A Crying Shame or a Joke . . . Take Your Pick

We depart from hockey for a moment to point out that one of the great travesties of sport was perpetrated yesterday when one of these players was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and the other was not. Let’s go to the “tale o’ the tape.”

Regular Season:	Art Monk	Michael Irvin
Games	224	159
Rec.	940	750
Yds.	12,721	11,904
Avg.	13.5	15.9
TDs	68	65
Top-10 finishes:
Rec.	4	4
Yds.	3	6
TDs	1	4
All Time:
Rec.	6	T20
Yds	11	14
TDs	T30	T37
Playoffs:
Games	15	16
Rec.	69	87
Yds.	1,042	1,314
Avg.	15.1	15.1
TDs	7	8
Super Bowl Wins	2	3

Not to mention, Monk was an exemplary character, both on and off the field. That Monk is still on the outside looking in for the seventh time after today's inductees were announced, and Irvin in on his third try is one of the true injustices of the sport. It diminishes the Hall and the NFL. It is only perhaps exceeded by the mind-boggling snub of former Commissioner Paul Tagliabue for induction. Following onto the legendary tenure of Pete Rozelle, Tagliabue was the overseer of the NFL into a marketing colossus.

The Hall's board of selectors should be replaced in its entirety and banned from any further participation in the annual selection.

The Peerless Prognosticator is ON THE AIR!!! -- Caps vs. Islanders, February 4th

Caps fans . . . this is for you . . .

And it doesn’t get any easier.

It isn’t bad enough that the Caps are mired in that 6-15-0 funk, or that they lost a hard-fought 2-0 game to Pittsburgh on Saturday. No-o-o-o sirree . . .they get to return to Verizon Center to the loving embrace of fans – who will be on a hair trigger to boo – to take on the New York Islanders, who are – get this – undefeated in their last six games (4-0-2).

The Islanders over these last six games have . . .

- outscored the opposition 25-20
- converted four of 24 power plays (16.7 percent)
- killed 27 of 31 shorthanded situations (87.1 percent)
- been led by Trent Hunter with five goals, followed by Miroslav Satan and Jason Blake with four apiece
- gotten competent, if not outstanding goaltending from the Rick DiPietro (3.38, .893) / Mike Dunham (1-0-1, 2.04, .933) team – since DiPietro played against Montreal (a 4-2- win) on Saturday, expect Dunham to get the call on Sunday.

The Islanders have gotten good production from Trent Hunter (5-3-8, +3), Miroslav Satan (4-4-8, +1), and Jason Blake (4-1-5, -1), but what seems to characterize the Islanders in their last six games is a willingness to shoot it out with their opponents. They’ve scored at least four goals in five of the six games; they’ve given up at least four goals twice.

For the Caps, an arena full of Dutch boys wouldn’t be enough to plug the holes in the dike. Once among the better 5-on-5 clubs this season, they’ve slipped to 25^th in 5-on-5 play . . . they are allowing an astonishing 3.48 goals-per-game (27^th) . . . they are still last in the league in shots-per-game allowed at 34.8 . . . 28^th in the league when trailing first . . . 25^th when outshot by opponents (a really bad sign when you’re giving up those 34.8 shots a game) . . . 24^th in faceoffs . . . 25^th in goal differential . . . 30^th in shot differential . . . 4^th most penalized team in the league. The Caps’ collapse from their high-point in mid-December has been across the board.

On the good side, the Caps are 5-4-2 in the second half of back-to-back games this year, 2-1-0 on home ice.

Olaf Kolzig has had excellent career success against the Islanders with a 24-9-2, 2.31, .910 record. And, although his won-loss mark stands at 2-4-0 in his last six games, he’s been something of a victim of bad luck (and bad play in front of him), too. His 3.03 GAA is better than his season average, and his .903 save percentage is comparable to his season mark (.908).

A long time ago, the Islanders owned the Caps. They were the “Penguins” breaking Caps fans’ hearts long before the Penguins got around to it. Then, for a time, the Caps owned the Islanders. But the Caps have lost six of their last seven games to this club by a combined score of 29-16, including a 4-1 thumping on November 25^th.

Once more, the matter of fast starts comes into play. The Islanders have the fifth best record in the league when leading after one period. The Caps are 28^th in the league when trailing after one period. If the Islanders have a lead after one, you might think about an early start to those Super Bowl parties.

The Peerless thinks the Caps are long past the point at which they should be angry over the turn of events the last seven weeks. It’s time to play with equal parts anger and disgust, because . . .

Caps 4 - Islanders 3

The Evening after the Afternoon -- Caps vs. Penguins

Nope . . . no points today.



It was all about the goaltending. One flinch was the difference – a hesitation by a shooter, followed by an innocent looking flick at the net. That was the sliver of difference between the Washington Capitals and the Pittsburgh Penguins, the latter skating off Mellon Arena ice with a 2-0 win this afternoon. An empty net goal at the end provided the final margin, but less than ten seconds in the second period was just enough to sink the Caps – long enough for Ronald Petrovicky to collect the puck in his own end, skate down the right wing, fake a pass, and send the puck to the net and past goaltender Olaf Kolzig, who appeared to be expecting something smarter fired at the net.

At the other end, Marc-Andre Fleury continued his run of fine performances with a 30 save shutout. It was good enough to send Alex Ovechkin into a stick-snapping fit of frustration after the game.

There really isn’t anything else to offer in terms of difference. It is not as if the Caps played a bad game. They didn’t. They had chances. Eric Fehr, especially, had two golden opportunities – one on a partial breakaway – that Fleury turned aside. Fleury was, as he has been for the Penguins the last five weeks, the difference. For the Caps, this loss looked a lot better than the confounding and sloppy losses to Florida. Offense is, by its nature, often streaky. But defense is a product of effort – something that can be brought every night (or close to it). The Caps had that effort this afternoon.

If there was one very subtle number in this game it was this . . .

20:23. That was the ice time for the newest Cap, Milan Jurcina, more than any other defenseman. The Peerless wonders, if the club was in the thick of the playoff hunt, would a brand spanking new player be given top minutes on the blue line?

There is much caterwauling on the official boards about the play of Olaf Kolzig and the Caps in general. Going 6-15-0 over what amounts to more than a quarter of the season will do that. But let’s step back and look at the hand the Caps are playing on the blue line . . .

Shaone Morrisonn (18:26 in ice time today) – 173 games experience
Steve Eminger (16:36) – 173 games
Mike Green (17:04) – 72 games
Jeff Schultz (18:26) – 11 games
Milan Jurcina (20:23) – 92 games

Joe Beninati and Craig Laughlin noted the Penguins’ youth in this afternoon’s broadcast (second youngest team in the league), but it would be hard to find a greener defense than the one Washington is putting on the ice. These are guys who someday will fit the roles they are now being asked to play, but it is unfair to expect these guys to flourish in those roles right now. Today, they did themselves proud against what is one of the hottest teams in the league (now 11-2-2 in their last 15 games).

