Why Hockey is Better -- Reason No. 3,298

Today's reason why "Hockey Is Better"... in the other major professional team sports and in some individual sports, on-field exploits are chronicled exhaustively, adding to the legend of such figures as Peyton Manning in professional football, LeBron James in professional basketball, and Derek Jeter in major league baseball.  All of them and many others are athletes who deserve praise for their on-field/court achievements.

But in those sports we see chronicled just as exhaustively the 'off-field" problems of too many of the players in those other sports -- substance abuse accusations in professional football and major league baseball, run-ins with the criminal justice system, behaviors that might be described charitably as "immature."  Those problems are those of a small minority of players, to be sure, but they are problems that seem to persist and damage their respective sports.

Meanwhile, in these last two weeks hockey fans have basked in the joy of seeing the best athletes the sport has to offer playing under their respective national flags.  Almost without exception, it has been an advertisement to the grace, skill, and grit that is hockey.  But it is not without its off-ice interruptions, and here is where the sport parts ways with other professional sports.  Over the last two weeks, perhaps the biggest off ice story of the Olympics was a certain player being surly with the media.  One commentator, in fact, stated that for the player in question, "it's unacceptable for a player of his stature not to fulfill his obligations as a spokesman for the game."

Gee, that's it?  That's all you've got for "controversy?"  A player not speaking to the press on demand?  A couple of seconds with a camcorder?  Truth be told, I would have wished that Alex Ovechkin had been a little more accommodating to the press; I think it is in his interest, the NHL's interest, and the interest of the Olympics (including the 2014 Games in Sochi).  But I don't stand in his shoes.  I don't know what pressure he feels to get ready for these games on the international stage, where the burden largely lies on him for the results of Team Russia (I could say the same for Team Canada and Sidney Crosby, but that is a much deeper club and better able to take the performing pressure off of the young center).

If this is the biggest "off ice" problem hockey has at the moment -- or Canadian women celebrating a gold medal enthusiastically (like I'd bet a lot of the press did when they were in college and their sports teams won big games) -- then hockey is in pretty damn fine shape.

Questions, Questions... Part 3

Now that we’ve covered the Southeast and the Atlantic, we’ll finish our tour of the Eastern Conference with a look at the big question for each of the teams in the Northeast…

Ottawa: Has the clock struck midnight for “Cinderelliott?”

Starting on December 10th, when he shut out the Philadelphia Flyers, 2-0, at Wachovia Center in Philadelphia, Senators goaltender Brian Elliott went on one of those runs that players dream of. Over a 20-game stretch starting with that shutout in Philly, Elliott went 13-5-0, 1.97, .927, with three shutouts. Only twice did he allow as many as four goals in a game. With Elliott leading the way, the Senators climbed through the standings, close enough to division-leading Buffalo to see the hairs on the Sabres’ necks stand up.

The last game in that 20-game run for Elliott was a 3-1 win against Vancouver in which he turned away 29 of 30 shots. However, since then, one wonders if the coach has turned back into a pumpkin for the netminder. While Elliott is 3-2-0 in the five games since his win over the Canucks, he’s done so in somewhat ugly fashion – a 3.65 GAA and .893 save percentage. Perhaps even more ominously, only one of those games was played against a top-tier offensive team (he allowed five goals in a 6-5 win over Washington). Three of the games were played against teams in the lower third of the team scoring rankings (Detroit, Calgary, New York Islanders).

You might think Elliott was somewhat gassed after having assumed the mantle of number one goaltender, but going into that five game slide he played in only nine consecutive games, and before that played in six of the previous 15 games.

The schedule sets up well for Elliott and the Senators coming out of the Olympic break in that they don’t have to face a lot of offensive powerhouses. But if Ottawa is going to finish atop the Northeast and make any dent in the playoffs, Elliott has to find that glass slipper – uh, goalie skate – again. Being on the north side of three-and-a-half goals a game allowed won’t do it.

Buffalo: Has there been too much “Miller Time?”

Ryan Miller has been on the ice for 3,078 minutes this season, eighth among NHL goaltenders. He has been between the pipes for each and every one of the 240 minutes played by Team USA so far in the Vancouver Olympics. He will be there on Friday to face the Finns, and he seems a sure bet to be there to face either Canada or Slovakia on Saturday or Sunday in one of the medal games. So, add 360 minutes to his total for the year. That will bring him to 3,438 minutes of ice time this year, just five minutes short of his entire total for the regular season last year with 22 games left to play this season for the Sabres.

The comparison to previous years might have some relevance as the Sabres move forward after the break. Let’s assume Miller would get 15 starts in the last 22 games in an effort to give him some sort of break from his recent workload. In his final 15 games last season, Miller was 8-5-2, 2.72, .916. Those numbers are consistent with his season-long numbers. But this year he has the Vancouver workload and a stretch run that could push his total minutes – NHL regular season and Olympics – past his career high of 4,474 two seasons ago, and that season did not end especially well for him: 7-7-3 in his last 17 games with a 3.34 GAA and .877 save percentage.

Boston: Who is the go-to guy here?

Marco Sturm leads the Bruins with 18 goals. There are only five other Bruins with as many as ten goals for the season. There are 57 NHL players with more. Since January 1st, the Bruins have averaged 2.14 goals per game in going 7-10-4. They scored more than three goals in a game twice over the 21 games of that period. They are averaging 1.6 goals a game at home over that period and have not scored more than two in any of them.

