Thirty Stories Up

This one I couldn’t miss: I bought a family pack of tickets a couple of weeks ago and dragged (okay, not so much dragged) my loved ones all up to D.C. from Maryland for the day.

My quick thoughts:

• The first period had the Capitals coming out with something to prove; there was only 6:30 left in the first period before the Canes could get the puck, work it into the offensive zone, and get a shot on goal off, and shots in the first period were a fairly stunning 14-2 in favor of the Capitals.  This possession hockey style is really starting to pay off for the players and coaching staff; I’m surprised they didn’t move to it sooner, because even the players already on the roster are thriving under the new system.  Whether that’s because they finally have some centers who can skate the puck (ex. “Oh, there’s Nylander holding onto the puck… again”), or the blueline is a year older and a season more experienced and can ease the pressure on the forwards, I don’t know.
• Cam Ward looked sharper than he did in their opener, and you can’t begrudge any goalie 2 goals on thirty-odd shots.  Still, if the ‘Canes are going to come out this lifeless every night, he’s going to have to get even sharper to keep them in contention in the Southeast.
• The new Capitals home red jerseys look astonishingly sharp on the ice; the numbers are easy to read even from above the blimps, and they look fantastic in action.
• The wasted 4-minute power play was a little painful; Poti should have kept the puck in at the blueline a little more often, but that will come as the chemistry improves on the power play.
• The penalty kill looked great, especially in the first.  The Capitals are doing a great job of shutting down the lanes early in the game, although they seemed to be underpursuing a little in the third.  Again, this brings up the worrying prospect of a conditioning issue (although they didn’t look like they were sucking wind late).
• Ovechkin has somehow spent the summer turning himself into a fantastic two-way player.  He’s still not going to be a replacement blueliner, but with his back-checking on Friday and his shot-blocking and hitting last night, he’s showing that this could be the season that he finally matures from premier offensive threat into the one player you have to watch all the time when he’s on the ice, no matter what the situation.
• Speaking of Ovechkin, I was pretty skeptical at the beginning of camp that there was enough chemistry between Ovechkin and Kozlov to justify playing Kozlov at first-line center, but a few more games like that and I’ll be a believer.  The drop-pass to Ovechkin for his goal was a thing of beauty, and Kozlov can skate it around the zone when he needs to (although not as well as Nylander).

Coming out of this game seeing the Capitals with a 2-0-0 record, I’m a lot more optimistic than I was even after their first win over the Thrashers.  I’m still skeptical of Florida as a threat this year, so once the Capitals show they can bring the game to the Lightning and dominate them, I’ll be ready to start thinking of them as the team to beat in the Southeast.

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Well, after finally getting to watch some hockey, instead of just hearing about it, here are my quick thoughts for the evening:

• Center Ice Online is going to be fantastic, when it actually works. Missed about five minutes of the start of the 1st in Canadiens at Hurricanes because of ‘technical difficulties’, and the broadcast of Senators at Leafs didn’t start for me until a few minutes in. But once it got going, it was smooth sailing; I was able to watch both games side by side via wireless. Not as much of a battery hog as I thought either; I was able to watch the first two periods of the Canes game and the first of the Toronto game on my laptop battery before having to adjourn back to the hotel from the bar. Quality is pretty good, and the audio keeps sync with the video surprisingly well (although I’m going to have to brush up on my French for these Canadian broadcasts).
• The Canadiens snaked one away from the ‘Canes at home. Cam Ward isn’t playing up to the level he needs to be right now, although he could have been getting more help in front.
• The ice at the RBC Center looked terrible in the third; a lot of guys were losing footing in both offensive zones, although it worked out well for the Canadiens (who scored their overtime winner on a falling-down pass to Koivu).
• Speaking of Koivu, he’s coming out of the gate looking fantastic, with two goals tonight, including that winner that he slotted past Cam Ward on the 4-on-3 power play in OT.
• The Senators are looking pretty good despite being down 3-2 in the 3rd. Their big guns are getting chances, but the Leafs have clung on and managed to sneak the shots in often enough to stay ahead. They still have time to pull it even, and I would hardly be surprised; with Ducks-Wings going to the shootout, we’re going to start the North American season with at least three very close games. (Edit: What did I say? Heatley capitalizes on a great pass for his first goal of the season to tie things up. He looks to be worth all those first picks in fantasy so far, not to mention the new deal he just signed.)  (Edit 2:  Heatley with the game-winner in OT!  Impressive as ever.)
• Toronto looks good on the penalty kill late, but a lot of that is because Ottawa is trying to force what isn’t there; commentator mentioned that the Ottawa bench was visibly upset when Spezza turned the puck over on a marginal pass attempt.
• The Senators look REALLY good on the penalty kill late. I think they’re just that good.
• The NHL-centric advertising this year looks great so far, between the ‘Believe’ commercial and the (I grudgingly admit) pretty good Crosby RBK commercial. Now let’s see it somewhere that non-NHL fans might see it, huh? Most people who are watching the game on local TV don’t need to be convinced any more.

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Well, no last-minute trades from the Caps this time (despite rumblings as far up as Ted’s Take that a last-minute trade might be in the works), but they were fair to the kids; Steve Eminger goes on the injured reserve to free the last roster spot, which means that Steckel, Green, and Schultz all get to stay; Schultz still has a thing or two to prove if the pulse of the Caps’ blog community is to be believed, but both Steckel and Green really worked for it and had fantastic training camps.  I’m glad to see all three of them on the roster, and I hope that their rising fortunes will help float the Caps to a playoff spot this season.

Now that Steckel has made the roster, it will be interesting to see how they use him.  In preseason, the Caps seemed to bring Gordon on pretty frequently for defensive-zone faceoffs, but Steckel is apparently equally talented on the draw; I’d be willing to bet that on that alone he gets to see a little time on the penalty kill than he would normally if he is, in fact, the fourth line center.

