Caps vs Maple Leafs 3/5/2009 Game Thread

[Jofizz]

It's really not that dire, although losing to a leafs team that's this depleted would be embarassing. i don't expect them to lose, but this is hockey not football, sometimes you slump for a few games. I'll remind everyone again that Detroit lost SIX games in a row around this time last season and the Flyers lost TEN games in a row in the 2nd half of last season. Both of those teams were in the final four last year and Detroit skated with the Cup.

It's not near time to panic, but you do want to see the work ethic increase, you want to see goalies controlling their rebounds, and you want to at least see the Caps "outplay" teams that they're better than. You may not win for whatever reason, bad bounces/hot goalie/shoddy officiating, but you at least want to see that they have the ability to go to another level with any matter of consistency. Now, if they're consistently getting outworked and outmuscled down low and in front of the goal then you worry, but two to three games of bad hockey isn't "game over."

Very true. I'd like to see some more emotion. We have given up 5+ goals two games in a row on OUR ICE. The place that used to be impossible for opponents to win on. We need to bring back that intimidation at Verizon.

I would be very surprised to see Theo give up more than 3 tonight. I'm excited to see what Nyls can do. I hope a fire is lit under his arse.

[HEavyJumbo85]

I read in the Post today that he was sent down to Hershey. Does that mean that we can bring someone up like Alzner?

Not exactly. The cap is extremely complicated, but with Pothier back and Kronwall down we should have in the neighborhood of 700-800K available and that's just what's left of Chris Clark's Long Term Injury Replacement money. Now we might actually have more like 1.1 mil available but it's tricky because the cap is counted by the day and the Caps have been over all season but they've been getting by on the Long Term Injury Replacement cushion. Either way Alzner's cap hit right now is 1.675 million, but his raw salary is 875K, the rest is bonuses that he could earn. We're getting to the point of the season where there are bonuses of his that he can no longer earn and that would lower his cap hit accordingly, which most likely would enable us to bring him up. The only problem with this is Alzner wouldn't be playing right now anyway. He'd be the 7th D and with Erskine playing well and the fact that there's no chance in hell Schultz is a healthy scratch, Karl would be sitting. Also the CBA states that after the deadline when Roster limits are lifted, you are only allowed FOUR minor league recalls. I know we want to bring Karl up, but with Pothier probably coming back are you willing to waste 1 of the 4 callups this early on? I'm assuming we'll be using one for Varly at some point here in the next few weeks and what if we have injuries up front? If Pothier can't go after the conditioning stint, then Alzner comes up, otherwise he's a luxury.


By the way anyone wondering why you're only allowed 4 recalls, it's because of the AHL playoffs. It's to stop teams who are out of the NHL race from sending every one of their regular NHL players on entry level deals to the minors just to play in the playoffs down there. To be eligible for the AHL playoffs you have to have been on an AHL roster for at least one day during the regular season and then be listed on the clear day roster. Most teams are smart enough to make the necessary paper transactions before the deadline, but it's just an "in case" thing.

[herrmag]

Personally, I couldn't care less what other teams have been capable of doing in the past. THIS TEAM seems to go unaccountable. I have no doubt that BB punishes them in practice, and screams his head off in the locker room. However, I want to see it by someone on the ice. This idea of not giving the C to a player actually participating is, IMO, moronic. Give the "C" to Donald for the rest of the season, and let him start holding the players accountable, including Ovie. I think a few of these young guns need a little dose of reality.

[DoGood28]

After disagreeing with the sentiments of several people in this forum, two days ago I came to realize that we really aren't quite "there" yet. It just kind of popped into my head and I'm not terribly dismayed by it because there isn't anything wrong with that.

We were one the worst teams in the league to start off last season and went on an epic tear to make the playoffs for the first time in a while. I remember thinking last season that we are still incredibly young but the the potential to learn from that playoff run and to be good for a long time. We would be markedly better this season but even so, this may not result in a Stanley Cup run. But whatever happens, we have a bright future and it will be fun to sit back and enjoy the ride.

Fast forward to this season. We've performed even better than I anticipated and are in the process of completing one of the most dominant seasons in franchise history. However, we are still young and have been dogged by some significant issues all year that may be seriously detrimental to a long playoff run.

I for one am glad that we made no moves at the trade deadline. The best course of action would be see how far this young team can go and keep building on that success. Our issues would not have been solved by one or two trades. We can address those areas during the offseason while keeping our young guys at our own discretion.

Having said all that, I hope and believe that we can kick some ass in the playoffs.

[HEavyJumbo85]

Personally, I couldn't care less what other teams have been capable of doing in the past. THIS TEAM seems to go unaccountable. I have no doubt that BB punishes them in practice, and screams his head off in the locker room. However, I want to see it by someone on the ice. This idea of not giving the C to a player actually participating is, IMO, moronic. Give the "C" to Donald for the rest of the season, and let him start holding the players accountable, including Ovie. I think a few of these young guns need a little dose of reality.

Donald isn't getting a C and he doesn't need one in my opinion. He should be holding the guys accountable whether he has a letter or not. If he won't stand up and say anything now, giving him a letter(especially a temporary letter) won't suddenly change the way he conducts himself in the locker room. You're going to see Brash be a healthy scratch here down the stretch at some point also. We have too many forwards and we won't be sitting out Nylander for 4 games at a time anymore. Guys need to step up, Sergei Fedorov needs to step up, Ovechkin needs to stand up and say something, Brooks Laich needs to stand up and say something, Matt Bradley, someone. I think we miss Kolzig in the room more than anything, he would hold guys accountable. Matt Cooke was a guy that stood up and spoke down the stretch and I think he was more important than we gave him credit for. I thought for sure that GMGM would go out and get a vocal guy to spark the team, but maybe not making any moves is his way of sparking them. They've got to learn to win on their own. I didn't think they were winning the cup this year anyway and maybe McPhee is thinking the same thing and he wants to see how these guys handle themselves without that "sparkplug" or "savior" coming in from outside. I don't like it one bit, but it is what it is. There isn't a vocal leader in that locker room and it wouldn't matter if anyone had a C on their chest or not. We just don't have that guy.

[SpringfieldSkins]

I'll be there tonight, leaving here shortly.


Section 116, Row D.

I'll be rockin' the Semin like always.

[Jofizz]

Ovie out. Wow.

[mbqbfan]

I'm almost afraid to watch tonight's game. I will anyway. Let's win guys!!

[DoGood28]

Ovie out. Wow.

I know, WTH? All reports pointed to the contrary, then they merely mention it during the intro and that was it. They didn't even discuss it. I kind of feel a little duped.

[mbqbfan]

I know, WTH? All reports pointed to the contrary, then they merely mention it during the intro and that was it. They didn't even discuss it. I kind of feel a little duped.

I heard on CSN that Ovie took a puck to the foot fairly hard in practice yesterday. Hopefully it's just a stinger and missing tonight's game won't be a big deal. Hope the Caps win tonight!

[Sticksboi05]

LOL, bailed out.

[MonkFan8]

That's a good call. I was screaming for it when the guy rushed the net.

[rincewind]

Huh. I'd be pretty pissed if I was Wilson. Not my fault you missed the call - not sure how that was reviewable.

[skinsgirl26]

Did anyone else's tv just freeze? That was horrible, but I think it was just commercials.

Hell noooo that was not a goal!!!!

[MonkFan8]

Schultz is ****ing miserable.