One might say that goalie Tim Thomas is having problems, and one might be right. But you could recombine the DNA of Terry Sawchuk, Gerry Cheevers, Patrick Roy, and Martin Brodeur and not have a goalie who could win consistently behind this cohort of skaters. This is a team that hasn’t scored more than two goals in consecutive games since early December. They simply do not give their goalies any breathing room. Boston is rumored to be interested in the Blues’ Keith Tkachuk, Columbus’ Raffi Torres, and the Kings’ Alexander Frolov. None of those players is a solution for the systemic lack of offense that plagues the Bruins. Even if they add one or more of those players, the Bruins might have enough defense and goaltending to outlast teams beneath them to land a playoff spot (they are two points ahead of the Lightning and Rangers, three ahead of the Thrashers, all with their own problems), but they would be a prohibitive underdog in a first round playoff matchup.

Montreal: How long can they live by the sword before dying by it?

And by “sword,” we mean “power play.” Montreal is second in the league in power play conversions (24.6 percent), but they are brutal at 5-on-5 play (tied for 17th). Here is perhaps a useful comparison to shed light on the problem for Montreal. Since January 1st the Canadiens have scored 49 goals in 20 games. Of that number, 16 have come via the power play (32.7 percent). Compare that to the Washington Capitals, who have scored 102 goals since January 1st, 26 of which have come on the power play (25.5 percent). The Caps are the NHL standard for 5-on-5 play this year, true, but outscoring Montreal by 76-33 when not on the power play still points to a full-strength problem for the Canadiens. Put another way, The Canadiens are dead last in the league in power play opportunities. If they can’t unleash the sword of their power play more often and Montreal scores 1.6 goals a game without the benefit of what the power play contributes, it could be a problem as the regular season winds down.

Toronto: “Deal” or “No Deal?”

The only question left for the Maple Leafs this season is “who goes and who stays?” The Leafs certainly haven’t been shy about using the trade route to retool the roster. Phil Kessel, Dion Phaneuf, J-S Giguere are the big names acquired via the trade route this season, which leaves only the mysteries of whether Alexei Ponikarovsky will be moved (that seems close to a betting certainty) and whether Tomas Kaberle will offer the club a chance to trade him (since GM Brian Burke has stated he won’t ask Kaberle to waive his no-trade clause). Other than that the only performance question concerning the Leafs is whether they can play spoiler. On that score, it is worth noting that they play Boston, the Rangers, and Montreal in the last week of the season. Given that those teams seem likely to be fighting for their playoff lives down the stretch, the Leafs will be in a position to play precisely that role.

The Dream Game That Wasn't

"I think how we start the game it's like small kids and big kids play against each other and big kids dominate."

That succinct summation by Alex Ovechkin after Team Canada defeated Team Russia, 7-3, last evening says it all. It was The Dream Game That Wasn’t. And for Caps fans it looked an awful lot like a certain Game 7 of a certain Stanley Cup Quarterfinal from 2009 when the “big kids” of Pittsburgh dominated the “little kids” of Washington on their way to a 6-2 win.

Like that other game from 2009, the competitive portion of this one ended early. Ryan Getzlaf got the home country started only 2:21 into the game, then Dan Boyle and Rick Nash scored less than a minute apart in the game’s 13th minute to put some distance between the Canadians and the Russians. Dmitri Kalinin got one back less than two minutes after Nash’s goal. But the dagger into the heart of the bear was probably Brenden Morrow – a fourth liner on Team Canada – getting a goal with less than two minutes in the first period to give Team Canada a 4-1 lead at the intermission.

And thus, the Dream Game was over.

What was left was more eerie resemblances to last spring’s Penguin rout of the Capitals…

-- Evgeni Nabokov being relieved early in the second period when defenseman Shea Weber solved him (Semyon Varlamov was relieved in Game 7 last year after defenseman Kris Letang scored early in the second)

-- The shot domination by the winners. Canada outshot Russia 42-28 in this one (the Pens outshot the Caps 30-21 in Game 7 last spring).

-- The contributions the winners got from down the roster – six different Canadians share the seven goals last night; five different Penguins shared in the six goals they scored against the Caps in Game 7.

-- The absence of any impact from Alex Ovechkin. He had three shots last night (no points); he had three shots on goal in the Game 7 last spring (a late goal that didn’t impact the outcome).

It’s not as if Ovechkin was singularly absent, although as the “best player on the planet,” that absence was most keenly felt. His linemates – Alexander Semin and Evgeni Malkin – looked like junior players playing against, well, pros.  To be fair, the "second best player on the planet" -- Sidney Crosby -- was pretty much absent, too, but Canada proved a much deeper team than the Russians.

And just an aside… if anyone wants to make a bet with you on the San Jose Sharks winning the Stanley Cup, and they take the Sharks? Drive them to the ATM so they can take out some money. Because Evgeni Nabokov isn’t… money, that is.

And just another note of relevance to the Caps, the losses by Russia, Sweden, and Czech Republic mean that all five Caps (Ovechkin, Semin, Varlamov, Nicklas Backstrom, and Tomas Fleischmann) will be coming back to DC to rejoin their teammates, unless they stick around to take in the rest of the Games.

For the Canadians, their brain trust ended up looking like geniuses with this outcome. Getzlaf, who was the subject of much discussion concerning his ability to play at all with a high-ankle sprain, got the Canadians off and running with their first goal. He also had two assists. The decision to keep him on the roster rather than replace him with Philadelphia’s Jeff Carter looks like a stroke of genius.

As does the decision to keep Mike Green off the roster. There are those (count us among them) who thought choosing Dan Boyle over Green was a head scratcher. Boyle had a goal and two assists last night and now is plus-6 for the tournament. As for other defensemen, whose roster spots Green could have occupied, Duncan Keith had a couple of assists, and even Chris Pronger contributed a helper.

Coach Mike Babcock’s decision to mix up lines to create a more physical obstacle for Alex Ovechkin worked well. Deploying Rick Nash on the forward line and Shea Weber on the back line seemed especially effective.

And as for Roberto Luongo as a replacement for Martin Brodeur in goal, he was not brilliant, but he didn’t allow any soft goals that could have let the Russians back in the game.

