Outside of Brent Johnson, the guys on the ice right now are probably feeling a little queasy. It is Brian Sutherby, Jakub Klepis, Jeff Schultz and Steve Eminger. Alexander Semin is also here, but he is not skating now or tonight. Obviously either Schultz or Eminger will make the team (and it is certainly possible both will) if the team keeps eight defensemen or if John Erskine or Mike Green end up being the odd man out.
Joe Motzko and Josef Boumedienne have cleared waivers. Motzko will join the Hershey Bears, but Boumedienne has not. A team spokesman said "likely Hershey" for Boomer, but he could decide to go back to Europe. Jame Pollack is still on the team's official roster, which means he wasn't on waivers yesterday, but he's clearly not around, so it is likely he was put on waivers today.
As for a quick Semin update, he was walking around with a pretty severe limp and his right ankle was wrapped.
Lots of stuff for the young ones to do here, and it's a decent turnout. On the ice, the boys are in the multi-colored jerseys, and with the roster deadline approaching, there are some interesting combinations. David Steckel and Brooks Laich are skating with Donald Brashear. Another group is Brian Sutherby, Ben Clymer and Jakub Klepis. Matt Bradley is in blue with Nicklas Backstrom and Michael Nylander because Alexander Semin is not practicing. He did not play in the third period last night after being checked behind the net midway through the second, but a team spokesman said he was fine last night and reiterated that this morning.
Still no sight of Josef Boumedienne, Jame Pollock or Joe Motzko, but there should be some news about their status later today.
There was no sign of Boumedienne, Pollock or Motzko at K-Plex today. Each would have to clear waivers to be sent to Hershey. If they are on waivers, then the Caps are down to 17 forwards, eight defensemen and the two goalies. Set aside Eric Fehr, and that would mean there are only three cuts left to be made -- either three forwards or two and a defenseman.
More in Saturday's paper on the man squarely "on the bubble," Dave Steckel.
... will not include Steve Eminger, John Erskine, Matt Bradley, Brian Sutherby, Ben Clymer, and Jakub Klepis because they are practicing right now. Brent Johnson is out there too, so expect to see Olie Kolzig in net.
We'll probably get conformation about who is and isn't playing tonight later, but here are the guys who aren't out there skating right now:
Josef Boumedienne
Jame Pollock
Chris Bourque
Joe Motzko
We're through two periods here at the Wachovia Center. Brian Sutherby has the Caps lone goal on a re-direct of a Steve Eminger slap shot that he didn't get all of. It wasn't a bad drive up I-95, and there was plenty of talk about Flyers prospect/bad boy Steve Downie on the XM. No quick jaunt down Passyunk to Pat's for a glorious cheese steak though, unfortunately.
There is a pretty impressive turnout here considering there are 43,000-plus across the street at Citizens Bank Park. There have been a couple of Phillies score updates on the scoreboard (which is really similar to the new one at the Phone Booth, with maybe slightly smaller main video boards and larger secondary ones above), and they've drawn the biggest rounds of applause of the night.
Best-dressed in the press box goes to Alex Ovechkin and Alexander Semin, and it's probably not close. If you were planning on catching practice at K-Plex tomorrow, the Caps have decided to take the day off after back-to-back games before playing against these Flyers again Friday night in DC.
It won't be the A-Team tonight in Philadelphia. Guys who won't be playing are on the ice right now, and they are Ovechkin, Semin, Nylander, Kozlov, Clark, Pettinger, Kolzig, Poti, Pothier, Green and Schultz. Kolzig will make the trip and dress, but Brent Johnson will start. The Three Russian Amigos are also driving up, but only to watch. Something to watch - Coach Hanlon mentioned last night that maybe Nicklas Backstrom has hit a bit of a wall, but he's back in the lineup tonight and will probably see a lot of minutes.
I am by no means trying to sell Tarik out, but a conversation we had last night has spurred me to pen (or type?) this. I mentioned that Mike Green might be putting Glen Hanlon's assertion that games are more important than practice in preseason evaluation to the test. How can the Caps send their leading scorer (six points in four games) to Hershey is what I was getting at. Tarik's response: "They're not going to send Mike Green down. Are you crazy? People should buy your paper more and mine less." (OK, maybe I made the last sentence up.)
