at 5-on-5 than Grabovski’s value (36.7 percent; source: behindthenet.ca). It is no coincidence that Grabovski skated more than 100 more minutes with Kulemin than he did with any other forward at 5-on-5.  Compare that to each of the previous two seasons when Grabovski was fifth among Toronto forwards playing in at least half of the team’s games in offensive zone starts at 5-on-5.

Fearless’ Take…

Mikhail Grabovski is not necessarily a playmaker in the classic mold exemplified by, say, a Nicklas Backstrom.  Grabovski is more of a goal scorer.  In fact, over the 2010-2011 and 2011-2012 seasons only four centers in the league recorded more goals while playing fewer total minutes than Grabovski – Jason Spezza, Johan Franzen, Jeff Carter, and Evgeni Malkin.  Not bad company, that. 

Even as badly as he was used last season, Grabovski still managed to finish 202^nd of 395 forwards playing in at least 20 games in goals scored for/on ice per 60 minutes at 5-on-5 last season (source: behindthenet.ca).  Only four times since the 2004-2005 lockout have Washington centers playing the position on a full-time basis recorded 20 goals in a season, twice by Nicklas Backstrom and twice by Dainius Zubrus.  Grabovski provides a threat the Caps have not had in that position in recent years.

Cheerless’ Take…

Why does a team buy out a player after one year of a five-year contract extension?  That is almost $1.8 million a year Toronto is on the hook for until the end of the 2020-2021 season (source: capgeek.com). Seriously, though, if Caps fans are looking at Grabovski as the replacement for Mike Ribeiro, one thing to look out for might be his production on the power play.  Even in his two best years in Toronto he was not a big playmaker on the man advantage.  In both 2010-2011 and 2011-2012 he finished the year with five power play assists despite getting more than three minutes a game in the 2010-2011 season and more than two minutes a game the following season.

The Big Question… Will his being in a “contract” year be an inspiration or a distraction?

Grabovski has played through three “contract” years in his career (seasons in which the deal on which he was playing was expiring).  The first one, which seems to have uncertain importance here, was his 2007-2008 season.  He was a 24-year old who had only three games of NHL experience with the Montreal Canadiens.  In the 2007-2008 season he split time between Montreal and Hamilton in the AHL, dressing for 24 games with the Canadiens and going 3-6-9.  For his efforts he was traded to Toronto.  The Maple Leafs signed him on the day after the trade to a one-year/$850,000 contract to play the 2008-2009 season.

In that 2008-2009 season one might have seen Grabovski as a player playing for bigger money with his new team.  It showed.  He recorded his first 20-goal season, going 20-28-48 in 78 games.  As a restricted free agent he was re-signed to a three-year/$8.7 million contract.  The following year, his first under the new contract, he missed almost a third of the season to a broken wrist.  He came back in 2010-2011 to post a career-high 29 goals, setting himself up for his next contract year.  He produced – 23-28-51 in 74 games – and was rewarded with a five-year/$27.5 million contract to start running with the 2012-2013 season.

In the end…

Mikhail Grabovski will be 30 years old before season’s end.  It is entirely possible that he will be playing the 2013-2014 season for what will be his last big NHL payday (any of this sounding familiar, Mike Ribeiro fans?).  There is nothing to suggest in the limited history of his “contract” years that this will be a distraction.  In fact, he has performed rather well in two instances in which he was playing for large raises.

The issue, though, might be fit.  Grabovski has a history as a possession stud.  The question is not whether he will or will not fulfill that promise (we suspect he will), but the extent to which possession translates into performance.  Are there goals at the end of this?  It might make for a bit of an odd second line with Martin Erat and Grabovski switching roles from time to time, Erat being more of a “playmaker” Grabovski more of the “finisher.”

It suggests a sorting out period on the second line that would hardly be unexpected, especially given that Erat, Troy Brouwer, and Grabovski have never played together, and Erat and Brouwer together almost not at all.  That said, in the end, it seems likely that two things will happen.  First, Grabovski is not going to suffer being used in an way that is not useful.  Adam Oates will see to that.  Second, things will work out for Grabovski in terms of having the kind of year that will draw more lucrative, longer term offers after the season.  Now, whether that works out for the Caps?  Stay tuned… we might be right where we’ve been just about every year over the last several years.

Projection: 80 games, 23-33-56, plus-12

Photo: Claus Andersen/Getty Images North America

Countdown to Opening Night by the Elements: Number 22

The new week starts with Fearless taking a look at a new element, this one being number 22 in the periodic table…

Titanium

So there he was.  William Gregor, taking a break from tending his flock as a clergyman in Cornwall, took advantage of a nice day in 1791 to indulge his hobby of geology.  He was walking along a stream in a nearby parish and came upon a deposit of black sand.  And (you can’t really make this up), he had a magnet and thought, “what the heck?” and tested the sand with it.  Lo and behold, the sand was attracted by the magnet.  He took some back to his church/geology lab and produced from it two different oxides.  One was iron oxide, which he knew about.  The other was a white metallic oxide with which he was not familiar.  That was as far as Gregor would get though.