24 hours ago, Canada was fretting that they’re hockey team would fail to medal and become the final mockery of the “own the podium” theme. Well, this morning their path to a gold medal looks a great deal brighter. The Swedes lost to Slovakia in a shocker. Finland disposed of the Czechs, and the Americans looked quite beatable even as they defeated the Swiss, 2-0. From goats of the games, Team Canada now has to be considered the solid, if not overwhelming favorite to capture the gold medal.

And that, for now, makes Canada pretty happy with Steve Yzerman and Mike Babcock.

Gonna Fly Now...

Hello, everybody, and happy Olympics from a very unusual place. We're in Vancouver in Canada. I'm Stu Nahan at rinkside, and this promises to be the most-watched event in hockey history. The Rampaging Bear from Russia, Ovey Balbovechkin, and from Cole Harbour in Canada, Sidney Dragsby.

Since that tragedy in Detroit and the death of the Red Wings’ reign as Stanley Cup champs, Dragsby has been nicknamed ‘Death From Below.’

The Prime Minister is here and other members of Parliament…they have made their way to their seats high above the rink here at Canada Hockey Place…

I know you're busy just now...but I want to tell you some things I never told you. I know sometimes I act stupid and take stupid penalties. But you kept me around when others would have said, ‘Drop that bum.’ You give me respect. It's hard for me to say these things because that ain't my way... but if I could just be someone else, I'd want to be you. You're all heart.

Thanks.

Now blast this guy's teeth out!

I'll try.

Balbovechkin is starting to make his way toward the ring. Listen to this crowd! This borders on pure hatred.  Ovey's face is absolutely like stone. He is the picture of concentration. The booing crowd here does not seem to bother him one bit. The champ has a look tonight that can burn through lead.  Listen to this crowd. It sounds insane... Now the entrance of the darling of Canada... Sidney Dragsby, a man with an entire country in his corner.  Look at the expression on the face of Sidney Dragsby. He seems impervious to the madness of the crowd. He's like a volcano just waiting to erupt.

I must break you.

Remember what I said back there about wanting to be you?

Yeah.

Forget it.

There's the opening face off. Balbovechkin picks up the puck at center ice… the Canadian following him into the corner… Once more, it's Dragsby backing up Ovey with a poke check… Balbovechkin is not staying on balance because of the Canadian’s stick.

Balbovechkin is pounding away at the midsection of the Canadian defense!

He hit him with everything he's got! - Dragsby just smiled at him.

Dragsby is continuing to punish Ovey Balbovechkin!

Ovey Balbovechkin is just trying to get through this first period.

He's not only fighting what appears to be an invincible opponent... he's also fighting a very hostile crowd.

What's happening out there?

He's winning.  I see three of him out there.

Get the one in the middle.

There's the bell for round two, uh, faceoff to start the second period. It's been a one-sided fight so far.

It will take more than luck for Ovey to survive this period.

Ovey Balbovechkin has taken Sidney Dragsby's best punches so far.

He's hit! - The Canadian’s hit! It's a huge hit!

Now it's Ovey Balbovechkin coming after Sidney Dragsby! The Canadian wants to go on! He hits Balbovechkin in the [edited for younger audiences, but it’s somewhere south of the navel and north of the knees]. It's a gutter war! No holds barred in Vancouver! This is shaping up to be a personal war. Right now, it's anybody's boxing match… uh, hockey game.

You're doing good. I couldn't do better myself.

Thanks.

You got him hurt bad. Now he's worried. You hit him! You hurt him! You see? He's not a machine! He's a man! You want it more than he does! No pain! Take it to him! Get up!

This place is ready to explode. Lethal punch after punch! Amazing willpower! Neither man backing off. Ovey Balbovechkin's determination is actually winning over the once-hostile crowd. This is incredible.

What period is it?

Third. One more period.

There's no stopping us now. This is our period. No stopping now! You start, and you don't stop! All your strength! All your power! All your love! Everything you've got! To win, you have to knock him out! Shoot ‘til you can't shoot no more! This is your whole life here! Knock him out! Do it now!

Which one of these fighters will be standing at the end of this period? Dragsby snaps out a wrist shot, and another. Ovey taking punishment, trying to get inside the Canadian defense! He's completely exhausted. Balbovechkin is chopping the Canadians down! He SCORRRRRRRRRRRRRES!!!

Ovey Balbovechkin has done the impossible!!!... and these people love it! It is absolute pandemonium! More than ever, Ovey has proven himself a true champion!

Thank you. I came here tonight... and I didn't know what to expect. I've seen a lot of people hating me... and I didn't know... what to feel about that, so... I guess I didn't like youse much either. During this fight, uh, game... I seen a lot of changing… the way you felt about me... and the way I felt about you. In here... there were two guys... killing each other. But I guess that's better than million people watching ice dancing. What I'm trying to say is... if I can change... and you can change... everybody can change!

I just want to say one thing to my fans in Washington... who should be home sleeping…

We’re gonna win the Cup, too!!!

Questions, Questions... Part 2

In the first installment of looking at the big question facing each team, we looked at the Southeast Division. Next up, the Atlantic…

New Jersey: Can you see the end from here?

If Team Canada roars back to take a gold medal at the Vancouver Winter Olympic Games, and it is Roberto Luongo thrusting his arms skyward in triumph between the Canadian pipes, then there is going to be something more than a murmur asking the question about whether now, as he approaches his 38th birthday (May 6th), Martin Brodeur is coming to the end of a glorious career. Not this year, certainly, or even next year, but in terms of his being on the short list of goaltenders considered the best in the NHL we might be in sight of the end.

