The Passion of the Caps Fan

Thirty two seasons…two thousand seven hundred and twelve games.

1,137 wins
1,229 losses
303 ties
43 overtime and shootout losses…

Three division championships, two conference finals, one Stanley Cup final . . . no Stanley Cups.

What is it about this club that would lead a hockey fan with any self respect to have followed such a team through the years of pain and frustration?

It’s 1974-75 . . . 8-67-5. 21 points. Caps fans could walk out of Capital Centre after the last game (an 8-4 win over Pittsburgh, by the way) secure in the knowledge that it couldn’t get worse. So far, it hasn’t.

It’s 1975-76 . . . and the Caps undergoing the first of what would become many death marches on the road to start the season. Ten of their first thirteen games were on the road – they lost seven of them. They didn’t get their first home win until November 26^th. But Caps fans had the pleasure of seeing a budding hockey analyst -- Bill Clement. The Peerless thinks he's harbored a grudge ever since.

1t’s 1976-77 . . . and the Caps earn more points (62) than the first two years combined (53) and 21 points ahead of the Detroit Red Wings. Hockeytown, my ass.

It’s 1977-78 . . . and winning the last three games of the season to avoid having the worst record in the league.

It’s 1978-79 . . . and Gary Inness is the first Capitals goaltender to end the year with a .500 record – 14-14-8.

It’s 1979-80 . . . and the first time the Caps beat Montreal. Until their 3-1 victory on February 19 the Caps were 0-31-3 and outscored 185-53 against the Habs. Four times the Habs scored more than 10 goals in a game.

It’s 1980-81 . . . and one point…one freakin’ point. That was the margin by which the Caps missed the playoffs. But Dennis Maruk became the first Cap to reach the 50-goal plateau for a season.

It’s 1981-82 . . . Starting the season 1-14-1 is not a recipe for reaching the playoffs. It doesn’t do much for coaching longevity, either (Gary Green was relieved when it reached 1-12-0). But then, things took a turn. Roger Crozier lost one game behind the bench (that’s 1-13-0) before yielding to a 38-year old coach who led the Hershey Bears to a 47-24-9 record the previous year (the 103 points earned would not be exceeded until 2006-2007 when the club was an affiliate of the Caps) – Bryan Murray. Murray lost his first game (to Pittsburgh…a harbinger?), but finished the year 25-27-13…an improvement to be sure. Although the club finished with only 65 points, the pieces were coming together – Mike Gartner, Bobby Carpenter – The “Can’t Miss Kid” – Bengt Gustafsson, Bobby Gould, Gaetan Duchesne, Lou Franceschetti . . . and then . . .

It’s 1982-83 . . . and the biggest deal in Capitals history. Without it, this narrative ends about here. Not two weeks into his new job as general manager, David Poile sent Ryan Walter and Rick Green to the Canadiens for Rod Langway, Craig Laughlin, Brian Engblom, and Doug Jarvis. The 39-25-16 record would earn the Caps their first playoff berth, and although the Caps were dispatched in four games by the eventual champion New York Islanders, it would mark the first of 14 consecutive playoff appearances.

It’s 1983-84 . . . and more firsts . . . the first 100-point season (48-27-5, 101 points), the first hardware earned by Caps players (Langway the Norris Trophy, Jarvis the Selke), and most important the first playoff series win – a three-game sweep of the Flyers in which the Caps outscored the Flyers 15-5 and chased the Flyers’ goaltender twice.

It’s 1984-85 . . . and another 100-point season (46-25-9, 101 points) and the only time in team history the club had two 50-goal scorers – Mike Gartner (50) and Bobby Carpenter (53). But for the third straight year, the Islanders would end the Caps’ season.

It’s 1985-86 . . . and the most successful regular season in the club’s history – 50-23-7 (107 points), the only season in which the Caps won 50 games. It might have had the most bitter ending – a six-game second round loss in the playoffs to the New York Rangers, a club the Caps finished 29 points in front of in the regular season.

It’s 1986-87 . . . and a year of turmoil. Bobby Carpenter shipped off to the Rangers on New Year’s Day after all but being dismissed by the team. It seemed to rejuvenate the club. Beginning with a 4-3 New Year’s Day home win, the Caps closed 26-13-4 and looked poised for a long run in the playoffs. That would end deep into Easter morning in the fourth overtime of a seventh game against the old nemesis – the Islanders. Pat Lafontaine turns, fires….CLANG!...see you next year. The 75 shots faced by Islander goalie Kelly Hrudey in that game would be a Stanley Cup playoff record that would last almost 20 years.

It’s 1987-88 . . . and another path-changing trade. Gaetan Duchesne, Alan Haworth, and a first round pick in the 1987 draft were sent to Quebec for goaltender Clint Malarchuk and a center trying to make a comeback from a broken leg – Dale Hunter. The draft pick that went to Quebec might be more famous in Caps history than any the club actually made in their first 30 years – Joe Sakic. The highs and the lows of a frustrating, unsatisfying season were reflected in the two playoff series. In the first, the Capitals stormed back against the Flyers from a 3-1 deficit in games and a 3-0 deficit in the deciding seventh game to have TV play-by-play man Mike Fornes utter in overtime the words, “…Murphy starts the rush… he hits Hunter…he’s in alone…a shot…and a goal!!!!!" That would only be followed by a seven-game loss to the upstart New Jersey Devils, one in which Rod Langway would finish the series on the bench courtesy of a Pat Verbeek skate blade slicing through the back of his leg. One had the feeling of one era ending, and another beginning.

It’s 1998-89 . . . and a year in which the Caps would win their first and only Patrick Division title. They also would obtain one of the team’s all time favorites – Dino Ciccarelli – in a late-season trade. He didn’t disappoint…12-3-15, +10 in 11 games. The Caps went 8-3 in those games. That’s called “making a good first impression.” It didn’t last though; the Flyers exacted a measure of revenge for the previous year’s result, downing the Caps in six games in the opening round, punctuated by a goal scored into an empty net in game five by Flyer goalie Ron Hextall.

It’s 1989-90 . . . and perhaps the oddest of all the seasons played under the Capitals’ banner. The club struggled out of the gate with a 3-7-3 record at the end of October (including a couple of “welcome-to-the-big-time” outings for a young goaltender named Olaf Kolzig). It didn’t get much better over the next two-and-a-half months, and Bryan Murray was relieved of his duties, turning the reins over to . . . his brother, Terry. The younger Murray guided the Caps to an 18-14-2 record to finish the year, but it wasn’t enough to keep the Caps from finishing with their first losing record (36-38-6) since the 1981-82 season. It didn’t keep them from the playoffs, though. There, a heretofore unremarkable forward had the playoffs of his life. After scoring 16 goals in 93 games spread over parts of two seasons, John Druce scored 14 goals (four of them game-winners) in 15 games. The Caps rode the good fortune to their first conference final. Boston would end the fun, though, in a four-game sweep.

It’s 1990-91 . . . and the debut of Peter Bondra. This season gave Caps fans the first glimpse of the player who would end his Caps career as its top all-time goal scorer. This season would also see a player who had one of the most meteoric, not to mention shortest, careers in club history. John Kordic would not post a point in the seven games in which he played, but would amass 101 penalty minutes. He would also be suspended by the club twice and would meet a tragic end a little more than a year later. The Caps would also be introduced to a demon of their own – after eliminating the Rangers in a six-game first-round series, they would meet the Pittsburgh Penguins in the second round in the first meeting of the clubs in the playoffs. After losing the first game, the Penguins – facing the possibility of falling behind 2-0 in games in their own building – escaped with a 7-6 overtime win and closed out the Caps from there. The Penguins went on to win their first Stanley Cup.

It’s 1991-92 . . . and the Caps storming out of the gate to an 8-1-0 record. The club had remarkable balance over the course of the year – 14 players recorded double-digit goal totals, seven had more than 20 (including the young Mr. Bondra, who had 28). But there was the demon again – the Penguins. The Caps raced out to a 3-1 lead in games, capped by a 7-2 drubbing of the Penguins in Pittsburgh. But Pittsburgh would storm back to win the last three games – two of them on Capital Centre ice, with the series clinching goal scored by a young Czech named Jagr.

It’s 1992-93 . . . and the establishment of Peter Bondra as the go-to scorer; he would finish the season with 37 goals (and, oddly enough, the highest point total he would have for his career – 85). However, although the Caps would make the playoffs for the 11^th straight year, the season would unravel for the Caps even before the post-season started. On March 13th Rod Langway announced he would sit out the rest of the season, citing his reduced playing time. The Caps would be eliminated in the first round by the Islanders, a series remembered more for its ignominious end as Dale Hunter blind-sided Pierre Turgeon in the final game, separating Turgeon’s shoulder and earning Hunter a 20-game suspension from the league and its new commissioner, Gary Bettman. Lost in that incident is the fact that Hunter had seven goals in the six-game series, matching a career playoff high (set in 1988 in 14 games).

