The Peerless' Preview, Part I

Previews tend to have a regular format. You get a run down of the new faces, the departed ones, the “players to watch,” the players who are “on the bubble,” and then some discussion (usually optimistic, if the preview is written by one who follows or works for the home club). That’s not a bad way to go, and some folks do it really, really well.

The Peerless chooses to go a different route in looking at the Caps as we move through training camp. As we embark on the new season, we’re doing Shakespeare . . .

“I see you stand like greyhounds in the slips,
Straining upon the start. The game's afoot:
Follow your spirit, and upon this charge
Cry 'God for Harry, England, and Saint George!'”

Well, maybe Glen, George, and Ted (and Caps fans)...


"A horse! a horse! my kingdom for a horse!"
--King Richard III (V, iv, 7)

That horse, of course, is Alex Ovechkin. It is a measure of the esteem in which the youngster is held that a 46-46-92 season can be characterized in some quarters as “disappointing.” Maybe Ovechkin shares that view. Tarik El-Bashir quotes Ovechkin in today’s Post that he is “hungry for hockey.” Further, Ovechkin sees himself as in better condition this year than last, a product of skating, training, and practice with his former Moscow Dynamo team. This is not a good sign for the rest of the league. The Peerless has an observation about he with whom Ovechkin is always compared. Sidney Crosby lost in the Calder Trophy voting by a landslide in 2006. He came back the next year with a vengeance, establishing himself as the best player in the NHL. Signs point to this being a similar year for Ovechkin. With the tools provided him by George McPhee – Michael Nylander, Viktor Kozlov, and Tom Poti (who should provide some needed assistance on the power play), Ovechkin might have the room to rumble. And as Caps fans have seen, a dedicated and focused Ovechkin is a force of nature. He is the horse the Caps’ will ride.


"Yond Cassius has a lean and hungry look,
He thinks too much; such men are dangerous."

--Julius Caesar (I, ii, 194)

Although the quote reflects Caesar’s mistrust of Cassius, the meaning here applies to Olaf Kolzig. The veteran goaltender is the leader of this team, and he’s been displaying that trait in the unofficial practices he and some of the other Caps have held in advance of the start of training camp. It is a sign...Kolzig, who has been through the good and the bad, sees this season as an opportunity not to be lost. The Caps have playoff potential, and it will take hard work – to affect a lean and hungry look – to bring that possibility to fruition. Kolzig has played a lot of minutes in the NHL, and has noted that the offseason conditioning is harder and harder to attend to as time passes. But if Kolzig is paying the price, it is a sign to the rest of this club to follow. And such men can be dangerous.


"We are such stuff
As dreams are made on..."

--The Tempest (IV, i, 156-157)

There are young Caps who have a very real chance to make the club out of camp. None would b e a bigger story than Francois Bouchard. Bouchard, a second round pick in 2006 (35th overall) and brother of Pierre-Marc Bouchard of the Wild, has one of those opportunities born of misfortune. Eric Fehr seems not to be ready to test his injury (back, hip, pituitary gland – the club isn’t very forthcoming on such things), and this opens up the race for a spot on the right side. Viktor Kozlov and Chris Clark might now be the odds-on choices to man the right side on the first and second line, but there is the potential for a newcomer to force the club to write his name into the lineup in one of those two spots. Bouchard seems likely not to make the club out of camp, but his progress through juniors has been steady and significant:

2004-05: 54 games, 11-13-24
2005-06: 69 games, 33-69-102
2006-07: 68 games, 45-80-125

Down the road, he could be the scoring right wing the Capitals need. He could be that by the end of the month. Such is the stuff dreams are made on.


"I am constant as the northern star,
Of whose true-fix'd and resting quality
There is no fellow in the firmament."

--Julius Caesar (III, i, 60 – 62)

“Constant as the northern star” is an apt description for Chris Clark. He could play on the right side on any of the top three lines. But Clark brings a singular devotion to the task, whatever responsibility he is asked to assume. It goes without saying – although it needs to be said over and over – that Clark was and is an excellent choice as captain, a worthy successor to the tradition of captains such as Rod Langway and Dale Hunter. Where Clark plays could be a function of how others fare in training camp. If Nicklas Backstrom isn’t ready to center the second line and is moved to the right side, Viktor Kozlov might be a center option, and Clark could be on either of the top two lines on the right side. If a youngster such as Bouchard or even a Tomas Fleischmann or Eric Fehr (if he is healthy) breaks through, Clark could man the right side on the third line. Wherever he plays, and he might be asked to move around, Clark’s effort will be as constant as the northern star.


"Is this a dagger which I see before me..."

--Macbeth (II, i, 33)

Alexander Semin scored 38 goals last year. Everyone ahead of him is older (ok, Thomas Vanek is six weeks older). That qualified as a breakthrough season for Semin and establishes him as a sniper of the first order...or does it? It is one thing to do it once, it is another to do it again. That is the task for Semin this year. He might start the year centered by Nicklas Backstrom, and how the rookie progresses in that role could go a long way in determining what numbers Semin is able to put up. There is also the matter of Semin’s own play. While supremely talented as a shooter and a puck handler, there were times last season when his maturity might have been called into question. That side of his game needs to progress more. But the pieces are there for him to be a feared offensive player on a level with Alex Ovechkin. What we don’t know is whether he can maintain or improve upon last year’s performance on the ice, whether this is a dagger we see before us...


"Love looks not with the eyes but with the mind."

--A Midsummer Night's Dream (I, i, 234)

The word “fan” is slang for “fanatic.” A little – and sometimes a lot of – craziness goes with the territory. There is sometimes a tendency to overrate one’s own players, and Caps fans (this one included) is not immune from the disease. That is prelude to this observation....the Caps might not be a “good” team to start the year. They are bringing in a lot of new pieces, some from different organizations – Nylander, Kozlov, Poti -- and possibly some rookies such as Bouchard, Fehr, Fleischmann, Alzner, and others. Sometimes a dish tastes better as the flavors are allowed to meld. This will almost certainly be a better team – in fact, a much better team – in February than it will be in October. Caps fans might keep that in mind as the year begins. Stanley Cups are not won in October, and the playoff teams aren’t identified before Christmas.


That’s all for now....we’ll return to this over the next few days and weeks as we get ready for the season opener, and The Peerless settles on his season prognostications.

Happy Training Camp!