Truth be told, Marty’s been giving signals that this might be happening long before an iffy game against the Americans in the preliminary round of Olympic men’s ice hockey. Since Christmas, Brodeur is 11-12-2 in 25 appearances with a 2.61 GAA and .906 save percentage. It gets worse. Since he shut out Florida, 2-0, on January 20th, Brodeur is 4-6-2, 2.95, .879, and he has allowed fewer than three goals only three times.

And it is not as if this is a new development. Marty staggered to the close of last year’s regular season, too. In his last 11 games last season he was 4-6-1, 3.25, .897. Then, he and his Devils lost in the first round of the playoffs, Brodeur allowing four goals in three of the last four games of that series (each of those three games lost by New Jersey).

In 11 of 12 seasons before last year, when Brodeur was sidelined with an arm injury for much of the season, he finished his regular season well to the north side of 4,000 minutes played. With almost 3,400 minutes played this year, it would take an injury or an act of God (or Jacques Lemaire) to keep him from another 4,000 minute season, with his Vancouver minutes on top of that. New Jersey has the problem of being in something of a seeding bind. They are only one point ahead of Pittsburgh for the Atlantic Division lead (with the top-three seed winning it would provide) and two points ahead of Buffalo, which occupies the number five slot in the top eight at the moment. The Devils could find themselves looking at losing home ice advantage for the first round. It might not mean much, though, unless Brodeur’s recent results are merely an in-season slump. But if it’s another weak finish in store, well, it might not matter where Jersey plays.

Pittsburgh: Is more Sidney “too much” Sidney?

Caps fans will argue otherwise (emotionally, but that’s why we’re “fans”), but there is much to admire in the still-young career of Sidney Crosby. Not least among those things is an attitude that will not let him cut corners – he addresses weaknesses in his game critically. In his rookie season he was weak on faceoffs (45.5 percent). Since then he has become one of the best of that art in the league (11th as of the Olympic break). He was seen as primarily an offensive player early in his career, but has made himself, if not “Selke-class” on defense, then certainly an honest two-way player. The one thing that seemingly, given the high bar set for him, hadn’t yet come around was his ability to finish.

Well, he is on his way to putting that one to rest, too. At the break he is tied with Alex Ovechkin for the league lead in goals (42), already setting a career best mark. But the question going forward is whether more goal scoring from Crosby is too much goal scoring from Crosby. So far this year, he is responsible for 22.3 percent of the total number of goals scored by the Penguins. That, too, would be a career high (surpassing the 16.0 percent of Penguin goals he had in his rookie year). The trouble is, even with Crosby’s increase in goal scoring the Penguins are on a pace for the second lowest total of goals of Crosby’s tenure (248, which would best the 240 they had in 2007-2008).

A persistent problem, or so the narrative goes (with no small amount of truth), is that while the Penguins are strong down the middle with Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Jordan Staal, they have been persistently weak on the wings. On the other hand Crosby is, as an accompanying narrative goes, the preeminent set-up man of this era. As evidence, he did help make Colby Armstrong a 16-goal scorer (in 47 games) in Crosby’s rookie year. Is it reasonable to expect that he could elevate the production of most any winger he has flanking him?

He’s had to deal with the absence of his regular left winger – Chris Kunitz – for much of the year, and it is true that his other regular winger (Bill Guerin) isn’t a spring chicken anymore. Perhaps it is a case of Crosby taking advantage of what openings are provided, with a dash of weakness on the wing thrown in. But are the Penguins a lesser club for Crosby’s assuming more of the goal-scoring burden? Offensively, this is (at the moment) objectively true in terms of their goal production. For the Penguins to repeat as Stanley Cup champions, they might have to find a way for Crosby to score fewer goals himself and take greater advantage of his playmaking gifts (which is perhaps the Penguins’ true “character,” much as the Caps character is defined by Alex Ovechkin scoring bushels of goals). If they don’t, and the Penguins become more of a one-note band, instead of a symphony, they’ll be singing a sad song this spring.

Philadelphia: Can a team go far without a “page one” goaltender?

The “page one” term refers to the statistical tables at the NHL.com website. The goalies take up two pages of information, and to be a “page two” goalie in any statistical ranking (wins, GAA, save percentage, etc.) is to be among the lesser producers at that position in the league. While the Flyers’ goaltenders are not, strictly speaking, “page two” goalies, Ray Emery and Michael Leighton are not a pair to strike a lot of fear in the hearts of opposing shooters. Emery ranks 24th (of 45 goalies ranked) in goals-against average, Leighton ranks 27th (combined with Philadelphia and Carolina). In save percentage they rank 30th and 31st, respectively.

Philly hasn’t been able to win consistently with goaltending.

This has been a recurring theme for the Flyers ever since they stopped winning Stanley Cups when Gerald Ford was President of the United States. And while one could argue that the tandem of Emery and Leighton is statistically better than Jose Theodore and Semyon Varlamov/Michal Neuvirth for the Capitals, the Flyers also average almost a full goal scored less per game than do the Caps. For the Flyers, there is less room for error among their goalies.

The silver lining, if there is one, is that Emery was 5-2-0 going into the Olympic break after losing five straight decisions in six appearances (the last decision coming in his first turn back after missing six weeks to injury). He also has a 1.73 GAA, .936 save percentage, and two shutouts to round out the numbers. If a healthy Emery is a productive Emery – more reminiscent of the goalie who started the year 11-4-1 in his first 16 decisions – the Flyers will have to be reckoned with.

New York Rangers: Can’t anybody here shoot this puck?

Except for Marian Gaborik, of course. Gaborik has accounted for 22.2 percent of the Rangers’ goals this season (35 of 158). But it gets more ominous for the Rangers. Since January 1st Gaborik has nine goals in 20 games, itself a drop-off in his pace in the 2009 portion of the season. But three of those nine goals came in a single contest – a hat trick against the Avalanche on January 31st. As Gaborik’s pace has fallen off, the Rangers aren’t seeing anyone picking up the pace. In 22 games since the start of the new year, Rangers not named “Gaborik” have scored a total of 45 goals (2.04/game). And yes, it does get still worse. 14 of the 54 goals the Rangers have since January 1st were scored in consecutive games in mid-January – a 6-2 win over Montreal and an 8-2 pasting of Tampa Bay. That’s two goals a game otherwise, even with Gaborik in the lineup.