It’s 1993-1994 . . . the hangover from the end of the previous season making itself felt – Dale Hunter missing the first 20 games and the club getting off to a lackluster 20-23-4 start, another Murray would find himself being replaced. Jim Schoenfeld took over, and the Caps had another strong finish – 19-12-6 – to get a seventh seed in the playoffs. It would get them another meeting with the Penguins. The script took a more favorable turn this time, though, as the Caps sent the Penguins in search of herring in six games. That’s where it would end, though, as the Caps lost to the eventual Stanley Cup champion New York Rangers (the third time in four seasons they were eliminated by the eventual champs).

It’s 1994-95 . . . and . . . hey, where’d the hockey go? Well, we did get 48 games, and perhaps Peter Bondra’s best goal scoring season. 34 goals in 47 games works out to a 59-goal pace for a full season. Included in that was an incredible six shorthanded goals. A hideous start – 3-10-5 through the end of February – gave way to an 18-8-3 finish that gave the Caps a ticket to the playoffs, where they met . . . the Penguins. The series – and a career – would turn almost on a single play. With the Caps ahead 3-1 in games, holding a lead, and on a power play in Pittsburgh, Jaromir Jagr stole the puck and netted a shorthanded goal on Jim Carey. The Penguins went on to win that game, and the Caps would be sent packing quickly and quietly in the last two games.

It’s 1995-96 . . . and Peter Bondra would set a career high in goals with 52. But the story was Carey – the good and the bad. Carey would devour pucks like a fat guy with a bag of Doritos. A 35-24-9 record and 2.26 goals against average would be good enough to earn him the first Vezina Trophy bestowed upon a Capital. But the previous season’s nightmare at the hands of the Penguins would be stirred anew. Carey was yanked in the opener in favor of Olaf Kolzig, although the Caps won. The Caps would win game two behind Kolzig once more to return home with a 2-0 lead in games. But coach Jim Schoenfeld would return to Jim Carey for game three in Landover. It turned out to be a mortal error. Carey lost 4-1, which set up another of the heartbreaking kinds of games the Caps seem to hold several patents on. Olaf Kolzig was given the nod for game four and single handedly kept the Caps in the contest with 42 save on 44 shots. But that was good enough only to get the Caps to overtime as Ken Wregget – in relief of Tom Barasso, who left with back spasms in the second period after giving up a goal in the first period -- stopped all but one of the 13 shots he faced.. Caps tormentor Mario Lemieux was tossed in the second period with slashing, instigator, fighting, and game misconduct penalties after having his sensibilities offended by Todd Krygier. But the real fun was yet to come…in the second overtime, Joe Juneau awas awarded what was the first penalty shot in a Stanley Cup playoff game in league history. Juneau skated in, but the deteriorating ice betrayed him, and the puck was rolling off his stick. He managed a weak shot on goal that Wregget stopped, and the teams played on. The Caps had the better of the momentum in the extra sessions, outshooting the Penguins 37-12 in the first three overtimes. In the fourth overtime, the momentum would turn once more as Pittsburgh piled up a 10-6 lead in shots in the first 19 minutes of the period. But Olaf Kolzig was equal to the task. Then, there was the final minute of the period . . . Calle Johansson was in the penalty box for a hooking call, and the Penguins were setting up their power play. Sergei Zubov sent a pass across to Petr Nedved at the left wing point. Nedved walked in to the top of the circle with Mark Tinordi blocking his path. Nedved was patient enough to let Tinordi make his move, which was to go down to the ice to block a shot that didn’t come. Nedved stepped around Tinordi and sent as harmless looking a shot as there was in this game toward Kolzig. He never saw it. The seeing-eye puck avoided several players screening Kolzig and fluttered over Kolzig’s left shoulder into the back of the net. The longest game in Capitals’ history was over at 179:16…a 3-2 loss. Woulda, coulda, shoulda . . . Johansson’s penalty had only five more seconds to run . . . the period had only 44 more seconds to run . . . if Juneau hadn’t had the puck roll on his stick . . . if the Caps hadn’t given up a shorthanded goal in the late stages of the second period to let the Penguins back into the game after taking a 2-0 lead . . .

It’s 1996-97 . . . and the first real housecleaning in the club’s history. A fine November (9-5-1) was an oasis in a lost season. The Caps would go 24-35-8 in months not starting with “N” and finish among the also rans. Peter Bondra would pot 46 goals, but it would be far from enough. Jim Carey could not recover from two disappointing playoff series against Pittsburgh, and after a 17-18-3, 2.75 record, was dispatched to Boston along with Jason Allison, Anson Carter, and a third round pick for Adam Oates, Rick Tocchet, and Bill Ranford. Coach Jim Schoenfeld would be relieved of his duties at year’s end, replaced by Ron Wilson. The housecleaning would pay off . . .

It’s 1997-98 . . . the Caps would bid farewell to the big Pringle’s chip in Landover for shiny new digs on 7^th Street. Peter Bondra would match a career high with 52 goals, including 13 game winners. But the season’s turning point might have taken place on opening night. Bill Ranford, installed as the number one netminder for the opener against Toronto, took a puck square on the cup . . . enter Olaf Kolzig in what would be his own Lou Gehrig for Wally Pipp moment. Kolzig would cement his position as the new number one goalie and finish the year 33-18-10, 2.20, .920, leading the Caps to a fifth-seed in the playoffs. Ranford would get some work (7-12-2) but would not regain his top netminder status. Kolzig didn’t stop at game 82. He took the club on his back and led them to three series wins in the playoffs, going 12-5 in the process with five overtime wins. The last of those 12 wins came courtesy of Joe Juneau, who pounced on a rebound to the left of Buffalo Sabres netminder Dominik Hasek, who could not cover the puck before Juneau sent the puck under him and Caps fans into a joy they hadn’t known in any of their previous 23 seasons. The Caps were on to the Stanley Cup final. There, it would be another series of “woulda, coulda, shoulda.” The Wings would eke out a pair of one-goal wins at home to open the series, the latter in overtime, but not before the Capitals would let a chance to split the first two games pass by. In game two, the Capitals held a 4-3 lead in the third period. Esa Tikkanen – a late-season addition to the club – picked up a loose puck and skated in alone against Detroit goaltender Chris Osgood. Tikkanen faked Osgood to the ice and skated around him to face an open net. Tikkanen’s shot skittered wide on the far side, and the Caps lost the opportunity to take a two-goal lead in the game and perhaps knot the series. The Caps would return home, but would drop their third straight one-goal game before going in a more convincing fashion in a 4-1 game four loss.

It’s 1998-1999 . . . and the number ‘511’ has meaning. No, it’s not the number of games Cy Young won in his career (actually, it is), but the number of man-games lost to injury by the Caps in the regular season. Only two players – Brian Bellows and Ken Klee – would dress for at least 75 games. That not being nearly the recipe for a successful season, the Caps finished 31-45-6, the 68 points being the worst finish in a full season since 1981-82. And Dale Hunter, the long-time captain of the club and its gritty soul since his acquisition in 1987, was dealt at the deadline to Colorado for a draft pick. The high points, if one could call them that, were the performances of Calle Johansson and Joe Reekie, who managed a plus-10 and plus-11, respectively, on a club where 29 players were in the minus column.

It’s 1999-2000 . . . and the phrase, “storming back” comes to mind. Through December, the Caps were mired at 13-16-6-1. Then, the Caps tied St. Louis on New Year’s Day. From there, the Caps would storm through January, going 11-1-2. They would make MCI Center a difficult place for opponents to play, winning ten straight (a club record) from January 4^th to February 23^rd. Olaf Kolzig would be almost impenetrable, and Chris Simon – heretofore known more as a brawler – would register a career-high 29 goals. They would end the year 31-10-6-1 for the 2000 portion of the 1999-2000 season. Kolzig’s 41-20-11, 2.24, .917 (not to mention leading the league in minutes and shots faced) would earn him a Vezina Trophy – the second for the club in its history. But there was a cloud hovering over the club – 45 one-goal games. The Caps finished 20-13-12 in those games. As the playoffs began, an odd scheduling quirk led to games two and three against the Penguins being played in Pittsburgh. The Caps dropped the opener at home, 7-0, then lost three of the next four – all by one goal – and the series.