Coverage Swarm

James Mirtle, who has a blog himself, has a piece in this week's edition of The Hockey News that features the relationship between Caps Chairman and majority owner, Ted Leonsis, and the blogging community that has sprouted up around the club.

Well, a good portion of that community swarmed Voorhies, NJ, to observe the contest between the Caps' rookie contingent and that of the Philadelphia Flyers. Not having had the opportunity to attend, myself, The Peerless will leave it to you to peruse the observations of those who did...

A View from the Cheap Seats
Capital Insider
Dump and Chase
The Kevin Hatcher Fan Club
Puckhead's Thoughts

And this doesn't even include the other heavyweights such as On Frozen Blog, Off Wing Opinion, Japers' Rink, DC Sports Chick, Capital Fanatic (it's early -- The Peerless doesn't know at this hour if they were in attendance) . . . shoot, just look over there in the right margin and click for yourself. There are a lot of folks who have their eyes, ears, and keyboards tuned to the Caps. In fact, JP of Japers' Rink does your aggregating for you at Washington Hockey Daily.

If this -- a rookie game in early September -- is an indication of what is to come, the Caps' community will not lack for things to read and see via narrative, picture, audio, and video this season.

Just as the club might have reached a tipping point in its rebuild, ready to make the leap from league also-ran to playoff contender, so does the Caps' blogging community stand at what might be a tipping point...an "alternative stream media" (ASM) that adds a richer, Caps-centric brand of coverage to the club with game highlights, observations, and things you just won't read (or see or hear) anywhere else.

The Caps' Coverage Swarm. It's coming to you...now.

Sittin' at the end of the bar...

Back in 1965, medical staff and coaches at the University of Florida got together to figure out why football players were wilting in the Florida heat. Identifying the reason as a loss of fluids and electrolytes, and depletion of carbohydrates, the group put together a formula to replace those fluids and nutrients lost from exercise....Gatorade was born.

Well, now Sportsnet.ca reports a new breakthrough in re-hydration science and its relation to physical performance...

Pedialyte. Yes, Pedialyte.

Toronto Maple Leafs bruiser Wade Belak reports that the formula for rehydrating toddlers suffering with diarrhea is a fine remedy for high-end athletes, too:

"You get all your electrolytes and it's designed specifically for kids and babies so you know it's good."

But Mr. Belak lets the cat out of the bag that this is hardly a new-found remedy for dehydration....

"You really want to know the truth, why I started drinking Pedialyte? I used to drink it for hangovers."

Now there, dear reader, is a hockey player.

**********


Doug Gilmour has this coaching thing down...Describing the difference between life as a player and that of a coach (well, a "civilian"), the newly minted part time coach for the Leafs' organization observed that:

"When you're playing, you get up in the morning, get dressed, go to the rink, get undressed, get dressed into your equipment, get undressed after practice, then get dressed to go home. Then you get undressed to take an afternoon nap, wake up, get dressed to go back to the rink for the game, get undressed and get dressed in your equipment. After the game, you get undressed, get dressed to go home and then get undressed later to go to bed.

"When you're not playing, you get dressed in the morning and then get undressed at night to go to bed. That's it."

Coaches, consider your secret revealed.

**********

Oh, and here is your Day 97 of a Sport Held Hostage moment, courtesy of The Battle of California.

Niedermayer Watch -- Day 96 of a Sport Held Hostage...

The Burkempire Strikes Back

"Yes, he was suspended today. I spoke with Scott to tell him he was being suspended, which Scotty expected."

When your lonely heart has learned its lesson
You'd be his if only he'd call
In the wee small hours of the morning
That's the time you miss him most of all

When your lonely heart has learned its lesson
You'd be his if only he'd call
In the wee small hours of the morning
That's the time you miss him most of all

A Tale of Two . . . Well, Two What, Exactly?

The Peerless takes time out from his hiatus to bring you two quotes. See if you can answer correctly who the authors are...


"We have just created and introduced a great, low cost ticket package against our biggest rivals. I am hopeful we can fill the house against these teams with our own hometown Caps fans. The reason we created a package of tickets is to ensure that our own fans buy them and come to all of these games. I doubt that a fan of just one of these teams will buy all of the tickets in the package. For $99, a fan can come to our Opener and five of our best games against our biggest rivals. Please consider purchasing a plan; come to these games; and be loud and proud."


"I need another 2,500 season-ticket seats. What that would do is tip it, it would give us scarcity of tickets and allow us finally to raise prices. Our ticket prices, for the most part are exactly the same as they were in 1999."


If you answered: a) Ted Leonsis (on September 8), and b) Ted Leonsis (today), you win a prize. The Peerless will make sure to give you a deal on it so you can pay more later.

Dogs Hate Penguins!....Video Proof!!

OK, The Peerless couldn't let this one go by before he bugs out....



The Peerless...bringing you the hidden truth about Penguins.

Rookie Camp Begins

Kinda like the first day of school, but...different.

For the record, Stephen Werner was the first Cap to take the ice this year.

Among the youngsters, getting a feel for who made a mark and who didn't isn't generally possible after Day 1 of skating and drills, but a couple of guys were worth paying attention to from The Peerless' vantage point...

Sasha Pokulok looked more inclined than most to apply his body, which is probably a good sign, given the problems he's had physically over the past couple of years.

Nicklas Backstrom is smooth as buttah -- he had a couple of nice shifts in a forward drill and a couple of nice shots, beating Michal Neuvirth.

Francois Bouchard was this close to having an excellent day. As it was, he looked pretty good.

As far as the visuals go...

Coaches Hanlon and Prior sporting the spiffy new coaches duds. They did have the faint look of haz-mat suits, though.

Coach Evason reminding players that they have to turn right out of the parking garage to find the Rock Bottom Brewery..."but no beer for you underage guys."

Michal Neuvirth about to turn away a shot when he spies the Papa John's sign and thinks..."mmmm...pizza"

Coaches preparing the kids for a drill... "ok, we're going to practice the power play, and these are the New York Islanders.

Coach Prior giving tips to young Mr. Neuvirth on his "break-in-the-action" pose.

It was good to see hockey, hear skates digging into the ice, and know that in four weeks, they'll be doing this for real. For the kids, some might not be invited back to training camp, and even those who get invited to stick around are likely to find themselves back in juniors or in the minors in a few weeks. But every one of them can say they participated in an official National Hockey League camp, and that's not a bad memory to have.