Still, I don't think Green can rest easy yet. I've been very high on him all camp, but Hanlon echoed what I blogged about after the first period last night - in spurts Mike Green looks like a future 15-goal, 60-point difference maker on the blue line, and he also still has defensive lapses and/or takes bad penalties.
"Greenie - that's his game," Hanlon said when asked about the end-to-end rush that looked a lot like this. "We're working through youthful mistakes with him. The thing that we love and makes us patient with it is he has the ability to win hockey games. We like the way he skates, we like the way he carries the puck. For his next part of his development and for us to really like him is do all of the things well system-wise and in our own end."
So yes, Mike Green has played well. But he also only played a little more than 14 minutes last night. By comparison, Jeff Schultz - who I have continued to think is going to be an odd man out - logged 24:45 and played in all situations. I think it will boil down to whether or not the coaching staff trusts Green's defensive game enough, because they clearly would like to have his injection of offense in the lineup. And if Green is sent down, it might actually be because of his play in preseason games - at the defensive end.
I'll check in later after another wonderful afternoon trek up I-95 to the "City of Brotherly Teetering on the Edge of Phillies Paranoia."
Regardless of the final score, the star of the night will likely be the new scoreboard and its supporting cast of ribbon boards that encircle the arena. Everything looks sharp, and the LCD flat screens in the press box and the media room are a nice touch as well. Mike Vogel of washingtoncaps.com astutely pointed out the sides of the scoreboard - which have red, white and blue graphic renderings of the Lincoln and Washington monuments and the Capitol Building.
As for the action on the ice, the Caps dominated play in the first 20 minutes, and not just because Carolina took more penalties. The checking line of Matt Pettinger, Dave Steckel and Boyd Gordon spent more time on offense than defense. Tomas Fleischman and Mike Green connected for a sweet goal, and both continue to produce in games - something that Glen Hanlon said was paramount to making the team. Green also took a bad penalty dumping the puck over the glass in own end, it seems like that's what people should expect from him - flashes of excellence and youthful mistakes. Both power play units (it is still a little strange to write that) look like they could use some polish, but that's to be expected.
Something that was unexpected was the turnout - or lack thereof - here at the Phone Booth. There are probably only about 3,500 people or so at high tide in the first 20 minutes.
One of the new additions in the Caps dressing room is a blue trash can for recyclable items. There have always been trash cans on each side of the uniform hampers for guys to toss balls of tape and empty containers in. But the environmentally-friendly Matt Bradley put the new recycling bin there for empty water and Gatorade bottles. Judging by a quick glance at the bins today, Bradley isn't getting 100 percent participation, but it is close.
Another new addition in the past couple days at K-Plex is the HUGE new Caps logo on the glass wall of the main entrance to the team's offices. The transformation to the new colors and logo is almost entirely complete, save for the banners on the outside of the garage with the old logo and players in old jerseys and a couple other small reminders around the building.
I mentioned a couple of guys who will be playing tonight earlier. The roster will essentially be the team's top three lines, with Dave Steckel in Chris Clark's place on the checking line. The fourth unit will be Chris Bourque, Brooks Laich and Jakub Klepis. The defensemen will be Steve Eminger, Mike Green, Shaone Morrisonn, Brian Pothier, Tom Poti and Jeff Schultz. Brent Johnson worked out with the non-gamers today, so I’d guess Olie Kolzig will be in net.
So I apologize for the lost day on here yesterday, but the raging fire alarm inhibited my ability to speak to players and think rationally. To make up for it, I'll do some roster speculating - it's all the rage, as the kids use to like to say.
There are 31 guys on the roster - 19 forwards, 10 defensemen and the two goalies. Eric Fehr isn't going to factor into this discussion, so make that 18 forwards and 30 overall. Even if Fehr passed a physical tomorrow, I would harbor serious doubts that he could get in shape and win a roster spot before camp ends.
Getting down to 14 forwards could be simple, but a couple of guys are making it difficult. There are 12 guys on one-way contracts - and Nicklas Backstrom and Tomas Fleischmann have secured the two open spots. Basically, if Dave Steckel, Chris Bourque, Joe Motzko or Jakub Klepis want to make this team, they have to force a guy with a one-way deal out of the team's plans.