It’s 2000-2001 . . . and thrilling moments with an unsettled mix. Peter Bondra would net 45 goals (22 of them on the power play), Olaf Kolzig would have another strong year at 37-26-8, 2.48, .909. The Caps were 36-20-10-2 when they took the ice against the Ottawa Senators on March 11, two days before the trading deadline. The calendar might have been weighing heavily as the Caps fell behind 5-2 through two periods, Kolzig having been chased to the bench. Corey Hirsch was brought in for what was to be mop-up duty. Then Andrei Nikolishin scored a goal. Then, Trent Whitfield scored one. Then, Sergei Gonchar netted one to tie the game. Finally, with 1:28 left to play, Steve Konowalchuk made the comeback complete with a goal to give the Caps an improbable 6-5 win. At once, all things seemed possible. Two days later, the Caps traded Jan Bulis, Richard Zednik and a 2001 first round draft pick to the Montreal Canadiens for Trevor Linden, Dainius Zubrus, and a second round pick in the 2001 draft. The Caps lost five in a row after the trade and would end the year struggling on a 4-7-0-2 run. Waiting for them in the opening playoff round was…yes, Pittsburgh. And the club could not right itself, bowing out in a six-game series that ended, as one might have expected, with a patch of bad ice, a puck that jumped, a turnover, a breakaway, and a goal to end a season where the wheels were falling off for a month.

It’s 2001-2002 . . . and the thunder clap heard ‘round the hockey world on July 11, 2001. That morning, Larry Brooks all but used his New York Post column to tell Penguin general manager Craig Patrick that a Ranger offer for Jaromir Jagr – who the Penguins were shopping as part of a salary purge – was the only one out there, and that he’d better take it and like it. That afternoon, the Caps announced that they’d acquired Jagr for three prospects and future considerations. At no time in the history of the franchise had a player of this level of personal accomplishment worn the sweater. The enthusiasm among fans at the prospect was reflected in a crowd of several hundred showing up at Dulles Airport five days later to welcome Jagr to Washington. Then, the club signed Jagr to a seven-year, $77 million contract extension with an option year tacked on the end. The honeymoon didn’t last. In what would begin to take on the aspect of one of those short-lived celebrity marriages, Jagr had what for him was a disappointing year – 31-48-79 in 69 games. Worse, the Caps would fail to make the playoffs, finishing two points behind Montreal for the eighth and final spot in the east. Ron Wilson, a victim of the oft-whispered claim that he “lost the room” was relieved as coach at the end of the year. It was not much fun on Fun Street.

It’s 2002-2003 . . . and a new coach Bruce Cassidy, along with another big signing. This time, Robert Lang was inked to a $25 million, five-year deal with the aim of centering Jagr. The Caps would return to the playoffs, but there was something . . . well, missing. Jagr had another disappointing year on the scoring rolls, going 36-41-77 in 75 games, but he wasn’t without his moments. Specifically, there were consecutive games in mid-January (against Florida and the Islanders) in which he went 5-6-11, +6. Lang had a decent year (22-47-69), but more was envisioned. The Caps would draw upstart Tampa Bay in the first round, and after winning a pair of three-goal decisions in Tampa, it appeared that a deeper run was in store. But not even Jagr, who had been on the high side of a lot of Capitals’ playoff collapses, could get the Caps over the hump. The Caps would tie game three late in regulation on a Brendan Witt goal, but would see their series lead cut in half as Vincent Lecavalier potted the winner in a 4-3 overtime final. From there, the Caps would lose the last three games of the series, one very reminiscent of the 1995-1996 series against the Penguins, right down to the multi-overtime game, this year’s being the final game on Easter Sunday in Washington, where Martin St. Louis circled out from behind the net on a power play to lift the puck over Olaf Kolzig’s glove in the third overtime (the four-overtime game in 1996 also was decided on a power play).

It’s 2003-2004 . . . and time not for a remodel or a rebuild, but for the club to gut the club right down to the studs and start over. The pieces of the selloff are described here, but at the end, it was a club dressing players such as Matt Yeats in goal, Roman Tvrdon, Garret Stroshein, and Mel Anglestad in the finale against Pittsburgh (they always show up for these events, don’t they?). After 30 years, the Caps had returned to their roots…they were once more an expansion team.

It’s 2004-2005 . . . and a lockout making this the great ice age in NHL history. For the Caps, the year was noteworthy for what took place in June. The Caps won the draft lottery, leapfrogging the Penguins and the Chicago Blackhawks for the right to select a young forward from Moscow Dynamo with a game more typical of North America in its ferocity than that normally associated with Europeans. Alexander Ovechkin took the stage at the entry draft upon his announcement as the Caps first selection and looked for all the world like the happiest man in the arena. As time would pass, he’d make a lot of people happy.

It’s 2005-2006 . . . and the introduction of Alexander the Great to the NHL. Presumed that he would be overshadowed this season by the prodigy Sidney Crosby in Pittsburgh (the beneficiary of another lottery), Ovechkin opened his career by planting Columbus’ Radoslav Suchy through the glass behind the Columbus net on his first NHL shift. He’d top that by scoring a goal in the second period, then another four minutes later. If he’d had an assist, he could have ended up with an “Ovechkin hat trick” – a goal, an assist, and a glass-shattering hit. He was clearly the star that shone through a cloudy sky. He had almost twice as many points as the next highest total on the club (106 to 57 for Dainius Zubrus), more than twice as many goals (52 to 23 for Zubrus), 20 more assists than the Caps’ runner-up, more than twice as many shots on goal as the runner-up, he led all forwards in ice time, had 21 power play and five game-winning goals, led the team in takeaways, and by a wide margin led the team, not to mention all NHL rookie forwards, in hits. Now, if only the Caps could build around this guy.

It’s 2006-2007 . . . and 70 points not looking like 70 points. In 2005-2006, 70 points was the result of an overachieving, under-talented club. This year, it was a disappointing finish for a club that was coasting at 15-10-7 on December 16^th. Injuries, illness, a lack of depth, inadequate experience, and a shallow skill set conspired to leave the Capitals in 26^th place in the league. Fans could enjoy the antics of the Alexes – Ovechkin and Semin – who combined for 84 goals and 165 points. They could enjoy Chris Clark – a captain in the mold of Caps’ captains past – realize another career goal scoring year (30), giving the Caps three 30-goal scorers. Boyd Gordon and Matt Pettinger would emerge as players who, with more experience, could serve as stoppers on the forward line while chipping in some scoring of their own. Milan Jurcina was plucked from a dead-end in Boston to be one of the big hitters on defense ands with a big slap shot from the point to boot. Shaone Morrisonn continued his development, and Mike Green and Jeff Schultz gave glimpses of the kind of game-to-game contributors they could be on the blue line in years to come. Olaf Kolzig, if not quite a “gray beard,” continued to be the rock in goal that he has been for a decade.

32 seasons, and the lows outnumber the highs. Even the sunniest Caps fan would have to concede that. But over the years, Caps hockey has not been without its moments, its players, and even its characters, leaving us to ponder the question, “what is Caps Hockey?” . . .

It’s Michel Belhumeur and Bill Mikkelson in that legendary first year. Say what you will, but an 0-24-3 record and a -82 deserve attention and, yes, even respect. They were out there every night battling.

It’s Dennis Maruk’s luxuriant fu-manchu moustache.

It’s Ace Bailey dressing for 207 games as a Cap, leaving us before his time on a clear September day in 2001.

It’s Gary Green being named head coach at the age of 26.

It’s Doug Mohns, Bill Clement, Yvon Labre, Guy Charron, Ryan Walter, Rod Langway, Kevin Hatcher, Dale Hunter, Adam Oates, Steve Konowalchuk, Brendan Witt, Jeff Halpern, and Chris Clark, captains all.

It’s Terry Murray, who played for his brother, Bryan, than succeeded him as coach with the Caps.

It’s the elegance of Bengt Gustafsson.

It’s the grit of Dale Hunter.

It’s the odd character that was Al Iafrate.

It’s the Plumbers Line of Craig Laughlin, Greg Adams, and Gaetan Duchesne.

It is Duchesne leaving us too soon.

It is Steve Konowalchuk, Jeff Halpern, and Ulf Dahlen doing a pretty good imitation of the Plumbers Line and the Harlem Globetrotters with their grit and ability to play keep-away with the puck.

It is Kelly Miller.

It’s a puck ringing off a post or fluttering past a clot of bodies to end a game when people are usually fast asleep.

It is the Secretary of Defense.

It’s Bobby “One Punch” Gould on the night of March 20, 1987. What happened? Hey, ask Mario Lemieux…if he remembers.

It’s demons in orange and blue, gold and black.

It’s “…Murphy starts the rush… he hits Hunter…he’s in alone…a shot…and a goal!!!!!”

It’s a young, strapping kid from Kitchener, Ontario, making his mark – sometimes quite literally on opposing forwards – as a young defenseman. And no amount of draft picks could replace what was lost when he departed.

It’s a debate over Dale Hunter versus Joe Sakic. Every Cap fan who would call themselves one knows what the debate is about.

It’s four guys in a limousine outside a Georgetown bar.

It’s the relentless professionalism of Calle Johansson.