The standard argument among a lot of Caps fans – that the club should have gone out and procured a veteran defenseman sooner – is largely irrelevant. The problem is not talent . . . when healthy. The club did manage to compile a 15-10-7 record when the blue line was vertical. The problem is depth and experience. Jeff Schultz is as good an example as any to point to. He is a first round pick of whom much is expected . . . down the road. He was ticketed to spend a full year in Hershey. Although he has played well, for the most part, in his 11-game stint with the big club, he is not equipped in terms of either his experience or his current skill level to be a cornerstone defenseman on this club. Two or three years from now? Maybe. But some Caps fans would rather sacrifice his development in the here and now to have the club procure (at what cost usually remains a bit of a mystery) a veteran defenseman.

We keep coming back to this point in a variety of ways, and we return to it again. There will come a time when the addition of a veteran – either a forward or a defenseman – will not just be recommended, it will be required. But that has to be done to complement the development of youngsters, not to replace it. Schultz, Green, Eminger, Morrison, and the newcomer Jurcina are getting that battle experience now. It could have the benefit of accelerating their development curve and to sort out just who among them can really play this game, if that needs to be done.

Here is another way to look at it. Pittsburgh is, at the moment, the most improved club in the NHL – 26 points better than they were at a comparable point last year. Most of that is a recent development (that 11-2-2 record they’re currently on). In a sense, the light has gone on as their top picks garnered as a result of their 2002-2006 run of suck have gotten some games under their belt. For the Caps, the light-going-on moment is (and The Peerless expects to be) next year. The experience the kids – especially on the blue line, where development is slower – are getting right now, and the lumps they are taking in getting it, will only help bring that day closer.

The Peerless Prognosticator is ON THE AIR!! -- Caps vs. Penguins, February 3

The Peerless Prognosticator is ON THE AIR!!

OK, kids . . . here’s the rule for today . . .

The Caps – 6-14-0 in their last 20 games – visit the Pittsburgh Penguins, who are 10-2-2 in their last 14 games, 7-0-1 in their last eight. The Penguins have done just about every thing right over the last five weeks. The basics:

- Record: 10-2-2

- Goals for/against: 56 / 33 (4.00 / 2.36)

- Power Play: 25 / 70 (35.7 percent)

- Penalty Kill: 58 / 68 (85.3 percent)

- 14 skaters share in the 56 goals scored

- In four of their last eight games, they have scored five or more goals

- The big guns are roaring: Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Mark Recchi each have eight goals in the last 14 games

- The Penguins start strong. In 14 games they’ve outscored the opposition 15-7 in the first period.

- The finish strong, too. In the third period, they’ve outscored opponents 22-10.

- The third period has been among the more noteworthy things in their run – only twice in 14 games were they held off the scoreboard (they won one and lost the other in a shootout).

- Scoring first seems not to matter much. In eight of the 14 games the Penguins scored first. They were 6-1-1 in those games. In games where the opponent scored first, the Penguins were 4-1-1 . . .

. . . but leading after one does. The Penguins carried a lead into the first intermission nine times. They were 8-0-1.

The Penguins have been a finely-tuned six-cylinder engine over the last 14 games:

- Sidney Crosby: 8-19-27, -4
- Evgeni Malkin: 8-13-21, +5
- Mark Recchi: 8-9-17, even
- Jordan Staal: 6-4-10, +10
- Ryan Whitney: 4-11-15, +4
- Sergei Gonchar: 4-10-14, even

Although The Peerless wonders . . . how can one score 27 points in 14 games, and still be -4? Answer – don’t let the Penguins get the man advantage.

But for all those gaudy numbers among the skaters, the difference in the last 14 for the Penguins is this . . .

9-1-2, 2.11, .932

Those are the numbers for goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury, who over this stretch is giving the Penguins the results they expect from a number one overall pick. To the extent the Penguins can keep this up, it will be the extent to which Fleury can maintain this, or close to this level of play.

Mellon Arena has been

for the Caps for more than a decade. The Caps lost in an embarrassing fashion in the teams’ first meeting this year, giving up a 4-0 lead on their own ice in a 5-4 shootout loss. The Caps, who have been plagued by poor starts in games in their seven week slide and poor overall defense, are looked at in many quarters as being the guests of honor for a ritual sacrifice. It has all the makings of a rout.

The Peerless doesn’t do routs for the other club. The Caps have managed to conjure up excellent efforts against good teams all year. The Caps have to consider the Penguins a good team, or at the very least a decent team playing excellent hockey.

The keys are these:

- Avoid the slow start; play the Penguins at least even for the first 20 minutes – conservative hockey

- Bring the packing materials. No, not to help the Penguins move to Kansas City . . . to pack things in against Fleury. Make him play the position, make his life difficult, create havoc in front of him, crowd him.

- Do not get into a special teams fight. Five-on-five to stay alive.

- No lead is safe. If the December 11^th game doesn’t drive that point home, the Penguins’ 22 goals in the third period in their last 14 games had better.

The over-under here is seven. If the total goals in this game is seven or more, chances are the Caps are on the short side of that number. So . . .

Caps 3 – Penguins 2.

The New Kid in Town

photo: Getty Images

There’s a new kid in town, and his name is Milan Jurcina.

Yesterday, the Caps acquired young (23 years old) Mr. Jurcina to join a nucleus of defensemen of that age or younger who are with, or who are otherwise playing substantial minutes with the Caps this year:

Steve Eminger
Shaone Morrisonn (ok, he just turned 24 in December)
Mike Green
Jeff Schultz

And that does not include other first round blueliners Joe Finley and Sasha Pokulok. Nor does it include the Caps’ last blue line signing, Brian Pothier (although The Peerless certainly agrees with JP over at Japers’ Rink that this deal signals what is likely to be a lengthy absence for Pothier).

This deal has no downside that The Peerless can divine:

1) The Caps gave up a fourth rounder. Well, gee . . . let’s look at the sort the Caps have picked in that round in recent years . . . Ryan Van Buskirk (2000), Jeff Lucky (2001), Jevon Desautels (2002), Petr Dvorak (2002), Andreas Valdix (2003), Andrew Thomas (2005), Patrick McNeill (2005), Oskar Osala (2006), Luke Lynes (2006). The Peerless will concede that the jury is out on the 2005 and 2006 picks, but are any Caps fans waiting in eager anticipation for the Capitals’ debut of anyone else on that list? If so, you’ll be disappointed. Getting Jurcina for a fourth is a “happy birthday to me” moment.