Motzko and Klepis are probably the longest of long shots at this point, and Bourque has probably earned a mid-season call-up but will probably go to Hershey to start the season. This leaves Steckel, who had a very nice game in Tampa the other night. One reason he might make the team - he can kill penalties. Coach Hanlon called him "an NHL [penalty] killer" yesterday and included him in a group of eight guys who could be called upon to do it this season. Another reason would be roster flexibility (or Flash insurance as I'd call it).
If he looks like he can play with Boyd Gordon and Matt Pettinger (consider that a roster spoiler for this evening) then Hanlon can move Chris Clark to the first line and Steckel into his spot on a night when Flash might be struggling. It comes down to not only Steckel proving he deserves to make the team over someone like Brooks Laich, Ben Clymer or Matt Bradley, but that his play warrants enough minutes to continue his development at the NHL level. He could also be sent to Hershey and be the first injury call-up.
The blue line is a lot less clear. Jame Pollack is a long shot, but the other nine guys can make a case for being in the opening night seven. The top four (Poti, Potheir, Morrisonn and Jurcina) are set, but 5-6-7 could go in any number of directions. Mike Green and Jeff Schultz are the only two on two-way deals, so that's the simple scenario (and ultimately why I think Schultz is probably No. 9 in the group). But Green is having an excellent camp, which will make it tough to send him to Hershey. To keep him, someone else has to be traded or pass through waivers. John Erskine made it through waivers last year, but would he again? Josef Boumedienne might make it through, but he's also had a nice camp and might have a leg up (more on that in a second). Steve Eminger is not making it through the waiver process (and he is healthy enough to make his preseason debut tonight).
Part of this comes down to special teams. Erskine's biggest advantage is he's an excellent penalty killer. If Hanlon wants to roll two power play units and not use any of his top-six forwards on one of the points (though Flash was there against the Lightning when they scored a shorthanded goal), then he needs four power play defensemen. Poti and Pothier are probably two, and I would venture that Boumedienne might be the third and either Green or Eminger (though Hanlon did not include him in the discussion yesterday) would be the fourth. Very little is clear on the blue line, save for this being an important week for Eminger.
The players have the day off today, but there is news out of Caps camp. The Caps assigned goalies Frederic Cassivi and Daren Machesney and forward Kyle Wilson to Hershey today and shipped netminder Michal Neuvirth back to his junior team, the Plymouth Whalers of the OHL. Neuvirth wanted to play for Hershey this season, but team goalie coach Dave Prior made it pretty clear during rookie camp that there is still some things for Neuvirth to prove at the junior level. He's going to have to battle '07 draft pick Jeremy Smith for playing time again and the team isn't going to be as good as last year (Smith got lit up in a 6-4 loss to Erie yesterday).
This might boil down to a one-year window for Machesney to prove he belongs. Cassivi will likely get the bulk of the work for the Bears, but Machesney will have to play well when the opportunity presents itself, because Neuvirth and Simeon Varalomov are closing in on him.
Wilson had a nice rookie season for the Bears (24 goals, 54 points in 54 games) after being picked up off the scrap heap (Minnesota selected him in the ninth round of the 2004 draft and gave him all of seven AHL games before cutting him loose), and had his moments in camp. Don't be surprised if he is an emergency injury call-up at some point this season.
It was a pretty quick workout for most of the guys today, especially the ones travelling to Tampa tonight. The Caps released a roster of 25 guys for tonight, but some of them are obviously not playing. Alex Ovechkin is not playing, but he walked in the room today and told Caps PR guru Nate Ewell he was going on the trip to watch. Guys that will be playing for sure are Michael Nylander, Nicklas Backstrom and Alexander Semin. Guys who definitely aren't are Ovechkin, Olie Kolzig, Viktor Kozlov, Tom Poti and Shane Morrisonn. The goalies will be Brent Johnson and Freddie Cassivi.
