This game doesn’t count…
This game doesn’t count…
Repeat after me… “this game doesn’t count.”
Good thing, too, because the Caps, to be kind, well… stunk. Some examples…
-- The Caps had a full five minute power play straddling the first and second periods. During that advantage, they had one shot on goal… from 61 feet out.
-- Mike Green, John Erskine, and Karl Alzner attempted eight shots on goal among them. Seven of them were blocked, one missed the net entirely.
-- Tarik El-Bashir noted via Twitter that “the whole Caps' scouting dept. is in town and will be watching the on-ice activities very closely ahead of a few tough decisions.” The only tough decision after tonight was figuring out which guy on the bubble to kick in the keister. No one “grabbed” a roster slot, let alone didn’t let go (a reference to Coach Bruce Boudreau’s comment that “somebody's just got to grab and don't let go”). It wasn’t for lack of energy among the hopefuls like Andrew Gordon or Chris Bourque, but there seemed to be a lot of heat and not much light as a result of their efforts.
-- Watching the Ovechkin-Backstrom-Knuble line, I was reminded that sometimes, in a 45-rpm world, some folks are going to move along at 33-1/3. Mike Knuble, to be fair, played in a bit of bad luck, hitting a pipe once and missing when he had a chance to roof the puck from point-blank range.
-- Jose Theodore didn’t have to be spectacular (the Sabres had their own offensive issues), and he wasn’t. He was certainly good enough to win. But the Caps losing wasn’t his problem.
-- Kudos to John Erskine and Alex Ovechkin, though, for one slice of the latter stages of the first period. Erskine flattened Jeff Cowan with an open-ice hit that was as pure a hit as you’re likely to see (not that crap that Dion Phaneuf pulled on Kyle Okposo the other night). Paul Gaustad jumped Erskine, but as another Sabre was trying to enter the fray, Ovechkin grabbed him from behind and clean-and-jerked him to the ice. Gaustad got two for instigating, five for fighting, and ten for a misconduct. Erskine got two for roughing.
-- Speaking of Ovechkin, give the guy a little credit for class. He had a couple of Sabres lined up for some nasty hits and stepped past them (yeah, he did have a couple he didn’t pass up). It’s preseason.
-- The Caps were 0-for-6 on the power play. That makes 1-for-12 and ten in a row that failed to end in a score.
-- And for the clown sitting behind me who spent the entire 60 minutes in a non-stop invective against Jeff Schultz, imploring him to “hit something” every time Schultz was within a time zone of another player (sometimes a teammate)… Schultz tied for the team lead in hits (four).
Could the Caps have played better? Yeah. Does this result matter in the larger scheme of things? Not is your name is “Ovechkin,” “Backstrom,” “Knuble,” or “Semin.” None of them looked to be running at mid-season speed, but they weren’t dogs out there either (sorry, Kanoobie). Mike Green was something of another matter. Did you ever watch a spring training baseball game, and while the action is going on in the field, pitchers are doing sprints in the outfield? Green wasn’t exactly sprinting out there, and he didn’t seem to be entirely engaged in the game, either. Let’s just hope that’s his way of getting ready, because as we know…
This game doesn’t count.
This game doesn’t count…
Repeat after me… “this game doesn’t count.”
Good thing, too, because the Caps, to be kind, well… stunk. Some examples…
-- The Caps had a full five minute power play straddling the first and second periods. During that advantage, they had one shot on goal… from 61 feet out.
-- Mike Green, John Erskine, and Karl Alzner attempted eight shots on goal among them. Seven of them were blocked, one missed the net entirely.
-- Tarik El-Bashir noted via Twitter that “the whole Caps' scouting dept. is in town and will be watching the on-ice activities very closely ahead of a few tough decisions.” The only tough decision after tonight was figuring out which guy on the bubble to kick in the keister. No one “grabbed” a roster slot, let alone didn’t let go (a reference to Coach Bruce Boudreau’s comment that “somebody's just got to grab and don't let go”). It wasn’t for lack of energy among the hopefuls like Andrew Gordon or Chris Bourque, but there seemed to be a lot of heat and not much light as a result of their efforts.
-- Watching the Ovechkin-Backstrom-Knuble line, I was reminded that sometimes, in a 45-rpm world, some folks are going to move along at 33-1/3. Mike Knuble, to be fair, played in a bit of bad luck, hitting a pipe once and missing when he had a chance to roof the puck from point-blank range.
-- Jose Theodore didn’t have to be spectacular (the Sabres had their own offensive issues), and he wasn’t. He was certainly good enough to win. But the Caps losing wasn’t his problem.
-- Kudos to John Erskine and Alex Ovechkin, though, for one slice of the latter stages of the first period. Erskine flattened Jeff Cowan with an open-ice hit that was as pure a hit as you’re likely to see (not that crap that Dion Phaneuf pulled on Kyle Okposo the other night). Paul Gaustad jumped Erskine, but as another Sabre was trying to enter the fray, Ovechkin grabbed him from behind and clean-and-jerked him to the ice. Gaustad got two for instigating, five for fighting, and ten for a misconduct. Erskine got two for roughing.
-- Speaking of Ovechkin, give the guy a little credit for class. He had a couple of Sabres lined up for some nasty hits and stepped past them (yeah, he did have a couple he didn’t pass up). It’s preseason.
-- The Caps were 0-for-6 on the power play. That makes 1-for-12 and ten in a row that failed to end in a score.
-- And for the clown sitting behind me who spent the entire 60 minutes in a non-stop invective against Jeff Schultz, imploring him to “hit something” every time Schultz was within a time zone of another player (sometimes a teammate)… Schultz tied for the team lead in hits (four).
Could the Caps have played better? Yeah. Does this result matter in the larger scheme of things? Not is your name is “Ovechkin,” “Backstrom,” “Knuble,” or “Semin.” None of them looked to be running at mid-season speed, but they weren’t dogs out there either (sorry, Kanoobie). Mike Green was something of another matter. Did you ever watch a spring training baseball game, and while the action is going on in the field, pitchers are doing sprints in the outfield? Green wasn’t exactly sprinting out there, and he didn’t seem to be entirely engaged in the game, either. Let’s just hope that’s his way of getting ready, because as we know…
This game doesn’t count.
I'm not sure which is funnier, that our recap titles are so similar or that we appeared to be sitting near the same Schultz-hater. Although it wouldn't surprise me if "that guy" was in many places tonight.
ReplyDeleteYou know, I've never been the biggest Schultz fan but I'm not usually willing to throw him under the bus, either - and I can admit when he has really good games. Tonight was a really good game.
For Schultz. For the others...pfft.
Yeah, I think it's a club. Sort of like the Masons, but Dan Brown isn't going to write a book on The Mysterious Symbology of Jeff Schultz.
ReplyDeleteAnd for the clown sitting behind me who spent the entire 60 minutes in a non-stop invective against Jeff Schultz, imploring him to “hit something” every time Schultz was within a time zone of another player (sometimes a teammate)…
ReplyDeleteThat guy? Was obnoxious. Thanks for calling him out on it.
Yeah, I sat in 406 and definitely heard some yutz yelling at Schultz every time he was on the ice, were these guys strategically placed through the phone booth?
ReplyDelete