2) One can never have too many defensemen. The Caps lost Bryan Muir and John Erskine, then Brian Pothier, and their season went into the toilet faster than last night’s chili. This is not a “this year” move, but it could set up some spirited competition on the blue line next fall.

3) OK, so Jurcina fell out of favor in Boston. He was identified here as having 3-4 potential not so long ago. Sometimes, a change of scenery is just what the doctor ordered to jump start a youngster’s career.

4) He’s certainly cap-friendly. $500K this year, and he’s a restricted free agent after this year. Based on his performance to date, we suspect he’ll remain and continue to be cap-friendly in his next deal.

5) History. He skated alongside Shaone Morrisonn once upon a time (in Providence). Perhaps that can have a beneficial effect on both players (well, then again, maybe they couldn’t stand each other up there…you never know about such things).

6) Jerseys. The Peerless is of a mind that there are a lot of ‘68’ jerseys around. It was Jurcina’s number in Boston. The Caps can save on uniforms.

The (yeesh) Morning After -- Caps vs. Panthers

You know what? . . . So what?

Alex Ovechkin is perfect for 2007. 13 games, points scored in every one. 8-12-20 over that time.

And the Caps are 5-8-0.

So . . . so what? The object of the exercise is not a Ross Trophy, it’s the playoffs and a Stanley Cup. Any further thoughts of either should be put in a box and placed in the closet for the remainder of the season. Players can’t think that way – that’s the nature of competition. But for fans? Let’s shed the cold light of truth on what’s happening. The Caps have lost 14 of their last 20 games, including three to the Florida Panthers by a combined score of 17-7. Last night’s indignity just served to slam the point home with a pile driver.

It was like watching a movie replayed over and over once more. The Peerless feels like this guy . . .



Once more, the Caps got out of the box poorly, giving up a goal 77 seconds into the game. They trailed at the intermission (2-1). They played an awful second period (outscored 3-0). They were outhit (29-22). They couldn’t kill penalties (3-for-6 on the penalty kill). They've made Josef Stumpel seem like the second coming of Phil Esposito (4-3-7 in five games against Washington; 11-23-34 in 47 games against the rest of the league) and Martin Gelinas the next Mike Bossy (four goals in five games against the Caps, four goals in 48 games against everyone else). They’ve permitted the Panthers to score at a 4.00 goals per game clip in five games this year – Florida is averaging 2.77 goals per game against everyone else. And now, the Caps find themselves at the bottom of the Southeast Division, 13th in the Eastern Conference, 24th in the league.

And here is an inconvenient truth . . . Since the Caps defeated Philadelphia on December 16, they are 6-14-0. In that time, the top line of Alex Ovechkin, Dainius Zubrus, and Chris Clark is a combined 26-33-59. Doesn’t sound half bad; they’re averaging more than a goal a game out of that line. But they are also a combined -25. What they’re scoring, they’re playing a part in giving back and then some.

That the Caps have 49 points in 52 games is not surprising. Even the manner of how they got here isn’t surprising; we felt the club would show the glimmer of a contender early before succumbing to the grind of the season that would expose their lack of depth and experience. But the stark and utter collapse of the last 20 games, including lopsided losses to clubs the Caps should be leaving it their rear-view mirror, has been disheartening to fans, certainly. Giving up 78 goals in 20 games (3.90) has been the problem that screams off the page. That, and getting no points in games against Florida and Phoenix – eight points left on the table that if earned would have the Caps a point behind Carolina for eighth place with two games in hand – have washed away what good feelings surrounded the club in mid-December.

This is a reality check. The Caps are not a good team. They are a young team, a green team, a team with potential but one with a lot of holes, especially on defense. Time and experience will help solve these problems, and the Caps now have much of the former to obtain a lot of the latter. That’s what they’re playing for now.

The Peerless Prognosticator is ON THE AIR!! -- Caps vs. Panthers, February 1

The Peerless Prognosticator is ON THE AIR!!

OK, I give up. The Caps have lost 13 of their last 19, they can’t get out of their own way when playing this evening’s opponent, the Florida Panthers. Shakespeare once wrote:

“Men at some time are masters of their fates:
The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars,
But in ourselves, that we are underlings.”

Yeah, sez him. Maybe we should look to the stars . . . what do they say about our hometown heroes tonight?

Kris Beech, Aquarius . . . traits: shy, sensitive, gentle and patient. Life will be so sweet for you today you will need to avoid the rain to keep from melting. You’ll actually have double digit ice time.

Donald Brashear, Capricorn . . . traits: independent, confident, strong willed, hardworking, rocklike character. This can be a confusing day for you and you’ll tend to be forgetful. Stay ahead of the game and make notes where you are sure to see them. In other words, pick out a dance partner before the game starts.

Chris Clark, Pisces . . . traits: friendly, good natured, kind, sensitive to the feelings of those around them, popular with all kinds of people. Today you will wake up with a nasty crick in your neck, combined with a periodic twinge in your back. Everyone who sees you will be left with the impression that you are being either aloof or spastic (or both). Also, you will spill soup on your best shirt. That suggests two words, “hat trick.”

Ben Clymer, Aries . . . traits: adventurous, ambitious, impulsive, enthusiastic and full of energy. You will be followed by an evil-looking man in a red and yellow shirt. Surprisingly, it will turn out that following people is just his hobby, and you have nothing to worry about. Nathan Horton is another matter. The stars anticipate much glass rattling in your evening.

Steve Eminger, Scorpio . . . traits: harnessed aggression, immense forcefulness, magnetic intensity, and often strangely hypnotic personality. A person wearing a frilly pink tutu will appear, uninvited, in your personal space. He will become quite ornery, when you ask him to leave. His name is “Olli.” Just smack him; he’ll go away.

Eric Fehr, Virgo . . . traits: precise, refined, fastidious love of cleanliness, hygiene and good order, conventionality and aristocratic attitude of reserve. Son, ask around if you really were born in September. You could use a different sign.

Boyd Gordon, Libra . . . traits: elegance, charm and good taste, naturally kind, very gentle, and lovers of beauty and harmony. This might be a good time to recontextualize your imponderables. I think that has something to do with getting Alexander Semin the puck.

Mike Green, Libra . . . traits: easygoing, peaceable, indecisive, easily influenced. Your inner peace will be tested tonight after you shock yourself with the violence used to kill a fly or bug or panther which has annoyed you; you will be reminded of that moment in the Karate Kid movie when the old guy gracefully catches a fly with his chopsticks and how that was the exact opposite of the way you did it, which was simply to smash it against the glass.

Jamie Heward, Aries . . . traits: adventurous, energetic, enthusiastic, confident, quick-witted, impulsive. You may be better off taking charge of your own laundry today for reasons that the stars do not make clear. The number of times you walk into a door will today cause you to seek out new ways of thinking. Try hopping over the boards, instead, and avoid sharp objects attached to feet.

