If you missed any exciting hockey-related news from over the weekend, guess what? We've got you covered.
After the NHL tabled a new offer on Friday (and the two sides chatted informally over the weekend), face-to-face negotiations are expected to get underway once more today... [ESPN (and again), CBC]
...at which point the NHLPA is expected to make a counter-offer. Ride a painted pony, let the spinnin' wheel spin. [Sportsnet, SLAM]
In WJC news, Riley Barber and Team USA fell to the Canadians 2-1 yesterday and needed a win against Slovakia this morning to advance to the quarterfinals... [Globe and Mail, CBSSports, National Post]
...which they got in a pretty definitive way, downing the Slovaks by a lopsided 9-3 score. [SI]
Alex Ovechkin get mad, fall down, score pretty goal from buttocks. [Alex Ovetjkin]
Meanwhile, apparently Michal Neuvirth is such a beast that he has the power to break a skate blade IN HALF. [Hokey.cz, @mneuvirth30]
Braden Holtby earns coveted "Newcomer of the Year" honors from Puck Daddy. Here's hoping it doesn't have the bad mojo of the Best New Artist Grammy...right, Starland Vocal Band? [Puck Daddy]
Happy 57th birthday to Gary McAdam.
And finally, from all of us here at Japers' Rink to all of you - wishing everyone a happy, safe, healthy and hopefully hockey-filled New Year!
The latest labor-related news, non-news and assorted whatnot:
Late Thursday night, the League presented the Union with a new offer. [ESPN (and again), Globe and Mail, Puck Daddy (and again), USAToday, THN, WashTimes, WaPo, CSNW, Sporting News, PHT, Ottawa Sun, The Book]
The devil is in the details, so presumably he's here. [ESPN, BoC]
You didn't expect the Players to accept the proposal as-is, did you? [CBC, KK]
But the two sides will chat this morning. [@DarrenDreger]
At least we know Troy Brouwer's mouth is in mid-season form. [CSNW]
Imagine there's no entry draft... I wonder if you can... All prospects, free agents... The highest bidder for each man. [Hockey Prospectus]
Is this finally a final final offer? Somehow, we doubt it. [Peerless]
At the end of the day, is this all simply one man trying to squeeze another's grapes? [Spector's Hockey]
Donald Fehr may have met his match... Donald Fehr. [THN]
Swapping out Winnipeg for C'bus? Don't mind if you do... [PHT]
We're a mere 11 months away from Alex Ovechkin growing a mustache. [RMNB]
Hockey haunches? [Alex Ovetjkin]
The latest from Hershey... [Patriot-News]
... where Braden Holtby is taking it outside. [SHoE]
Sergei Kostenko made his pro debut for Reading last night and won. [Capitals Outsider, RMNB]
Chatting with Riley Barber's Miami University coach, Rico Blasi. [Capitals Voice]
Notes from Day Three at Worlds. [Hockey Prospectus]
The latest labor-related news, non-news and assorted whatnot:
Er, I was told there'd be no math in this lockout. Stupid math. [Driving Play, Globe and Mail]
Why haven't more fans cancelled their season tickets? [Puck Daddy]
Name 'em and shame 'em. [ESPN]
24/7: Road to the Stanley Cup Playoffs could be a little bit awesome. [ESPN $]
10 NHL predictions for 2013. [SI]
Dispatches from the World Junior Championship:
Riley Barber made some waves with his 1-goal, 2-assist boxcars as Team USA defeated Germany 8-0 in their first round of group play. He and his linemates Alex Galchenyuk and Sean Kuraly compiled eight points between them. [IIHF, WashCaps, DCEx, USA Today, DobberHockey, Hockey Prospectus, RMNB, Miami Hockey]
Hockey hug! [Le Point de Mise]
Lead those Swedes, Filip Forsberg. [IIHF]
Prospect update, team-by-team. [THW]
The US is playing Russia today. Here's what to look for. [United States of Hockey]
Did someone ask for a tournament schedule? [IIHF]
Ooooooooh, shiny. [@IIHFHockey]
Another big win for the Bears over the Pens. [Patriot-News, SG&B, SHoE, Capitals Outsider]
Happy 35th birthday to Benoit Gratton.
Finally, always remember that SB Nation loves you and wants you to be happy. So they have responded to your requests with some updated interfaces. Be sure to give them your comments, yea or nay. [Blog Huddle]
The latest labor-related news, non-news and assorted whatnot:
On the end-game timeline and what that might leave us with. [Trib, mc79hockey]
So how did we get to this point, anyway? [ESPN]
And how might the League and its players begin the recovery process? [ESPN, Puck Daddy]
However you do it, NHL and NHLPA, do it soon. Chinatown is really feeling the squeeze. [WaPo]
Oh noes! Nicklas Backstrom took a hit from a Slovan player and fell awkwardly into the boards, then had his neck iced by a Dynamo trainer before leaving the bench. The team has announced that he sustained "a bruise" and will be able to play on Friday against Zdeno Chara and Lev Praha. [Sportbox.ru, RMNB]
Matt Hendricks was debriefed upon his return from the USO tour. [WashTimes]
Gillette has renewed its contract with Alex Ovechkin through 2013, 'cos everyone is crazy 'bout a sharp-shaved man. [Alex Ovetjkin]
Oh right - he may have scored a goal yesterday. [Alex Ovetjkin]
And his Tsarina scored some sweet, sweet Christmas swag. [@mkirilenko]
Braden Holtby is in the ZONE this December. Holtbeast pitched his third shutout in his past five games. [Patriot-News, Caps Outsider, SHoE, and the Baby Pens' view at Penguins Insider]
The Reading Royals drop the puck for their first post-Xmas game tonight vs. Trenton. They are first in their conference and second in the League, behind only the Alaska Aces. Here's a real nice recap of how they got here. [Queen of Dekes]
Dispatches from the World Juniors:
Filip Forsberg scored the final Sweden goal in a 4-1 victory over the Czech Republic ... [RMNB]
... and seemed to be in a pretty good mood in his post-game intervju. [SVT.se (video, in Swedish)]
... the powerplay paved the way. [Hockeysverige (in Swedish]
Team USA faces Germany this morning at 9:00am Eastern, broadcast live on NHL Net. [College Hockey News, Fantasy Hockey Scouts, THW, WashTimes]
Time to spread a little Yuletide cheer with your daily lockout update...
There's no question that the NHL is losing a lot of cash as the lockout drags on - but it might amaze you to find out just how much. [Detroit News]
Blame for this mess lies squarely on the shoulders of a select few who shall remain nameless (but shouldn't be too hard to guess). [Daily Breeze]
The NHL might have seen revenues rise since the last lockout, but they're operating under a flawed business plan. [BHS]
At 81 years old (and with more than a few Stanley Cup rings under his belt), Jean Beliveau has earned the right to an opinion - and when he talks, you listen. Hey NHL and NHLPA...you listening? [Gazette]
If there's anything more adorable than 7-year-old Alex Ovechkin, it's Papa Ovechkin saying he wants "little Ovechkins". [Alex Ovetjkin]
Joey Crabb and some of his fellow Alaskan NHLers are giving back to their hometown team and community - both on and off the ice. [ESPN]
Wojtek Wolski is apparently icing an "All-Wolski" squad in Toronto this holiday. [@WojtekWolski16]
Happy Holidays from the NHLPA... [KK]
...and from the NHL. Ha. [Puck Daddy]
"'Twas the night before Christmas and all through the rink / Not a creature was stirring and it lacked players' stink..." Excellent. [Caps Outsider]
Happy 61st birthday to Dave Kryskow, happy 61st birthday to Brian Stapleton and happy 47th birthday to Dmitri Mironov.
And finally, from the Japers' Rink family to yours we wish all of you a safe and happy holiday!
Miss anything over the weekend? We've got you covered.
'Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even... the NHL and the players, who still aren't talking to each other. Silent night, indeed. [Globe and Mail]
Festivus may be behind us, but there are still plenty of grievances to be shared, whether you're Jason Chimera or a hockey writer trying to hold it all together. [Denver Post, NJ.com, Deadspin, CBS Sports, PHT]
Dear NHL: when the head of the KHL is able to call you egotistical, it might be time to take a step back and reevaluate a few things. [rian.ru]
A beacon of light in this grim, hockeyless world is the annual IIHF World Junior Championships, which officially get underway this Wednesday:
Everything you need to know about this year's tournament. [SI.com, Globe and Mail]
Defending champ Sweden has unveiled its final roster for this year's WJC, and it should come as a surprise to no one that it features Caps' prospect Filip Forsberg. [NHL.com]
Meanwhile the US team is still working on getting that roster down to 23 for the tournament... [USA Hockey, USoH]
...and will have to do so on the heels of a pretty lopsided exhibition loss to Team Finland. [WCHB, USoH]
Thanks to some (relative) success in recent years, Caps' prospect pool has been a bit more shallow than it may have been in the past - but there are still some blue chip kids waiting in the wings. [HF]
Down on the farm, the Hershey Bears went a stellar 9-for-9 on the penalty kill against the Springfield Falcons... only to lose 1-0 on a shorthanded goal. Of course. [Patriot-News, LD News]
Locked-out players keep on keepin' on...