Good luck to all of you guys.



...and with this, The Peerless is going dark for a few days. Have fun over the rest of rookie camp, and we hope to return in time for the start of training camp next weekend.

Ready to Go?

Finally, we can get started. So if you're ready to go, here is some arena music from from last year...



...and some hockey kerfuffling to get the juices flowing (with Beantown homers to further annoy the listener)...

Remember me?

With all the attention being paid to returning Caps, new signings, and prospects generally at the top of the "might make the team" list, "remember me?" might be what Chris Bourque is asking these days...

Corey Masisak of the Washington Times has a feature on the youngster.

Niedermayer Watch -- Day 92 of a Sport Held Hostage

"I wish I had a decision right now..."

Don't we all.

Where have you gone, Scotty Niedermayer
Ducks nation turns it's lonely eyes to you...woo-woo-woo.
What's that you say, Mr. Brian Burke
Scotty N. has left and gone away...hey-hey-hey...

...hey-hey-hey.

Brilliant!

The Peerless doffs his prognosticap to the Dallas Stars for the debut of what we think is an absolutely brilliant advertising campaign.

The Stars have authored a series of billboards that strike the perfect balance among a tongue-in-cheek look at other sports, a smidge of self-deprecation, and a focus on the product. Snappy, to the point, and memorable.

The skunk at the garden party, though, was Tony Kornheiser, who on PTI opined that Bettman would tell the Stars to pull the ads...no doubt because of this one...


Except Mark Cuban thinks they're hysterical. Give Cuban credit for being a good sport about it (although maybe that's a bit of a thumb in the eye to his nemesis, NBA Commissioner David Stern).

No one does promotions like...

...minor league sports teams, and the Hershey Bears are no exception. They have some intriguing ones this year, too. Makes The Peerless want to hop in the Peerlessmobile and scoot up Route 15 to participate...

November 17:

- Patriotism/Hometown Heroes Night - The first 3,000 fans will receive an American flag. Come out to show your support to all the men and woman that serve our country locally and over-seas.

- DUTCH WONDERLAND Night - See all your favorite friends from DUTCH WONDERLAND, including Duke the Dragon and Princess Brooke.

- Help the Ronald McDonald House Night - The BEARS Booster Club will be accepting donations to help the Ronald McDonald House.

"Dutch Wonderland" night? You know that has to be a hoot.

December 22:

- Christmas Jersey Night - The BEARS will wear special jerseys that will be auctioned off after the game.

- Ugly Holiday Sweater Night - All fans are encouraged to wear their ugly holiday sweaters for the chance to win holiday prizes.

The Peerless would be all over that ugly sweater night, but that's pretty much his whole wardrobe.

January 26:

- Washington Capitals Night - The BEARS will wear special Washington Capitals Jerseys. After the game, each player will autograph their jersey and then auction it off, with proceeds going to charity.

Ah...so that's where the old-logo/color jerseys went.

March 15:

- HERSHEY BEARS Booster Club Central PA Food Bank Drive - All fans are encouraged to bring a donation for the Central PA Food Bank.

- Dr. Lori's Antique Appraisal Night - Bring your art, antiques and questions to art historian, certified art and antique appraiser, and TV personality Dr. Lori. One free antique appraisal per person.

Maybe The Peerless will see if he can get anything for Chris Chelios.

March 16:

- Kunzler Ham Shoot Night - All fans have the opportunity to come down on the ice following the game for a chance to win an Easter Ham.

Hey...you do that in DC, folks will bring guns.

April 6:

- Dennis Bonvie Retirement/Farewell Celebration - Dennis Bonvie will be hanging up the skates and gloves at the end of the 2007-2008 season. Come out and wish Dennis a fond farewell as we look back at his time with the HERSHEY BEARS.

Bonvie has 82 goals in 821 AHL games...and 4,290 penalty minutes. Only in the AHL.

Only in the AHL, indeed.

Great!...another loony blogger

And it's in freakin' Russian!!!

Oops...

Thanks to the OFB guys for that info, including paths to translation.

Intersection

The Peerless found a reference to this article in his mailbox this evening, and it set him to wondering, "is the NHL really growing?"

Well, maybe not. The Peerless also remembers this analysis by the Globe and Mail on complimentary tickets, and that set him to wondering if the higher revenues the league is enjoying is less a product of growing the fan base -- a byproduct of the appeal of the on-ice product -- and more a product of price escalation on items at the periphery of the on-ice product and puffed up statistics.

Then there was this, the latest in those persistent, just-under-the-radar stories that hint at potential expansion, and it set The Peerless to wondering how one-time infusions of fees are a good thing for the long term health of the league.

Higher prices for merchandise and tickets, inflated attendance figures, hints at juicy (albeit one-time) expansion fees down the road. The Peerless was set to wondering how the league was going to grow the product when a stagnant volume of fans are tapped out of ridiculously priced merchandise, charged ticket prices beyond their affordability, and stuck with a diluted product...

The intersection of these wonderments might suggest a good investment for potential owners -- in the short term -- or benefits (or at least tolerable burdens) for corporate swells whose interest is less in hockey than in having a place to entertain clients.

None of this sounds like a very good deal for fans or families. Maybe the NHL had better beware that as it drives through this intersection, it doesn't end up in a ditch.

Chess pieces...

The Canadian press had some interesting things to report on the Caps earlier today. There were the expected comments about being a playoff team -- George McPhee noted that, "we think we should be knocking on the playoff door, that we'd like to be battling to get in that seventh or eighth spot..."

Yeah, yeah, ok...we'd all like to be seeing the Caps battle for that spot. But it was the comments that followed -- buried in the story -- that should get brain cells firing and imaginations whirring. The juxtaposition of two comments from McPhee is especially provacative...

"We absolutely had to have a centre (Nylander) that could make a play. We had to have another defenceman (Poti) who could move the puck. And we had to have another player (Kozlov) to play with Ovechkin."

"We know we have a very smart player [in Nicklas Backstrom], a very responsible player, someone who can make a play, someone who is good on faceoffs and really sharp defensively. But you just don't know if they're ready to handle that centre-ice position."

McPhee went on to emphasize that Pittsburgh's Jordan Staal and Boston's Phil Kessel played the wing most of last season, despite each being a natural center.