It’s 15 consecutive seasons as a “plus” player – eight of them with the Caps – which is pretty darn good, no matter how painful it might have been to watch Joe Reekie skate.

It’s Jeff Halpern, who wasn’t just the token “home grown” Cap, but a fine faceoff man and effective checker in the tradition of Caps past.

It’s Corey Hirsch’s perfect 20 minutes.

It’s Calle Johansson playing 983 games in a Caps sweater, and Shawn Cronin playing one (in 1988-89…look it up).

It’s several hundred fans trekking out to an airport to welcome a player who had bedeviled them for years.

It’s fans glad to have seen that player go 30 months later.

It’s winning the lottery and getting Alex Ovechkin.

It’s losing the lottery and getting Sasha Pokulok (prove ‘em wrong, kid).

It’s Bobby Carpenter . . . then merely “Bob” Carpenter the second time around.

It’s 21 points and 446 goals allowed…records likely to stand as long as NHL hockey is played.

It’s the only skater to be named a first-team NHL all-star in his first two years.

It’s trying to get out of the Capital Centre parking lot.

It’s flying on the team plane to a playoff game in Pittsburgh with a lot of other Caps fans…and watching Jagr stick the knife between our ribs one more time.

It’s Joe Juneau with his arms raised behind the Buffalo goal with the puck tucked safely under Dominik Hasek.

It's Abe, it's Ted.

It’s Godzilla.

It's Alex.

It’s a lot more. But with the good and the bad, there is a shared history here. And with that, there is a shared hope that what the Caps are building will end in names we know etched onto a plate that girds the Stanley Cup. I’m a Caps fan, and proud of it.

"The Remarkable Consistency" continues

Alex Ovechkin, whose remarkable consistency since having entered the NHL is chronicled here, added to that elite level of consistency with being named as a first-team all-star for the second year in a row.

He is the first player to be named a first-team all-star in each of his first two years in more than half a century. The last? Terry Sawchuk, goaltender for the Detroit Red Wings, in 1950-51 and 1951-52. Since the first NHL all-star team was named after the 1930-31 season, no skater had accomplished the feat.

Congratulations, Alex.

Legos, Tinker Toys, Erector Sets...

How does one build a winning team? Well, not having room to go into an entire dissertation on the subject, let’s look at two teams – the finalists for the Stanley Cup this year. How were the rosters for the final game built?

Ottawa (final game roster):

Daniel Alfredsson: drafted by Ottawa (1994/6th round)
Mike Fisher: Ottawa (1998/2nd)
Chris Philips: Ottawa (1996/1st)
Wade Redden: NY Islanders (1995/1st), obtained via trade (1996)
Oleg Saprykin: Calgary (1999/1st), trade (2007)
Peter Schafer: Vancouver (1995/3rd), trade (2002)
Mike Comrie: Edmonton (1999/3rd), trade (2007)
Dany Heatley: Atlanta (2000/1st), trade (2005)
Jason Spezza: Ottawa (2001/1st)
Chris Neil: Ottawa (1998/6th)
Joe Corvo: Los Angeles (1997/4th), UFA (2006)
Christoph Schubert: Ottawa (2001/4th)
Anton Volchenkov: Ottawa (2000/1st)
Chris Kelly: Ottawa (1999/3rd)
Antoine Vermette: Ottawa (2000/2nd)
Tom Preissing: San Jose (2003/undrafted free agent), trade (2006)
Patrick Eaves: Ottawa (2003/1st)
Andrej Meszaros: Ottawa (2004/1st)
Ray Emery: Ottawa (2001/4th)
Martin Gerber: Anaheim (2001/8th), UFA (2006)

Drafted by club: 12

Drafted by club, by year: 1994 (1), 1996 (1), 1998 (2), 1999 (1), 2000 (2), 2001 (3), 2003 (1), 2004 (1)

Drafted by others: 8

Others obtained: via trade (6); UFA (2)

Anaheim (final game roster):

Todd Marchant: NY Rangers (1993/7th), waivers (2005)
Brad May: Buffalo (1990/1st), trade (2007)
Andy McDonald: Anaheim (2000/undrafted free agent)
Rob Niedermayer: Florida (1993/1st), trade (2003)
Scott Niedermayer: New Jersey (1991/1st), UFA (2005)
Sean O'Donnell: Buffalo (1991/6th), trade (2006)
Samuel Pahlsson: Colorado (1996/7th), trade (2000)
Chris Pronger: Hartford (1993/1st), trade (2006)
Teemu Selanne: Winnipeg (1988/1st), UFA (2005)
Kent Huskins: Chicago (1998/6th), UFA (2005)
Francois Beauchemin: Montreal (1998/3rd), trade (2005)
Joe DiPenta: Florida (1998/3rd), UFA (2005)
Shawn Thornton: Toronto (1997/7th), UFA (2006)
Travis Moen: Calgary (2000/5th), trade (2005)
Chris Kunitz: Anaheim (2003/undrafted free agent)
Corey Perry: Anaheim (2003/1st)
Ryan Getzlaf: Anaheim (2003/1st)
Dustin Penner: Anaheim (2004/undrafted free agent)
Jean-Sebastien Giguere: Hartford (1st), trade (2000)
Ilya Bryzgalov: Anaheim (2000/2nd)

Drafted by club: 3

Drafted by club, by year: 2000 (1), 2003 (2)

Signed as undrafted free agent: 3

Drafted by others: 14

Others obtained: via trade (8), UFA (5), claimed off waivers (1)

Can you imagine any more different ways to build a team than these two? Ottawa is essentially “home grown,” with 12 of the 20 dressed players in the season’s last game drafted by the club over a period of 11 years. The club also does not have a very large free agent footprint, with only two of 20 players having been obtained via free agency. Neither of those players can be considered to have been “high end” signings, but while Martin Gerber has been somewhat disappointing, Joe Corvo was a useful cog on the Senator blue line.

On the other hand, Anaheim is the great melting pot of a team. Six players among the 20 who dressed in the last game against Ottawa are home grown – three via draft, three as undrafted free agent signings. 14 found their way to Anaheim from other places. While the Ducks are represented more heavily by unrestricted free agents (five, versus two for Ottawa), it is not a large group. Teemu Selanne and Scott Niedermayer are, of course, the notables in this group.

What is common between these teams is the use of trades. 14 of the 22 players obtained from other organizations were acquired by this method. There is a logic in this that The Peerless can see. All other things equal, trades are, and almost always will be, cap-friendlier than signings via unrestricted free agency. The nature of bidding for UFAs creates far more upward pressure on contract prices than trades. Trades, conversely, permit clubs to use money saved to enter into the free-agent market more judiciously. Without long-term free agent contracts tying up money, the Ducks under Brian Burke could pursue a Teemu Selanne and a Scott Niedermayer in 2005 and could trade for a contract such as Chris Pronger’s in 2006. Those were the big final pieces of the puzzle, and the Ducks had room to accommodate them.

While Anaheim’s progress was stark (they went from 76 points in 2003-2004, to 98 points in 2005-2006, to 110 points and a Stanley Cup in 2006-2007), Ottawa’s has been more “nurturing.” Although the Senators have swapped out a lot of players over the years (only Daniel Alfredsson and Wade Redden remain from the Senators’ first playoff team in 1996-1997), it has been consistent for the most part in relying on development from within. It has made them a consistent contender – 10 consecutive years in the playoffs.

What the point of this is, is that as the old saying goes, “there is more than one way to skin a cat” (with apologies to cat-lovers). The trick is having a plan, sticking to it, and being good at it. Brian Burke, who snared the last pieces of the puzzle, is very good at what he does. John Muckler and Bryan Murray have done well with their method.

And that’s the issue here as the draft approaches for the Caps. It is nice to say, “we’ve got a plan,” but that goes only so far. Do the Capitals have in place the experience and the talent to execute that plan successfully?

We’re going to start finding out pretty soon.

Two, Two, Two Games in One

OK, let's see if this works...listening to Hershey with one ear, watching the Stanley Cup with the other eye...

It's 7:30, and the anthems are being sung in Hamilton...one hopes it's the only thing they have to sing about tonight.



Hamilton buzzing, and a score...not a good start. Cassivi needs more help in front of him.

3 of 29 on the power play?...if that doesn't change...

...3 for 30. Well, it's a round number percentage, anyway.

Coach Don Lever has no intention of returning to Hershey? Really . . .

Hamilton is 6 for 24 with the man advantage...

...7 for 25...2-0 'Dogs. Hershey sounds like they just woke up.

Another penalty against Hershey. This could be over early...

Meanwhile....Brett Hull is over on NBC almost claiming credit for the Ducks' success. Hey, guys, just 'cuz Hull will say anything doesn't mean he'll say anything actually worth listening to.

Chris Pronger..."the biggest thing is to stay disciplined"...uh, ok.