A few final thoughts on Matt Hendricks and his recent USO Holiday Tour [Caps Outsider]
More on last Friday's awesome shinny game at Kettler between some of the current Caps and local college players. [CSNW]
"Ovechkin is a beast! split the puck ;-)" Couldn't have said it better ourselves. Also, wowza. [@dynamo_ru]
Caps fans trolling Tim Thomas may have only clocked in at #10 on Puck Daddy's best fan moments of 2012, but it's #1 in my heart. [Puck Daddy]
Love to write? Love the Caps? Love to write about the Caps? DC Sports Nexus might just be looking for you. [DCSN]
Finally, you know you want to go vote for us. You know how to vote, don't you? Just point the mouse and...click. [WaPo]
The latest labor-related news, non-news and assorted whatnot:
"All in favor, say aye." The members of the NHLPA overwhelmingly voted to authorize their executive board to issue a disclaimer of interest. We're officially in uncharted waters, folks. [USA Today, TribLive, @DamoSpin]
"Who cares!" Something called Fizziology is tracking what teh Twitterz are saying about the lockout. [Forbes]
New Jersey governor Chris Christie cares ... [Kukla]
... and so does Fitch, the company that issues credit ratings for publicly-funded stadia. [Business Wire]
Obligatory fan reax bullet. [USA Today, NBC4]
A soft deadline for canceling the season final lockout showdown has been set. In the meantime...[Yahoo! Sports]
Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom continue killing it in the K. [KHL.ru, RMNB]
Joey Crabb and a few other Alaska NHLers are killing it in the E. [NatPo]
John Carlson, Brooks Laich, Jason Chimera, Jay Beagle, Jeff Halpern, and Peter Bondra (!) are killing time at Kettler. [Hockey Shopped]
Why a short season is doable. [Globe and Mail]
Crystal ping-pong ballin' a season-less draft lottery. [RtR]
That Caps @ Bruins Game 7 was quite photogenic. [SI, NBC4]
World Juniors update:
Finland-USA friendly/tournament tune-up match begins at 6:30am Eastern, and should air live and again at 1:00pm on NHLNet. [HF Boards]
On Riley Barber's Christmas wish list: a gold medal sandwich from Primanti's. Priorities! [Team USA]
Filip Forsberg will need to make a great leap forward. [Yahoo.ca]
The latest labor-related news, non-news and assorted whatnot:
The NHL has officially cancelled games through January 14, which is the last step to the end of the plank, you'd think. [Puck Daddy, WaPo, CSNW, WashTimes]
What more is there to say? A lot, apparently. Like the PA is just dyin' to get back to the negotiating table... [ESPN]
... but if the owners don't budge, there may not be a season, per Captain Obvious Troy Brouwer. [CSNW]
Bill Daly speaks. [Ottawa Sun]
A handful of Caps (and an alum) will be playing some shinny out at Kettler later this morning (or earlier this morning, by the time most of you read this). [@JohnCarlson74 (and did I mention the very special ringer?)]
Clearly, this hasn't been a typical holiday season for these NHLers. [CSNW, WaPo]
Matt Hendricks has made great use of his time off. [WaPo, WashTimes]
The "local businesses are struggling" story is always easy lockout content. [TSN]
Get ready for sign-and-trades. Yawn. [USA Today]
Oh, the absurdity of it all. [Puck Daddy]
And speaking of absurdity, how about some new mediators? [Sporting News]
Alex Ovechkin has a new Nike ad. #needsmorehotstick [DC Sports Bog]
A look back on some of the year's best stories (with a somewhat surreal lead image). [SI]
Filip Forsberg will captain the defending champs at the World Juniors... [PHT]
... and looked good in a pre-tourney tune-up (Riley Barber less so). [Puck Prospectus]
An update on prospect Thomas Di Pauli. [THW]
Happy 34th birthday to Petr Sykora (yes, that one) and happy [redacted] birthday to our BFF Kellie Cowan.
Three-quarters of the bracket is now complete (go back and see the first three quartets here, here and here, and be sure to do your civic duty and vote in each poll), but there are still four slots to fill, including the only team to ever sniff hockey's Holy Grail...
[Ed. note: The graphic above is incorrect; the text below has the proper seedings.]
***
S
Season
GP
ROW
ROL
T/SO
Adj Pts
Pts%
GF
GF Rk
GA
GA Rk
4
1984-85
80
46
25
9
101
.631
322
8/21
240
2/21
13
1997-98
82
40
30
12
92
.561
219
13/26
202
10/26
The 1984-85 Caps were in many ways strikingly similar to the previous year’s team, with both finishing the regular season with 101 points, a +.14 per game goal differential and a fantastic team defense (the Caps slipped from the League’s top spot in goals-against to number two, but made up for it by moving up from twelfth to eighth in goals-for). But this team was known for its "Goal Dust Twins," as Bobby Carpenter became the first U.S.-born 50-goal scorer in NHL history (winding up with 53) and Mike Gartner hit that magical milestone as well. Scott Stevens put up a monster season of his own – 21 goals, 65 points and 221 penalty minutes – and the Caps once again entered the playoffs with home ice advantage in the first round.
Once there, they’d meet the Isles for the second-year in a row, but this was a New York team that finished 15 points behind the Caps in the Patrick Division. The Caps won the first two games, both in overtime… before dropping three straight and hitting the links. For all the goals the team scored during the regular season, Gartner was the only forward who managed more than a single tally in five playoff games.
For years, the Caps would continue in a similar fashion, generally following up strong regular seasons with disappointing playoff performances before ending a 14-year run of post-season appearances in 1997.
And then came 1997-98.
The season itself was largely unremarkable with three notable exceptions: Peter Bondra leading the League in goals (tied at 52 with Teemu Selanne), Olie Kolzig firmly establishing himself as the number one goaltender (33-18-10/2.20/.920) after Bill Ranford went down with an injury early on and the trio of Adam Oates, Dale Hunter and Phil Housley all reaching the 1,000-point plateau, the only time in League history as many teammates hit have that milestone in the same season. Other than that, it was typical Caps - hard-working, solid defense (including a #1-ranked, 89.2% effective penalty kill) and never enough offense (other than Bondra, the team had two forwards in the teens in goals scored and no one else up front with as many as a dozen). In fact, the team's +0.2 per-game goal differential was the worst of any team in our little tournament.
Still, they managed 92 points during the regular season - fourth in the Conference - which meant they'd host Boston (91 points) in Round 1. The Bruins were able to split the first two games after a double-overtime win in Game 2, but the Caps snagged both games in Boston before getting smoked at home in Game 5 only to see Brian Bellows pot a series-clinching goal from waaaaay downtown 15 minutes into overtime in Game 6.
As mentioned above, the other series in the East broke the Caps' way, and they'd face Ottawa in the second round (in a high-stakes battle of nation's capitals). But the Sens were no match for Kolzig, who allowed just seven goals (four in Game 3) in the five-game series, which included back-to-back shutouts to close out the round. Next up was Buffalo, and a trio of overtime wins including - Juneau's greatest-moment-in-team-history - sent the Caps to their first (and, to date, only) Finals appearance.
What came next leaves Caps fans to this day wondering about what might have been, but that shouldn't take away from what was, and that is simply the greatest playoff run in Washington Capitals history.
So which team would win a best-of-seven, 1984-85 or 1997-98? Could Kolzig et. al. pull off an upset win for Wilson, or would Murray’s stacked roster run ‘em over?
S
Season
GP
ROW
ROL
T/SO
Adj Pts
Pts%
GF
GF Rk
GA
GA Rk
5
2008-09
82
46
27
9
101
.616
272
3/30
245
20/30
12
2000-01
82
41
31
10
92
.561
233
13/30
211
13/30
Bruce Boudreau burst on the NHL scene in 2007-08 (which we saw in this tourney's 8-vs.-9 match-up), inheriting Glen Hanlon's broken bunch at Thanksgiving and somehow turning it into a playoff team. Was the Jack Adams-winning coach a one-hit wonder, or could he build on his early success? In 2008-09, he proved it to be the latter.
The 50-win Caps would cruise to a second-consecutive Southeast Division title led by Alex Ovechkin's best pro season (56-54-110 and the Hart, Lindsay and Richard Trophies), Mike Green's incredible 31-goal campaign, a 34-goal season from Alex Semin and an 88-point effort from Nick Backstrom. Goaltending? Defense? Eh, who cared?
When the playoffs rolled around, the Caps drew a 95-point Ranger team and proceeded to lose Game 1 on home ice with Jose Theodore stopping just 17 of the 21 shots he faced. Boudreau gave the Game 2 start to Semyon Varlamov, who posted a 1.17 and four wins (two by shutout) over the series’ final six games (which was as many NHL appearances as he’d made prior to the series), despite losing a 1-0 decision in that Game 2. Sergei Fedorov’s goal with five minutes left in Game 7 sent the Caps on to the second round, where Varly would stay hot for the first three games against Pittsburgh (where a Kris Letang tally in Game 3 prevented the Caps from taking a commanding 3-0 series lead) before showing signs of fatigue... and a subpar defense. The Caps would yield 42 shots-against in three of the series’ final five games, and they managed to win one of those to force a Game 7 (thanks, David Steckel), but an early Marc-Andre Fleury stop on an Alex Ovechkin breakaway seemingly turned the tide dramatically in Pittsburgh’s favor and they routed the Caps on Verizon Center ice.
Those Caps gave the League everything it could have wanted – an exciting team with a marquee player at his peak squaring off in an epic series against its rival and their superstar(s). And it gave Caps fans a glimpse of what was to come for a young team on an upward trajectory.