Well, gee...If Kozlov is going to play with Ovechkin, and Nylander centers those two....and Backstrom ends up on the wing...uh, who is centering the second line?

No plan is (or should be) etched in stone, so if Backstrom can't handle the center duties, Kozlov might move to the second line, with Chris Clark going to play on the right side up top. That'd sure mess up our little benchmarks...but there is a tiny little voice in The Peerless' head asking...."is there a September surprise coming on the personnel front?"

"Yogi" Alzner

Young Mr. Alzner is showing great promise as a quote machine. Consider this nugget from Mike Vogel's interview with Alzner from the Capitals' home page...

Vogel: Does this camp open your eyes to the types of things you’ll need to do here in September if you hope to make this team?

Alzner: “It’s just little things. Like in practice, I turned up [ice] one time. I handled the puck once and then I passed it. And I was told right after that, ‘You don’t even handle it. You chip the puck off the boards to the guy that should be there.’ And that’s true. Because at this next level when you watch on TV, guys are always open. All you’ve got to do is move the puck quicker and look before you get the puck. It’s really opening up my eyes. I’m happy we have a more intense camp compared to some other teams where they kind of throw sauce around and go off the bar. I’m really enjoying it.”

Throw sauce and go off the bar? What, is that some weird drinking-slash-barbecue game? I think the young man is channeling the best of this guy.

Thanks to MattyMurp on The Official for the lead...

Oh my dear lord...

We gotta wear this crap?

Here's a tip...have EITHER a logo OR the name of the city, but not BOTH. Make up your mind...

Not even the players look especially happy at the prospect of donning these duds.

An innocent round of golf?

You be the judge?

Mark Your Calendars!

Rookie and training camp schedules are up, with dates and times open to the public noted. Bring your running shoes to shuttle back and forth between the rinks for the first week of training camp. There are a lot of special activities on the agenda...

Pickin' stuff

Well, we’re getting close, now. We’ve seen some team predictions, we’ll start to get some individual award predictions before too long. But there is an interesting take on individuals, courtesy of Paul Kukla, blogging over at NHL.com (thanks to A View from the Cheap Seats for the directions). The Peerless humbly offers his own take on these, with a few of his own thrown in…

Best one-on-one offensive player -- Pavel Datsyuk. I’ve got to go with Kukla’s choice here. Datsyuk is an artist; he can make a lot of moves late that will turn a goaltender into a soft pretzel.

Best one-on-one defenseman – Nicklas Lidstrom. The Peerless likes a big hitting defenseman as much as the next guy – such a player can change the momentum of a game on one shift, and Dion Phaneuf is establishing himself as the standard for that specie. But brains works over brawn, even in hockey, and Lidstrom is the smartest there is.

Assist man – Joe Thornton, for now. This isn’t even really all that close. Sidney Crosby had more to work with as far as offensive talent goes last year along the roster (although one could reasonably ask if Crosby made those players better). Still, Thornton had 92 assists in 82 games (1.12/game), while the kid had 84 in 79 (1.06). And, Thornton did that on the heels of 96 in 81 games in 2005-2006 (1.19/game). Crosby might surpass Thornton this year, but that isn’t by any means a certainty.

Best pure goal scorer – This is another one of those, “until the whipper-snapper proves he’s clearly better” ones…for now, The Peerless will take Ilya Kovalchuk. But there is a fellow named Ovechkin lurking close by.

Power-play specialist – If he returns, this one belongs to Teemu Selanne. 88 power play points over the last two seasons. And, he was a big finisher for Anaheim last year, scoring more than twice as many power play goals as any other player with the Ducks.

Shorthanded specialist – Four players in the last two years have finished in the top-10 in shorthanded scoring (including ties for tenth). Justin Williams and Matt Pettinger were tied for highest total points among these players. Martin St. Louis had as many points last year as each of the four players (11), but he had Vincent Lecavalier for support, too. Of the four, Matt Pettinger scored his points in 16 fewer games – Pettinger.

Need one save – Roberto Luongo. Until last year, we would have gone with Martin Brodeur, if only for his moxie earned in so many pressure situations. But Luongo – who has always been among the best pure puck-stoppers among goaltenders – made the leap last year.

The guy you never heard of – We’ll go way off the charts here. A guy who had 23 points in only 49 games last year and was +6 on a struggling club. More games this year, and he might get on some folks’ radar – David Backes, St. Louis.

Biggest impact on a new team – Big-dollar signings are the most overrated personnel item in the NHL. I’d be looking to role players as much as the high-wattage deals. Consider….the days of Martin Brodeur playing 75-plus games and 4,200-plus minutes are coming to an end. Having a goaltender who can spell Brodeur can be the difference between being a playoff team and falling out of the top-eight. Kevin Weekes will be the player with the biggest impact with his new team.

When it gets chippy -- Derek Boogaard. He tied for 19^th in the league in fighting majors (10). Those were ten guys (actually, nine, since Eric Godard thought it would be a good idea to go twice with him) who lost their minds. Guys like this who don’t get as many fights as you’d expect are guys even tough guys avoid. Boogaard is the scariest guy in that class.

Coach for a must-win game – That’s a tough one among current coaches, since earning tenure to build that kind of a reputation has been hard to come by. Lindy Ruff is the longest-tenured coach with one team in the league; Bob Hartley has as many seasons as Ruff. Both have had three conference finalists. Ruff has also had a Stanley Cup finalist; Hartley a Cup winner. That’s the difference. Hartley.

Get under your skin guy – Sean Avery….and The Peerless is pissed just thinking about it. But there is a dark horse here who might challenge this year – Colby Armstrong.

The home crowd – this is another hard one, since The Peerless has not visited all the NHL venues. But if a club loses only four games at home in regulation in a season, the crowd can’t be a detriment. Detroit.

And here are some other categories…

Most likely to be a bust among new free agents – Daniel Briere, Philadelphia. Briere was a decent, if unspectacular player through his first season-and-change in Buffalo. After the lockout, his performance improved significantly. Was this the product of maturity?...of the “new” NHL?...of the best situation for a player like him, where he was the best of an ensemble cast? The Peerless is betting it’s the last. In Philadelphia, where booing underperformers is an art form, he could be in for a rude awakening, especially as the new big man on Broad Street.

Most likely to score a goal that matters – Alexander Ovechkin. His nine game-winners (including overtime goals) tied for seventh in the league and were the highest percentage of his club’s wins of any player (32.1 percent).