Olaf Kolzig, Aries . . . traits: pioneering, courageous, enthusiastic, confident, dynamic, quick-tempered, impatient. It’s time to start giving people the benefit of the doubt and being more accepting of those who aren’t as skilled as you. So the next time someone in your vicinity coughs up the puck, try to convince yourself that they are not an unoriginal, brain dead, goober with the hockey sense of a six year old.

Brooks Laich, Cancer . . . traits: emotional, intuitive, imaginative, shrewd, moody. An explosive argument with your linemate results in both of you questioning your future together. If you want to save the relationship then consider the possibility that you may just have been wrong. Pass the puck, ya goober.

Shaone Morrisonn, Capricorn . . . traits: prudent, disciplined, patient, reserved, grudging. Beware of arguments in the locker room boiling over and dividing the house. Make sure you give your all to the tasks and rewards will come your way, and to those around you. Always keep your pants on when showering and don’t let Laughlin’s ridiculous catchphrases enter your vocabulary.

Lawrence Nycholat, Taurus . . . traits: patient, reliable, persistent, determined. Try and keep some perspective on the situation then when your partner comes back from an ill-timed rush while you are fishing the puck from behind the net. Don’t give in to the temptation to smear atomic balm in his cup.

Alex Ovechkin, Virgo . . . traits: judicious, patient, practical supporters of the status quo, conservative in outlook. Lemme guess . . . someone in Moscow screwed up your birth certificate and put you down as a September baby. Cram in as much time as possible with your elderly relatives (Zubrus, Clark), watch your partners like a hawk and be extra vigilant when checking your sticks - and take some comfort from the fact that astrologers are wrong two thirds of the time.

Matt Pettinger, Libra . . . traits: charming, easygoing, self-indulgent. You love messing with your teammates’ heads by hatching from lemons instead of eggs. Breakfast can be an important time of the day for you. Maybe it’s time to think about a new routine. Pouring goat's milk over yourself and jibbering like a gibbon in front of your locker could be a start.

Jeff Schultz, Pisces . . . traits: selfless, intuitive, idealistic, secretive. Lately you've been looking for a good way of hiccupping without skating backwards at 100mph and screaming. The answer may lie in rocket powered stilettos. Hey, it can’t hurt, and you’ll be called “eccentric” if it works (a “daft loon” if it doesn't).

Alexander Semin, Pisces . . . what’s with all the fish on this team? Mrs. Paul doesn’t have this much going through her plant every day. Your thought process may be more than occupied in finding stability and security. Try to keep your cool and the solution may be found when you seek within. In other words, fake the deke and go high glove. No one’s figured that one out yet.

Brian Sutherby, Pisces . . . geez, this is worse than Sea World. You are the eternal optimist, seeing the best of any situation. You have no grasp of reality and live in a dream world. Most people consider you to be the greatest living moron. A three-point night might put that to rest.

Dainius Zubrus, Gemini . . . traits: adaptable, versatile, inconsistent. There is no point in wondering if what you are about to attempt will end in success or failure - the only way you will know for sure is by doing it. Mercury, your ruler, on good terms with power planet Pluto means there is precious little that you cannot do today - and a great deal that you can. That’s a lot of words to say you’ll be 1-2-3, +2 tonight.

Caps 5 – Panthers 2.

Meme Time -- If I Was a Hockey Player

This topic is circulating among the fellow wizards of this medium, and The Peerless couldn't let this opportunity slip by without a contribution. The Peerless encourages you to check out the links over there on the right to see what others' thoughts might be on the subject. In the meantime, ahem . . .

If I Was a Hockey Player:

Team: Washington Capitals

Uniform Number: 33

Position: Goaltender

Nickname: "Zeke"

Dream Linemates: we don’t have those at my position, but I want Rod Langway and Scott Stevens in front of me

Rounding out the PP: I don’t care, just keep the damn puck at the other end

Job: Breaking hearts of those who have dreams of Wayne Gretzky swimming in their addled little minds.

Signature Move: glove, covering the top corner

Strengths: quickness, anticipation

Weaknesses: handling the puck

Injury Problems? Left knee

Equipment: The same beat up funky old pads I’ve been wearing forever

Nemesis: None – I am their nemesis.

Scandal Involvement: 11.5 inch pads, the female cast of "Desperate Housewives"

Who I'd face in the Stanley Cup Finals: Detroit Red Wings . . . going back to my roots to steal their dreams.

What I'd do with the Stanley Cup after our victory: Take it home, hook it up to my DirecTV receiver and invite all the kids over to watch classic NHL games.

Would the media love me or hate me? They’d adore me – I can pound a subject and a verb together without it sounding like a coma-inducing cliché.

The Morning After

No points tonight . . .

What’r ya gonna do?

If you look at the Caps’ 3-2 loss last night to the Ottawa Senators in the context of what’s been going on lately, one might be tempted to say, “same old, same old.” The 13th loss in the last 19 games, playoff chances bleeding away.

But look at the game on its own merits. The Caps certainly didn’t play badly in the first period; they just didn’t play as well as they needed to out of the gate. Ottawa scored on a screen and an odd play off an errant shot in the first period, creating the hole (again) that the Caps found themselves needing to dig free of. It wasn’t as if the Senators dominated a clearly inferior team. And, the Caps did outplay Ottawa over the last 40 minutes. Alex Ovechkin summed up the overall 60 minutes – “"I thought we played very well today. We had lots of chances. We played hard, we skated fast and we checked, but we didn't score. That was the key."

Unfortunately, the Caps didn’t have as many chances, didn’t play quite as hard, didn’t skate as fast or checked as enthusiastically, and certainly didn’t score in the first period. Getting outscored 2-0 in the first period last night brings the first period scoring over this 6-13-0 skid to 31-16, the Caps on the short end. No club can spend its energy, night after night after night, crawling out from under the pile of goals they’re giving up early. The NHL is really a front-runner’s game. Clubs that get an early lead or take one into the first intermission are likely to be the winner. Only two clubs in the entire league have a winning percentage below .500 when scoring first, and no club – none – has a below-.500 winning percentage when leading after one period. The Caps are being bludgeoned into an early off season by this truth.

Looking at the numbers . . .

13:42 – that was the ice time Mike Green got last night, coming on the heels of only 8:22 in his last game. And again, his ice time late suffered – two shifts in the last eight minutes of the second period, three in the last 12 minutes of the game (all of them in the last seven minutes when the Caps were looking for the equalizer). But even this wasn’t quite like the . . .

8:36 . . . the time Kris Beech got. Five shifts in the last 39 minutes of the game after taking a holding penalty at the end of the first period.

55 . . . Jeff Schultz had another pretty solid game. 17 minutes and change, two hits, two blocked shots, and he wasn’t on the ice for any Ottawa goals. He wasn’t being matched against the Heatley line, but still a pretty decent effort.