Not even a decade earlier – and three years removed from taking the Caps to the Finals – Ron Wilson led Washington to a second-consecutive Southeast Division title with a team that finished thirteenth in the 30-team NHL in both goals-for and -against. The 2000-01 Caps were still trying to recapture whatever it was that propelled them to the Finals just a few springs earlier, and some of it was still there – Bondra scored 45 goals, Oates added a League-best 69 assists, Sergei Gonchar had 57 points and Kolzig 37 wins.
But what wasn’t there was the favorable playoff schedule, and with the Caps matching up with Pittsburgh in the first round, the results were predictable (though somewhat mercifully less embarrassing than in other losses to the Pens, as the only series lead the Caps held was at 1-0). Of course, that doesn’t mean the loss was any less painful than the others, as the final buzzer sounded on the series moments after a Game 6 overtime turnover by Gonchar wound up behind Kolzig courtesy of Martin Straka. Stunned.
So which team would win a best-of-seven, 2008-09 or 2000-01? Could Wilson's bunch solve Varlamov or stop the offensive-juggernaut-on-the-rise, or was Alex Ovechkin's second trip to the playoffs bound to be a successful one (at least in the first round)? Does the NCAA's "12-5 upset" rule apply to hypothetical hockey series?
***
With that, we've got our bracket filled out. Make sure you've voted in all three first-round "sub-regionals," and see you in Round 2...
The latest labor-related news, non-news and assorted whatnot:
Getting to yes? [Puck Daddy, PHT]
Or the point of no return. [CBS Sports]
Don't call it a tactic. [USA Today, PHT]
Wealth redistribution problem - it's all your fault! [Time]
"The Worst Commissioner in Professional Sports" [Bloomberg]
The NHL is livin' on the edge - the knife-edge of relevancy. [Globe and Mail]
The league will soon be reaping what it has sown. [Globe and Mail, ESPN (video), SI]
Burn baby burn. [Backhand Shelf]
The Fehr and Daly Show. [Kukla]
They've done away with the Winter Classic and the All-Star Game. Could Olympic hockey be next? [The Star]
Why ask why? [CSNW]
The only game in town - the waiting game. [CBC]
Hockey is Nike's Ours - an awesome new ad that even followed Alex Ovechkin to Moscow. [RMNB, Backhand Shelf]
The Caps' broadcast crew is taking it high school. [WaPo]
Here are the official DoD writeups of Matt Hendricks' USO tour. [defense.gov (and again)]
Wojtek Wolski was on the victorious Team Stamkos and bagged an assist at the Hockey Charity Challenge in Toronto. [Livestream]
Assessing Sweden's chances at World Juniors. [SB Nation]
The Hershey Bears had a strong game last night, with record-setting attendance, the induction of their inaugural class to the Hershey Hall of Fame, and a 35-save 4-0 shutout win for Leiztel's Jewelry Player of the Month for November Braden Holtby. [Patriot-News, Inside Hockey, SHoE]
A talented team, the Bears are even handy at decorating your tree. [SHoE]
Finally, happy 62nd birthday to Bill Clement, without whom this historically awful hockey card would never exist.
Half of our bracket is filled now (catch up here and here), but that means half the slots remain open - here are the next four...
***
S
Season
GP
ROW
ROL
T/SO
Adj Pts
Pts%
GF
GF Rk
GA
GA Rk
3
1983-84
80
48
27
5
101
.631
308
12/21
226
1/21
14
1992-93
84
43
34
7
93
.554
325
10/24
286
10/24
Just one year removed from the first playoff appearance in franchise history, the 1983-84 Caps entered the post-season as a 101-point team with home-ice advantage in the first round. How'd they do it? De-fense. Rod Langway won the Norris (back when a defensive-minded defenseman could do such a thing), Doug Jarvis won the Selke Trophy, Al Jensen and Pat Riggin won the Jennings Trophy as the Caps allowed the fewest goals in hockey (thanks in part to a League-best 86.7% effective penalty kill) and Bryan Murray won the Adams Trophy. Scott Stevens and Dave Shand provided solid defense as well, with the former adding 45 points, just one behind Larry Murphy for the team lead among rearguards. Up front, Mike Gartner, Dave Christian and Bengt Gustafsson all averaged better than a point-per game (of course, Wayne Gretzky averaged nearly 2.8 that season).
The Caps made short work of Philly that spring, sweeping the best-of-five, but then faced the four-time defending champion Islanders, who ran off four-straight wins after spotting the Caps Game 1. Despite the loss, this was very much a Caps team on the rise...
... unlike the 1992-93 team, which was Terry Murray's third - and last - full season behind the bench since awkwardly replacing his brother in the middle of the 1989-90 campaign (Terry would be fired 47 games into the 1993-94 season). One year after finishing in the top-four in both goals-for and -against (more on that 1991-92 team later), the Caps slipped into the middle of the pack in both categories, winding up tenth (of 24 teams) in each metric. The team had pretty good balance on offense - nine 20-goal scorers, three of whom (Peter Bondra, Mike Ridley and Dmitri Khristich) topped 30. But the more notable offensive achievement for that team was that it had three 20-goal defensemen: Kevin Hatcher (34, which led the League), Al Iafrate (25) and Sylvain Cote (21). That Caps trio accounted for three of the NHL's seven rearguards that topped 20 goals that season and represented the only time a team has had three 20-goal scorers on the blueline in the same season.
The 92-93 Caps faced the Isles in the first round of the playoffs and won Game 1 on the road, only to lose the next three in overtime (twice in double OT) before eventually losing the series in six games.
So which team would win a best-of-seven, 1983-84 or 1992-93? Could a balanced attack with offense from the back-end be the undoing of a superb defensive squad, or does great defense and mediocre offense win out over a decent all-around team? Who takes the Murray brothers bragging rights here?
S
Season
GP
ROW
ROL
T/SO
Adj Pts
Pts%
GF
GF Rk
GA
GA Rk
6
1991-92
80
45
27
8
98
.613
330
2/22
275
4/22
11
1988-89
80
41
29
10
92
.575
305
9/21
259
5/21
If there’s a dark horse in this tournament, it might be the 1991-92 squad (Friend of the Blog Ed Frankovic had these guys as the best of the lot a few years back). Terry Murray’s team finished second in the League in goals-for (with 330 – the most in franchise history), tenth in goals-against and top-four in both special teams categories. In fact, the only team in the League with more wins and points than Washington (45, 98) that season was the team that kept the Caps out of the top spot in the Patrick Division, the 50-win Rangers (against whom the Caps were 5-2 during the regular season).
Fourteen Caps (including four defensemen) had double-digit goals, with seven topping 20 and a pair – Dino Ciccarelli and Khristich – besting 35, and 11 skaters had 50 or more points (Pivonka led the way with 80, followed closely by Dale Hunter’s 78). The Caps were good and deep.
The first round of the playoffs set up nicely for the Caps to get some revenge on the team that had sent them home from the dance the previous spring, namely the Pittsburgh Penguins, who had finished 11 points behind the Caps and lost five of the seven meetings between the teams in the regular season. Washington raced out to a 3-1 series lead (which included 7-2 and 6-2 drubbings)... before losing three straight (including Game 7 on home ice) and hitting the links. It would be the first of three Game 7 losses to the Penguins, and the second of six series lost to Pittsburgh in an 11-year span (four of which featured blown two-game leads for Washington).
One Caps team that didn’t have the pleasure of facing the Pens in the playoffs was the ever-so-dapper 1988-89 team, D.C. hockey’s only division champ prior to the creation of the Southeast Division. The Caps finished third in the NHL in points with good defense and goaltending, a decent bit of scoring that eventually included Dino Ciccarelli, who scored a dozen goals in 11 games after being acquired from Minnesota in a late-season blockbuster that sent Gartner and Murphy the other way, and some tremendous lip-syncing. With Ciccarelli in the fold, the Caps had a goal-busting trio of 40-goal scorers (Geoff Courtnall and Mike Ridley being the other two) and a solid blueline heading into the post-season as Patrick Division Champions. Once there, however, they were unable to handle their first-round opponent, Philadelphia, who ran off four wins in five games after the Caps took Game 1. The series would be Bryan Murray’s last behind the Capitals bench, as seasons of disappointment caught up to him after a slow start the following season and he was replaced by his brother.
So which team would win a best-of-seven, 1991-92 or 1988-89? In the tourney’s second first-round matchup between the Murrays, which brother who was ultimately ousted by an inferior team from Pennsylvania wins out? Would the 1988-89 team come out on top or not?