Another guy who won't be there is Steve Eminger. This is significant because this is three exhibition games and counting without Eminger in the lineup. After tonight, he will be the only guy (besides Eric Fehr and Daren Machesney, who are nursing injuries) left in camp who hasn’t played. Maybe there aren't conclusions to be drawn from this fact, but I certainly would not be putting a lot of money on Eminger being in the lineup for the Caps on opening night at this point.
In other news there was a new addition in the room today – a massive eagle with the capitol building silhouette (the shoulder patch on the new jerseys) in the middle of the ceiling. Washington Capitals was also painted along the one side wall, but the wrong epoxy was used and it started to come off during the night, so it was scrapped for another day. There is not a logo in the middle of the floor (lots of sports teams put one there and then fine players for stepping on it and give long, brooding stares and/or tell media types in an abrupt manner to get off their logo), and one is not expected anytime soon.
The Caps shipped defensemen Sasha Pakulok and Tyler Sloan to Hershey today. Pokulok was the team's first round pick in 2005 but missed most of last season because of two concussions. GM George McPhee called him the surprise of the team's rookie camp, but he definitely needs more seasoning in Hershey. He needs to prove he can stay healthy and improve his skating enough to compliment his big body and big shot from the point. He may never live up to the expectations that come with being the 14th overall pick, but considering some people had written him off after the concussions, he's certainly had a positive couple of weeks. It goes without saying this is a pretty important year for him.
Sloan is a career minor leaguer who had 11 points in 68 games for the Bears last season, but did chip in seven assists in 17 playoff contests. I can't honestly say a whole lot about what he's done in camp, but I guess the fact that he's outlasted several other players with a higher pedigree is a postive for him.
This leaves 10 guys on the blue line in camp -- the nine guys everyone has been talking about for the seven spots and Jame Pollock, who is getting a long look but I'd venture to guess will one of the next players cut. This means we're down to 35 total (20 forwards, 10 defensemen, five goalies) on the camp roster.
This organization has a logjam on the blue line in Washington, but there will also be some interesting decisions to be made in Hershey as well. In no particular order, the Bears have prospects Pokulok, Sean Collins, Sami Lepisto, Patrick McNeil, Jamie Hunt and veterans Sloan and Dean Arsene. Then there are Caps camp invitees Chris McAllister and Grant McNeil. And there will likely be either two or three guys from the current 10 at Caps camp sent down before the season starts. That's as many as 12 defensemen by my count, which means a few young guys (Collins? Pokulok?) are going to start the season with South Carolina in the ECHL, and McAllister or G. McNeil could be cut loose or sent to South Carolina.
There are real heroes in the audience today at K-Plex, and I'm certainly not talking about six-touchdown tossin' Carson Palmer. A couple dozen members of the armed forces, police force and fire department are taking in practice. There were two sessions, and in between there was an on-ice ceremony with Caps captain Chris Clark and David Montelione, who has been in the Coast Guard for 21 years. Montelione is re-enlisting for four more years, and Clark administered the oath before presenting him with a signed jersey.
The reason for the Palmer reference is I've been scouring the room the past few days trying to find some fantasy football players. I know a lot of professional baseball players are big on the fantasy football, but it doesn't appear the guys on the Caps are.
There are plenty of football fans, but I am sure the conflicting schedules has a lot to do with it. A few players did say they have participated in team-sanctioned pick 'em pools. Dave Steckel said the Hershey Bears had a pretty good one last season, and John Erskine said the guys on the Dallas Stars were really into it. He said he definitely paid more attention to the NFL when he was with the Stars because of the pool.
One type of the pool the Caps don't miss out on is March Madness. Clark is the orchestrator, and Mike Vogel told me that radio play-by-play man Steve Kolbe is enjoying a Florida-esque dynasty with back-to-back pool championships.
When you are listening to the dulcet tones of Steve Kolbe and Mike Vogel over on washingtoncaps.com (or whatever the NHL decides the url should be this week) during tonight's preseason clash with Ottawa, there will be some high-profile Caps in uniform. The top nine forwards (minus Alexander Semin) and six of the top nine defensemen (Morrisonn, Poit, Pothier, Jurcina, Shultz and Green) will be in the lineup, along with Olie Kolzig and Michal Neuvirth. The other guys are getting ready to practice here at K-Plex.