32 . . . that’s how many times Glen Hanlon tapped Boyd Gordon’s shoulder to take a shift. No Cap player had more. Maybe it had something to do with winning 10 of 17 draws. And here is the odd part about those numbers – he took no draws in the offensive end; he was the designated faceoff guy in the defensive end (winning 7 of 12). Folks are going to be calling him, “Yanic,” before too long.

Stealing a point in a game like this could have been a huge lift, especially coming on the heels of the big win against Carolina on Saturday. But now the momentum has been halted, and the Caps get to face those pesky Panthers tomorrow. And on top of that, there is the temptation to peek ahead at the game Saturday against Pittsburgh. This is an even harder week than it looks to be on paper.

The Peerless Prognsoticator is ON THE AIR!! -- Caps vs. Senators, January 30th

The Peerless Prognosticator is ON THE AIR!!!

It doesn’t exactly get easier. The Caps head up to Scotiabank Place a couple of weeks after enduring a 5-2 loss to take on the Ottawa Senators, 12-2-1 in their last 15 games.* What is odd about that is that the Senators have suffered both regulation losses and the overtime loss at home. Of course, when the club has played 11 of those last 15 games at home, perhaps it’s not so unusual. Some fun facts from those 15 games:

- Ottawa outscored its opposition 59 - 29
- Power Play: 13/68 (19.1%)
- Penalty Kill: 55/60 (91.7%)
- 17 different skaters share the 59 goals scored
- Seven times the Senators have scored five or more goals
- More than a third of the goal production has come from two players: Dany Heatley (10-14-27, +17) and Daniel Alfredsson (10-13-23, +16)
- Ottawa scored first in 11 of the 15 games and went 10-0-1 in those games.
- Ottawa finished strong in games; their scoring by period was 14-21-23-1. By comparison, goals allowed by period were 7-9-12-1.

The Caps are a mirror image of the Senators over their own last 15 games . . .

- The Caps are 5-10-0
- Washington was outscored by its opposition 58 - 48
- Power Play: 14/80 (17.5%)
- Penalty Kill: 66/79 (83.5%)
- 14 different skaters share the 48 goals scored
- Four times the Caps have scored five or more goals
- Almost half of the goal production has come from two players: Alexander Semin (14-5-19, -3) and . . . Chris Clark (8-3-11, -5)
- Washington scored first in five of the 15 games and went 3-2-0 in those games.
- Washington started poorly in games, getting outscored 26-15 in the first period over the last 15 games.

And here is your big number – well, two actually . . . 18 and -20. That would be the number of goals the first line (Alex Ovechkin, Dainius Zubrus, and Chris Clark) has scored and their combined plus-minus over the last 15 games.

Gosh . . . you’d think it might not even be a good idea to make the trip.

Balderdash!

The Caps are 13-9-0 against teams that had at least 100 standings points last year. OK, so 4-0-0 of that is against Philadelphia, who are exploring new vistas in suck. The Caps are 2-1-0 against Ottawa this year, outscoring the Senators 12-10. The Caps have shown an ability to compete with talented clubs. The obvious key here is in who scores first. It has been Ottawa’s defining winning ingredient over the last 15 games, and it has been the Caps’ downfall over the same stretch. And what gets folded into that is keeping Alfredsson and Heatley quiet while getting the top line off on the plus side – it can’t be just about scoring for those guys. For all that, the player to watch is goaltender Olaf Kolzig. This is a club against which he has struggled – 8-13-3 lifetime, 3.46 GAA, .886 SV. But the last time he faced this club – 35 saves on 37 shots in a 6-2 win on December 6. If he can help keep Alfredsson and Heatley quiet until the Caps get their legs under them, this could be a good night.

Caps 4 – Senators 3

* Note: this was written before the Senators' 3-1 loss to Montreal last evening...

You want to be this goalie?

That was the unfortunate Jeff Frazee, goaltender of the Minnesota Golden Gophers, failing to contend with the bouncing puck off the stick of Robbie Bina of the University of North Dakota Fighting Sioux (insert politically acceptable name here) last Saturday night.

Jeff? . . . meet Sebastien Caron.

The tough row to hoe

The Caps have completed 50 games -- 32 remain on the regular season schedule. In those 32 games they have to find a way to climb past four teams to makeup a five point deficit between themselves and eighth place. Here is the challenge . . .

The 32 games remaining involve opponents against whom the Caps have a combined record of 14-18-5. The Caps have been outscored 132-114, not including shootout losses. If one weights these numbers for the number of times the Caps have yet to play each of these opponents, the task appears even more daunting.

It is in this context that the Caps have to win, in The Peerless' estimation, at least 43 points in the 32 remaining games. That would give them 92, the number of the eighth-place finisher last year.

Is it doable? Yes. But what it means is that there are no longer teams on the schedule that the Caps should beat. Those teams are now in the "must beat" category. Given last year's results, there are probably no more than 10 regulation losses in the Caps' remaining schedule that can be sustained (and this assumes no more than one more shootout/overtime loss -- points cannot be left on the table at this point).

A tough row, indeed.

What do the following have in common?

HGTV's "Design on a Dime"
Discovery Channel's "Mythbusters"
Bravo's "Top Chef"
Food Network's "Ace of Cakes"
TV Land's "The Andy Griffith Show"


More people watched them than the NHL All-Star Game last Wednesday night.

Hey, The Peerless thinks that there are worse things in life than gazing at Padma Lakshmi talking about food, but this is past ridiculous, it's embarrassing.

The league got cost certainty in its collective bargaining agreement. It got it at the expense of anyone actually watching the game. Praise the Commissioner for one, if you wish, but what does one do about the television situation?

Draw your own conclusions, dear reader.

The Morning After -- Caps vs. Hurricanes, Part Deux

It was a two-point night!

Carolina was better . . .

Last night’s 7-3 win by the Caps over the Hurricanes was an effort by two teams to give away two points. Carolina was better. A lot better.

The Caps rushed to a 3-0 lead in the first 13 minutes on a pair of goals by Alexander Semin sandwiching one by Alex Ovechkin. The last two in that series were directly attributable to sloppy puck handling on the part of the Hurricanes, who all but handed the puck to the Alexes for their scores.

That should have ended the competitive portion of the evening, but when you’re 5-12-0 in your last 17 games, nothing is so simple as that. The Caps gave one back when Justin Williams sent a drive from the right wing point past Olaf Kolzig, who was having to contend with Andrew Ladd’s backside firmly planted against the cage of his mask. Compared to the iffy goaltender interference call against Jakub Klepis the previous night, that qualified as assault.

