Quick Notes

The Caps won their last preseason game against the Nashville Predators 2-1. Washington's goals came from Jay Beagle and Mike Green, and goaltender Michael Neuvirth was 13/14 in saves, as he started the entire game.

Today, Matt Hendricks, the LadyHatTrick award winner of the preseason (he scored a hat trick in Washington's 6-2 win over Columbus) signed a one-year contract with the Caps.

In case you were wondering, one of the Caps' blast-from-the-past players, Brian Willsie, was released and places on waivers...
...Okay, I didn't think you cared either. I just thought to let you know.

Tomorrow, the Capitals play their first game at the Verizon Center this preseason against the Boston Bruins (1-1-1 in preseason) at 7:00 pm. By now, the Caps have cut their roster down to 33 players in time for tomorrow's match. Washington will follow tomorrow's game with another face-off against the Bruins on Wednesday, this time in Boston.

Finally, as a sidenote, there's an on-going battle among outsiders about who is to be the #1 starting goalie this season for Washington: Semyon Varlamov or Michael Neuvirth. Both have been very good in their first two starts (Varlamov played 30 minutes in Columbus and stopped all shots), and both have seen significant time with the big club. Now that the job is between the two, I will ask you which do you think should start for the Caps.

Stay tuned for more Caps' notes/news soon. Just an update to make sure everyone knows I'm alive.

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NFC East Notes:

The Dallas Cowboys finally won their first game of the season by the way in a solid 27-13 victory over the Houston Texans. The Redskins and Giants both lost, however, and the Eagles continue to perform strongly with Michael Vick as their starting quarterback. Nonetheless, the Eagles have had the easiest schedule in the division, so I'm not putting too much weight on that.

Just thought I'd share.

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MLB Notes:

You'll get MLB notes once the playoffs begin.

NHL Playoffs Round 3 - This is getting old...

"It's the NHL Playoffs," you say. "Why would you be getting tired of this!?"

Simple answer. It's not the playoffs I'm tired of, it's that I CONTINUE TO BE WRONG EVERY TIME!

We already went through how in Round 1, the Caps, Devils, Senators, and Coyotes were my downfall, and how the Caps were the source of intense grief.

I was at least content with my Western Conference picks. The West was much more predictable since they all seemed to be seeded at their appropriate talent level.

The East, however, was a mess. According to my Crashing the Net post, I would have only predicted one series correctly. But I covered my tracks by claiming on fellow sports guy Jay Scott's radio show that the Flyers would have a very high chance of defeating the Devils because of the Devils' failure to match up well against them.

So we move on the Round 2. I should have gotten through the tough part, right? Well, not so.

I easily explained away how the Canadiens would be too tired. The Habs would have spent too much energy to come back against the Caps with all that shot blocking to play the Penguins, who seemed to handle the Senators pretty well.

Flyers were too battered after losing two big players in Jeff Carter and Simon Gagne during Round 1. Secondly, the other underdog, the Bruins beat the Sabres in five games (at least I called that one), and would probably finish off the Flyers easily.

Out West, I expected the Sharks to choke in the second round like they normally do, and predicted the Blackhawks would have just a little bit more for the Canucks in a tough six or seven game series.

So much for all of that!

Caps fans were quite frustrated after the Penguins beat the Habs 6-3 after three straight games of the Caps scoring only one goal against Jaroslav Halak. The following game, Montreal turned back to form, winning 4-3. The rest of the series the two teams traded one-goal wins and losses until the Canadiens won Games 6 and 7, winning Game 7 convincingly by a score of 5-2, now dethroning the defending Stanley Cup champions.

The Bruins were handling the Flyers pretty well, and were on the verge of sweeping them going up 3-0 after Game 3. However, Simon Gagne returned to the Flyers, and so did their ability to win. Philadelphia would take over the pace early on in the next three games, and tied the series at three-all. The Bruins turned the tide very early in Game 7, and led 3-0, taking a 3-1 lead after the first period. The Flyers took the game completely in the second period though, and went on to win the game and the series 4-3 in regulation. Much to the dismay of the Bruins' home fans, Philadelphia became the first team in 35 years and only the third in NHL history to come back from a 3-0 series deficit and win.