Club likeliest to have the biggest turnaround for the good – Philadelphia. When your basis is 56 points, and you make as many moves as the Flyers did, you stand a good chance to win this category. Still, a 30-point turnaround, were it to occur, would not get the Flyers into the top-eight. But it will be the biggest turnaround.

Non-playoff team most likely to make the top-eight this year – Colorado. They need only improve one point (and adding Ryan Smyth and Scott Hannan should provide that), but the team with the furthest to go with an excellent chance to qualify is Washington. As we noted in a benchmark, 22 points is the threshold for the Caps. Folks might forget two things about last year. First, they were solidly in the playoff mix almost half way through the season, when injury, illness, and a lack of depth exposed them as not yet ready for a playoff push. Second, they were arguably the worst club in the shootout last year, 1-11 (Carolina was 0-5, but that is fewer than half the games the Caps played in that situation). The Caps have improved their depth and talent, and there is reason to expect that the kids will take another step up the development ladder. 22 points is not out of the question.

Team that will fall the farthest in the standings – This will be a horserace between the New York Islanders in the East and the Nashville Predators in the west. Picking the Islanders in this category is a dangerous pick. The Peerless had the fish sticks finishing 30^th last year, and they finished eighth in the East. But they lost players such as Jason Blake, Tom Poti, Viktor Kozlov, Richard Zednik, Ryan Smyth, Sean Hill, Alexei Yashin (ok, that might be a plus), and Aaron Asham. They added Mike Comrie, Bill Guerin, and Josef Vasicek, and Andy Sutton, but this might be like trying to catch lightning in a bottle a second time. Last year, it worked – this year? As for Nashville, they have the look of the Chicago White Sox or Florida Marlins of baseball a few years ago. Eventually, the fire sales those ball clubs undertook were turned around into champions, but that’s not the fate that awaits the Predators this year. They do not have a true go-to scorer (although Alexander Radulov might grow into that role), nor do they have a top-end playmaker. And, Steve Sullivan is out as many as three months with a back problem. Chris Mason had a fine year in goal last year in relief of Tomas Vokoun, but he has to shoulder a larger burden this year, and this was a club that gave up a ton of shots last year. And it's not a team looking at sinking money into the roster in the short term. In the end, it will be Nashville.

Hazing ritual, or major award?

You be the judge...



Or perhaps he's auditioning for the off-Broadway production of "A Fess Parker Retrospective"


Seriously, it is Karl Alzner's prize for being named Canada's player-of-the-game for Game 1 of the Canada-Russia series. Congrats, Karl.

And Game 1 goes to...

….the Canadians. The boys from up north spotted the Russians a 2-0 lead, then stormed back with four unanswered goals to capture Game 1 of the Canada-Russia Super Series, 4-2.

Brad Marchand and Sam Gagner had a goal and an assist, apiece (assisting on each other's goals), to lead the Canadians.

Of note to Caps fans, Karl Alzner played a steady game, although he did take three minor penalties. But who didn’t for the Canadiens? They killed 13 of 14 Russian power plays, including a pair of 5-on-3’s. Alzner’s ability to play within himself and slow the game down within his own end made him stand out among the defensemen; he knows where to be and when to be there. Josh Godfrey had a couple of occasions to unleash his booming shot, but appeared to be on the low end of ice time among the defensemen for Team Canada. Semen Varlamov started strong for Team Russia in goal, playing well for the first ten minutes, but from the middle of the first period through the end of the second, he looked very uncomfortable, struggling with some shots that he should have stopped.

For all the talk of the time change and jet lag affecting the Canadians, it was Team Canada that got stronger as the game wore on. Once they got their legs under them, Team Canada’s withering physical approach to the game clearly got to the Russians, who seemed to avoid contact through the middle part of the contest until they went into desperation mode late.

Alzner was named the Canada’s player-of-the-game.

Game 2 is scheduled for Wednesday, 9 am (Eastern), from Ufa, Russia.

OK, now this uniform thing is getting serious

The NHL has decided, in an effort to create more buzz about its product, to revamp, replace, and refashion the uniforms of a lot of teams this year. We've seen the Islanders ape the Buffalo numbering scheme, but this is the team that had a purveyor of fish sticks grace its jersey once, so anything is an improvement.



We've had Florida with odd stripes at the elbow running perpendicular to piping that makes their panther-on-crack logo look like it's emerging from a curtain parting.



And we have Tampa Bay with their odd cuffs and an inability to decide whether they will wear their numbers on the front (the road ones will) or not (the home ones will remain numberless).







Even our Caps have joined the party, changing not only the jersey style, but the whole color scheme, returning to red-white-and-blue.





OK, that's fine...none of these clubs have a lot of noteworthy history, except for the Islanders, and that was a generation ago.

But now it's getting serious when one of the original six is rumored to be contemplating a sea change in its duds. CBC.ca reports that the Toronto Maple Leafs are looking at a major redesign that will remove the interlocking "TML" shoulder logo, reduce the amount of white in the home version, introduce more silver, and (yuck) piping.*

The Peerless thinks that with all the piping being introduced into jerseys, this might be the best training for uniform fashion design for the NHL...



Maybe next year, Sidney will design the threads.




Or better yet, maybe we can have a redesign of the Stanley Cup!


* Thanks to Novaron on The Official for pointing the way.

Records in Granite?

A couple of weeks ago, Alan Adams at Sportsnet.ca penned a column on records in hockey that appear safe for all time (and a few that might not be). There is some relevance to our red-white-and-blue boys in that one Cap is mentioned (perhaps tongue-in-cheek) as having a shot at the single-game record for goals (eight, held by Joe Malone, Quebec Bulldogs, 1920-1921 season...or is it seven, as the Hockey Hall of Fame indicates?).

There is also another record, referred to somewhat obliquely, having to do with winning percentage...seems the red-white-and-blue are involved in that one, too.