The Rangers have been shutout four times in their last 17 games and have scored a single goal on four other occasions. Henrik Lundqvist can’t pitch a shutout every time out. The Rangers simply have to find scoring from somewhere… anywhere. If they don’t, they will go quick and quiet into the off-season.

New York Islanders: Can pluck and luck get them unstuck?

The Islanders, bless their souls, are one of the hardest working teams you will ever see this season. Yes, they have a glorious prospect in John Tavares – third on the team in scoring at the moment – but he is a minus-18 for the year, too (tied for second-worst on the team). Kyle Okposo will be a top-notch power forward someday, but today isn’t that day. He’s good, and will get better, but he isn’t yet at the point where a team can lean on him to carry them for long stretches. Mark Streit is one of the best power play point men in the game, but he’s getting next to no help on the blue line. The Islanders have a number of other young guys who have promise as well.

For the time being, while the young guys develop, the Islanders have to be better than the sum of their parts, work harder than their opponent, and get the bounces to win games. The trouble is, they haven’t been doing a lot of that lately – not unexpected at this time of the year for a club that has gotten by on guile and effort to this point of the season. The Islanders are 3-10-0 in their last 13 games going into the Olympic break since a four game winning streak in mid-January.

On paper, the Islanders have not lost contact with the top-eight teams. They are six points behind eighth-place Montreal with a game in hand. But as a practical matter – five teams to climb over and 20 games to do it with a thin roster – it is almost a betting certainty they will not accomplish the feat of making the dance. They will have to be content with the knowledge that better days do lie ahead, just not this year.

The Other Matchup

Tonight the Canadians and the Russians meet in the long anticipated Olympic men’s ice hockey matchup. It is taking place sooner than most might have thought, but it doesn’t diminish the importance of the contest – whoever wins will become the gold medal favorite (with all due respect to Team USA and Team Sweden).

Most of those watching might view this as the next installment of the Alex Ovechkin-vs.-Sidney Crosby wars. We’re thinking that this is about something else, about two other people. The Russians are perhaps the most explosive offensive team in this tournament. Ovechkin, Evgeni Malkin, Pavel Datsyuk, Ilya Kovalchuk, Alexander Semin. These are among the most dynamic and prolific talents in the sport. The fault line on this contest might not be Crosby/Ovechkin as much as it is the Russian forwards/Canadian defense.

It is with this team and this kind of offensive talent in mind that the Team Canada defense, we suspect, was constructed the way it was. Chris Pronger, Duncan Keith, Shea Weber, Keith Seabrook, Drew Doughty, Scott Niedermayer, Dan Boyle. The six players out of this group who dress tonight are going to have to be good in their own end to keep Ovechkin and Company out of Roberto Luongo’s way and off the score sheet.  They are going to have help make those Russian forwards play defense to try and keep play out of their own end.

Team Canada Executive Director Steve Yzerman said a couple of weeks ago...

I just think the defence we put together can generate offence almost to the same level as Mike [Green], and yet be stronger in other areas. We just thought the seven that we chose are a better fit for us.

This is the reason Mike Green is watching at home instead of skating on Canada Hockey Place ice. This is the reason Yzerman went in another direction.

Tonight will showcase Crosby and Ovechkin, but this about Green and Yzerman, too, and whether decisions made in late December were the right ones for the games in February.

Questions, Questions

Two weeks without NHL hockey provides a respite to those players not participating in the Olympics – two weeks to recuperate, two weeks to recharge, two weeks to remove the demons that might have been lurking in their play. For others the two weeks is an unwelcome interruption – two weeks to cool off, two weeks to lose your touch, two weeks to get out of a groove and into a rut.

But what two weeks also does is make us realize that now, it’s a sprint to the finish – six weeks to play 19-22 games. And with so little time left, the focus will sharpen on what is the big issue for clubs fighting for a playoff spot or who have bigger aspirations than just making the playoffs. So, what is the big question that each team has facing it? We’ll start in the Southeast…

Washington: Can the Capitals settle on a goaltender?

If the Caps play .500 hockey the rest of the way (as measured in standings points available) they will finish the year with a franchise-record 110 points. Making the playoffs is not an issue for this club. But if going deep in the playoffs is the benchmark for success this year (if not reaching the Stanley Cup final), then the lingering issue they have is between the pipes.

No Washington goaltender has a majority of the wins for the Caps – Jose Theodore has 20 of the Capitals’ 41 wins so far. This speaks to a certain depth in the Capitals’ organization, but the flip side of that is that it is not yet clear who the number one goaltender will be for Washington when the playoffs start. Each of the three potential candidates has their arguments to make and their issues to answer for.

Theodore has been good, even spectacular in spots, but he carries the baggage of inconsistency and last year’ s disappointing performance in Game 1 of the opening round that earned him a spot on the bench for the duration of the playoffs. In his last ten appearances he is 8-0-2, 3.01, .917. What is alarming there is that he allowed 16 goals in his last four appearances. Varlamov, last year’s darling of the playoffs, has been good but brittle. Groin and knee injuries have limited him to 17 appearances this year, only one since December 7th (and he was lit up for six goals in that one). He had two shutouts in his last four appearances before going on the shelf in December. But he is essentially doing a season restart on March 1st. Neuvirth, the MVP of last year’s Calder Cup playoffs, has been plagued by the sort of inconsistency you would expect from a rookie. He hasn’t been credited with a loss since January 2nd, but in his last 10 appearances he has three starts he didn’t finish in going 6-0-0 (he also relieved Jose Theodore in what would be another no-decision), and he was injured in his last appearance.