For the Sharks, I just sounded really stupid, as they ran through Detroit, beating them in five games. Needless to say, I had no founding for picking against them, and I will admit that.

At least I was accurate for once, choosing the Blackhawks to win over the Canucks in six games. I expected the individual games to be closer, as the Hawks were able to average 3.83 goals in the series (about five in every win) and won games like Game 7 5-1 and Game 4 7-4. But Game 1, the Canucks won 5-1 and won Game 6 by a score of 3-1, making me question their consistency like I did before.

So here are the Conference Finals predictions (sigh)... here we go...

Eastern Conference Finals
Round 3
#8 Montreal Canadiens defeat #7 Philadelphia Flyers in 6 games

Western Conference Finals
Round 3
#2 Chicago Blackhawks defeat #1 San Jose Sharks in 6 or 7 games

STANLEY CUP FINALS
#2 Chicago Blackhawks defeat #8 Montreal Canadiens in 5 or 6 games

I look forward to the possibility of an Original Six Stanley Cup Final. It's great for hockey to see these teams experience the glory again.

Many can make the sentimental pick for the Blackhawks considering the following circumstances: The Hawks had classic greatness in the days of goaltender Charlie Gardiner (who died after winning the 1934 Cup, in case you didn't know, new hockey fans) in the 1930s, and then in the 1960s with Tony Esposito, Bobby Hull, and Stan Mikita (need I go on listing?). Then the Blackhawks had their more recent years of sucking, and now experience the possibility of winning a Cup with young superstars.

However, the way Montreal has gone back to the old ways of playing and added the confidence in young players i.e. PK Subban. You can almost put behind you the fact that they won 24 Stanley Cups, including their last one coming in 1993. Either way, it would be a great series, and definitely the best for viewers watching.

Of course, as a hockey fan, we all know I'm going to watch regardless, and I'm going to enjoy it. I'm just going to boycott a Flyers entrance to the Finals a different way.

p.s. I am working on fixing my East Coast bias, so no worries, West Coasters, I've got your coverage this round!

NHL Playoffs - Round 2 *FIGHT!*

It is the advent of the second round of the NHL playoffs, and I feel absolutely rotten about my picks.

But before I dive into my second round predictions, we must interrupt this program for a little message about the Capitals...

...Aside from the fact that my bracket's all messed up, my heart is broken as a Capitals fan. Of course. Yes. Throw it at me that the #1 team in the NHL lost to the absolute last team in the playoffs. I've already thought about it and it kills to know that the Flyers and the Bruins/Penguins would have only been demolished by Washington had they gotten past this round.

As I mentioned in the playoff preview article in The Hockey Writers, the Caps would need to make their playoff series short and sweet. A four or five game set with the Canadiens would have been ideal, as the Habs were not seen as a threat to advance anywhere in the NHL playoffs, so the top tier squad of the Capitals should have been able to trounce the Canadiens.

The Caps, however, began the series poorly, losing Game 1 and barely winning Game 2. Games 3 and 4 displayed the kind of dominance the Caps were capable of, as they won 5-1 and 6-3 respectively. But the instead of using this game to send Montreal golfing, the Caps lost that one 2-1.

Game 6 was the most pivotal and deciding factor in this series as to who was going to move on. Washington had every chance to keep the game close. And had they even won 4-3 instead of the final score of 4-1, they would have been in better shape to beat Halak and the Montreal defense in Game 7.

I already talked about Game 7 though, and it's all in my Game 7 reCAP on The Hockey Writers. So let's not dwell on here about it...

...As a result, my predictions of the first round winners were almost shot to hell. Besides Washington's epic fail, the Flyers did, in fact, beat the Devils like I said on the radio show, but not like I said on my Crashing the Net bracket. The Ottawa Senators didn't pull off the upset over the Penguins like I had thought/hoped, and the Boston Bruins' attack was too much, even for Ryan Miller of the Sabres, as Buffalo lost in six games. Thus, all top three seeds in the East were eliminated.

Out West, I almost had it, except for I predicted that the Coyotes would be able to be a nice story throughout the playoffs, especially after beating Detroit, but that didn't happen. The Red Wings let the series go to a Game 7, only to embarrass the Yotes 6-1 in the final match. So much for "throwing the snake" in Phoenix.