Well, the Bears stopped the bleeding, but they need to show a lot more urgency. 2-0 after one.

A minute-ten in..the first reference to "there's no tomorrow." Guess I'll put away the checkbook and not pay those bills.

Nice pink tie, Pierre...

There was allegedly a penalty. What, did Preissing sneeze on the guy?...and what was that crap on Volchenkov? . . . and Anaheim gets the Bettman . . . I mean, uh, goal on the 5-on-3. Two weak calls. This is going to be a long night. (edit...5-on-4; the first penalty barely expired).

Spezza centering Neil and Vermette??? Well, that's a way to go.

Ottawa had a wide open net to shoot at..deNIED! By Beauchemin???

Meanwhile....Hershey let a power play go by the boards....can't be letting opportunities slip by.

Isn't it about time for a payback 5-on-3 for Ottawa??

3-0, Hamilton. Freddie's having a tough night, and he's not getting a lot of help.

And in Anaheim, another penalty (to Ottawa), another goal (for Anaheim, just after the penalty expired) and a virtual duplicate of one Getzlaf scored earlier in the series...Rob Niedermayer pulling it to his backhand to change the attack angle and Emery unable to adjust.

Six minors called in the first period...somewhere, Gary beams.

First period....Heatley, Spezza, Alfredsson....no shots on goal.

End of the second...Bears let another power play opportunity pass by late. 3-0.

The Anaheim-Ottawa game looks less like a Stanley Cup elimination game and more like a game you'd see on a Tuesday in January. That's not meant as a compliment.

Ottawa looks like they want to make a flight...their hearts just aren't in this. Even Doc seems to agree...he's giving us the rules for who is eligible to have their name engraved on the Cup.

Somebody want to wake Giguere up?

Ottawa actually scored a goal...on their sixth shot of the game (in more than 31 minutes) . . . and off a Duck to boot.

4-0 Bulldogs. That's a mighty deep hole being dug, and only 24-hours to start climbing out of it, there being a game tomorrow night.

Jakub Klepis finaly puts the Bears on the board...he's got six shots in the game...

And there is your Trojan "Boner of the Playoffs" goal...Chris Phillips stuffs the puck under his own goalie. Somewhere, Steve Smith shakes his head and smiles.

Well, two shots, two goals for Daniel Alfredsson. If Heatley and Spezza are paying attention, this might be a game, yet.

OK, so much for that....Beauchemin banks a shot from the point off Volchenkov and off the far post. 4-2.

Heatley and Spezza...no shots, no hits, no takeaways, no nothing.

Fleischmann cuts the Hamilton lead to two on a delayed penalty...4-2 with a little more than five minutes left...

Power play to the Bears with 2:24...well, they're sure making it interesting, at least.

And there is it....an empty-netter for the Bulldogs. Good night, Shirley . . . 5-2.

...and the Bulldogs aren't done...6-2

The men with the gloves are in the building...and they brought a Cup with them.

This one looks to be in the can, too...5-2, Ducks.

Penalty shot....Vermette gags and lets the puck roll off his stick without getting it to the net. He did get good wood on it when he fired it up the boards in frustration, though.

It's over....Perry scores...6-2. The only mystery now is the Smythe voting. Volchenkov has played in bad luck tonight...a bank shot off his leg, and on this one, he tipped the puck just enough to put it on Perry's stick.

Congratulations, Ducks...as for the Smythe, Scott Niedermayer wins it, but I'd give it to Samuel Pahlsson.

And Now, A Moment to Ponder...Mohawks

The Peerless gives a nod of his prodigious melon to Dan Steinberg over at D.C. Sports Bog for his recognition of my deploringly limited review of Bears' Mohawks, in this, the Mohawk season.

The Peerless will leave to others the significance of this particular hair style to the sport of hockey, only to say that the following is from a wikipedia entry on the subject . . .

The Clonycavan Man, a 2300-year-old male bog body found near Dublin, Ireland was found to be wearing a Mohawk, held together with plant oil and pine resin imported from southwestern France or Spain.

The modern Mohawk was influenced by the Roman military helmet, the Galea, which was a descendent of the Greek 'sideways mohawk' helmet of phalanx fighters. The movie 300 incorrectly depicts many Ancient Greeks wearing war helmets have a strip of hair down the middle, instead of the correct sideways strip.

The Mohawk is often thought to have been worn by the Mahican and Mohawk tribes, but the name is in fact a misnomer; it is believed that the Wyandot were in fact the first Native American tribe to wear the hairstyle, but early French explorers mistook them for the Mohawk tribe. In French the hairstyle is called Iroquois. During World War II, members of the Allied Airborne soldiers (specifically the 101st Airborne Division - the "Screaming Eagles") shaved their hair into Mohawks.

So, as you can see, we can establish a link between "Mohawks" and "bogs." There...that business taken care of, we can move to the matter at hand...a review of selected Mo-Bear-Hawks (these are not ranked, as The Follically Challenged Peerless would not dare to bring the wrath of the Rogaine Gods down on anyone, least of all himself)...

Matt Hendricks...the stunning blondhawk displayed to the crowd on Saturday reflected a keen sense of color (can blond be "neon?") and attention to trim...not to spiky, not too long, just "mohawkish" enough. It could have been on the cover of a magazine (Mohawks Anonymous?).

Mike Green...Greenie deserves his own category for the sawed off sock he appears to be wearing on his head as he comes out in the pre-pre-game for shooting around with Louis Robitaille (more on him in a moment). The white tube circumnavigating his cranium does a passable job of leaving a tuft of growth sprouting from the opening at the top. It could be a fashion statement that catches on. Well, maybe not.

Scott Barney...easily the most fearsome 'hawk of them all. Scott pairs the ancient ferocity of the Mohawk style with the menacing look of the muttonchopial growth surrounding cheek and chin. He looks like a guy who would make bouncers shiver, which The Peerless supposes is the whole point of the exercise.

Louis Robitaille...clearly of the minimalist school, the 'hawk is understated and close to the normal length he might wear. In fact, it might not even be a Mohawk at all, it just might be a self-inflicted haircut. But then, that's Louie....always keepin' 'em guessin'.

Bruce Boudreau...the "reverse 'hawk" is a time-honored style preferred...well, not preferred as much as tolerated...by men of a certain age. It screams "gravitas" (and if you've heard a hair style scream, it's a sign to back off the adult beverages). Compare that to the full mane he sported in his brief film career (#7 for the Presidents in the movie, "Slapshot"), and you can tell that Coach has matured while still keeping one foot in the hip.

Tomas Fleischmann...well, actually, the youngster probably can't (or at least shouldn't) engage in this style. His head would probably look like it sprouted alfalfa.

Kip Brennan...although he's been sent to the sidelines for the duration, the 'hawk lives on in the memories of Bears fans. It fairly shouts 'ferocity.' Similar to the Scott Barney version, it also included something of a swept-up quality to the business portion of the 'hawk. Sort of a "gathering storm" element.

Deryk Engelland...a cross between Parris Island and the indigenous Mohawk - buzzed on the sides and sturdy in the middle. It is a reminder that one thought-to-be origin of the name, "Mohawk" is that from the Narragansett word for "man-eaters."

If The Peerless forgot anyone, and he's sure he did, please accept his hearfelt apologies...wear those Mohawks proudly, boys. And to the fans - and there are too many of you for any reasonable level of comfort - sporting the Mohawk in and around Hershey, The Peerless doffs his cap to you. You are truly deranged...and he means that in the best way...honest.

pictures courtesy of The Patriot-News

Now that's better . . . Bears tie the series, 1-1

“We are advancing constantly and we're not interested in holding onto anything -- except the enemy. We're going to hold onto him by the nose, and we're gonna kick him in the ass. We're gonna kick the hell out of him all the time, and we're gonna go through him like crap through a goose!”

If you’ve seen the movie, “Patton,” you’ll recall that from the opening speech delivered by George C. Scott’s "Patton" to the troops. And if there was a difference between last night and tonight at Giant Center in the Calder Cup Finals, it was that the Hershey Bears brought the same intensity they displayed for ten minutes Friday night (and only ten minutes, until the last minute of the game) for a full 60 minutes. It was rewarded with a 4-2 win over the Hamilton Bulldogs to even the series, 1-1.

The Bears started last evening’s contest very much like they did Friday night, taking the action to the Bulldogs early. Even with having to kill off an early penalty to Quintin Laing for elbowing, the Bears controlled the action for the first five minutes. But Hamilton did what they did on Friday and scored first – Zack Stortini was coming late on a Hamilton rush and converted a feed from Dan Jancevski into a wrister that beat Frederic Cassivi over the right pad.