Worse was what followed. Mike Green chose just about the worst time to nonchalant the recovery of the puck at the top of his own zone, reaching out with one hand to try and corral the biscuit. He missed, and Carolina ended up burying the puck behind Kolzig moments later. That would be the last ice time Green would see for almost nine minutes. He ended up with just over eight minutes for the game – his lowest total (except for a game in which he was injured) this year. Welcome back from Young Stars, kid.

But this was a night for highlight plays. Alexander Semin had a pair of such – once backing the Hurricane defense in before roofing the puck over Cam Ward’s glove, later picking the pocket of Erik Cole and racing the length of the ice to – yup – roof the puck over Ward’s catching glove.

Alexander Ovechkin had a couple of his own – one coming on a Carolina giveaway deep in its own end, when he collected the puck and ripped a laser of a wrist shot – uh huh – past Ward’s glove. The other came on some of the sickest stick work you’ll see this year. From the left wing boards, Ovechkin used Mike Commodore, Scott Walker, Andrew Ladd, and Eric Staal like skating pylons to thread his way free off the boards and snake a pass to Kris Beech at the right wing hash marks. Beech had only to one-time the puck past Ward’s – well, you know – for the goal.

And even the new kid got in on the action – Eric Fehr had a memorable 11 minutes. Skating with Alexander Semin, Fehr waited as Semin moved out from the left wing boards between Erik Cole and David Tanabe and pushed the puck to the middle. Instead of trying to curl the puck on his own blade, Semin left it for Fehr, who rifled a wrist shot past Ward’s . . . blocker (thought I was going to say “glove,” didn’t you?). It was the game-winner for the evening. The Peerless was even more impressed with what Fehr did a short time later. Harrassing Dennis Seidenberg in the Carolina end, he picked the defenseman clean and in one motion fired a wrist shot that Ward barely tipped over the net. That was a play of will as much as skill on Fehr's part (and it didn't hurt to be 6'4", either).

This was a game of mistakes. The club that made most of them was going to pay, and tonight it was Carolina who wrote the check. The Hurricanes must have thought the Caps would roll toes up after the results of the previous night, but if there is one thing the Caps can do, it is muster up an effort against a superior opponent – they’ve done that several times this year (Buffalo, Ottawa, Atlanta, Dallas, to name a few). There are no eye-popping numbers leaping out of this game, although there are two that caught The Peerless’ eye. First, faceoffs. The Caps won that battle for the first time in six games against Carolina this year (30-28). The second was hits. As generous as the official scorer was with spreading them around in Carolina (61-33, Caps), he was frugal with them last night (18-14, Caps).

As for the keys to the games we spoke of a couple of days ago:

Get off fast (score first) – Scoring the first three goals would qualify as getting off fast. For the sixth straight time first on the board wins.

Be aggressive (out-hit Carolina) – 18-14 doesn’t seem to reflect the level of contact in this game, but the Caps did win that battle.

Shoot the damn puck – For the first time in three wins, the Caps did not have 30 shots (23)

Make sure the usual suspects are represented on the score sheet – The big line (Ovechkin-Zubrus-Clark), plus Semin, were 4-3-7 for the night

The Peerless is going to toss a bag o’ chips to Ben Clymer. Clymer had one shift last night on which he was a one-man forechecking crew. He might have had all 18 hits for the Caps on that shift alone. Although he is dimly reflected on the scoresheet (no shots, one hit credited . . . one??), he put forth a fine effort.

Another goes to Jeff Schultz, who played his best game since his recall. And by “best,” The Peerless doesn’t mean “highlight reel” best. He was patient and careful in his own end, for the most part, and was sturdy on his feet. He led the club with a +4 in more than 19 minutes of work, including leading all defensemen in penalty killing time.

The confounding thing about this club is that on any given night, they can put together a game like this, where the offensive cylinders are firing, Olaf Kolzig makes the saves he has to make when he has to make them, and the defense isn’t ECHL level (although a couple of guys had their moments last night). The trick is being able to do it on a consistent basis. When that happens – and note we said “when” – they will be a contender.

Oh, and Cam? . . . It looked like you had one of these on last night.

A Special Peerless Prognosticator Panel

Desperate times call for desperate measures.. After last night’s 6-2 defeat at the hands of the Carolina Hurricanes, The Peerless has taken it upon himself to call upon the legends of coaching to find a way for the Caps to get out of their six-week funk. Our panel today includes . . .

Vince Lombardi, legendary coach of the Green Bay Packers…
“Hey, how are ya?”

John Wooden, famed coach of the UCLA Bruins basketball team…
“Good morning.”

Knute Rockne, the greatest coach in storied Notre Dame football history…
“Glad to be here.”

Casey Stengel, the ‘”Ol’ Perfesser” of the New York Yankees…
“It’s amazin’ to be here.”

And John Madden – football coach, analyst, commentator, and raconteur.
“Hey, Peerless, how are ya?”

Gentlemen, let’s get right to it. The Caps are deep in a hole – 13th place, looking up at five teams to get into the playoffs. They have 33 games to play. How to they right their ship? Coach Lombardi?

Vince Lombardi: “Dictionary is the only place that success comes before work. Hard work is the price we must pay for success. I think you can accomplish anything if you're willing to pay the price.”

Knute Rockne: “I used to tell my boys, ‘It's up to us to show them what we've got. Let's get down to business and carry the mail.’”

So what you’re saying is, there’s no substitute for hard work or excuse for putting out less than 100 percent?

Casey Stengel: “yeah, I used to say, ‘If we're going to win the pennant, we've got to start thinking we're not as good as we think we are.’”

So maybe the Caps think they’re better than they are?

John Wooden: “Perhaps. I think it’s important that you don't measure yourself by what you have accomplished, but by what you should have accomplished with your ability.”

Lombardi: “But I firmly believe that any man's finest hour, his greatest fulfillment of all he holds dear, is the moment when he has worked his heart out in a good cause and lies exhausted on the field of battle - victorious.”

Stengel: “And ya can’t baby these guys. I told one kid, ‘Son, we'd like to keep you around this season but we're going to try and win a pennant.’”

Rockne: (laughs) “We had the same thing at Notre Dame. I told ‘em, ‘do you want to bring shame on Notre Dame! Are you afraid to get sweat? You are gonna sweat all the way out to your fingernails!’ That got their attention.”

Lombardi: “Absolutely. If you aren't fired with enthusiasm, you will be fired with enthusiasm.”

Wooden: “And that’s why character is important. Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are.”

Well, the Caps were riding high back in December – 15-10-7. Things looked good. They’ve been 5-12-0 since, and…

Wooden: “Adversity is the state in which man mostly easily becomes acquainted with himself.”

You’re saying the Caps can find an identity in this?

Rockne: “It’s like football. Football is a game played with arms, legs and shoulders but mostly from the neck up.”