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Nonetheless, here we go again, with an updated version of the playoff predictions:

Eastern Conference Semifinals (Round 2)
#4 Pittsburgh Penguins defeat #8 Montreal Canadiens in 5 games
#6 Boston Bruins defeat #7 Philadelphia Flyers in 6 games

Western Conference Semifinals (Round 2)
#2 Chicago Blackhawks defeat #3 Vancouver Canucks in 6 games
#5 Detroit Red Wings defeat #1 San Jose Sharks in 6 games


Eastern Conference Finals (Round 3)
#6 Boston Bruins defeat #4 Pittsburgh Penguins in 7 games

Western Conference Finals (Round 3)
#2 Chicago Blackhawks defeat #5 Detroit Red Wings in 7 games

Stanley Cup Final
#2 Chicago Blackhawks defeat #6 Boston Bruins in 5 or 6 games

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Any remarks, comments, criticisms, or condolences, place them in the comments section or hit me up via Twitter @LadyHatTrick.

In Light of Matt Cooke's non-Suspension...

It was deemed today that Matt Cooke will not be suspended for the headshot on Marc Savard that was discussed in the last post. On Thursday, March 18's Penguins/Bruins matchup, I will be looking for Bruins players to be hunting down Cooke...

...Meanwhile, I came across this today and...

...*Dead* I died. This ENTIRELY made my day.



Hope you laughed.

The Hit: Matt Cooke goes without a suspension yet

Oh my goodness! I finally have a laptop back! I have missed y'all so much!

The last thing that occurred before we were separated was the final result of the 2010 Winter Olympic ice hockey tournament. Team Canada won the gold medal against the United States in quite dramatic fashion. But we already saw it, we already know, and it was brought up again on the cover of last week's edition of Sports Illustrated.

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Anyway, I thought I'd give mention of the Pittsburgh Penguins' Matt Cooke's "legal" hit on the Boston Bruins' Marc Savard a few days ago. After all, I shall give Boston some love after last night's awesome Dropkick Murphys concert here in DC.

If you haven't seen the hit, here it is:

From about 1:00 to 1:23 they do a slow motion replay of the hit



I'll let you decide if that hit is dirty or not. But I will be the first to say I think that deserved a suspension immediately, and certainly more than two games.

Matt Cooke, first of all, is a repeat offender and known for being a dirty player. He was suspended two games last season for another headshot incident against then-Carolina Hurricane Scott Walker. There have been other occassions where Cooke has made a questionable hit on players i.e. (you may hardly remember but) the hit on Vincent Lecavlier when Cooke played for the Washington Capitals.

Putting past incidents aside and just based on the hit itself, there are plenty of things that show there should have been a suspension. There was no intent by Cooke to avoid Savard after Savard took the shot. While it would have been difficult for Savard to move out of the way of a looming Cooke, Cooke had time to take a extra step to the side or so to get out of the way of Savard.

While the argument that NHL disciplinarian, Colin Campbell, gave stated that there were no flying elbows, Cooke seemed to have raised his left elbow a little bit while passing Savard. Had he not intended to hit Savard, there would be every effort to tighted his elbow to his own body.

He was finishing a check? I think not. That check need not to have happened to begin with. Had I been coaching a group of kids, there's no way I would let my players hit a player in that situation in that manner when there is a way to avoid it. Cooke's check/take out would have had no impact on the play; therefore, I deem it unecessary. I would not advise my players to make an unecessary check when there would be maximum four other more plausible options on the ice.

I could go on and on about why I hate this hit and I think it deserves some kind of suspension. The best justification for a sspension to me though is that Cooke is a repeat offender. This way, it's not just a "knee-jerk reaction" to suspend him, which I would say to a first-timer (*cough* like they do to Ovechkin *cough*). Headshots>knee hits

The NHL has to stop these kinds of hits. Concussions are a huge risk, and there have been a lot lately. And I do think that the David Booth hit earlier this year on Mike Richards deserved a suspension too, so I wouldn't be a hypocrite.

Like I said, I'm not the disciplinarian here. I'm just a well-versed hockey fan that has no role in the NHL and its decisions. So whatever I say has no bearing on what happens aka it doesn't really matter. I know this. But I'm still going to complain because I can.