***
Twelve down, four to go - here's a look at the bracket:
The latest labor-related news, non-news and assorted whatnot:
Good news! You can probably go ahead and make those New Year's Eve plans now without fear of an NHL game getting in the way. [ESPN, TSN]
Might another owners/players meeting be in the offing? [ESPN]
Remember that oil spill that dumped five million barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico (caused by an explosion that killed 11 men)? This lockout is... worse than that in some way? [Backhand Shelf, CBS]
... or no one cares, which could be even worse. [Puck Daddy]
Does the NHL have a winner in court? [Globe and Mail]
Speaking of courts, one in Sweden confirmed the SEL's right to ban signing NHLers to short-term contracts during the lockout (sorry, Nick). [National Post]
Matt Hendricks' on a USO Holiday Tour is one of the best things about the lockout. [CSNW]
Would contraction be a good thing? [Backhand Shelf]
Other lockout-related thoughts (which are very much worthwhile and some of the most compelling stuff in today's Clips, despite being lumped together in this uninteresting catch-all bullet). [National Post, THN, mc79hockey, Tom Benjamin, Ottawa Sun, NHL Numbers, Arctic Ice Hockey]
Alex Ovechkin at minus-38 (and it has nothing to do with his defense). [Alex Ovetjkin, RMNB, and thumbs up for borscht! (Or something)]
And if Ovi glamour shots are your thing, this is your link. [RMNB]
Congrats, Michal Neuvirth, you made a year-end top-10 list. [Puck Daddy]
Stanislav Galiev has been recalled from Reading to Hershey, but this time he's got some confidence goin'. [Patriot-News (and video), with more Bears notes here]
Up close and personal with the Bears' Outdoor Classic sweaters. [SHoE]
Evgeny Kuznetsov gets his own KHL All-Star Game commercial. Impressive. [RMNB]
A quick overview of the upcoming World Juniors... [National Post]
... where Riley Barber may turn some heads. [THN, Hockey Prospectus]
Bob Sirois is a name known to Caps fans of a certain age and few others... until now. Read up, young 'uns. [Capitals]
Happy 39th birthday to Andreas Salomonsson and happy 42nd to Robert Lang.
Finally, don't forget to vote (for us) - a vote for The Rink is a vote for hockey. (Feel free to help us out, people whose work we link to all the time...) [WaPo]
If you're lucky enough to have experienced the sweet bliss of selective amnesia, a few primers on the 2012 Lockout thus far and a look at what could be ahead. [SportingNews, TSN, ESPN (LeBrun), ESPN (Burnside)]
This lockout stinks. Like a sweaty hockey glove left sitting on the windowsill of a DC apartment in August with no air conditioning stinks. [Sportsnet, Grantland]
It's okay, though, because it's probably headed to court - and everyone loves lawyers. Ha. Ha ha. Ha. [SI.com, Philly.com]
The players seem strongly in favor of filing that disclaimer of interest... but it could blow up in their faces. [ESPN, Sportsnet]
A byproduct of an NHL victory in court could be a sort of interesting (to put it mildly) development for the players, the League and teams as we know them. Can you say free agent free-for-all? Yikes. [Deadspin, Puck Daddy, Vancouver Sun]
The NHLPA is ready to meet whenever the NHL is ready to meet. They're waiting by the phone. Wait, is the phone even work-...hang up, you idiot, they could be trying to call RIGHT NOW!!1 [CBC, ESPN]
Locked-out players continue to be locked out.
If you couldn't get enough of Alex Ovechkin in a Mike Tyson shirt at an MMA fight, well, neither could we. [DC Sports Bog, Alex Ovetjkin]
But that's not all there is to know about Ovechkin these days, as he's also been a cover boy... [Alex Ovetjkin]
...and, y'know, played a little hockey. [Alex Ovetjkin]
Meanwhile back here in North America, Jay Beagle ponders a career as an electrician. [CSNW]
While Wojtek Wolski becomes the latest Cap to skate for a good cause, as he gets ready to join twenty-nine others in Wednesday's RBC Play Hockey Charity Challenge in Toronto. [CSNW]
Won't you take me to... Chocolatetown!
Recapping some comings, goings and other Hershey-related news. [RtR]
Brett Flemming: Yo-yo. [Patriot-News]
As part of their 75th season celebration, the Bears will induct the inaugural class into their very own hall of fame on Wednesday night - the 75th anniversary of Hershey's first home game. [LDNews]
Fun fact: the Hershey Bears draw almost twice as many people as Dynamo Moscow, and would rank 9th-highest among all European teams. [RMNB]
Braden Holtby is quite the cotton ball artist - Yule want to see this one. (Also, feel free to share your own Caps-related holiday decorations via FanShots.) [Capitals Outsider]
Because you've been looking for something to be bummed about, take a look back at some of the less-than-awesome moments from the year in DC sports. Hooray! [NBCW]
Good news - the NHL Network may not have any NHL games to broadcast but starting Thursday they'll be showing all Team USA games as well as other match-ups and the medal rounds from the World Juniors in Ufa... [Patriot-News]
... and Caps prospect Riley Barber is skating on a line with Alex Galchenyuk at Team USA camp, after collecting his third Gongshow® Rookie-of-the-Week title from the CCHA. [@mike_morreale, CCHA]
In need of the perfect gift for your favorite Caps fan? Want to help out another Caps fan (who we promise is not a scary Craigslist stalker)? Check out this signed combo and do both at the same time. [Craigslist DC]
Joel Ward's overtime exuberance rightfully checks in at #5 on Puck Daddy's 10 most memorable images of 2012 (and if you want even more great pics from the year that was - or wasn't - we've got you covered). [Puck Daddy]
Happy 39th birthday to Jeff Nelson, happy 67th birthday to Jean Pronovost and happy 61st birthday to Bernie Wolfe.
And finally, you guys should really go vote for the Rink as your favorite Sports Tweeps. Because you love us. Because we're like family. And because if you don't, JP will start crying again... and really who has time for that? [WaPo]
Yesterday our tournament opened with the top-seed in action (and be sure to click through for background if you're wondering what we're talking about. Also, be sure to vote - the poll is easily missed all the way at the bottom.). Today we've got the #2-seed headlining...
***
S
Season
GP
ROW
ROL
T/SO
Adj Pts
Pts%
GF
GF Rk
GA
GA Rk
2
2009-10
82
49
22
11
109
.665
318
1/30
233
16/30
15
1995-96
82
39
32
11
89
.543
234
20/26
204
3/26
The 121 points that the 2009-10 Caps posted in winning the Presidents' Trophy obliterated the franchise's previous record (108 the season before), but that includes five shootout wins and seven overtime losses (points that earlier teams couldn't have been awarded). Of course, that'd be like noting that a hypothetical Usain Bolt record time was wind-aided - even so, he'd have been pretty damn fast, and that 2009-10 Caps team was pretty damn good. The 318 goals it scored were 17% more than second-place Vancouver, the power-play clicked on better than one-quarter of its opportunities, and the team's goals-against average was, well, average. Alex Ovechkin, with his 50 goals (one off the League-lead... and probably should've been tied) and 109 points, was voted the players' MVP; Nicklas Backstrom topped the century mark as well; Mike Green was a Norris Trophy finalist; Alex Semin had a 40-40 (goals-assists) campaign; four other Caps (Mike Knuble, Brooks Laich, Tomas Fleischmann and Eric Fehr) all topped 20 goals; and the League's top-five in plus-minus were all Caps (led by Jeff Schultz's good fortune whopping plus-50). All of that offense made it easy for the team's trio of goaltenders to win, and Jose Theodore did that 30 times in 47 appearances (despite a 2.81 GAA and decent .911 save percentage), Semyon Varlamov won 15 times in 26 games, and Michal Neuvirth posted 9 wins in 17 games.
Then the playoffs rolled around. After dropping a stunner in overtime in Game 1, a Backstrom hat trick in Game 2 (completed in OT) leveled the series heading back to Montreal, where the Caps took both games with relative ease and set themselves up to close things out at home in Game 5... before dropping three straight and hitting the links. (This is already getting depressing, isn't it?) There was plenty of blame to go around - from Jaroslav Halak to Bruce Boudreau's coaching to a lack of secondary scoring to a woeful power-play to fog - but ultimately all that mattered was that it was another Caps team that fell far short of expectations.
The 2009-10 team will face Jim Schoenfeld's second entry into the tournament, the 1995-96 squad. That team boasted Vezina-winner Jim Carey, a 52-goal-scoring Peter Bondra, 115 assists from its top-two pivots in Michal Pivonka and Joé Juneau and... well, not a ton more. After Bondra, the Caps only had one other skater who topped 18 goals (Steve Konowalchuk with 23) in a season that featured 117 20-goal scorers League-wide. Where would they be without Carey's 2.26 GAA and 35 wins? Pretty much where they ended up in the playoffs - Carey would post an 0-1/.744/6.19 line (bringing his career post-season mark to 2-5/.816/4.62). And while Olie Kolzig valiantly kept the Caps in the series with a .934 save percentage and 1.94 GAA over five games, even staking them to a 2-0 series lead on the road, it wasn't enough, as the they lost the next four (including a four-overtime gut-punch in Game 4 at home that included a failed Juneau penalty shot attempt and the Petr Nedved game-winner).
So which team would win a best-of-seven, 2009-10 or 1995-96? Could Jim Carey (or Olie Kolzig) have Halak'd the underdogs to victory, or did Boudreau's boys have too much firepower?
S
Season
GP
ROW
ROL
T/SO
Adj Pts
Pts%
GF
GF Rk
GA
GA Rk
7
1999-00
82
44
26
12
100
.610
227
13/28
194
4/28
10
1982-83
80
39
25
16
94
.588
306
12/21
283
5/21
In their first quarter-century of existence, the Caps won just one regular season division title. But new ownership and a still-new division - the Southeast - gave them opportunities at the turn of the millennium, and Ron Wilson's 1999-2000 team would be the first of six division winners in 11 years. Led by Vezina-winner Kolzig (41-20-11/2.24/.917), the Caps won the Southeast by four points and once again readied themselves for a playoff run... and once again ran into the Pittsburgh Penguins.