Meanwhile, over in Austria, Franz-Joseph Müller von Reichenstein, was discovering the same thing at about the same time.  He did not know what he had, either.  It was up to a Prussian chemist -- Martin Heinrich Klaproth – to discover four years later just what the other two missed.  What he had was a new element that he named.  And he was not about to mess around.  He named it for the Greek gods that were descendants of the earth and sky, immortals of unimaginable strength and endurance.  He named it “Titanium” for the Titans.

Titanium is well-named.  It is universal, being present in meteorites, the sun, and in lunar rocks, in addition to its presence on earth.  It is a low density metal, but one of high strength.  It is extremely resistant to corrosion.  It is resistant to acids, chlorine gas and chloride solutions. It is resistant to high temperatures. 

It does not have a natural role in human physiology, but its qualities make titanium uniquely suited to high-performance applications in manufacturing: propeller shafts and boat hulls (it was used in the manufacture of submarines, for example), airframes and engines, missiles, and spacecraft.  It has medical applications, such as in prostheses and orthopedic implants, and dental instruments and implants.  It is used in automotive production where light-weight, high-strength materials are important.  It shows up in sporting equipment (even hockey, in face masks).  It even has promise as a critical element in long-term nuclear waste storage.

Titanium…a durable, high-strength metal used in high-performance, critical applications that is resistant to stress, temperature, corrosion.  Sounds like a defenseman who is durable, eats up critical minutes, performs well in stressful situations (like tournaments or playoffs), who can be relied upon in a variety of situations.

Titanium…the “John Carlson” of elements of the periodic table.

Washington Capitals 2013-2014 Previews -- Forwards: Eric Fehr

Eric Fehr

Theme: “There are no second acts in American lives.”

-- F. Scott Fitzgerald

A decade is an eternity in an athlete’s career, and much can happen – the good, the bad, the unexpected.  Eric Fehr has had his share of ups and downs and unexpected turns in his career over the last decade.  At this time ten years ago, Fehr was a newly minted first round draft choice of the Washington Capitals, about to embark on what would be his third season with the Brandon Wheat Kings in the Western Hockey League.  It was one in which he would finish with 50 goals in 71 games.  He would follow it up with 59 goals in the 2004-2005 season with Brandon and establish himself as a potential goal-scoring winger with the Capitals.

In the 2005-2006 season Fehr spent most of his time with the Capitals’ affiliate in the AHL, the Hershey Bears, getting a cup o’ coffee along the way (11 games) in Washington along the way.  He made himself a hero of sorts when he scored the game-winning, series-clinching goal in the Calder Cup semi-finals against the Portland Pirates.  Hershey would go on to win the Calder Cup.

Then, things took a turn.  A series of injuries limited Fehr to 37 games in Washington and 51 games in Hershey over the 2006-2007 and 2007-2008 seasons.  In his 37 games in Washington he could manage only a total of three goals.  He returned in better health for the 2008-2009 season but recorded only 11 goals in 61 games in what was primarily a checking line role.  

Fehr had what might have been a breakout year in 2009-2010 when he posted 21 goals in 69 games, but that would only be the high-water mark of his career with the Caps.  After finishing the 2010-2011 season with ten goals in 52 games, he was traded to Winnipeg for Danick Paquette and a 2012 fourth round draft choice.

That might have been the end of it, especially when Fehr could manage only two goals in 35 games with the Jets, once again battling injuries that stifled any momentum he could generate for his game.  However, the 2012 lockout came.  Fehr, like many of his NHL counterparts, took to playing in Europe.  Fehr signed on with HPK in Finland.  It served to rejuvenate his game and his career.  Thirteen goals in 21 games was enough to persuade the Caps to offer Fehr a contract as a free agent, a deal the player signed in January 2013 on the eve of the new, late-starting NHL season.

Fehr recorded a respectable nine goals in 41 games, despite little power play time (0:49/game) and primarily third line time at even strength.  What highlighted his year were two game-winning goals, both in overtime, and both against the Boston Bruins.  The first of them was nominated as a “play of the year” by TSN Canada…

Fearless’ Take…

For the first time in what seems like a long time, Eric Fehr has a place he can call his own that does not resemble the dog house in which he often seemed to inhabit under former coach Bruce Boudreau.  He will almost certainly start the season on the right side of the third line.  The Fun Fehr Fact from last season is that the Caps were 8-0-0 in games in which Fehr recorded a goal (he had two in a 4-3 win in Tampa on Valentine’s Day).

Fehr’s evolution as a hockey player has made him, if not exactly a Selke candidate, a respectable and responsible player in his own end.  Last season, among forwards playing in at least 20 games, Fehr was 77^th of 395 forwards in goals scored against/on ice per 60 minutes (source: behindthenet.ca).  He has been consistently in that range over the past four seasons.