The Peerless offers up this list of records and leaves it to you to ponder whether any are safe until the sun goes dark (or Bettman grows a brain), taken from the Hockey Hall of Fame "Records and Rankings" page:

Goals scored, season, rookie: Teemu Selanne (76, 1992-93)
Assists, rookie, season: Peter Stasny (70, 1980-81), Joe Juneau (70, 1992-93)
Points, rookie, season: Teemu Selanne (132 (1992-93)

Goals scored, game, individual: Joe Malone (7, 1919-20)
Goals scored, season, individual: Wayne Gretzky (92, 1981-82)
Goals scored, career, individual: Wayne Gretzky (894)

Assists, game, individual: Billy Taylor (7, 1946-47), Wayne Gretzky (7, three times)
Assists, season, individual: Wayne Gretzky (163, 1985-86)
Assists, career, individual: Wayne Gretzky (1,963)

Points, game, individual: Darryl Sittler (10, 1975-76)
Points, season, individual: Wayne Gretzky (215, 1985-86)
Points, career, individual: Wayne Gretzky (2,857)

Games played, career: Gordie Howe (1,767)

Wins, goaltender, season: Martin Brodeur (48, 2006-07)
Wins, goaltender, career: Patrick Roy (551)
GAA, goaltender, season: George Hainsworth (0.92, 1928-29)
GAA, goaltender, career: George Hainsworth (1.91)
Shutouts, goaltender, season: George Hainsworth (22, 1928-29)
Shutouts, goaltender, career: Terry Sawchuck (103)

Penalty minutes. game: Randy Holt (67, 1978-79)
Penalty minutes, season: Dave Schultz (472, 1974-75)
Penalty minutes, career: Dave Williams (3,966)

Most trophies won, season: Bobby Orr (4 – Hart, Ross, Norris, Smythe – 1969-70)
Most trophies won, career: Wayne Gretzky (26 – 9 Hart, 10 Ross, 2 Smythe, 5 Byng)
Most Ross Trophies won: Wayne Gretzky (10)
Most Hart Trophies won: Wayne Gretzky (9)
Most Norris Trophies won: Bobby Orr (8)
Most Vezina Trophies won: Jacques Plante (7)
Most Lady Byng Trophies won: Frank Boucher (7)
Most all-star selections, individual, career: Gordie Howe (21)

Best winning percentage, team, season: Boston Bruins (.875, 1929-30)
Longest winning streak, team, season: Pittsburgh Penguins (17, 1992-93)
Longest undefeated streak, team, season: Philadelphia Flyers (35 – 25-0-10 – 1979-80)
Highest point total, team, season: Montreal Canadiens (132, 1976-77)
Most championships, team: Montreal Canadiens (24)

Ugh...

The Peerless was perusing an old Hockey News issue – the 2007 “Future Watch” issue – and stumbled upon an interesting, if unfortunate, nugget of Capitals history. Fittingly, it came from the very last page of the issue, a look back at the 2002 and 1997 prospect lists. Did you know that in 1997, The Hockey News rated five Capitals’ draftees in their top-19? Well, they did, and here they are, with their draft year/position and career regular season numbers to date…

6. Jaroslav Svejkovsky, 1996, 1^st round/17^th overall, (113 games, 23-19-43, -22)
10. Jan Bulis, 1996, 2/43, (552 G, 96-149-245, -3)
11. Brendan Witt, 1993, 1/11 (724 G, 21-79-100, -31)
12. Alexandre Volchkov, 1996, 1/4 (3G, 0-0-0, -2)
19. Nolan Baumgartner, 1994, 1/10 (131, 3-39-45, +4)

Five top prospects, all drafted by the Caps, all in the system at the same time. As a group, this quintet was 64-141-205 in their respective tenures with the Capitals. That is roughly equivalent to Wayne Gretzky…well, his 1984-1985 season (73-135-208). Trouble is, this group was -72; Gretzky was +98.

Kap'n Karl and the Super Series

Karl Alzner was named an alternate captain for Team Canada in the Canada-Russia Super Series that begins on Monday in Russia.

For the latest on the Canadians and "the gauntlet," Sportsnet-Canada has that look.

And for a glimpse (well, more than a glimpse; it's a ten-minute clip) back at another Super Series from years ago...

Sabres, Pens, New Years Day

Well, it looks like the NHL is going to play outside once more, as the final touches are reported to be almost in place for a New Years Day game between the Buffalo Sabres and the Pittsburgh Penguins, to be played in Ralph Wilson Stadium in Buffalo.

It will be the first of its kind in the NHL since November 22, 2003, when the Edmonton Oilers hosted the Montreal Canadiens in the Heritage Classic at Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton. A crowd of 57,167 (an NHL record) saw the Canadiens beat the Oilers, 4-3. The game also drew a record television audience in Canada.



The New Years Day game might also draw a record crowd for hockey at any level, now held by "The Cold War," played between the University of Michigan and Michigan State University on the campus of Michigan State in East Lansing, Michigan, on October 6, 2001. The teams played to a 3-3 tie in Spartan Stadium before a crowd of 74,554.



The Peerless doesn't suspect you'll find many goalies wearing toques or eye-black as a regular equipment option.

The Crosby Wears Prada

Canadian Press is reporting* that Pittsburgh Penguins uber-brat and “last best hope for hockey in the third millennium” Sidney Crosby is taking a turn at…now get this…clothes design.

It conjures visions of a “Crosby-ality” show in the future on Bravo…

Project Cros-way… Selected from thousands of hopefuls who lined up outside Primanti’s all night for the opportunity, an all-new cast of fifteen Penguin puck bunnies will compete for the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to model the latest line of Crosby chic. The winner will get an all-expense paid shopping tour of Target.

Tim Gunn’s “Guide to Croz”…The co-author of “A Guide to Quality, Taste and Style” joins Sidney Crosby to “make it work” in the world of hockey fashion. Whether is it finding the right accessory for those stylish Reebok skates or coordinating the helmet color with the shaft of your Koho, Tim and Sid have the answers.

Queer Eye for the Center Guy…the “Fab Five” are talented, hip…and hockey fans, we find out. Tune in to every fun-filled, style-packed episode as the guys take on the challenge of making over Penguin hockey fans in the fashions inspired by local hero, Sidney Crosby.

OK...please excuse The Peerless while he repairs to the lavatory to toss his lunch.

*Thanks to Japers’ Rink and A View from the Cheap Seats for pointing out this monstrosity about taste.

AP Photo/Nathan Denette, CP

Benchmarks, Part X -- "Playoffs"

The last installment in this discussion of benchmarks might strike the reader as a bit odd. But “playoffs” is the goal this year. There can be no talk of “Stanley Cup” unless that minimum threshold is achieved. So, what is the benchmark?