The 44 wins that team had during the regular season marked the high-water mark of the Wilson Administration, and the 196 goals the Caps surrendered still stands as the fewest allowed in a season, but Jaromir Jagr proved to be too much to handle in the post-season. Washington would rebound from a four-assist effort by #68 in a 7-0 Game 1 route to play four-straight one-goal games, but unfortunately for the D.C. faithful, only one of those went the Caps' way (a Game 4 sweep-avoiding home win), and Jagr finished the series with ten points and a pair of game-winning tallies.
Luckily for that 1999-2000 team - and every other team in this tournament - they don't have to face Jagr... in part because no Jagr-led Capitals team qualified. (And yes "Jagr-led Capitals" is an oxy-moron.) But the team they are pitted against in Round 1 is the very first Caps playoff team, the 1982-83 squad, a team which we profiled more extensively here.
The team was anchored by newly acquired Rod Langway (in his first of back-to-back Norris seasons) and an 18-year-old rookie Scott Stevens on the back-end, Dennis Maruk, Mike Gartner and Bob Carpenter up front and Al Jensen and Pat Riggin in net. They made a gigantic 29-point leap in the standings over the year before, but they ran into the three-time defending Cup champ Islanders in the first round and managed to win the first playoff game in franchise history on April 7, 1983 (Bobby Gould with the game-winner) before giving way on the Isles' march to four in-a-row.
That Caps team was the first of 14-straight to make the playoffs, and they'd helped both save and establish the sport for fans in and around the nation's capital. Things were very much looking up for hockey D.C.
So which team would win a best-of-seven, 1999-2000 or 1982-83? Would a team that had been to the Finals just two springs earlier have a leg up on the organization's first post-season entry? If low-scoring playoff hockey is your thing, this might be the first round match-up for you...
***
With half the bracket filled, here's how things look:
It's a straightforward question with a seemingly straightforward answer: Which Washington Capitals team was the best the organization has ever put on the ice?
Well, they've been to the Finals exactly once, so there's your answer, right?
Perhaps.
That 1997-98 squad was an overachieving, blue-collar (figuratively and, on many nights, literally) bunch that turned timely scoring and otherworldly goaltending into the deepest playoff run in franchise history. They also got some help along the way, as they were the only favored team in the East to make it out of the first round, setting up second- and third-round match-ups with the eighth-seeded Ottawa Senators and sixth-seeded Buffalo Sabres, respectively, after dispatching of the fifth-seeded Boston Bruins in Round 1.
But what if instead of the bottom of the Eastern Conference bracket, Ron Wilson's group had to go through Bruce Boudreau's 2008-09 Caps, Bryan Murray's 1985-86 squad and the Caps' Presidents' Trophy team to make it to the Finals? Suffice it to say, Olie Kolzig - who already led the '98 playoffs in shots-faced by a wide margin - would've been even busier... and would've probably had to have been even better than his League-best .941 tourney save percentage would indicate he was.
Would he have been? Could he have been? That's what we're here to discuss as we endeavor to determine the best Caps team of all-time, not based on what actually happened, but based on what might have been - if the top sixteen regular season Caps teams played a bracket-style tournament, which incarnation would come out on top?
To determine our field of entrants, we listed each of the 37 Caps regular seasons by the teams' points percentages, crudely leveling the ice by removing points "earned" in overtime losses and treating shootout results (wins and losses) as one-point ties. Additionally, for years in which there was a mid-season coaching change that resulted in a decent number of games for the replacement coach, we considered the new guy's record only (welcome to the dance, Boudreau's 2007-08 team; not quite good enough, Dale Hunter's 2011-12 crew... there will be no Braden Holtby heroics in this tournament).
What's left is sixteen teams with an average of forty-four "real" wins and more than ninety-eight "real" standings points per eighty-two games... eleven first round playoff exits and a staggering one second-round series win. (Interestingly, there are as many teams with first-round wins that didn't make the top-16 as teams that did - five... which perhaps says something about the predictive value of the regular season.)
The bracket is set, then, with the top seed facing the sixteenth seed, two vs. fifteen, and so on (rules of engagement: higher seed gets home-ice advantage and referees from their year). Below is a look at the first two first-round match-ups, with another pair revealed each of the next three days. Let us know with your votes and your comments who wins, and stay tuned for Round 2.
***
S
Season
GP
ROW
ROL
T/SO
Adj Pts
Pts%
GF
GF Rk
GA
GA Rk
1
1985-86
80
50
23
7
107
.669
315
10/21
272
2/21
16
1994-95
48
22
18
8
52
.542
136
13/26
120
4/26
For details on each team, click on the season; S - Seed, GP - Games Played, ROW - Regulation/OT Wins, ROL - Regulation/OT Losses, T/SO - Ties/Shootouts, Adj Pts - Adjusted Points (based on previous three columns), Pts % - Points Percentage (percentage of possible points gained based on adjusted points), GF -Goals For, GF Rk - Goals For Rank (rank/total teams), GA - Goals Against, GA Rk - Goals Against Rank (rank/total teams)
The tourney's top seed is the 1985-86 team that won fifty games (without the benefit of the shootout, the only squad in club history to do so) on the strength of great defense and solid goaltending, evidenced by the League's second-fewest goals-allowed. Lead by future Hall-of-Fame blueliners Rod Langway, Scott Stevens and Larry Murphy on the back-end and 30-goal scorers Dave Christian (41), Mike Gartner (35), Alan Haworth (34) and Craig Laughlin (30) as well as Bengt Gustafsson, Bobby Gould, Gaetan Duchesne and others up front, the team racked up 107 points, but finished second in the Patrick Division to the Flyers.
Fortune broke their way, however, as the Flyers were upset by the Rangers in the first round setting the Caps up for a second-round date with the Blueshirts after they'd swept the Isles. In fact, the Caps entered Round 2 with 20-plus regular season points on every team remaining in the Wales Conference, and 29 on the Blueshirts. Washington would drop Game 1 in overtime, then rebound with convincing 8-1 and 6-3 wins... before dropping three straight and hitting the links, which was particularly unfortunate given that the Caps had at least 18 regular season points on each team that ended up in the Campbell Conference Finals as well. The 1985-86 team was not only perhaps the Caps' best, but that spring also likely represented the franchise's clearest path to a championship. Alas...
The last team to make the tourney (edging out the 1986-87 bunch that followed up the disappointing spring of 1986 detailed above) is Jim Schoenfeld's lockout-shortened 1994-95 lot that featured the League's leading goal-scorer in Peter Bondra (who can forget his two-goal performance in the season's last game against Pittsburgh to break a tie with Jaromir Jagr?) and terrific regular season goaltending from All-Rookie netminder Jim Carey. That team faced the Pens in the first round and found itself in overtime in Game 5 with a three-to-one series lead... before dropping three straight and hitting the links.
So which team would win a best-of-seven, 1985-86 or 1994-95? In this alternate universe, which team would actually finish off its opponent?
S
Season
GP
ROW
ROL
T/SO
Adj Pts
Pts%
GF
GF Rk
GA
GA Rk
8
2007-08
61*
33
20
8
74
.607
195
1/30
167
18/30
9
2010-11
82
43
28
11
97
.591
224
19/30
197
4/30
This series may be the most interesting of all, and not just because it pits the two teams with the smallest difference in points percentage. No, this a particularly delightful thought exercise because it lines up Bruce Boudreau's first and last Caps playoff teams, 2007-08 versus 2010-11.
After Boudreau took over behind the Caps bench on Thanksgiving in 2007, the Caps went on a near-miraculous run to the playoffs, clinching the Southeast Division with the season's last game. Boudreau had unleashed Mike Green and Nicklas Backstrom, gotten the most out of Alex Ovechkin (who would win the Hart, Lindsay, Ross and Richard trophies), somehow coaxed an 11-2-0/1.63/.936 run out of Cristobal Huet in net, and turned Glen Hanlon's losing - and boring - team into one on a meteoric rise, with offense to spare. For that, Boudreau earned himself the Adams Trophy as Coach of the Year (though his job was certainly made easier when George McPhee went out and got Huet, Sergei Fedorov and Matt Cooke).
Winning the Division earned the Caps home-ice advantage against sixth-seeded Philly in the first round, despite the Flyers' having earned one more point during the regular season. Unfortunately, Huet became human, and perhaps the emotional and physical toll of essentially playing near must-wins for a month before the playoffs even started wore the Caps down. They found themselves in a 3-1 hole before clawing their way back into the series, only to lose in overtime of Game 7 on Verizon Center ice.
Still, 2007-08 was a revelation and unlike anything Caps fans had ever seen before... but it had them dreaming that same dream, and feeling as if it was getting closer. Fast-forward through 2008-09 and 2009-10 - two seasons during which the team still seemed to be on the right track - to 2010-11. The crushing, embarrassing loss to Montreal to end early a season that some had expected to be a coronation had led Boudreau to change his focus a bit from run-and-gun to a more conservative approach, a pendulum which swung even further after a lengthy losing streak (which was televised on and off the ice) had Bruce Boudreau embracing - gasp! - the trap.
The season was highlighted by a New Year's Night win outside in Pittsburgh and, yes, another Southeast Division title. The Caps dispatched of the Rangers in five games in the first round, but were swept out of Round 2 by Tampa Bay. Had the Caps learned the "right way" to play? It sure hadn't seemed like it.