Unlike Friday night, however, the air didn’t seep out of the Bears’ balloon. The Bears, as part of a theme that lasted all evening, did a fine job of forechecking and denying Hamilton a first pass to leave the zone. The hard work paid off when the Bears had a man-advantage -- Scott Barney picked up a loose puck behind the Bulldog goal line, stepped out and slipped the puck past Carey Price’s left pad.

Hamilton regained the lead in the second on a disputed play that could have been the turning point in the Bears’ season. Jancevski sent a drive toward the goal that Kyle Chipchura redirected. As Chipchura was exhibiting his handiwork, Jonathan Ferland was exhibiting some of his, taking out Cassivi’s skate, causing the goalie to tumble backwards to the ice. It was enough to allow the puck to skip by Cassivi to give Hamilton the lead once more at 7:21 of the second period, and despite protests from Cassivi, referee Terry “Krullers” Koharski allowed it to stand. The fans registered their displeasure, once for the play and once more for the replay – shown on the big screen (something you’ll never see at an NHL arena).

However, that was not the turning point to the Bears’ season, but what happened 42 seconds later might have been. The line of Joey Tenute (returning from a broken rib and punctured lung suffered in the Penguin series), Tomas Fleischmann, and Jakub Klepis had been reunited by coach Bruce Boudreau. Fleischmann, who would have a fine game, even though he did not make a large dent in the scoresheet, dug the puck out of the left wing corner and fed it across to Klepis steaming down the slot. Klepis snapped the puck past Price, and the game was tied once more.

The Bears would take advantage of a power play opportunity later in the period to take their first lead of the game. Mike Green, leading the power play from the top of the zone, slid the puck to Chad Wiseman at the left point. Wiseman took a moment to find a shooting angle and sent a drive to the short side of Price. Scott Barney redirected the puck past Price’s blocker, and the arena erupted.

In the third period, Hershey’s hard work paid off one last time. Matt Hendricks (who The Peerless thinks has Hershey’s top Mohawk of the season), caused a turnover deep in the Hamilton zone as a result of his aggressive forechecking. Hendricks separated a Bulldog from the puck, then secured it and fed Chris Bourque in alone on Price. Bourque found the back of the net, and the arena went into a towel-waving frenzy.

Although this would end the scoring, the last half of the third period was not without its moments. Hershey had to kill two Hamilton power plays and a 6-on-5 situation to end the game. Playing about five minutes of the last 9:46 shorthanded, the Bears had to muster all the grit available to fend off a Bulldog team that had won seven consecutive road games. They did, and the sellout crowd left happy knowing that this is now a best-of-five series.

Things we saw…

- Although Bruce Boudreau said in the post-game that Tenute knew Wednesday that he’d dress for Saturday, his presence provided an obvious lift to the club and to the fans. Unfortunately, Dean Arsene, who had his own physical problems in the post season, could not answer the bell for the back-to-back. But he left no doubt in an intermission interview that he would be back.

- Hershey played with a much greater sense of urgency, befitting a team that could have gone down 2-0 in its own building. One knew that it was a desperate situation when Fleischmann and Klepis both got into brief kerfuffles with Bulldogs, not just on the same shift, but on the same play in front of the Hamilton net.

- Hershey took a page out of the Hamilton playbook, denying all night the Bulldogs’ ability to generate any momentum through the middle of the ice. The Bears took the matter another step forward with a withering forecheck that had Bulldogs misfiring on first passes or giving up the puck in their own zone often.

- Even though Carey Price gave up four goals on 40 shots (positively sieve-like, compared to Friday’s performance), he still played a superb game. The difference was the Bears’ forecheck, which led directly to three goals, and a greater willingness to pay a price (so to speak) and create traffic in front of him, denying him the opportunity to feel as comfortable as he did Friday, when he had a good look at most shots.

- The Peerless was not behind the Bulldog bench tonight, but from his perch in Section 119 could still see the flower of Hershey fandom abusing the Hamilton bench with expressions of respect and affection.

- The difference between the AHL and the NHL . . . a Hamilton player was setting up behind the Bulldog net to start the play. There was Louis Robitaille at the top of the Bulldog crease with the blade of his stick up in Carey Price’s face – his own Tim “Dr. Hook” McCracken moment. Price looked at Robitaille with a look of serenity (which seems to be the adjective that most aptly describes Price’s demeanor on the ice). The Peerless wonders, does Robitatille make this stuff up as he goes, or does he sit in his locker before games and make up a script . . . “second period…perform ‘Slapshot’ tribute.”

- Krullers Koharski was seen leaving Giant Center with his right arm in a sling, no doubt from raising his hand 20 times last night, awarding a total of 18 power plays. Whereas the Bulldogs were 3-for-7 on Friday, they were 0-for-9 last night. Conversely, Hershey’s 0-for-9 on Friday was replaced by a 2-for-9 last night. That the clubs are a combined 5-for-34 on the power play so far (14.7 percent) belies the fact that the club that can successfully kill off those advantages has won each game.

- Hamilton has a big squad. So does Hershey. There is a rule that applies here that applies to any contact sport (even ballroom dancing). It’s better to initiate the hit than to have it done unto you. Hershey did that – often – last night, and it paid off. If that level of effort and aggression can be maintained, Hershey should see dividends as the series progresses.

It’s been really great to attend two games in a community that so clearly and obviously stands with their team. A sold-out arena, playoff hockey, horns, cowbells, the B-U-L-L-S-H-*-T guy, puck heads, bear hats, and Bears jerseys everywhere. We hope that if the Bears can’t close out the series in Canada, that those fans get to celebrate a Calder win on Giant Center ice. And here’s hoping Verizon Center ice can experience that kind of thrill sooner rather than later.

Like crap through a goose, indeed. Well . . . a bulldog, anyway.

B-E-A-R-S, BEARS BEARS BEARS, WOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

"I don't know if he broke a sweat" . . . Bulldogs up, 1-0

It was a dark and stormy night . . .

At 6:00, the lights flickered . . . at 6:30, some of the arena went dim . . . at 6:55, the arena was plunged into the inky blackness that made one think, “this must be what being next to a frightened squid is like.” The storm that hit the Hershey area played havoc with the power in the pre-game, delaying the start of the contest by almost a half hour. Would ‘twere it had been cancelled all together . . .

Hershey owned the first half of the first period, outshooting Hamilton at one point 16-7. However, Hamilton weathered that storm – including two power plays – and then outshot the Bears 5-0 to end the period. One had the feeling, this wasn’t going to go well.

It didn’t.

Although The Peerless has not seen all of the Bears’ games this year, he’d like to think the second period of tonight’s game was just about the worst period they played this year. If it isn’t, it means they have worse in them, and that’s not a good thing. The Bulldogs scored on their first shot of the period (on a power play...keep that thought in mind)., and they were off to the races. They would score two more goals in the period – one on a power play – and take a 3-0 lead into the locker room.

The third period was largely for entertainment, and it didn’t disappoint. Hamilton added a goal (yeah, a power play goal) to close out the scoring, but then, with 64 seconds left in the game the fun began. It started with Tyler Sloan splattering a Bulldog with an elbow, for which Sloan would earn a five-minute major. At that point, auditions for the road show of “Slapshot” began. Bear and Bulldog paired off like some warped circus animal act. There was Derek Engelland abusing a Bulldog at the blueline . . . and there was Mathieu Biron (who one fan described to me as having a “scary look” about him…The Peerless, having seen a season of Biron play, didn’t have the heart to tell her Biron couldn’t scare Don Knotts) engaged in “fighting-like” behavior . . . and there was Louis Robitaille in the middle of it…quel surprise. He managed to get an “abuse of officials” penalty. We half expected Ned Braden to take a turn at center ice wearing nothing but an athletic supporter. After that was broken up, Quintin Laing and Zack Stortini (no, The Peerless is not making that name up) had their own Dancing with the Stars moment to end the first night of festivities, the Bulldogs skating off with game one, 4-0.

Some observations:

-- Carey Price…he played two – count ‘em – two regular season games. Well, that was enough warm-up. He looked like he’d been in the NHL ten years. What economy of movement. He didn’t make a single move The Peerless could see that he didn’t have to. As Bruce Boudreau put it after the game, “I don’t know if he even sweats out there.” It should have been recorded for teaching purposes. But The Peerless is troubled by one thing. When you look at Jean-Sebasitien Giguere, he has the look of the Michelin Man with his puffed up chest protector. But Price? He looks like freakin’ Jackie Gleason in pads. He has the widest backside in all of goaliedom. And his pants are falling off him to boot. I thought, either this kid stuffs his pants, or he’s carrying the biggest damned pant-load in the history of the AHL. Butterfly?...He looks more like "Butterball."

-- Freddie Cassivi…deserved better. Cassivi did not play his best game, but the Bears were awful in their own end. They backed up so much, I thought we were watching tryouts for DB for the Eagles.