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If you REALLY missed me, don't worry, I'm still on here, Crashing the Net. But I also write for TheHockeyWriters.com, listed as the Washington Capitals correspondent. I do hope you all check it out and feel free to comment there as well.

Happy New Year with the NHL Winter Classic!

Welcome to 2010! The NHL welcomed back its fans and viewers today, January 1st, with the annual NHL Winter Classic. The 2010 game was played in Fenway Park and featured the Boston Bruins against the Philadelphia Flyers in a snowy and cold atmosphere of over 38,000 fans.

This year's Classic was one of the more lower scoring games, although with the number of chances by both teams throughout the entire 60 minutes, it could have been higher. Regardless, it was a very energetic and well-defended game.

In defense (no pun intended), the goalies did what they were supposed to do, which was stop the puck, and that they did.

The Flyers began the game well, with Flyer Dan Carcillo winning the fight against Bruin Shawn Thornton scoring the first goal early into the second period past Tim Thomas. They continued the momentum through the rest of the game, keeping up chances and taking shots.

Then, after a few power plays in Boston's favor to create opportunities for their own offense, with about 2 minutes left in the game, down 1-0, the Bruins, old man Mark Recchi put one in to tie the game.

It wouldn't take that much longer for the Bruins to complete the comeback, as Marco Sturm scored the game-winner in overtime. Bruins ended up winning 2-1.

As a die-hard hockey fan, I LOVE the NHL's Winter Classic. It's such a great national showcase that exposes the game in a unique fashion to casual fans, long-time fans, and the person passing through channels. It's always fun to see more than twice the number of fans that would be at a regular game outdoors in the snow.

And the games themselves always feature intense match-ups with long-time rivalries between franchises. The game has remained competitive as well, as the highest goal differential has only been 2 goals in the 6-4 win by the Detroit Red Wings over the the Chicago Blackhawks last year.

Seeing that this year was in Boston in Fenway Park, I would have no complaints of a Winter Classic game in Yankee Stadium, even though there was already one in NY. There is much speculation of a game there next year featuring the Washington Capitals and the New York Rangers. Again, no complaints here.

There are a few more match-ups though that I would love to see.

• Whenever the St. Louis Blues become good again, I would like to see them play against the Colorado Avalanche in Colorado.
  
• After sometime when enough time has passed since the last Red Wings game, it would be fun to watch them play the Avs in Detroit as well, bringing back the old playoff series (Patrick Roy and Chris Osgood fight ring a bell?).
  
• If people in Hartford wouldn't be so opposed to it, the Carolina Hurricanes could play in Hartford, Connecticut against the Caps.
• Of course, there can't be anything wrong with the Toronto Maple Loafs... Leafs playing their intra-province rivals, the Ottawa Senators. They used to meet in the playoffs every year in some serious and bloody 6 and 7 game series.
  
• Likewise, the other intra-province series, Edmonton Oilers and the Calgary Flames should also be fun.
  
• Minnesota would be a great host city. It's always snowing up there! Minnesota in the North Stars jersey facing off against the Columbus Blue Jackets or some relocated team could be entertaining.

I wonder if you could have a Winter Classic in the DMV, like having one at Camden Yards or something...

USA Olympic Team

After the Bruins/Flyers game, the 2010 USA Olympic hockey team was announced. As a player would be announced, some adorable little kids turned around with the name of the player on the back of their jersey.

Goaltenders:
Tim Thomas, 35 (Boston Bruins)
Ryan Miller, 29 (Buffalo Sabres)
Jonathan Quick, 24 (Los Angeles Kings)

Alternate Candidate:
Craig Anderson (Colorado)

Defense:
Brian Rafalski, 36 (Detroit Red Wings)
Ryan Suter, 25 (Nashville Predators)
Paul Martin 28 (New Jersey Devils)
Mike Komisarek, 28 (Toronto Maple Leafs)
Erik Johnson, 21 (St. Louis Blues)
Brooks Orpik, 29 (Pittsburgh Pittsburgh)
Jack Johnson, 23 (Los Angeles Kings)

Alternate Candidates:
Matt Niskanen (Dallas)
Ron Hainsey (Atlanta)
Alex Goligoski (Pittsburgh)
Matt Carle (Philadelphia)
Rob Scuderi (Los Angeles)

