Kono... Caps Thread

[DSF]

Didnt see this posted anywhere yet but yeah...

Caps traded away the heart and soul of their team today when they traded Steve Konowalchuk to Colorado. Granted they got some really good value for him, but trading away the captain of the team just when the season gets under way is going to prove to be a mistake IMO.

No one else had the drive and heart to win more than Kono on the Capitals I believe. Sad to see him go but at least hes going to a franchise who can win finally.

Kono Gone

[SkinsHokie Fan]

Honestly though his "heart and soul" has been part of numerous playoff failures. Nobody on this Caps team is untouchable because none of them have a Cup in DC. If it helps the team I am for it

[Skeletor The Invincible]

I agree with Hoke Fan.


If it's good for the team than I'm all for it.


We'll see whether it's good or not in the coming games.

[Hog Fever]

Konowalchuk was my favorite Cap but after the last few years of "spend, spend, spend" with no Cup the youth movement is no big shock. As fans we may be in for a long season. It will be nice to watch the young guys play more though and in a couple of years......who knows? Maybe we end up with the team we all want.

I honestly thought Kolzig would be the first one delt this season (since we failed at suckering the Rangers into taking Jagr). I still see the Caps moving Kolzig before the end of the season. We have a lot of depth ar goalie in the system.

[panel]

Bates Battaglia is not that bad himself, and Jonas Johansson was a resent 1st rounder.

[doubledeuce]

Battaglia hasn't done squat with the Avs since they acquired him a year ago.
They tried him on the second and third lines and he just never got it going.
Time will tell, but I think the Caps got the short end of this one.

[Posse81]

I don't know, Doubledeuce. Kono hasn't done a whole lot, at least from a scoring standpoint since his injury. There is a youth movement obviously and like Hog Fever said, we could be in for a long year.

But at least Eminger is playing well and Semin and Yonkman are seeing a little time here and there.

Wonder if Ollie will get dealt near the trade deadline with Oullet waiting in the wings...

[bulldog]

Konowalchuk is going to be a free agent after the season and the club indicated it was not going to resign him to the contract he was looking for, so this move was not entirely unexpected.

As mentioned, Steve is 31 and his scoring touch and work on the checking line has suffered the past couple of years.

Indeed the failure of the Konowalchuk/Halpern/Grier line to be productively defensively is one of the reasons the Caps lost to Tampa in last year's playoff series.

The Caps are trying to cut the payroll and refashion themselves into a younger team with a good system of prospects.

3 or 4 years from now Johansson will be a regular in the NHL and Konowalchuk will be retired.

it may not suffice in 2003 where Steve could help Colorado.

but the Caps in a smaller market to survive and be a contender are going to have to build from within with younger players.

right now the only veteran forward pulling his weight is Robert Lang.

Jagr and Bondra appear stuck in glue. That's $16 million worth of payroll tied up in just TWO players who are 32 and 35 years old.

The potential for a lockout couldn't come at a worse time as the Caps normally would have been able to find a taker for Jagr in Detroit, New York or Toronto.

But as it is, the team is going to have to keep his and a couple of other bigger contracts, at least for awhile.

[doubledeuce]

Konowalchuk trade looking like a steal
Former Cap pitching in all over ice

By Terry Frei
Denver Post Sports Writer

The kicker to the trade was that the Avalanche gave up the rights to prospect Jonas Johansson, the 2002 first-round draft choice who has gotten good reviews for his major junior work with the Kamloops Blazers.

But so far, the Avs' early-season acquisition of left wing Steve Konowalchuk from the Washington Capitals looks like a lopsided proposition. Bates Battaglia, sent to Washington in the deal, is continuing to struggle, while Konowalchuk's goal Saturday night in Colorado's 3-0 victory over Dallas was his sixth for the Avalanche.

It isn't just scoring, since Konowalchuk's savvy and versatility are coming in handy. He has been playing some center of late, and his work - along with Andrei Nikolishin - up front on the penalty-killing unit has helped Colorado show marked improvement, climbing into the league's top 10.
"I used to play center early in my career, the first four or five years," said Konowalchuk, 31. "There's been the odd time I get thrown back at center. Obviously, it's a little bit different mind-set."

Especially after going through the Capitals' regression, Konowalchuk said the Oct. 22 deal and his play since have made him "feel like I'm starting over again."

"I think sometimes it shows," he said. "Offensively and maybe sometimes even defensively, I'm not as calm as I should be. I guess it's like my first year in the league again. I just want to prove that I can help more and more."

Colorado coach Tony Granato said the Avalanche "knew when Steve came in he could play different positions, he could play different roles. Tonight, he was left wing, center, right wing, kill penalties, in front of the net on the power play. He did it all. It is nice, especially when your bench gets short early in the game, like it did tonight with Paul (Kariya) going down."

Moves
After sending forward Steve Moore back to the Hershey Bears on Friday, and with Peter Forsberg missing his sixth game in the Avalanche's past eight with a stomach muscle problem, Colorado had only one healthy scratch against the Stars. That was defenseman Brett Clark, who has played in one of the four Avalanche games since his recall from Hershey.

http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,...770149,00.html

[d_mac069]

I am sure Gonchar, Kolzig, and Bondra's new teams will be saying the same things when we trade them!