Well, there was some scrimmaging during the second part of practice and the forward lines were the same from the first part. Chris Bourque had a nice goal. Fleischmann missed a couple of layups -- he is going to want to finish those if he wants to stay with Ovechkin and Kozlov.
There was the first scrap of camp -- Ben Clymer and Shaone Morrisonn went at it for a few seconds before their momentum carried them into the benches and other players pulled them apart. It was a draw.
The defensemen pairings were Morrisonn and Boumedienne, Jurcina and Poti and Green with Pokulok on the Blue squad. Pothier and Schultz, Eminger and Erskine and Pollock with Sloan were the White pairings.
After the scrimmage there was a team-wide shootout with Frederic Cassivi in net for the White team and Michael Neuvirth for the Blue group. The losers (Blue) had to do a little extra skating after practice.
Kozlov scored on a slick, smooth move. Nylander, Ovechkin and Semin were all stopped. John Erskine might have made the flashiest move to score, which drew hearty laughs from the players and applause from the crowd.
"We put a real punishment on losing," coach Glen Hanlon said. "I thought about it all summer. You can't create 15,000 fans in here so that pressure isn't on. There isn't a game on the line, so the only thing we can really do is not have it be a token skate. ... That's the only pressure we can have. It is the only realistic way. We are motivating by fear."
There was another very interesting Hanlon tidbit, from when he was talking about camp being all about preparing to win:
"We're not looking to have tryouts for the shootout, for example. We know going that if it is a shootout that Kozie and Nyls [Kozlov and Nylander] are going to take it. We're not looking for that fifth and sixth guy in the regular season to see if he can do it in an exhibition game."
If that's true, then one of the Alexes won't be part of the first three in the shootout. As for Hanlon's thoughts on whom the third guy would be:
"I don't know yet. There are some good choices. I'll have to look at statistics."
The obvious answer is one of the Alexes, but does that mean Semin's 2-for-10 is better than Ovechkin's 2-for-12? For the record, they weren't the only stars who struggled. Andy McDonald went 1-for-10, Thomas Vanek and Patrick Elias were both 2-for-11, and Ilya Kovalchuk was so bad in 2005-06 (1-for-10) that he only went out there four times last season.
Hanlon also made it pretty clear that Kozlov and Ovechkin are going to be together for the near future and Nylander and Semin are going to be given a lot of time to get to know each other.
NHL Productions is in town today for some commercial work, so the media room here at K-Plex is filled with strange people and equipment and this post is coming from the Party Room on the Mezzanine Level overlooking the main stage.
It is still way too early, but there are some general themes with the forward groups today and what color practice jersey the guys are wearing.
On the main stage:
Red -- Alex Ovechkin, Viktor Kozlov and Tomas Fleischmann
Blue -- Matt Pettinger, Boyd Gordon and Chris Clark
White -- Chris Bourque, Kyle Wilson and Jakub Klepis
On the second stage:
Red -- Alexander Semin, Michael Nylander and Nicklas Backstrom
White -- Brooks Laich, Brian Sutherby and Matt Bradley
Blue -- Ben Clymer, Dave Steckel, Donald Brashear and Joe Motzko
Also, Daren Machesney is practicing for the first time since the rookie game against Philly last week. That leaves Eric Fehr as the only guy in camp who is not participating. There is supposed to be a scrimmage today, so maybe there will be some D-combos to report, but it's been pretty clear throughout camp that the coaches want to see as many pairings together as possible. Remember, the Caps caught lightning in a bottle last year with Morrisonn and Jurcina.
Well, there's not a lot to report from the anticipated "scrimmage." It was a lot of special teams and 4-on-4 work, but in a controlled environment. One notable thing was Tomas Fleischmann spent the power play time on one of the points with the Semin-Nylander-Backstrom group.
There were a lot of guys packing their bags today and getting ready to report to Hershey for camp. The official list will be out later this afternoon. I don't expect any surprises, but the one guy with junior eligibility left in camp is goalie Michal Neuvirth, and he went through both practice sessions today. Daren Machesney was out on the ice by himself before practice, but is still dealing with a groin injury. The longer Neuvirth gets to stick around, the more time he has to try and stake his claim to a spot in Hershey.