Forwards:
Zach Parise, 25 (New Jersey Devils)
Chris Drury, 32 (New York Rangers)
Dustin Brown, 25 (Los Angeles Kings)
Jamie Langenbrunner, 34 (New Jersey Devils)
Paul Stastny, 24 (Colorado Avalanche)
David Backes, 25 (St. Louis Blues)
Patrick Kane, 21 (Chicago Blackhawks)
Phil Kessel, 22 (Toronto Maple Leafs)
Ryan Kesler, 25 (Vancouver Canucks)
Bobby Ryan, 22 (Anaheim Ducks)
Joe Pavelski, 25 (San Jose Sharks)
Ryan Malone, 31 (Tampa Bay Lightning)
Ryan Callahan, 24 (New York Rangers)


Alternate Candidates:
Jason Pominville (Sabres)
David Booth (Panthers)
Scott Gomez (Rangers)
T.J. Oshie (Blues)
Brian Gionta (Canadiens)

Make of the team what you will. There were a number of American players left off the roster; Dustin Byfuglien is one of them. The team, in my mind, lacks size and variation in skill (they all play a similar style). But the USA has a speed advantage and they are very strong in goaltending, with the best goalie this season, Ryan Miller as the starter. The backups should give the team confidence as well.

So what the team could be forced into is a situation to use their speed to find a way through the opposing defense to score a goal or two, and rely on their goaltending to give them a chance throughout the game. A bunch of 2-1, 1-0 games are probably the types of games they can win. Brian Burke says that they're "playing to win" so all we can do is hope this team can perform well enough to do so. *shrug*...

It didn't work out 20 years since the 1980 USA Olympic Gold Medal team - so maybe 30 years? We'll see...

It's about time: The Caps' season has officially started!

The Washington Capitals came out dominant and showed signs of a complete hockey team in their 4-1 win against the Boston Bruins.

The opener in Boston began with some quick offense as Brooks Laich scored just under 3 minutes in the game. This showed to be a good omen, as in the 2nd period, Alex Ovechkin follows up on a sick wrist shot to score a goal delivered by Alex Semin.

Washington was not finished in the 3rd period, scoring two goals, again from Laich and Ovechkin before the period was 2 minutes old.

Patrice Bergeron was the only goal scorer for the Bruins, scoring late in the 3rd period.

The Caps were able to do a number of things right. Taking advantage of opportunities such as power plays, taking only minimal number of penalties (minus John Erskine's dumb holding the stick penalty), the defense and goaltending remaining in unison throughout the entire game, and the main offensive players doing what they were supposed to do.

What surprised me was that Jose Theodore made 19 out of 20 saves, considering every game he started in the preseason, the Capitals lost. Although it does make sense - the Caps never really allowed that many goals when he started either. They just never felt like playing that hard for him I guess...

But that was preseason, and hey, as long as there's a goaltender in net who's giving the Washington a chance to win, then I'm going to be happy.

Finally, as a side note, Alex Ovechkin leads the league in the most multi-goal games in the past 2 seasons with 14 games, and also leads in the most 3-point performances with 15, over Crosby and Malkin.

MLB Playoff Picture

So the Tigers/Twins "saga" continues. The Twins decided to win today of all days, and to stave off their elimination for a few days. Seeing as how no team has come back from being 3 games back in the last... forever actually, the Twins have an extememly slim chance of making the playoffs now.

But, they do close out the season in a 3-game set with the Kansas City Royals, who the Twins have defeated 9 times in 15 games thus far this season. So there it CAN happen, if the Tigers just lose 3 straight against the Chicago White Sox...

As far as the National League goes, the Colorado Rockies have made the playoffs for the first time in 3 years (it's been that long since the Red Sox swept them for a 2nd World Series championship??? I know - jerk move, I'm sorry lol).

On the other hand, the LA Dodgers, the Rockies' next opponent for the final 3 games of the season, have had a magic number of only 1 for almost a week. Needless to say, they have not gotten past that.

So the battle between these two teams are now to see who wins the NL West division title and who takes the NL Wild Card position. Should be interesting....

Shout out...

To the Calgary Flames for winning their first season opener in 7 years!

To Marion Barber III - stop being injured.

And to Jay Morgan. if you're reading this, I'll explain it Friday over dinner? Out or at home, it's up to you :)

HOCKEY'S BACK!!!!!