So which team would win a best-of-seven, 2007-08 or 2010-11? Were Bruce's boys - Ovi, Nicky, Green, Semin and so on - getting better over time? Would McPhee's roster tweaking pay dividends in a head-to-head match-up?
Catch up on the news of the weekend (such as it was) here and here.
The League's lawsuit against the players took another step forward over the weekend, as their case was assigned to a federal judge. Good. Because what the federal courts really need to spend their time on is a professional sports slapfight. [WashTimes]
Best part about the lawsuit is that it probably won't work. So...thanks for coming, everybody, good night! [NY Post, Sportsnet]
Everything you ever wanted to know (and likely more) about the two most public faces of the lockout - Gary Bettman and Donald Fehr. [LA Times (and again)]
Meanwhile, try as he might, that Bettman guy can't take away hockey from the land that spawned it... which is true, but he can keep the best in the world from playing it. So there's that. [Mtl Gazette]
And down here in Caps-land, he can also keep a guy like Adam Oates (and all of us eager fans) from his long-awaited debut as an NHL coach. [WaPo]
In simulated hockey world, the Caps dropped back-to-back games to the Flyers and Penguins... and yes, even THAT would be preferable to no hockey at all. Which should tell you something. [ESPN]
With the KHL on an extended holiday break, the big Alex Ovechkin news of the day (after helping Team Russia win the Channel One Cup) is what shirt he wore and where and dear god end this lockout already. [CBS Sports, Hockeyshopped, Tumblr]
Here's what to watch for as Team USA prepares to whittle down their team to its final Ufa-bound 23-man roster... [USoH, USA Hockey, SBNation]
...including Caps' prospect Riley Barber, who is understandably excited about the upcoming camp. [@rileybarber94]
Former NHLer Keith Primeau, whose own career was cut short by a concussion, is working to help other athletes deal with the aftermath of their own injuries. [CBC (video)]
And finally, happy 54th birthday to Dave Poulin and happy 47th birthday to the Chief himself, Craig Berube.
Spanning the globe in search of the constant variety of locked-out hockey players:
Last known location of USO Ambassador Matt Hendricks - Transit Center Manas, Kyrgyzstan. [@MattHendy26 (here, here, and here)]
Team Russia and Alex Ovechkin's assist just finished pwning the Czech Republic, next stop Finland. [RMNB, Alex Ovetjkin]
Nicklas Backstrom and Marcus Johansson went pointless in a 4-1 Sweden victory over the Finns and will take on the Czechs today. [st.nu]
Jason Chimera, John Carlson and Jay Beagle are keeping on keeping on at Kettler. [CSNW]
With no CBA resolution in sight, Michal Neuvirth has signed a contract extension with HC Sparta Praha. His previous contract expired with the team's last game prior to the Channel One Cup break. Sez Neuvy, "If I talk about Extraleague, Sparta is my number one club and I am very happy that I can continue here. I firmly believe that my performances help to continue the series of successful results." [HC Sparta Praha]
Roman Hamrlik is training in Montreal. [25Stanley]
Wojtek Wolski has returned from Ye Olde Countrie and is working out once again in the GTA. [@WojtekWolski86]
Stanislav Galiev is in Reading PA, savoring his first pro hat trick. [@galixon_97]
Sergey Kostenko is also in Reading PA, savoring his first gig as a North American backup goaltender - on account of Brandon Anderson leaving the team for an unknown amount of time for personal/family reasons. [Caps Outsider]
And prospect forward Riley Barber is on his way to Tarrytown, New York, for the start of Team USA's U20 selection camp. Twenty-three of the twenty-seven prospects reporting to camp will leave for Helsinki on Tuesday. [United States of Hockey, Hometown Life]
The latest labor-related news, non-news and assorted whatnot:
Quoth the Bard, "The first thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers." That quote is from either Henry VI or the first of Gary Bettman's lockouts... not sure which. Regardless, rest assured there were plenty of lawyers lurking yesterday as the Union rumbled about possibly disclaiming interest... [ESPN (with an explanation of disclaimer vs. decertification here), Globe and Mail, National Post, CSNW]
... only to be preempted by the League, which filed a class action suit (to have the lockout declared legal) and a charge of unfair labor practices (alleging that the Union has bargained in bad faith). Good times. [The suit itself (PDF), Globe and Mail, CBC, TSN, ESPN, National Post, mc79hockey (a must-read as we get deep(er) in the legal weeds), USA Today, Puck Daddy, WaPo, WashTimes, CBS, CSNW, Pitt Trib-Review, PHT, Ottawa Sun]
Ignoring for a moment the procedural stuff, what, exactly, is on the table at this point? [Puck Daddy]
Baseball this ain't... [Sportsnet]
... but Mike Ricci-ugly it is. [SI]
Alex Ovechkin is an All-Star (and without a suspension to excuse him from participating in the festivities), as is Evgeny Kuznetsov. [RMNB, PHT]
Speaking of the ol' KHL, a pair of former Caps top the list of netminders in terms of GAA. Can you name the one that isn't Semyon Varlamov? [Backhand Shelf]
Back to Ovi, nice before-and-after shot of the two most important women in his life. [Alex Ovetjkin]
Notes from up in Hershey, where the Bears ready to face the Sharks tonight. [Patriot-News and again and again, Capitals Voice]
Down a level, it was another win for the Royals last night. [Capitals Outsider]
Ninety days. That’s three whole months. 2,160 hours. 129,600 minutes. 7,776,000 seconds. And that’s not even counting the time since NHL hockey has actually been played, let alone since the Caps last stepped off the ice.
Ninety days.
I’ve tried to avoid writing specifically about the lockout and its assorted daily frustrations – in part because thinking about it too much is exhausting; in part because it is equally exhausting to read. It won't change things. It won't sway the owners or bring down the players union. And god knows what the world doesn't need right now is yet another post/article/tweet/update/editorial/rant about the lockout (one need look no further to the 384 links we dedicate to the subject daily in our Clips for proof of that – hey, check ‘em out!).
…but 90 days is a really long time. Hysterically long if you find that kind of thing funny, and too long considering what has been lost and what is at stake. Too long for two sides to spend sniffing around each other, snapping into defensive teeth-baring postures at every turn like a Pomeranian with a severe inferiority complex. Too long for the two sides to avoid actual conversation, putting it off until it was almost too late to begin "serious" discussions (and perhaps waiting too long to do even that). The PR acrobatics, the back-and-forth, the take-and-no-give, the games cancelled, the events ruined, the viciousness and hatred and petty silliness that colors negotiations like this - it’s all too much, frankly, for something that’s supposed to be fun.
As fans we should be enjoying the latest win by our favorite team or tearing our hair out over their latest losing skid or hoping that the team right behind them doesn't suddenly get hot. We should be fervently voting for All-Star candidates and eating up highlights of Alex Ovechkin and Taylor Hall and yes, even Sidney Crosby. Instead we spend our time stressing over endless, senseless updates that do little more than intensify the whiplash when things change from bad to good, good to bad (and yet ultimately stay very much the same). We should be readying for the holidays and the second half of the season, not awaiting word on which owner walked up the left side of the escalator at whatever location is hosting the talks today or discussing whether we’ll even be back if and when this thing finally ends. It should be a hobby, not a headache.
The great sportswriters of our time should be filling columns with the latest offensive outburst or brilliant shutout by the League’s best, speculating about who could be on the trading block and what dark horse team is suddenly in the playoff mix, writing about spectacular games between two evenly-matched teams who left it all on the ice. There should be debate about the necessity for the All-Star Game and excitement over the upcoming Winter Classic, "Best/Worst of 2012" lists that don't stop at June and a rundown on which NHL teams will be able to part with their World Junior-eligible youngsters. Instead the talents of these scribes are being wasted writing paragraph after paragraph explaining decertification and the latest CBA offer from the NHL/PA that will ultimately be rejected by the other side because of petty deal-breakers and hills on which to die. They've been reduced to glorified play-by-play tickers, spitting out rumors and "sources say they’re close/far apart" from the lobby of some New York hotel.
The players should be on the ice. Period.
The owners should be paying them to be there. Period.
Instead the players and owners are locked in the throes of a pissing contest unlike any we've seen in… well, seven years. Instead teams are laying off workers and cutting salaries, businesses are suffering and arenas stay dark. Instead the casual fan who was drawn to the excitement of hockey because of Ovechkin or Crosby or Jonathan Toews or even Tyler Seguin, the fan who was hooked upon seeing the Blackhawks or Kings end a decades-long Cup drought is searching elsewhere for his or her entertainment. Instead the diehard fan is questioning his or her loyalty to a sport that can’t seem to go a decade without engaging in civil war. And the apathy… the apathy is everywhere.
Instead of asking who will win the Cup we're asking ourselves, "will we be back?" And for most of us, despite a bit of posturing of our own, the answer is likely "yes". People talk a big game but the fact is most of them are big-game talking on hockey sites like this, on Twitter, among other hockey fans. If they were going to be gone, they’d just go instead of lingering in places dedicated to something they’re cutting loose. It’s just as big a game of chicken between the fans and the NHL as it is between the NHL and the union, and just like in the CBA negotiations the owners will probably win out in the end.
So the issue isn't if we’ll be coming back; the issue is how. Whether the increasing sense of apathy is real or just a product of the microscope of social media is yet to be determined but one has to wonder just how many jerseys will be sold this time around, how many fans will choose to watch from home instead of paying inflated ticket prices to watch it live. Instead of coveting a pristine new sweater, perhaps the fans will opt for a simple red shirt.