By now, in a perfect world, Bruce Boudreau would have seen enough to make a choice between Theodore and Varlamov as the number one getting ready for the playoffs. But now, with 20 games left and the sprint about to start, the problem is that he probably hasn’t seen enough of a healthy Varlamov to make that choice. Will Varlamov be getting the lion’s share of starts coming out of the gate? It bears watching.

Tampa Bay: Is Antero Niittymaki “The Man?”

In four full seasons in the NHL before this one, Niittymaki never appeared in more than 52 games (and he was 9-29-9 for an awful Flyers team in that season). Well, he has appeared in 16 of the last 18 Lightning games and has a much better record than teammate Mike Smith in wins and losses (16-10-5 versus 10-14-6), goals against average (2.55 to 2.97) and save percentage (.917 to .903). Statistically, Niittymaki is putting together his best career season, but is he going to have the opportunity to maintain that pace in the season’s last six weeks? Here is the problem for Tampa Bay – his career record after March 1st is 8-11-1, 3.33, .889. Does he have enough gas in the tank to help get the Lightning into the top-eight?

Atlanta: Can the Thrashers be less consistent about their inconsistency?

The Thrashers have won consecutive games once in 2010. On the other hand, they’ve only gone without a point in consecutive games once in 2010 ( a three game losing streak from January 30th to February 5th). Their 8-7-6 record since January 1st is testimony to their inability to get any traction on their schedule. Trading away the franchise – Ilya Kovalchuk – is the sort of distraction that can’t help a team fighting consistency issues.

The Thrashers are only two points out of eighth place with three teams to climb over to get there. But what they need to wring some consistent winning out of their schedule is a “go-to” guy. Not to replace Kovalchuk, mind you, but a guy who can reliably approach a point a game and pot some clutch goals. Is that guy on the Thrasher roster? Nik Antropov was 3-9-12 in his last ten games heading into the break and is now the Thrashers’ leading scorer. Maxim Afinogenov – the Thrashers’ second leading scorer – was 3-1-4 in his last ten games going into the break. Rookie Evander Kane had goals in three of his last four games heading into the break. Unless the Thrashers have some more wheeling and dealing coming, it’s likely that the go-to guy has to come from this trio. It’s a rather steep hill to climb.

Florida: Will Vokoun swoon?

The last time a goaltender for the Panthers other than Tomas Vokoun earned a decision was December 27th. That’s 21 consecutive games (8-10-3) and counting. Add to that the fact that Vokoun is in Vancouver, where he played in all three of the preliminary round games for the Czech Republic. He will likely get the call when the Czech’s play Latvia on Tuesday, when they play Finland in the quarters on Wednesday (assuming they beat the Latvians), and – if it should come to pass – in the semis and medal game. With Florida lurking six points out of a playoff berth and with four teams to hop over, the question coming out of the break will be whether Vokoun plays in all of the Panthers’ last 21 games starting a week from tonight and whether he will have enough gas in the tank to make a difference. Since the lockout he has had a respectable finishing kick to his seasons, going 25-17-8 in games after March 1st. It’s worth noting that since the lockout, backup Scott Clemmensen has played a total of five games after March 1st, and in only two of those did he play a full 60 or more minutes (1-0-1).

Carolina: Is there enough time left?

When Carolina dropped a 3-2 decision to Tampa Bay on January 18th – their third straight loss at the time – they were 13 games under .500 with a 14-27-7 record. Since then the Hurrricanes are 10-3-0 and went into the Olympic break with a five-game winning streak. With 21 games remaining, nine points out of a playoff spot, and six teams to leap-frog, it is a daunting climb. What the Hurricanes do not have is the luxury of seeing whether their winning streak going into the break can be duplicated coming out of the break as a basis for making trade decisions. The deadline, coming as it does on March 3rd, provides almost no room to make any further evaluations of the current roster. Unfortunately for the Hurricanes, it is almost certainly too little, too late, and assets will be moved in anticipation of next year and beyond.

Uh-oh Canada

Teammates, huh...

Crosby...Orpik.  Brodeur...Langenbrunner...Parise.

Yeah, maybe next week we'll be buds.


(photos: Andre Forget, QMI Agency; Hans Deryk, Reuters)

Your Capital Olympians

After the preliminary round, here is how they stack up...

Week One In The Books

With Team Sweden defeating Team Finland last night/early this morning (depending on your time zone), the preliminary round of men’s ice hockey at the Vancouver Olympics came to a close. And what a way to end it – the “hit heard ‘round Vancouver”… the upset… and the technical marvel that was Team Sweden in the Sweden-Finland contest – made this every bit the “Spectacular Sunday” of ice hockey that hockey fans were hoping for.

As the teams move forward to the playoff qualification round, we can’t help think that today, closing as it did the the first week of competition, had its share of winners and losers…

Winner: USA Hockey.

Let’s face it. Having NHL players in the Olympics hasn’t exactly been a great thing for the ol’ U.S. of A. In 1998 the lasting memory was of “Hockey Players Gone Wild” in Nagano, Japan. There was no medal. In 2002 the Americans could not win gold on home ice in Salt Lake City, settling for the silver medal after getting toasted by Team Canada in the final. In Torino in 2006, Team USA exited in the quarters when they lost to Finland.

Well, this is a new bunch, the youngest team in Vancouver as a matter of fact. One doesn’t want to let yesterday’s 5-3 win over Team Canada in the preliminaries cloud impressions, but there is freshness about them and a work ethic that seems to surround them that wasn’t as evident in previous teams. And, that win over Team Canada was the first by a U.S. team in 50 years. Even if it was the prelims, it was not a trivial achievement.