BENCHMARK: New York Islanders (40-30-12, 92 points, 8^th seed/Eastern Conference)

If someone had told The Peerless at this time last year that the Islanders would finish eighth in the Eastern Conference and make the playoffs, he would have called next of kin to suggest commitment proceedings. A team with a owner who was absolutely bats, a GM who was not-long removed from active status as a player and had no direct experience in the duties he was assuming, a coach who hadn’t been behind an NHL bench in any capacity in ten years, and a team with a little bit of talent, but largely imported from far and wide – eight of the 20 players who dressed on opening night played with other NHL teams the previous year. Most prognosticators had the Islanders a mortal lock to be a lottery team. The Peerless picked them to finish 30^th in the league.

The Islanders limped along well into the season, stuck at .500 as late as January 16 (21-21-4). But they closed with a rush, going 19-9-8 in their last 36 games. That has the suggestion of a club that was finally integrating the parts it brought in to start the season. But there is another set of factors at play.

If you look at the Islanders’ statistics, the team leaders don’t (for the most part) show up among the league leaders in the more attractive categories:

Points: 45^th – Jason Blake (69)
Goals: 10^th – Jason Blake (40)
Assists: T73^rd – Tom Poti (38)
+/-: T34^th – Radek Martinek (+19)
PPG: T19^th – Jason Blake (14)
PPA: 21st -- Tom Poti (26)

It was in the little things, the gritty things that teams without top end talent have to do that the Islanders did well:

Hits:

3^rd – Sean Hill (252)
5^th – Trent Hunter (246)
8^th – Brendan Witt (231)

Blocked Shots:

5^th – Brendan Witt (207)
6^th – Sean Hill (202)
14^th – Tom Poti (170)

Takeaways:

10^th – Jason Blake (69)
T13^th – Viktor Kozlov (65)
17^th – Trent Hunter (64)

And, the Islanders earned points in more than their share of one-goal games – 14-7-12, earning 40 of their 92 standings points via that route (including 8-2-8 in that late season rush).

If one adds in the solid goaltending of Rick DiPietro (32-19-9, 2.58, .919), it was a recipe for the Islanders to confound those who, when the season started, saw them as a team destined for the lottery.

Capitals: 22 points

That is what the Caps will need above last year’s 70-point total to meet the expected playoff threshold. It’s hardly impossible – Pittsburgh realized a 47-point improvement over the 2005-2006 season (and last year they weren’t much better thought of than the Islanders to start the season). The Islanders themselves had a 14-point improvement over the previous season. It can be done. But what will it take?

Everything.

Here are the team statistics in which the Islanders finished higher than the Caps:

Goals-scored/game
Goals-allowed/game
5-on-5 goals scored-to-goals allowed ratio
Power play conversion
Penalty killing conversion
Shots-on-goal taken
Shots-on-goal allowed
Winning percentage when scoring first
Winning percentage when leading after one period
Winning percentage when leading after two periods
Winning percentage when out-shooting the opposition
Winning percentage when out-shot by the opposition
Face-off winning percentage

And, as if to drive the point home, the Islanders won the season series against the Caps, 3-0-1, outscoring the Caps, 16-6.

Why was that so? The Islanders didn’t have any more talent than did the Caps; they certainly didn’t have the top-end scoring talent. Even Jason Blake, who had 40 goals, still can’t really be thought of yet as an elite goal scorer (he bested his previous career high by 12 goals). The Islanders out-worked teams and were a very difficult team to play against.

The Caps have upgraded their offensive talent, and that should enable the club to take some pressure off of what was a young and too-often overmatched defense last year. The defense should improve, if only as a product of experience. The addition of Tom Poti will provide some added offensive punch from the blue line. But as the other looks at benchmarks suggested, there is work to be done.

But there is another question – do the Caps have a team personality? The Islanders had it in spades last year, and the Caps did not, at least not a consistent one. Much has and will be made of the offensive production that might come from the top two lines. But the Caps once were known as much for a hard-working, difficult-to-play-against style of their own. The “Plumbers Line” from the 1980’s, the lunch-pail ethic of the Konowalchuk-Halpern-Dahlen line of the early part of the decade, not to mention the individual – and ornery – efforts of Rod Langway, Scott Stevens, and Dale Hunter over the years contributed to that profile. The Caps have found additional talent this summer, and that was important. But will they find a personality? That might be every bit as important to their playoff chances this year.

Like Fine Wine?

James Mirtle has a post that ranks the 30 NHL clubs by age. What caught The Peerless' eye was not that Detroit is the only club with a 30-plus average age, it's that three of the six oldest clubs are out of the Southeast.

Maybe the Caps can wear 'em down this year.

Benchmarks, Part IX -- Shootouts

The next “specialty” benchmark is…shootouts. Caps fans would rather not think about this, given last year’s results, and The Peerless thinks that this abomination should be banned from the sport at the earliest opportunity. However, it’s here, and points are awarded for winning such things, so here we go…and we’re going to get this over with quickly by addressing team and individual benchmarks…

BENCHMARK (team, offense): Minnesota Wild

Yup, those boring, green-clad, Jacques Lemaire-coached Minnesota Wild. And this isn’t even especially close. No team had more wins (10), and more to the point of the offensive side of shootouts, no team had more “goals” (27), only one team with more than 10 shootouts had a better shooting percentage (Atlanta, in six fewer games), no team had a higher goals-per-shootout average (1.59). They were also very balanced – they were 17-for 39 at home (43.6 percent), 10-for-23 on the road (43.5 percent).

Part of their success is the fact that Wild goaltenders weren’t particularly successful at the other end (they finished 19^th in save percentage, for example), but the offense kept them going enough to finish with a 10-7 record.

As a group, they did not depend a lot on a long bench. Only five Wild (“Wilds?”) scored shootout goals, and none of them were named, “Gaborik.” In fact, Marian Gaborik only took two of the Wild’s 62 shots all season (failing on both attempts, but missing 34 games to a groin injury early on contributed to his not being in the mix). The big guns were Mikko Koivu, Pavol Demitra, and Brian Rolston, who combined to go 19-for-41 (46.3 percent). What is odd is that it was defenseman Petteri Nummelin who led the Wild in shooting percentage, converting six of seven opportunities.