We've been here before, of course. Lockouts aren't fun for anyone, and lockouts that end in the loss of a season are about as bad as they get. And yet seven years ago this all seemed easier to take as a fan. There was a sense, perhaps in hindsight but present nonetheless, that this was something the League needed to right itself and make the product great again - a cleansing rebuild that established some parity and introduced a newer, faster game. There were big name stars just starting out who would go on to dominate those first few years; there were exciting playoff runs of continued excellence for some and new-found dominance by others. It's a business and this was part of it, we understood that even if we didn't like it - and the result improved both the business and the hockey itself.
Not this time, though, and that is perhaps the most frustrating part. Instead of a cleansing, it's merely destruction for destruction's sake. Nothing new is being built; it feels senseless and hollow. Even more so than last time this seems to be nothing more than rich people arguing with richer people about how best to divide the riches – a vast oversimplification to be sure, but one that is hard to shake after weeks of petty squabbling over hundreds of millions of dollars.
Because when all is said and done, when the dust settles, when any other number of cliches to describe the conclusion of the lockout take place, nothing much will have changed... except perhaps for the fans. Because we're getting tired of having to overlook all of that greed and anger for the love of the game. We're getting tired of waiting.
And after 90 days (and counting), we're getting tired of everything that is "instead of hockey".
Russia posted a convincing 5-1 win against Sweden in the first game of the Channel One Cup tournament. Nicklas Backstrom and Marcus Johansson had the assists for the game's first tally; then the Russians took over and dropped five unanswered goals on Bolts 'tender Anders Lindback, including a beauty from Alex Ovechkin.
The highlights show an absolutely filthy sequence for the Swedes. Mean Lars uncorks a sizzling wrister right into and off of Barulin's pads, darts in, picks up his own rebound and elegantly backhands it through traffic to Danielsson at the top of the circle for a laser beam of a goal. Ovi's goal sequence starts around the 3:00 mark - a nice bit of give-and-go and a coast-to-coast rush ends with a jubilant #8 and a sad-looking #19 and #90. [Alex Ovetjkin, RMNB]
The latest labor-related news, non-news and assorted whatnot:
The federal mediators are mediating, and not much is happening. Perhaps they should try for federal decisionators next lockout. [NatPo]
The Mediator-in-Chief has graciously declined the Great State of Minnesota's invitation to join the negotiating team. He does have some advice for the interested parties, however. [Puck Daddy, CSNW, RMNB]
The Founding Father of the Caps' blogosphere checks in with a conversation about ... well, you know. [Off-Wing Opinion (audio)]
Oh hai there Mark Cuban. Who ya got? [Puck Daddy]
This movie was terrible the first time they made it. And now they are trying for a sequel. [ESPN]
Or possibly a game show. [The Hockey News, NHL Numbers]
Point: Bettman is winning. Here's why. [CBC]
Counterpoint: Fehr is winning. Here's why. [Murray Chass]
The lockout in one simple infographic. [Peerless]
On the bright side, short seasons = fun. [Denver Post, USA Today]
We're mad as hell and we're ... still not quite sure what to do about it, frankly. [WashTimes]
No. Just no. [Puck Daddy]
Ultimatums are so final and all. Perhaps a penultimatum? [Yahoo! Sports]
In which the rules and traditions of Hendy's new challenge coin are revealed. The only rule you need to remember is that Matt Hendricks never pays for a beer, ever. [Caps Outsider]
Karl Alzner has Dennis Wideman crashing on his couch, a regular skate date with Jeff Schultz, and Team Canada on speed dial. [WTOP]
Some world junior notes:
Tom Wilson was among the final cuts announced by Team Canada. He will return to the Plymouth Whalers and work towards next year. [Dump ''n' Chase, Caps Outsider]
Team Sweden should be stronger with Filip Forsberg and Christian Djoos on the roster. [Hockey Prospectus, Backhand Shelf]
About those hockey pants, Hershey. [Puck Daddy]
Finally, happy 45th birthday to Bill Ranford and happy 50th to Peter Sundstrom.
If you’re a "fun with numbers" type (and as everyone knows, I am precisely that type), or have been around other people at all in the last week or so, you may know that today’s date is 12.12.12. And if not… well, today’s date is 12.12.12. Cool, huh?
For many Caps fans, the number 12 isn’t just a number; it has much more meaning for us, a reminder of one of the franchise’s all-time great players and one of the best snipers the NHL has seen in the modern era, a man who had the ability to bring fans to the edge of their seats with one end-to-end rush long before our beloved Russian made it a nightly occurrence.
So it seemed appropriate to take this "special" day on the calendar and use it to honor someone a million times more special – the greatest Cap to ever wear #12: Jeff Frie-, er, Peter Bondra.
This summer marked twenty-two years since Bondra was drafted by the Capitals, the 156th selection overall in the 1990 NHL Entry Draft that would turn into a fourteen-year career with the organization spanning almost 1000 games. During that time he established himself as one of the League’s premier goalscorers, racking up 472 goals and 353 assists in 961 career games with Washington.
As a Cap Bondra was selected to the All-Star Game five times, led the NHL in goals twice, and established franchise records in six different categories. He also joined an elite club on February 5, 1994 when he scored five goals against the Tampa Bay Lightning, which incidentally was also his first career hat trick. (Fun fact: the hat trick goal was scored, not surprisingly, on the power play. In the box for Tampa? Roman Hamrlik.)
Bondra’s time with the club was brought to an end in February of 2004 when he became a casualty of the team’s rebuild, shipped off to the Ottawa Senators in exchange for a second round draft pick and some guy named Brooks Laich (never heard of him). And yet despite the fact that he would go on to play his 1000th game, score his 500th goal and eventually retire in October 2007 wearing another sweater, there’s no question that Bondra is and will always be a Capital first. Memories of those few sad years will slowly get pushed out in favor of much happier times, the goals and celebrations of one of the team’s finest goal-scorers.
And so, Peter Bondra, we salute you… enjoy your day.
Real hockey is being played today, believe it or not. The puck drops at 11am Eastern at Megasport Arena in Moscow, where Nick Backstrom and Marcus Johansson will suit up for Tre Kronor to take on Alex Ovechkin and Team Russia in the first match of the Channel One Cup stage of the EuroTour.
AO is slotted at left wing on the third line with Alexei Tereschenko at center and Nikolai Zherdev on the right. And he says he's fine with that. Just. Fine. [Gazeta.ru (photos)]
Here's a fairly illuminating interview with Russia head coach Zinetula Bilyaletdinov. Of note - Sasha Semin didn't get an invite on grounds of poor conditioning, Ovi's centerman is coming off a somewhat long-term injury, and Coach Bill considers Evgeny Kuznetsov to be a right wing. Not mentioned - Russia would really, really like to have Semyon Varlamov available, but he's hurt, and otherwise occupied. [hcsalavat.ru, via teh googletrans]
The latest labor-related news, non-news and assorted whatnot:
That worked well: Federal mediators and a super-sekrit undisclosed location provided impetus for ... not much. [Fire & Ice, CSNW]
Wanted: Brinksmanship. [CBC.ca]
Your move, owners. [Sportsnet]
Give me three steps, give me three steps, baby, give me three steps towards accord. [@DamoSpin]
What's with the amnesty ambivalence? [Backhand Shelf, CSNW]
They read Clips, obvi: How are NHL GMs monitoring their overseas players? [Puck Daddy]
Keeping busy, keeping on, and keeping the home fires burning:
Peter Puck ... [CBC.ca]
... Craig Laughlin ... [Facebook]
... and Matt Hendricks. [@MattHendy26, Melodika.net]
A ray of light in this cold, dark place - could the Euro players be looking for their passports and checking flight times? [Puck Daddy]
Hershey's #1 goalie achieved victories #70 (get it?) and #71 in a two-game Newfoundland sweep of the St. John's IceCaps, which means Braden Holtby has now tied Phil Sauve for #7 in all-time wins for a Chocolatetown netminder. He also saved 62 of 63 shots in those two games. [Patriot-News, Stack the Pads, SHoE]
WHITE HOCKEY PANTS ALERT!!!! ... [Icethetics]
... or not. Drat. [Patriot-News]
Catching up with 2008 6th-rounder Greg Burke, currently in his senior year at UNH. [THW]
Tom Wilson has survived the first round of cuts at Team Canada camp in Calgary. The team must whittle its roster from 31 players to 23 by ... sometime today. [TSN]
Finally, happy 27th birthday to Andrew Gordon, happy 37th to Bates Battaglia, happy 43rd to Sergei Fedorov, and happy 78th to Doug Mohns, and a very happy birthday to our pal Paul Rovnak. Cheers, gentlemen!
Let’s do a little thought experiment. On a scale of zero-to-100 which represents your personal approval rating of someone else’s actions (100 being complete agreement), what number would you currently assign to the owner of your favorite NHL team? Next, what number would you currently assign to “NHL owners” as a group?
There’s a belief regarding American politics known as Fenno’s Paradox which states that people generally hold their own Congressman (or Congresswoman) in relatively high regard despite having negative feelings towards the legislative body as a whole – “Congress stinks, but my guy ain’t the problem.” A number of explanations help to understand why the theory tends to hold true, including personal interactions and good ol’ self-interest (“This pork-barrel spending has got to stop… but it sure is nice that we got that bridge project funded!”), but ultimately one result of Fenno’s Paradox is to preserve the status quo, more or less, despite their antipathy towards “the system.”