Lombardi: “It's not whether you get knocked down, it's whether you get up.”

One problem that I see in this is that players start playing outside the system – either trying to do too much themselves or playing for their own stats. What do you gentlemen think?

Lombardi: “Individual commitment to a group effort - that is what makes a team work, a company work, a society work, a civilization work.”

Rockne: “The secret is to work less as individuals and more as a team. As a coach, I play not my eleven best, but my best eleven.”

Wooden: “The main ingredient of stardom is the rest of the team.”

Stengel: “All I ask is that you bust your heiny on that field.”

The Caps have 33 games left and a hard path to clear. If you were going to walk into the locker room tonight before their game against Carolina, what would you tell them?

Stengel: “You gotta lose 'em some of the time. When you do, lose 'em right.”

Wooden: “Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do.”

Rockne: “No star playing, just hockey.”

Lombardi: “Life's battles don't always go to the stronger or faster man. But sooner or later the man who wins, is the man who thinks he can.”

Coach Madden?...You’ve been pretty quiet. Anything to add?

Madden: “Uh . . . you got any turducken?”

The Morning After -- Caps vs. Hurricanes

No points last night . . .

Thud.

That would be the sound of playoff chances falling off the shelf after the Caps’ 6-2 loss in Raleigh last night against the Carolina Hurricanes. One could say if this happened or that, or if this team went into a slump and the Caps beat this team or that the Caps could sneak in, but the fact of the matter is, the Caps are now a below-.500 team with 33 games to play, and every team in front of them leading up to the eighth spot is an above-.500 team. All but one of them (Toronto) have games in hand on the Caps. Putting those playoff chances back in place is going to be a difficult task.

The 6-2 loss was especially instructive as to the current state of the team. When the season started, The Peerless thought that an injury would reveal the troubles the club had with respect to skill and depth, but we thought that sort of injury would be of the catastrophic kind – to an Olaf Kolzig or an Alexander Ovechkin. We didn’t contemplate that the Caps would be undone by a series of what are comparative bumps and bruises – a series of injuries (which we do not wish to represent as being minor to those involved) to such as John Erskine, Bryan Muir, Richard Zednik, Brian Pothier, and Matt Bradley. But that serves to illustrate the zero margin for error this club has at the moment. The slightest disruption to the delicate balance of its roster – the fact that the club really isn’t 23-deep even when healthy – and what was a 15-10-7 season full of hope was spun into six weeks of 5-12-0 and the first thoughts of what might have been.

That’s the bad, and it is what it is. But there are silver linings in all these clouds, too. Although the Caps were beaten by a better team, the Caps did not lack for effort in the same way they did against Florida a week ago. They hit everything that moved, right from the drop of the puck – Hurricanes, officials getting in the way, even that pig of the heavily-medicated look that serves as a mascot. And they kept it up, working over all 200-feet of the ice sheet even as the game was falling out of reach. A loss can serve to help establish and cement the identity of a club.

The Caps returned to the kind of club they often reflected when they were getting out to that 15-10-7 record. They worked hard, they finished plays (not always successfully), they harassed the other club. But if we look at what we thought were the keys to the game, the Caps came up short:

Get off fast (score first) – Carolina scored the first two goals in the first nine minutes of the first period. To their credit, the Caps came back to tie, but scoring first has been everything in the first four games this year against Carolina, and it was last night, too.

Be aggressive (out-hit Carolina) – 61-33. That was the official hit tally. Generous? Almost certainly, but the Caps did play with an intensity that often has been lacking in the six week slide.

Shoot the damn puck – 26 shots. The Caps won the two games in which they had at least 30 shots, lost the ones they didn’t. 26 isn’t 30; they lost.

Make sure the usual suspects are represented on the score sheet – the usual suspects had five of the six points for the Caps (Jeff Schultz getting the other on an assist for his first NHL point). That’s not bad, but then again, they were done for the evening 54 seconds into the second period.

The Caps can thrive in a game that lacks a certain flow, especially when playing a more talented, deeper team – their own top end players end up a bit fresher. But 13 penalties was a lot to overcome. Jakub Klepis might have played himself off the roster last night, and that is very unfortunate. Two penalties taken early in the second period – the second coming seven seconds after the first (a terrible goaltender interference call, by the way) expired – stemmed whatever momentum the Caps might have been building after the tying Ovechkin goal to start the period. Justin Williams scored for Carolina 21 seconds after the second Klepis penalty was called – just as another Caps penalty was expiring -- and Carolina was off. Klepis did not return to the ice for the remainder of the game.

It’s hard to get too down on this club. There are very, very good elements here. Ovechkin, certainly. Chris Clark is following up one career year with another. Dainius Zubrus is playing solidly, if not spectacularly. Alexander Semin has points in eight of his last nine games. Boyd Gordon has improved by leaps and bounds since the start of the year. Steve Eminger has come back from a slow start to play excellent defense over the last several weeks (although last night was brutal for him on the scoresheet). But there are gaping holes on this roster – the defense is equal parts green, injured, and thin. There is little production coming from the bottom half of the line combinations, even on nights when the Caps win. Goaltending has not been inspired, at least not to the degree it was for much of the first ten weeks of the season. Neither goalie has had the ability to steal a game for the club during this skid. The bad news for the Caps is that team with stakes worth playing for are increasingly able to exploit the holes to withstand the contributions of the skilled players.

On any single night, the Caps can – and should be expected to – muster up a 100-percent effort. But that is a hard chore to repeat night after night with a thin and injury-depleted club. Unfortunately, that’s where the Caps find themselves as they try to put those playoff chances back up on the shelf for fans to see. They don’t have enough talent up and down the roster to do anything else.

The Peerless Prognosticator is ON THE AIR!!! -- A Caps-Canes Two-fer

The Peerless Prognosticator is ON THE AIR!!!

It’s a special “home-and-home” edition of The Peerless to kick off the post-All Star Game sprint to the finish.

For those of you scoring at home, the Caps are 20-21-7 for 47 points. At this time last year the Caps were 17-26-5 (39 points). Two seasons ago, the Caps were 14-27-5-2 (35 points). That’s improvement, but it’s not a playoff pace. If we use last year as a guide, the Caps would need 92 points to make the top eight. That’s 45 points in the last 34 games. Not impossible, but it suggests something like a 20-9-5 finish to get there. By way of comparison, among the division leaders, Atlanta was 18-10-6 in their first 34 games, New Jersey was 19-12-3, and Buffalo was 25-7-2.

Even if we use this year as a guide, Pittsburgh has the eighth spot at the moment, and they’re on a pace for 89 points. Tampa – in seventh – also is on an 89-point pace. Even getting to 90 suggests something like 19-10-5. That’s the hole the Caps dug for themselves by going 5-11-0 leading up to the All-Star break.