And, in the little things make a difference category (even if they are arbitrary), Fehr had the best takeaway to giveaway ratio on the team last season (23 takeaways, 9 giveaways).  Fehr has the makeup to be a solid two-way forward for the Caps.  Not, perhaps, a top-goal scorer any longer, but a reliable 15-20 goal scorer.  Not, perhaps, a stopper on defense, but a player who will give a solid and consistent effort in that area.

Cheerless’ Take…

Have we been here before?  He has had what looked like a breakout year once before, then had 12 goals in his next 87 games.  He has come back from injury before, only to be injured again.  Last year was his first season in which he was even on a pace for a 70-game season.  Those 15-20 goals might depend on his getting 75 or more games, given the way the Caps look like they are going to use him.  You want to take that bet, cuz?

The Big Question… Can Eric Fehr be a reliable source of offensive support?

Put another way, is he past the oft-injured phase of his career.  Fehr has settled into a role for the Caps, one that will likely find him getting 12-14 minutes a night (he averaged 13:22 last season), primarily on evens, although he will get some second unit work on both power play and penalty kill.  If you look at last year’s performance of those forwards who played in at least half of their team’s games and averaged ice time up to a minute more or less than Fehr’s average, Fehr was the seventh most productive goal-scoring forward among 70 players.  He has the capacity to provide some punch from the third line.  The lingering question will be whether he is on the ice often enough to do so.

In the end…

Eric Fehr has taken a long road since he was taken 18^th overall in the 2003 draft.  It has not been butterflies and unicorns.  However, his persistence was rewarded with a two-year contract extension that will pay him $1.5 million a year for the next two seasons.  Looking at capgeek.com information on contracts, if you look at Fehr’s salary cap comparables who: a) are 25 or older, and b) have deals starting in 2013, five players emerge:   Matt Beleskey, Trevor Lewis, Nate Thompson, Drew Miller, and Ryan Jones.  At a minimum Fehr compares favorably with the others in terms of his offensive production last season and over their respective careers.

The 2013-2014 season is the next scene in Fehr’s second act with the Washington Capitals.  So far, he has given evidence of contradicting Fitzgerald’s observation about such things in American lives.  Then again, Fehr is Canadian.

Projection: 66 games, 14-11-25, plus-6

photo: Bruce Bennett/Getty Images North America

Countdown to Opening Night by the Elements: Number 23

Here we go… Fearless is taking us a little off the reservation with his look at element number 23 in the periodic table and the Washington Capital to which it corresponds…

Vanadium

Vanadium is an element that has had a hard time becoming, well, an element.  An explanation is in order.  Vanadium is not one of those metals that have found uses in places dating back millennia.  It does not even exist on its own in nature, only in compounds.

One of those compounds was discovered by Andrés Manuel del Río, a Spanish-Mexican scientist, who subjected a substance he called “brown lead” to processes that produced vanadium compounds.  “Vanadium” was not the name he chose for the element, though.  He called it erythronium (from a Greek word for “red”) for the red color the compound took on with heating.

One might have thought that this was the start of the road to “element” status for vanadium/erythromium.  Alas, it was not.  Other scientists convinced del Río that what he had was not a new element, but merely chromium (you know...the "Martin Erat" of elements). 

It took another 25 years for Nils Gabriel Sefström (another Swedish chemist…boy, these guys were good) to isolate and confirm vanadium as an element.  It was Sefström who would give the re-discovered element its name.  It has something to do with Norse mythology and the goddess of love, beauty, and fertility (“Vanadis,” or in the original, “Freyja”).  It would be the first element to start with the letter “V,” but we just wonder if Sefström was trying to get over a bad breakup.

Anyway, even with its new “element” status, folks were not exactly storming Sefström’s lab to find vanadium to put to use.  Even today, more than 80 percent of all vanadium compounds are used in steel-making.  Most of the remaining amount produced is used in other metallurgical applications and in manufacturing sulfuric acid.  A small amount of it shows up in ceramics, glass coatings, and in pigments.

It has almost no biological importance, except in some marine environments (among algae, sea squirts), in some bacteria and fungi, and in trace amounts in some rodents and chickens. 

You could say that the discussion to this point has put vanadium in a bad light.  We prefer to think of vanadium as one of those hardy, if unsung elements.  It is relatively young in its discovery, not like iron or copper.  It makes modest contributions from its place in the periodic table, and does so in combination with other elements. 

It might be something like a young defenseman who took a little while to make the big show, who made modest contributions and played an unsung role when he was called up to the NHL.  Then, he was sent back down to the minors.  However, this year he got a little bit more of a chance, even though you would never think he really played in 25 NHL games last season.

Vanadium… the “Tomas Kundratek” of the periodic table of the elements.