[Sidenote: Mentioning Fenno’s Paradox on a hockey blog is one of the most Washington, D.C. things ever.]
So how’d you answer our two questions at the top?
There may very well be exceptions here (I’m looking at you, Boston), but a random sampling of hockey fans would almost certainly reflect something similar to Fenno’s Paradox applying to hockey (Fenton’s Paradox, perhaps) – fans undoubtedly have a more positive opinion of “their” owner than they do of Gary Bettman’s bosses, generally. Even here in D.C., where Ted Leonsis has been labeled a “hard-liner” in CBA negotiations, you’d expect that to hold true; personal interactions and what he has done for his constituency have certainly earned him a stockpile of goodwill among the team’s rational fans, present-day events notwithstanding.
Now, the relationship between hockey fans and hockey owners isn’t the same as that between citizens and their elected representatives, but that doesn’t mean hockey fans don’t have a vote – their votes are their dollars. And while those votes won’t immediately effect change or allow those who cast (or in this case don’t cast) them to hand-pick successors, they’re by no means meaningless. The difficulty is in gathering enough of them together to make an impact… just as it is in politics. Public accountability? It's easier in theory than in practice.
Which brings us back to Fenno. As the 2012-13 NHL season appears to be teetering on the brink of cancellation, there’s plenty of blame to go around for why we are where we are, with the majority of it likely falling at the feet of the owners and their highest-paid non-player employee, Mr. Bettman. But until more specific owners are held accountable – by fans, by media, by players – don’t expect anything to change. Are fans going to "punish" the owners - their owner - by staying away from the game entirely? Probably not in huge numbers. After all, for most hockey fans, it’s not their guy who is the problem. It rarely is.
The latest labor-related news, non-news and assorted whatnot:
It's the biggest day yet in negotiations, and Federal mediators are on-hand to help the proceedings. (If it sounds familiar, that's because it's pretty much what everyone was saying two weeks ago.) [ESPN, TSN, Y!, CSNW, WashTimes, WaPo, USA Today, CBS]
30 Thoughts gets its own bullet. Happy Hanukkah. [CBC]
What's the difference between decertification and a disclaimer of interest? Study hard - there'll be a pop quiz on this information at some point. [TSN]
Speaking of lawyering lawyers lawyerly lawyering, here's the kind of litigious goodness that 1L's dream about over beers. [Puck Daddy]
Wanna troll hockey fans? Put Gary Bettman in the Hall of Fame... [canada.com]
... or let him Commissioner your league for two decades. Happy Anniversary! [Puck Daddy]
As for Bettman's opposite number, Donald Fehr, he's just doin' his thing. (Read this.) [Grantland]
Here's your timeline for the next few weeks - plan accordingly. [National Post]
Sideshow Hartnell tattoos "The Hamrlik, The" on his chest. Metaphorically speaking, that is. [CSN Philly]
How's that draft sked lookin'? [SB Nation DC]
On the plus side, Brooks Laich may get to represent his country other than after the Caps have been eliminated from the playoffs. [WTOP]
Related: are the Olympics off the table? [TFP]
In case you're wondering how the not-yet-die-hard fans are taking the lockout... [Caps Basketball]
Alex Ovechkin lends his sweet, sweet singing voice to a benefit track for a kid that fell in a well an ad for Sochi. [RMNB]
A lost Olie Kolzig interview is found, which is like stumbling upon four never-before-heard tracks from Exile on Main St. Sorta. [Dump 'n Chase]
Spotlight on Craig Laughlin. [Capitals]
Twitter update: Matt Hendricks is in, Karl Alzner is out. [Capitals Outsider, Capitals Outsider]
Counting down the top Bears moments of 2012... [SHoE]
... which doesn't include last night's 32-save effort from Braden Holtby in a 2-1 win on the road. [Patriot-News]
Leftover thoughts on the AHL Showcase. [RtR]
Tom Wilson mugs for the camera for all of Canada to see. [Toronto Sun, with more on the scrimmage at TSN (video)... and hey, look, Team Canada had a guest coach]
Finally, if you're the book-buyin' type, here are some suggestions (and even if you don't know how to read, man, what a lead image... of course, you couldn't have just read that either). [SI]
Rip the bandage off, people, time for some lockout news:
As expected, the NHL made what has to be one of the final cuts to the schedule and cancelled all games through December 30. And so the 2012-13 season pretty much becomes the 2013 season with one fell swoop. [Puck Daddy, SI.com, Caps, Globe and Mail]
Unraveling the myth and the reality behind some of what each side has put on the table to this point. [Y! Sports, Puck Daddy]
Take a walk down memory lane and remember when Bob Goodenow's players held all the cards. And yet still ended up getting the fuzzy end of the lollipop last time the NHL and NHLPA clashed, so... yeah. [The Star]
The fans are revolting! Err... boycotting! [Puck Daddy, Habs EOTP]
All well and good, but perhaps the most influential people in these negotiations, outside of the NHL and NHLPA, are the sponsors - aka the people who pay good money to be associated with the League. Spoiler alert: they're not happy. [Sportsnet, BHS]
But don't worry, because both sides are still just posturing and an end is in sight. It has to be... right? [Tom Benjamin, THN, USA Today, ESPN, Peerless]
KHL to the NHL: take your time on that whole "fixing the lockout" thing. [NPR]
Speaking of the KHL, if you want to feel involved try your hand at filling out their All-Star ballot. Send Alex Ovechkin to Chelyabinsk!! [KHL]
Numbers don't always tell the whole tale, but they can give away a good (and pretty bleak) chunk of the story - especially when laid out with pretty colors and shiny charts. [CBC]
Moron, err, more on long-term contracts. [mc79hockey]
Locked-out players speak, part 1, as Mathieu Perreault chats about his time in Finland so far. [Japers' Rink]
Locked-out players speak, part 2, as Roman Hamrlik softens some of his previous criticisms of the NHLPA (but only so much). [TSN, NextSportStar (YouTube)]
News from Chocolatetown and beyond:
Braden Holtby should have been following up a triumphant playoff performance with his first full season in the NHL. Instead he's stuck in Hershey again - and in limbo. [DSP]
After starting the season with the Reading Royals of the ECHL, defenseman Brett Flemming is on his way to Hershey - good for Brett, likely not good for Dmitry Orlov, who was injured in the AHL Showcase last week. [Caps, Patriot-News]
One of the cooler moments at that AHL Showcase was this stirring - and warmly familiar - duet between regular Caps anthem singers Bob McDonald and Caleb Green to kick things off:
Former Caps' coach Dale Hunter has his London Knights back and rolling on an 18-game winning streak. Not exactly 50-50 hockey, eh, Dale? [BHS]
He's been a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame for almost a month now, but if you missed it the first time around (or just want to relive it), check out Adam Oates' induction speech. Lil' dusty in here. [YouTube]
Top fifty lists are for chumps - the always great DobberHockey has their updated list of the top 215 prospects ready to go. Peruse, scroll, debate. [DobberHockey]
Speaking of prospects, it's wheels down in Calgary for Caps first-rounder Tom Wilson and the rest of the U20 Team Canada hopefuls. Selection camp begins today. [Calgary Sun]
And finally, Mike Vogel takes us back forty years to a time when a rival league threatened the NHL in the form of the World Hockey Association. [Dump 'n Chase]
Relive all the magic of the weekend's news here and here.
Someday we'll be together... yes we will oh yes we will. Until then, here's the latest on the ongoing lockout:
Expect more cancellations today, likely through at least the end of December. Happy New Year! [@aportzline, Peerless]
Still feeling a little whiplash from the best day of negotiations turning into one of the worst? You're not alone. [Puck Daddy, Boston Globe, National Post, Globe and Mail]
The NHL wants shorter contracts and is willing to die on them there hills, while the NHLPA is committed to not making a long-term commitment to any CBA. Is either one worth losing a season over? [SportsBizzBuzz, mc79hockey]
And to add whiplash to whiplash, after a tense few days it looks like the two sides haven't unfriended each other on Facebook just yet... [CBC, Wash Times, CSNW]
...which apparently shouldn't be surprising, because posturing in this manner is totally part of the process. Annoying, frustrating and headache-inducing, but a part nonetheless. [National Post, NY Post]
The system is broken, franchises are in trouble and the NHL brand itself could be dying... [NY Post, Sportsnet, CBC]
...but don't worry, kids, because Ron Hainsey is on the case and he brought his Bad Cop hat. [CBC]
So what does it all mean? [National Post, Gazette]
Locked-out players continue to do good things with all of this time they suddenly have on their hands. [SI.com]
Jen Neale of our SBN pals over at Anaheim Calling flew cross-country to watch an AHL game... catch up on her weekend in the Nation's Capital as she watched Norfolk "playing host" to the Bears at Verizon Center. [Anaheim Calling]
Speaking of Hershey, know what's cool to watch? 12,000 teddy bears flying onto a sheet of ice. Check out this great footage (about the 1:30 mark of the video in the post) and marvel at the strange awesomeness of hockey fans. [THW]
And finally, speaking of awesome, if you happened to be watching SportsCenter this weekend and heard a familiar name, you weren't dreaming - that really was our own Stanislav Galiev getting some national love for a pretty sweet breakaway goal. [SHOE]