Loser: Team Canada

There is the faint whiff of underachievement hovering about this team, already. It isn’t necessarily a product of the loss to Team USA (the flip side of not wanting to let yesterday’s Team USA win cloud impressions), but Canada limps into the playoff qualification round with a 1-1-1 record, pounding the undermanned Norwegians 8-0, but getting taken to a shootout against the Swiss, then dropping last night’s game to the Americans.

The pressure on Team Canada has to be a burden. This isn’t Team USA in Salt Lake City in 2002. This isn’t even comparable to Team USA in basketball playing in the States during a Summer Olympics. Hockey defines Canada in ways that no sport does in the U.S. And for this collection of talent – arguably the greatest collection of hockey talent under one flag in any tournament in the history of the sport – to have to qualify before going into the final three rounds has to be at the least unexpected. The silver lining is that they certainly have the talent to win four consecutive games. What might be disappointing is that they now have to win four consecutive games to capture the gold.

Winner: Hockey Fans

There was a considerable amount of grief coursing through the Internet last evening about NBC’s decision to carry the USA-Canada game on MSNBC instead of on NBC. But fans did have that option – to see the game telecast live while other programming was being broadcast on the flagship network. There are those of us who remember that in 1980, when Team USA defeated the Soviet Union in the “Miracle on Ice,” ABC broadcast the game (played in the late afternoon on a Friday) on tape delay in prime time. Today we have cable networks that can offer additional outlets, not to mention the sorts of technologies and means to make the game available on a much broader basis. Was it a perfect solution? No – I’d have liked to have seen this game in high-definition – but it wasn’t a catastrophe for hockey fans.

Loser: NBC

This struck me as a victory, if you want to call it that, of short-term thinking over the long term. Surely, NBC wants to maximize its ratings for the Vancouver games and thought it could do so by programming ice dancing for the NBC network and relegating the Canada-USA game to MSNBC. They made the calculation that in the here and now, more people will watch ice dancing than ice hockey. Go figure. But it says something of the long term that NBC would do this. This sort of thing tells me that NBC doesn’t see much of a future or much benefit to be had as a partner of the NHL. A year from now, a lot of those eye-balls watching ice dancing this week won’t have a care in the world about it. We don’t mean to disparage the athletes or the cadre of fans that is devoted to the sport. However, in the Olympics – summer or winter – there are competitions that capture the attention and the imagination of viewers, especially in the States, but that wane in terms of attention in non-Olympic years. Ice dancing might be among them. If NBC is going to be a real partner to the NHL after these games in the years ahead, then hockey (you would think) would be getting a little more attention from the network. Hockey fans might think that NBC lost an opportunity here, and you could count us among them as yesterday wore on. But as we think about it, we’re just not convinced that NBC sees a lot of promise in the NHL as a partner.

Loser: The NHL

If the idea was to showcase its players, is the league getting enough bang for the buck? As the Commissioner pointed out in an interview after the Canada-USA game, the NHL is the only professional sports league to shut down in the middle of its season to accommodate and participate in the Olympics. You would think that having the best players in the world on the Olympic stage would be something that those who oversee the Olympics would want to nurture. The NHL seems to be getting little for its investment, and it raises the reasonable question of whether the league will be inclined to participate in the Sochi games in 2014.

Winner: Old Time Hockey

I don’t remember this level of hitting in an Olympics in the recent past, even with NHL players. Perhaps it is the smaller ice surface (the games are being played on an NHL-sized rink), but there is a lot of hitting and battling along the walls and in front of the nets. And it is taking place at what at times is a frantic pace. The Russia-Czech and Canada-USA games were played at a high-tempo throughout. Alex Ovechkin had the hit of the tournament on Jaromir Jagr, but he was playing like a rampaging beast (in a good way) throughout that game. The Canada-USA game was relentless for its hitting and finishing checks throughout.

Loser: Nu-Age Hockey

Again, this might be the product of the smaller ice surface (and the prevalence of NHL players), but the pretty plays you might expect from this collection of high-end talent hasn’t manifested itself. Guys who aren’t as willing to pay a price aren’t getting rewarded. If you’re not willing to get greasy, nothing’s coming easy.

Winner: Ryan Miller

Elliotte Friedman tweeted for Hockey Night in Canada last night that “this game might win Miller the Hart Trophy.” Maybe that’s a bit hyperbolic, since the Olympics have nothing to do with the letter of the citation for the Hart, but last night’s game cemented Miller’s status as an elite goaltender. He might even be the elite goaltender on the planet at the moment.

Loser: Martin Brodeur

Team Canada did not lose to Team USA because Brodeur had a bad game. What he didn’t have, which was surprising, was a good game. He allowed on goal on what was described in the Vancouver Sun as being more akin to a “curling shot.” He allowed three others on shots that hockey fans have seen him gobble up as a snack over the years. We looked at him and, as a Caps fan, had our thoughts go to Olaf Kolzig and the way his career ended with the Caps (his last game being a 5-0 loss to Chicago, after which he would not play another regular season game or playoff game for the Caps). Is this how Brodeur’s Olympic career is going to end? Does Coach Mike Babcock put the fortunes of Team Canada in the hands of Roberto Luongo?

Winner: Alex Ovechkin

And the legend grows. The hit on Jagr aside (which might not have been as surprising to Caps fans as was his leveling 6’7, 250 pound Hal Gill in a game against Montreal just before the break), Ovechkin was – and has been – finishing checks, hitting players, and being his whirling dervish self on the ice. He is tied for seventh in tournament scoring (second on a loaded Russian team) and is playing a remarkably (given the dominant narrative of his play) complete, two-way game.