-- The Fans…The Peerless was ensconced in the row directly behind the Bulldog bench, which afforded him a birds-eye view of the sort of abuse of visitors that would bring a tear to a Philadelphian’s eye. It was brutal . . . but what The Peerless can’t understand is, why was it that with the guys in the first two rows heaping abuse on Maxim Laperierre, Maxie decided he’d return the insults to girls sitting several rows above. Hey, Max…grow a pair.

-- That was the first time this season -- in 94 games -- that the Bears have been shutout.

-- Carey Price…Adrian Zmed…separated at birth? You be the judge.

-- After 14 games of not having lost in regulation, a stinkeroo was bound to sneak in. This certainly qualifies. The Peerless does not think panic is in order; Hershey outplayed Hamilton for long stretches of this game. Hamilton played what amounted to an efficient road game. Ride opportunity (power plays; Hamilton was 3-for-7, while Hershey went 0-for-9) and a fine performance by the goalie to a win.

It’s first-to-four, not first-to-one. Let’s see how Saturday goes…

Looking Ahead Today

As JP posted here, at Japers' Rink, Michal Neuvirth was signed by the Caps today. Good news, to be sure. Now, consider this:

Alexander Ovechkin
Jeff Schultz
Mike Green
Chris Bourque
Mikhail Yunkov
Sami Lepisto
Clayton Barthel
Oscar Hedman
Pasi Salonen
Peter Guggisberg
Andrew Gordon
Justin Mrazek
Travis Morin
Sasha Pokulok
Joe Finley
Andrew Thomas
Patrick McNeill
Daren Machesney
Tim Kennedy
Nicklas Backstrom
Semen Varlamov
Michal Neuvirth
Francois Bouchard
Keith Seabrook
Oskar Osala
Luke Lynes
Maxime Lacroix
Brent Gwidt
Mathieu Perreault

That, folks, is the list of 29 draftees by the Caps since 2004. It’s turning into quite a list.

Players who have seen at least some playing time with the Caps includes:

Alexander Ovechkin
Mike Green
Jeff Schultz

AHL contributors:

Chris Bourque
Sasha Pokulok (ok, it’s one game this year, but he’s had injury issues)

Under contract:

Nicklas Backstrom
Daren Machesney
Travis Morin
Patrick McNeill
Andrew Gordon
Sami Lepisto
Michal Neuvirth (the newly minted Cap)

Add to this the fine performances chronicled in recent weeks and months for such as:

Semen Varlamov
Francois Bouchard
Joe Finley
Oscar Osala

…and even The Peerless, who has lamented the Caps inability to find any nuggets past the first round in the last decade, has to admit this looks mighty fine for the longer term prospects of the club.

Five...

The Peerless was fiddling around with some numbers looking at players picked fifth in the NHL entry draft. We looked at #5 picks going back to 1991. Since then, in 16 drafts, 15 skaters were taken (Carey Price being the only goaltender). We looked at those players two different ways. First, we broke the 15 into the 1991-2000 group to identify players that have an established identify and record in the NHL. The other five we set aside as players to watch.

In the first group there are five defensemen and five forwards. Given the concentration of forwards at the top of the 2007 draft rankings, it seems that would be the place to focus. If you look at a “composite” of those five forwards, given their careers so far, a composite average season for the #5 pick as a forward is 18-26-44, -5. And, these five players took, on average, an additional season before playing at least 40 games in an NHL season.

What is curious is the “players to watch” category. There are four forwards among the five skaters in that group. Only three have NHL experience, and their “composite” 82-game season line is 19-24-43, +1. These are players at the dawn of their careers, and yet they look a lot like #5 picks from 5-15 years ago. The Peerless wouldn’t read too much into it though…the numbers are skewed by those put up thus far by Thomas Vanek (68-64-132 in 163 games).

Any way one looks at it, you’re looking at a year or so until the #5 pick actually arrives, and when he does, another two or three years before he’s a solid citizen. But chances are, a solid citizen he will be.

Oh, and here’s the dark cloud . . . of those ten skaters taken at #5 from 1991-2000? Know how many are with the team that drafted them?

. . . none.

Show Me...

As Tarik El-Bashir pointed out in the Capital Insider yesterday, the AP reported that....

The Stanley Cup finals lost nearly a quarter of what already was a small television audience. Anaheim's 1-0 victory over Ottawa in Game 2 on Wednesday night got a 0.6 cable rating on Versus and was watched in 446,000 homes in the United States. The rating was down 33 percent from last year's second game, a 5-0 victory for Carolina over Edmonton, which received a 0.9 cable rating (600,000 homes) on OLN, as the same network was known then.

Through two games, the Stanley Cup finals averaged a 0.7 rating, down 22 percent from last year's 0.9, and households are down 20 percent, to 485,000 from 606,000 last year.

446,000 . . . approximately the population of Kansas City, Missouri. Like the fine folks in that part of the world ask in a common sense way, "show me" how this is a good thing.

Ducks up, 2-0...OK, so I'm late...sue me

The Peerless couldn't weigh in last night on Game 2, but he did have some observations . . .

138-84 . . . no, that isn't the score of the Florida Gators beating up on the University of the Lost Cause in NCAA basketball, it is the shot differential between Anaheim and Ottawa, if you add up the shots on goal, missed shots, and shots blocked by the other club. Anaheim doesn't play the same kind of puck possession game that Detroit plays, so there seem to be other factors involved . . . like Ottawa players wearing Ducks like they'd had a good day at the blind. They can't get anything off.

Here's another number....33. That's the percentage of draws Jason Spezza has won in the offensive zone. Hard to generate offense out of your top line if you're not taking possession of the puck.

And yet another set of numbers....66-49. That's the hit differential in the first two games. Last night, every skater but one registered one for Anaheim. Sure, there is a subjective element to what is recorded as a "hit" in the NHL, but it's part of a pattern.....

....and the pattern is this -- Anaheim is dictating tempo and intensity. Ottawa is reacting to everything and establishing very little. The first two games have been one goal games, but one gets the feeling that the Senators need a bounce, an odd ricochet off the glass, the hand of God. But if that's what you're looking for to turn things around...well, good luck.

From Ottawa's perspective, all the Ducks have done is hold serve. With the next two games in Ottawa, the Senators get advantages such as the last change, perhaps to avoid a little bit the Pahlsson line making life difficult for the Spezza line. But that line needs to do more than skate pretty. 11 shots and two points in six full periods of hockey isn't the stuff of a long series from a top line. You get the feeling the first ten minutes of Game 3 is where the balance of the series lies. If Ottawa can't feed off their adrenaline in front of the home crowd and establish momentum to get a lead, the Ducks might have cooked their goose.

photos: AP -- Mark Avery/Chris Carlson

A Tale of Two Businessmen

The playing field?....the National Hockey League

The principals?...Tom Golisano, owner of the Buffalo Sabres, and Ted Leonsis, owner of the Washington Capitals.

Resolved, "Is the National Hockey League Healthy, or Is It Not?'"

First, Mr. Leonsis . . .

"The NHL grew its revenues again -- two years in a row -- post the lockout . . . Due to the increase in revenues in the league this year, the salary cap will most likely go up so the players will be happier as they share in the growth of additional revenues. Franchise values are up if Nashville (the lowest grossing team in the league) sells for $220 million. That sets a floor on franchise values, doesn't it? We paid $85 million for the Washington Capitals as a point of perspective. New, smart people want to come into the league and banks are interested in financing new owners so the league must be healthy."

Mr. Golisano (as reported by Tim Graham of the Buffalo News), your rebuttal?

“Would it be considered a success when you have a team that sells out every game and sells out all the suites but would lose money unless they were in the playoffs? That’s a thing an organization like the Buffalo Sabres must be aware of. If they move the salary cap up and we go with it, there’s a good possibility we would lose money unless we reached the second round of the playoffs. That’s an unhealthy situation.”

Are there two National Hockey Leagues out there? The Peerless knows there are not, and there might be extenuating factors in at least one of these arguments (in the case of Mr. Golisano's, a negotiating "shot-across-the-bow" to poor mouth his team's finances in advance of negotations on new contracts with Daniel Briere and Chris Drury, both unrestricted free agents). But it is interesting to ponder the seeming contracdictions in these arguments, especially since one must presume that the Buffalo owner -- who sold out his arena for the season, by the way -- is one of those new, smart people who wanted to come into the league.

Congratulations, Dave

Dave Fay, who has covered the Washington Capitals for more than 20 years, was recognized yesterday by the Hockey Hall of Fame as this year's recipient of the Elmer Ferguson Memorial Award for his outstanding work as a beat writer covering the Washington Capitals.

The Peerless thinks this award is well-deserved. Too often, it is tempting to dwell on the particulars of this story or that at the expense of an entire body of work. That Fay has devoted decades to chronicling the exploits of the Caps, while imprinting his own uniquely acerbic style to the product, commands respect.