This weekend the Caps get to take a big wet bite out of that task by taking on the Carolina Hurricanes in a home-and-home set. The Caps are 2-2 against Carolina, and although the goals stand at 13-11, Carolina, none of the games have been close. Carolina has wins of 5-0 and 4-1 in games two and three of the season series, the Caps a pair of 5-2 wins in games one and four.

Some tidbits about the four games . . .

- In every game thus far, the team that scored first won
- Each team split two games on its own ice
- Only once did a team ever surrender a lead (Carolina, in game one)
- The team that won the special teams game (power play scores versus scores allowed) won each game
- Carolina won the faceoff battle in every game, winning 55.2 percent of draws overall
- Washington is 4-20 on the power play (20.0 percent), Carolina 4-21 (19.0 percent)
- The Caps’ top line of Alexander Ovechkin, Dainius Zubrus, and Chris Clark is 0-0-0, -4 in the two losses (Chris Clark missed one game), 5-3-8, +11 in the two wins
- Alexander Semin has the other five goals in the two wins (he has no goals in the losses)
- The Caps have been outshot in three of the four games, 131-107 overall. But, the Caps won both games in which they registered at least 30 shots
- Olaf Kolzig is 2-1, Brent Johnson 0-1 in the four games
- If you’re looking for a good luck charm – Jean Morin. He’s been a linesman in each of the two Caps’ wins (he also has been on hand for one of the losses). In case you’re wondering, the four games have had eight different referees – no special relief there
- Hits . . . in two wins, the Caps had 62 total. In two losses, 34
- If you’re looking for Caps to stand out tonight . . . Chris Clark: 2-3-5, +4 in three games . . . Alexander Semin: 5-0-5 (including a hat trick), -1, 2 PPG

So, what do the Caps have to do? Get off fast (score first), be aggressive (out-hit Carolina), shoot the damn puck, make sure the usual suspects are represented on the score sheet.

And hope Jean Morin is a linesman.

Friday: Caps 3 – Carolina 2
Saturday: Caps 4 – Carolina 2

Your Second Half Prognostos

And now it’s time for . . . second-half prognostos.

We’re going right to the source here, the ne plus ultra of the prognosticatory arts – The Magic 8-Ball. We will consult this oracle to discern just what lies in store for the Caps (and some other things) for the rest of this year . . .

Oh, Magic 8-Ball . . . will the Caps procure a defenseman before the trading deadline?
…yes.

Will Richard Zednik finish the season a Cap?
...yes

Will this defenseman trip over the boards in his first practice and be lost for the season to a "lower body" injury?
…ask me later.

Oh, great oracle, is Peter Forsberg in the Caps’ future?
…ask yourself. (hey, did I get a wise-ass 8-ball?)

Will Alex Ovechkin win the Richard Trophy?
…not a chance (not exactly shy about it, are you?)

Will Alexander Semin win it?
…yes (well, that’s better)

Will Ovechkin win the Ross Trophy?
…signs look good.

Will he win the Hart Trophy?
…ask me later.

Will the Caps finish the season above .500?
…yes.

Will they make the playoffs?
…no

Will they finish ahead of Pittsburgh?
...who knows?

Will they be a lottery team?
...no

Will Glen Hanlon win the Adams Trophy?
…no

Will Sidney Crosby be spirited away by aliens?
…who knows? (The Peerless didn’t hear a “no” in there…)

Will the Penguins stay in Pittsburgh?
…no

Will Gary Bettman suffer weeping sores and have his limbs set upon by rabid gerbils?
…signs look good (hope springs eternal!)

Will The Peerless win the Powerball grand prize?
…yes

Well, The Peerless is off to see what island he wants to buy.

Better . . .

Last night's NHL All-Star Game was more akin to a professional production than the "let's put on a SHOW!" effort the previous evening for the Young Stars Game and Super Skills Competition. Part of it was that the guys on the ice are the best salesmen for the sport the league could ask for. Equal parts good time and competitive edge, the game also served to point out that the league really is more than Sidney Crosby (or Alex Ovechkin).

16 players accounted for the 21 goals in the 12-9 Western Conference win. 26 players had points (Sidney Crosby not being among them). The big Eastern line of Crosby, Ovechkin, and Brendan Shanahan was held to a single point -- Ovechkin's goal (assisted by Daniel Briere -- imagine that) in the second period.

But there was the venerable Joe Sakic with four assists, Brian Rolston and Rick Nash chipping in two goals and two assists, respectively, for the West. The story for the West was the unsung all-stars -- Lubomir Visnovsky had a goal and an assist and was +4. Rolston was +5. And Yanic Perreault wrote the next chapter in his unlikely season by scoring a pair of goals and having a +5 night. Uncharateristically, though, Perreault lost 9 of 15 draws. The Peerless suspects he'll take that trade for a night, at least. Marian Hossa had four helpers for the East, and Daniel Briere was 1-4-5, +5 for the East to win him the game's MVP award (prognosticated, accurately of course, by this author).

Some guys struggled. It was not a night to be a Tampa Bay Lightning representative, as the pair of Lightning -- Vincent Lecavalier and Martin St. Louis went a combined 1-1-2, -9. Crosby and Simon Gagne were -4, apiece. The goalies were, as one would expect abused mercilessly (21 goals on 77 shots -- 27.3 percent shooting percentage). Martin Brodeur has an especially difficult night, giving up six goals on 16 shots. But he and Marty Turco were good sports about it, as they were mic'ed up to provide running commentary (a nice touch for the telecast, although Brodeur's commentary was lost when his microphone was popped loose on a goal he allowed). Turco, in particular, seemed to warm up to the idea, appearing to offer comments while in the midst of saves.

And, as if this should be a surprise to anyone, no hits were recorded -- none (Jeremy Roenick not having been invited to this game).

If there was a coming out for any player, The Peerless might be tempted to go with Zdeno Chara. Much has been made these last two days that he is the largest player in the history of the league, and he uses a stick that seems to span the width of the rink. But Chara had a couple of goals last night and showed good instincts in jumping into the play. He's shown this from time to time, but on this stage, he really shined.

One should not make too much of this game. It is what it is -- an enjoyable romp for the game's best players, given an opportunity to display the skill and even the good humor that is absent in the night-to-night crush of games during the regular season. The Peerless thought it was immensely entertaining.

As for the broadcast, it seemed as though Versus, if it didn't find it's "A" game, found something close. Doc Emrick was a lot sharper last night than for the skills competition, and the supporting commentary was for the most part appropriate without being intrusive. They even found use for the "rail-cam," although here's an idea . . . put that thing on the other side of the ice. Watching that thing running the rail in front of the play on the wider shots got to be annoying after a while.

But all that is details. It was a nice break for players and fans in the midst of a long season. It's back to work tomorrow and the beginning of the sprint to the finish.