There isn’t a mystery here. Rolston, Demitra, and Koivu finished one-three-four on the club in goals scored (31, 25, and 20, respectively). They were the guys who finished in games, and they were consistent finishers in the shootout, and they were consistently used in those situations. Demitra led off in 12 of 17 shootouts, Koivu was in the two-slot in 10 of 17. There was a particularly odd statistic about Koivu, however. He loved home cooking. He was 8-for-9 at home, 0-for-6 on the road.

BENCHMARK (individual, offense): Vyacheslav Kozlov, Atlanta Thrashers

Kozlov tied for the league lead in shooting percentage among shooters with at least ten shots (with Paul Kariya) and was tied for third in goals. But what set Kozlov apart were his five game deciding goals (of his seven total shootout goals and seven shootout wins for Atlanta). He was especially effective on the road, going 4-for-5 with three game-winners. Kozlov, while not an elite goal-scorer, is a reliable 20-goal-a-season guy (10 of 12 non-shortened seasons with at least 20 goals). He simply has a knack for this sort of thing – it’s worth noting that in two seasons he is 12-for-18 with seven game-winning goals. He is the benchmark for individual shooters in this phase of the game.

BENCHMARK (individual, goaltending): Tim Thomas, Boston Bruins

On a club that struggled defensively (29^th in goals-against/game), Thomas shined when he didn’t have the handicap of teammates in front of him. He finished at the top of the NHL in save percentage among goalies with at least 10 shootout games (.826) and was tied for fourth in wins (eight) despite playing in fewer shootouts than any of the top six in wins. He won his last eight shootout decisions. Thomas does not have a noteworthy record over his career as an NHL netminder; being a backup might be his niche. But last year, he was the standard for performance in the shootout.

...a note on the shootout. If anything, the benchmarks here illustrate just how fundamentally different the shootout is from “hockey.” Minnesota was a decent club last year, but they ultimately finished as a 7-seed and were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs by the ultimate Cup champion, Anaheim. Kozlov is a decent goal scorer, but would not be included among the elite of that class. Tim Thomas is a decent goaltender, but is not likely to be a starter on a Cup contender. Yet, all were at the top of their 2006-2007 class in the shootout. It might be entertaining (well, for some), but the shootout isn’t hockey. That soap-box moment having passed, let’s move on…

Capitals (projected top-three): Viktor Kozlov, Michael Nylander, Alexander Semin

Alexander Ovechkin simply can’t be as bad at this as he was last year. He was 2-for-12 (16.7 percent) which put him in a tie for 144^th in the NHL in shooting percentage. But then again, the NHL’s top goal scorer for the season, Vincent Lecavalier, could only manage three goals on 12 attempts himself. Maybe there are some things he just does not have a knack for. He might have to play himself onto this trio (or more to the point, someone might have to play themselves off).

Kozlov, on the other hand, might have been only the second-best Kozlov in shootouts last year, but 5-for-13 isn’t bad, and he had two game-winners…that would be twice as many as the entire Caps team had. Nylander also finished 5-for-13 last year, which means that the two new forwards had twice as many goals last year, combined (10), than did the entire Caps team (five). If nothing else, this should (we hope) take some of the pressure off the Alexes to perform…those two had four of the five shootout goals for the Caps. Semin gets the other spot, mostly by default. Being 2-for-10 last year wasn't anything to get excited about.

Capitals (goaltending): Olaf Kolzig, Brent Johnson

Kolzig finished 59^th in the NHL in save percentage last year among all goaltenders (.471), while going 1-5. Brent Johnson finished 34^th (.650), for all the good it did him…he was 0-5. Frederic Cassivi played in the other shootout, stopping two of three shots in a loss. It wasn’t a memorable year (it wasn’t for the shooters, either, so this was a team effort).

There is good news and bad news in this for the bigger picture. The good news is that eleven of the Caps losses were of the freak-show type. The bad news is that the shootout is back, and so are the goaltenders.

This is likely to continue to be the weakest part of the Capitals’ game in 2007-2008. Difficulty in shootouts at the goaltending end wasn’t confined to last year, although last year certainly was the worse of the last two seasons. In those two seasons, Kolzig is 5-10, .607; Johnson is 3-6, .727. If these two could at least return to a 2005-2006 level of performance as far as save percentage is concerned; the addition of more punch on the offense side might result in a few more wins.


The Caps finished last year...

-- tied for 28th in wins (1)
-- 30th in losses (11)
-- 28th in goals scored (5)
-- 25th in goals allowed (18)
-- 30th in goal differential (-13)
-- 28th in shooting percentage (.125)
-- 27th in save percentage (.550)

They should do better by accident.

Congratulations, Dave

Dave Trembley was announced as the new Baltimore Orioles skipper on Wednesday afternoon. His boys celebrated by giving up more runs in one game than any club had in the past 110 years (the Louisville Colonels having been the last to surrender at least that many, back in 1897 to the Chicago Colts). What, they drained Charm City of Natty Bo before taking BP last night?

By way of comparison, that run total was more than the points scored by 20 of the 41 Super Bowl winners. Brian Burres gave up eight earned runs in two-thirds of an inning of relief for the O's. That's an ERA of 108.00, or roughly the GAA of Martin Houle (ok, his GAA was 30.00, and he only played 2:12 last year).

Tarik and Olie for a Sit-Down

Tarik El-Bashir caught up with Olaf Kolzig at Kettler Capitals Iceplex. Here is the complete entry. But for The Peerless, here is the money quote:

I want to be here when this team peaks. Our goal is to make make the playoffs. But I think in the next two or three years we should have legitimate shot [at contending for a Cup]. I want to be around to experience that.

"Next two or three years..." For those of you who follow such things, Kolzig is an unrestricted free agent after the 2007-2008 season. When asked about any talks about an extension, Kolzig utters the requisite "I'm just going to play hockey and let George [McPhee] and my agent take care of that when the time comes" comment. Given that McPhee will have to deal with expiring contracts for Alexander Ovechkin, Alexander Semin, Boyd Gordon, Brian Sutherby, Steve Eminger, Shaone Morrisonn, and Mike Green, it should be a very busy next off-season for the GM.

Well, if he's still here, that is.

Our Long Continental Nightmare is Over

Michael Peca is a Blue Jacket...well, almost

So much for all that Peca-to-Manhattan nonsense from last week. But then again, "Michael Peca" is an anagram for "Ace Lie Champ."