Loser: Sidney Crosby

Well, not loser, but he hasn’t had a very good week. Yes, he is tied for the tournament lead in scoring, and yes, he did have the game-winning Gimmick goal in Canada’s win over Switzerland. But this is his tournament, his Olympics. It is a lot of pressure to bear. But he ended the week deflecting the puck into his own net for the first Team USA goal on Sunday and is a minus-1 for the week.

Winner: Ryan Kesler

If you’re going to yap about hating the other team, you’d better stand up and be accounted for when you have to play them. Kesler did, in spades, against the Canadians on Sunday. He topped off the scoring of the 5-3 Team USA win over Canada with probably the hardest working empty net goal you will ever see, outhustling Corey Perry to a sliding puck in the Canadian end and driving home the last nail into the team he said he hated. But before that he might have been the hardest working player for either side on the ice. He was finishing checks, pressing the Canadians in the own end, blocking shots. This might be his coming out party…well, if more people could see it.

Loser: Henrik Lundqvist

OK, how many people know that he hasn’t given up a goal yet for Team Sweden? 120 minutes,41 shots, no goals, including staving off two 5-on-3’s against Finland. Lundqvist is representative of Team Sweden, which almost seems like a forgotten team in this tournament.  Pay attention!

Winner: Jeremy Roenick

We couldn’t stand Roenick as a player. We love him as an analyst. He speaks his mind in an unvarnished manner, and it is refreshing, as is his willingness to mix it up with Mike Milbury.

Loser: Mike Milbury

Why? Because we still can’t stand him.

The first week was quite a feast for the hockey fan and as good an introduction to the sport as you could hope for, for those folks looking in for the first time. The stakes are higher this week. It is single elimination now, and it becomes more of a goaltender’s tournament. A hot goalie can carry his club to three (or four) wins, and one bad goal could spell doom.

Canada has the hardest row to hoe to get to the goal medal – if they beat Germany, they have to beat the Russians, and then they are likely to face the Swedes before the gold medal game. Team USA might have the easiest path to the final, getting the winner of Switzerland-Belarus, then probably Finland or Czech Republic. But when it’s single elimination, the “bracketologists” might end up with egg on their faces. After all, how many people thought that the Canada-Russia game, if it occurs at all, will come in a quarterfinal?

Fasten your seat belts. It’s going to be quite a ride this week.

C'mon, you were wondering how they were made

Super Sunday?...No, "Spectacular Sunday"

The NFL has its conference championship weekend, arguably the best weekend of football of the year.  College basketball has its Final Four weekend, as competitive as it gets in that sport.

Today hockey fans get their thrill.  Some are calling it "Super Sunday," but let's let the NFL have their fun.  For hockey fans, today is "Spectacular Sunday" -- Russia vs. Czech Republic at noon, followed up by Canada vs. USA, and topped off by Sweden vs. Finland.

Border wars, brother vs. brother, teammate vs. teammate, and a whole history of match-ups that give today depth and meaning.

If you are a hockey fan, today is as "must-see" as it gets.  And if you're not a hockey fan, watch... you will be when the day is done.

Mauled by Bears

The Hershey Bears tied an AHL record last night with their 19th straight home victory, a 4-1 win over the Lake Erie Monsters.

The Bears have not lost on Giant Center ice since dropping a 5-4 Gimmick decision on November 28th. Since that time they have mauled opponents mercilessly in 19 games to the tune of 110 goals for, 40 against. And as if to make the point of their home ice dominance more emphatically, 14 of those 19 wins have come by at least three goals. Only four times have they won by a single goal, and each instance they followed it up with a win of at least three goals.

15 times in 19 games the Bears have registered at least five goals in this run, and six times they have scored at least seven goals in a game. On the other side of the ledger, only six times has an opponent scored more than two goals on Giant Center ice, and only once was it done in consecutive games.

12 different teams have visited Giant Center in this run, and all have left defeated. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton has been the unfortunate victim of the most losses in this run, losing three times to Hershey (by a combined score of 17-6).

Individually, the roster’s offensive statistics look like the results of a pinball session…

Six players with at least 20 points, five with at least nine goals, 21 different players with goals, 27 with points. The goaltenders have been doing their part, too…



Four goalies have shared in the 19 wins. Only once was a goaltender pulled (Jason Bacashihua, in a 5-4 Hershey win on December 5th).

They go for the record tonight when the Albany River Rats visit Giant Center. Albany is among the victims in this streak, dropping an 8-3 decision to the Bears on January 30th. You would almost think that the last three months at Giant Center would be a subject for a National Geographic documentary – “Bears Gone Wild”

Not "goodbye," we hope... just "until next time"

Over there on the right hand margin of this page, you'll see a question...

"Hate Cancer?"

If you click the link, you will be sent to "Put Cancer On Ice" that in their words is "a grassroots organization comprised of Washington Capitals hockey fans."

That description doesn't tell the half of it. For several years, Gavin Toner, Rob Keaton, and Ben Wilson -- the founders of the group -- have been holding monthly benefit games and the annual "Dave Fay Memorial Classic" game (in honor of the late Dave Fay, legendary sports writer for the Washington Times), auctioning off hockey-related items, and generally doing good works in the cause of fighting cancer under the "Put Cancer On Ice" banner.

Life's responsibilities intervene, though, even with respect to the best of causes, and the banner of "Put Cancer On Ice" is to be furled. But as PCOI goes into hiatus, the body of work that the organization leaves behind -- increasing awareness of this disease, bring hockey players and fans together in common cause, giving hockey fans an oasis in the heat of summer with the annual Dave Fay game, and raising more than $30,000 in the fight against cancer -- is impressive.

With that in mind, and for what it's worth, we'll leave the light on with that link over there in the margin with the hope that we'll see PCOI in the future.

Until next time... thanks Gavin, Rob, and Ben, and all the folks who worked with and supported PCOI for all of your contributions for your help in fighting cancer. You've been an inspiration to the rest of us in the Capitals community.