Green has been a fantastic offensive defenseman, and seems to really have some good hockey smarts; he’s able to take a forward position when he gets out of the penalty box without a problem, and that kind of jump is going to make him a great scoring threat both even strength and on the power play.  Look for him to get a bunch of goals over the course of the season just catching teams off-balance on line changes; I think he has the vision and the skills to surprise a lot of teams this season who may be expecting a less dangerous defenseman in the spot.

The other thing that’s been surprising about the last couple of days has been the volume of well wishes sent Ben Clymer’s way on the message boards and blogs since he cleared waivers and was assigned to Hershey.  He’s a grinder, and he played a big part in the Caps’ rebuilding; his demotion to the AHL is a good sign for the team, as it means the talent is finally deep enough on the NHL club that the bubble players are going to slip to where they’d be on a lot of other NHL teams, but he’ll be fantastic to hold onto for depth (assuming he’d ever clear waivers on the way back up), and there’s absolutely no ill will towards him by the fans for failing to make the team this season.

The Caps also bid a more final farewell to Jakub Klepis, who, in the absence of a contract from the team, simply failed to impress enough in camp to earn a spot on the team now that it’s more talent-heavy.  Since he was unsigned, look for him to move over to Europe, or perhaps to another NHL team that’s a little thirstier for depth players.  Best of luck to him, wherever he moves to.

The difference between making it and not making it at the highest professional level is so small; I wish the best of luck to the guys who are going to the AHL for more playing time, and I hope they can impress enough to merit the second look they all so desperately want, and to the players moving over to Europe, which can only be considered a failure if you think that being in the top 0.2% of players in the world instead of the top .1% means a whole lot in the great scheme of things.  Of course just as much to the guys who have earned their shot and now need to come out every night in the NHL and prove that they deserve to be there every shift of every game.

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As has been covered by the OFB team and Tarik, the Capitals have a few decisions left to make before their season can start.  The deadline for Opening Day’s 23-man rosters is tomorrow, and despite the difficult cuts that the Caps have had to make, they still have 25 men on the roster (not counting Klepis, who didn’t make the team but was not under contract, but counting Fleischmann, who just signed a 1-year deal).  The deadline for putting players on the waiver wire (a necessary 24-hour step to send most players down to affiliate teams) has passed with the waiving of Jamie Pollock, Ben Clymer, and Dean Arsene, so the only avenues left to the Caps to trim those extra players are trades or sending waiver-exempt players (Schultz, Green, and Steckel) down to Hershey.

Goalies are easy: Kolzig is obviously the number one choice despite his play in camp (.850 save percentage).  Under a coach who’s also a former goalie like Glen Hanlon, Kolzig has a lot of leeway, and I’m sure both the fans and the players are hoping that he turns it on before the puck drops on the Capitals’ regular season; between coming in cold and not facing many shots (thanks to the Caps’ newfound defensive responsibility), what he’s faced in exhibition really shouldn’t be a representative sample of his play.  Although prospect Michael Neuvirth is coming along, Brent Johnson still easily took the backup spot with his solid play in training camp.  That accounts for two spots on the 23-man roster.

Defensemen are a tougher bet: it looked as if the top six would be Poti, Morrisson, Jurcina, Pothier, Schultz (who has been told to find a place to live in D.C.), and Green (who hasn’t been told anything yet), with the seventh spot up for grabs.  However, despite Green’s excellent training camp, in which he stated an incredibly strong case to be on the team, his waiver-exempt status would seem to put him as the #1 bubble player at the moment if no trade deal is made.  In any case, the team is probably going to take 7 of these to get up to 9 players out of 23.

As for forwards, things are a little more clear-cut.  The first line appears to be set at Ovechkin, Kozlov, and Fleischmann; the second appears to be Semin, Nylander, and Backstrom; the third is probably Pettinger, Gordon, and Clark, which leaves the fourth line, which from camp, would appear to make sense as Brashear, Steckel, and Laich.  The only forward currently on the roster who is waiver-exempt is Steckel, however, which makes him at-risk just like Green, despite a quality camp.  That still leaves a couple of spots for scratches each game, but there are no forwards other than Steckel that can now be removed from the roster except by a trade.

So what would be the optimum outcome?  The chatter on the blogs seems to have most fans and observers leaning towards a trade, though so far there’s not even a credible rumor as to who might go and for what return.

This has to be hard on the young, waiver-exempt players; they fought tooth and nail to earn a spot on the big club, and the motivations of the front office in keeping some veterans who, by their performance in camp, don’t deserve the spots as much off the waiver wire and on the NHL club certainly are mysterious.  I have yet to see a credible argument that Green belongs in the AHL this season, and even Steckel should have what it takes as a fourth-line center with his fantastic face-off skills; there’s a lot of skepticism among the fans about Schultz and why he merits a spot when those two don’t.

The other question has to be what the Caps can hope to get from a trade, besides roster space.  None of the players who would be on the block should a trade be in the works are deserving of giving up a first-round draft pick, even as a package.  I wouldn’t mind seeing the team move one skill player along with a couple of bubble guys for a solid right-winger or defenseman, but the question quickly becomes which teams are desperate enough for depth that they would make that deal, and with this kind of notice, it’s doubtful that anything like that would come through.  I think, especially at this stage in the building process, it would be disappointing to see the Caps get nothing out of their depth except for a second-round draft pick or a couple of third-rounders, even with the high quality of the upcoming draft class.

Do you think it’s the right time for the Caps to make a trade for little return?  Will Green and Steckel develop if they go down to Hershey, or is it the right time for them to make the jump?  Are the Caps looking at hurting themselves if they don’t play those two?  Let me know what you think in the comments.

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