The Ferguson award citation reads:

"In recognition of distinguished members of the newspaper profession whose words have brought honour to journalism and to hockey."

For Fay, whose dedication to the sport over the years has been amply demonstrated, whose devotion to his profession and determination in the face of health problems is without question, this honor is richly deserved.

Congratulations, Dave.

Ducks up, 1-0

Wow...now that was a finish. If you don't appreciate this sport after watching the last three minutes of the game (the Bettmanesque penalty -- wrong call, wrong player, cheesy anyway, notwithstanding), you won't ever do so.

-- The goalies played well, but indicated some weaknesses that might be exploited...Ray Emery seemed to have a bit of trouble peeking around screens, and Jean-Sebastien Giguere just doesn't move from side-to-side particularly well.

-- Rob Niedermayer had a superb game...primary assist on the game-winner, six shots on goal, five hits

-- Ryan Getzlaf was missing in action for the first two periods, but sure did make up for it in the third

-- Think Randy Carlyle has a short bench? Ric Jackman and Kent Huskins -- rumored to be defensemen on the Anaheim roster -- skated a combined three shifts in the third period. Drew Miller (whose one hit led to the first Duck goal), Brad May, and Shawn Thornton skated a total of five shifts in the third.

-- The big hitter?...Samuel Pahlsson (eight). Whodathunkit? Well, you would if you'd been paying attention; he has more than twice as many as the next Duck in the playoffs.

-- The Heatley-Spezza-Alfredson line...0-2-2, five shots (only one of those in the third period), -3. Jason Spezza in particular had an uninspired night.

-- Anton Volchenkov...10 blocked shots. Ten. Anaheim as a team had 13.

-- Ominous point concerning Ottawa...they scored two power play goals, but they didn't really come close to scoring at even strength.

-- Arnold might make a decent linesman . . .

AP PHOTO/CP, Paul Chiasson

-- This was a close game only on the scoreboard. Anaheim finished the game having taken 69 shots (32 shots on goal, 15 missed shots, 22 shots blocked by Ottawa). Ottawa took 43 (20 shots on goal, 10 missed shots, 13 shots blocked by Anaheim). And, Ottawa had seven power plays to Anaheim's four, which should have produced more shots for Ottawa. Ottawa had seven shots on goal in the third, and only two of those came after the Ducks scored what would be the game winner with 2:51 left...those shots (from Spezza and Chris Phillips) came from 58 and 37 feet away -- hardly prime scoring territory. The Senators had only one shot in the final 54 seconds (after the Chris Pronger penalty) when they had a six-on-four advantage with Ray Emery pulled.


The Peerless thinks this is going to be a long series, but Ottawa has to take another step up to ensure that happens. All in all, it was a good night for Anaheim.


Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images

Thank you . . .

In Flanders Fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

Sweep...

Bears 3 -- Manchester 1 . . .



. . . next up, Hamilton, Friday and Saturday in Hershey for Games 1 and 2 of the Calder Cup final.

When Did Jeff Foxworthy Take Up Hockey?

...and learn Latvian?

Shouldn't Sidney Crosby be Doing This?

Driven . . .

. . . yeah, to drink. And folks wonder why the Yankees are 21-25.

What, you mean . . . there's more hockey?

Last Tuesday, the NHL had a game . . . Red Wings - Ducks, we believe. In the meantime, six days will have passed with a US holiday intervening before the NHL tries to start their stalled engine just as the "summer" is beginning for a lot of folks.

Way to keep hockey in the public eye, folks. It isn't bad enough hockey is harder to find on TV than a positive opinion of Gary Bettman, but now you take six days off. The Peerless wagers that there is more buzz about the Calder Cup tournament right now than the Stanley Cup. Damien Cox lays out the particulars in the Toronto Sun:

By Monday . . . NHL fans will also be attempting to re-familiarize themselves with the competition in general since it will have been six days since they will have seen an NHL game, not to mention nine days since images of Bryan Murray and Daniel Alfredsson appeared on their television screens, well, at least until NBC got bored with overtime and left for a horse race.

If Gary Bettman's administration was deliberately trying to kill interest in the Stanley Cup, it couldn't be doing much more.

Understand this – hockey fans wanted the NHL season over last week, not three weeks from now.

If Tuesday's Game 6 between Anaheim and Detroit had ended the season, it would have felt about right. Instead, it just began the long wait to the final.

Maybe The Peerless should string an extension cord and a TV out to the pool and enjoy winter's greatest sport.

Hey, Drew...the Season Ain't Even Cold Yet

Perusing the graveyard that is the Detroit dailies this morning, we came across the quiet musings of Free Press columnist, Drew Sharp...

Plan A for Ken Holland should be gauging Anaheim goalie Jean-Sebastien Giguere's interest in switching allegiances and becoming a Red Wing, if he's available. How could the Wings not target him, especially if Giguere wins a second Conn Smythe Trophy in the upcoming Stanley Cup finals?

The bidding might reach $5 million a year. It doesn't matter. Get it done and the Wings remain serious Cup contenders for at least the next two years.

It reads like a message board post at letsgowings.com, but hey, when you've cratered your season, there really isn't much else to talk about . . . I mean, what, it's not like there is a STANLEY CUP FINAL about to begin.

The Long Journey's End in Sight -- The Peerless' Last Prognostication for the Year

One more series.

There is little doubt, the two teams left standing are the best the NHL has to offer this year. Anaheim, a fine team over the course of the entire year, closed the regular season 11-3-3 and has gone 12-4 in the playoffs. Ottawa, which started the year sluggishly, left .500 behind at 18-18-1, then went 30-7-8 the rest of the way. They are 12-3 in the playoffs.

Statistically, Ottawa holds the playoff edge in virtually any category you’d care to look at:

Goals-per-game: Ottawa: 3.20/Anaheim: 2.62
Goals-allowed-per-game: Ottawa: 2.07/Anaheim: 2.12
Power Play: Ottawa: 20.0%/Anaheim: 15.3%
Penalty Killing: Ottawa: 88.6/Anaheim: 87.5
Face offs: Ottawa: 52.6/Anaheim: 49.7

Ottawa will bring three of the top four scorers in the tournament into this series. Dany Heatley (6-15-21), Jason Spezza (7-13-20), and Daniel Alfredsson (10-7-17) constitute a formidable top line in the traditional sense.

However, the Senators have no other scorers in the top 30. Anaheim, on the other hand, has seven players among the top 30 scorers:

Chris Pronger: 3-11-14
Ryan Getzlaf: 5-8-13
Teemu Selanne: 5-7-12
Samuel Pahlsson: 2-8-10
Travis Moen: 4-5-9
Corey Perry: 4-5-9
Scott Niedermayer: 3-6-9

Discipline and the manner in which the games are called could have a bearing on this series. Anaheim would appear to prefer a game with a lot of free-wheeling (yet tightly called) games. The Ducks are third in total power play opportunities (85) and lead the league in total time shorthanded in the playoffs (96). A march to the penalty box does not appear to have impeded the Ducks very much. On the other hand, Ottawa seems to flourish more in a continuous flow situation. They are fourth in total power play opportunities (but at 70 are 15 behind the Ducks) and third in total times shorthanded (their 79 times in that situation stands 17 behind the Ducks). If there are a lot of whistles, it will favor Anaheim.

For the hockey enthusiast, this is almost the perfect series. On the one hand, you have the formidable top line of the Senators, but perhaps the best pair of defensemen in the league in Chris Pronger and Scott Niedermayer, plus the somewhat underrated Francois Beauchemin. Conversely, there is the considerable balance among the Duck scorers, but for Ottawa a deep defense in the person of Wade Redden, Chris Phillips, Anton Volchenkov, and Andrei Meszaros.

Between the goaltenders, there is not much to distinguish. Jean-Sebastien Giguere is 9-3 since returning to the top spot, with a 1.87 GAA (fourth in the playoffs), and a .931 save percentage. Ray Emery has been at the top of his game for the tournament, going 1.95 (fifth) and .919 (12^th).

But if you’re looking for one indicator of what might drive this series, it is this…the two teams have scored first in 18 of the combined 31 games they’ve played. 17 times, they’ve won (Anaheim taking the only loss when scoring first).

Way back in October, The Peerless picked Anaheim to win it all. He sees no reason to change that opinion. The Ducks have sufficient talent on their back line to keep the mischief from the Senator top line to a minimum, and they have enough balance on offense to make Ottawa’s defense work every night. In goal, J-S Giguere has the experience of a final in his resume and has demonstrated just the slightest bit of better performance over Emery to be enough.

In the end, this might be the perfect series to end this season, and it is a tragedy for the sport and for sports in general than so few are likely to avail themselves of the opportunity to watch. On June 11^th, Anaheim will raise the Cup in triumph, winning the seventh game of what promises to be a thrilling series.