Yesterday the Hershey-bound guys were the final group, but today they were first, clearing the way for the first scrimmage to feature guys who are all either on the team or fighting for a spot. The two groups practicing right now have a very clear division.
The Blue Man Group over on the second stage features the Alexes, Nylander, Kozlov, Clark, Backstrom and Fleischmann while the guys in white on the main stage include Boyd Gordon, Matt Pettinger, Brian Sutherby, Brooks Laich, Matt Bradley, Ben Clymer and Dave Steckel. It sure looks like the Caps want to see their top scoring line candidates going against their defense-first guys in the forthcoming scrimmage.
And for what it's worth, it was Kozlov between Ovechkin and Clark, and Nylander between Semin and Backstrom (with a little dash of Flash rotating in) during the early drills across the hall. I will check back later after they have actually done a little scrimmaging.
Karl Alzner and Josh Godfrey, who played together for Team Canada against the Russians in the Super Series and then spent most of this week paired together on D, are leaving today to join their junior teams in Calgary (Alzner) and Sault St. Marie (Godfrey). Francois Bouchard, considered a potential dark horse to make the club by some (including me) after the summer development camp, is also returning to Acadie-Bathurst. They'll all have a few days to reconnect with their junior teammates before the regular season starts next week.
Alzner was here at K-Plex for an exit physical and to say some goodbyes (more on him in tomorrow's paper). All three guys made pretty strong impressions at some point during camp, and looked a little overmatched last night in Raleigh. Caps fans will be seeing more of them in the coming seasons.
The most interesting nugget from coach Glen Hanlon's post-practice talk -- he said Viktor Kozlov is going to begin the season as a center. Kozlov's versatility was viewed by a lot of people as big bonus, and he will almost surely see time on a wing at some point in the season, but Hanlon said he wants to see Viktor in the middle during camp.
The obvious follow-up question is where does Nicklas Backstrom fit in? Yesterday he was skating as a right wing, but Hanlon said he could start the season on the left side. If that is the case, it likely wouldn't be with one of the top two lines, since there are a couple of Russian guys in his way.
So this basically means Backstrom could be in any of about 37 different places when the Caps are in Atlanta on opening night. It is obviously way too early to overreact and start projecting him as the fourth-line center or third-line left wing or the third-string goalie.
Hanlon referenced Evgeni Malkin, who had a pretty nice rookie season with the Penguins shuffling back and forth between the middle and the wing, even during games. If I were a betting man, I'd say the smart money is probably on Backstrom being on the right side of the second line for his first NHL shift, but he'll play in at least two or three different spots in the first month, if not the first week.
It is Day 4 at training camp, and the crowd here at K-Plex is, um, smaller. There were 10 people in the stands at the main stage when practice was just under way, and that number has "swelled" to about 30 now. Guess that flu bug that was going around Friday has passed.
One group is about halfway done on the main stage, another is just getting started on the second stage and a third group will be out here starting at noon. It is clear there's been some shuffling done amongst the groups, and Group C will skew a little younger than before.
Alex Ovechkin, Viktor Kozlov and Tomas Fleischmann are skating together in Group A, while Michael Nylander, Nicklas Backstrom and Alexander Semin are the Men In Red across the hall. The other lines also have a very "on the team" or "waiting for Hershey's camp to start" feel as well.
It is getting pretty close to Business Time (Side Note: That's probably the first of many, many Flight of The Conchords references on this Blog) here at K-Plex.
It was pretty solemn in the room for a preseason game, but as far as they go it was probably a tough one to drop. Michal Neuvirth, who gave up four goals in 25 minutes, looked like he was taking his first NHL preseason experience pretty hard. He did have a lot of trouble controlling rebounds, but a couple of those goals were far from his fault. Carolina was peppering him in the late stages of regulation and during the 5-on-2 ½ (after Dave Steckel’s stick broke) in overtime.
Several players skated over to tap Neuvirth on the head for his effort, including starting netminder Brent Johnson.
"He was OK. He is a young goalie who was playing in his first NHL game," Glen Hanlon said of Neuvirth's afternoon. "He's got a lot of work ahead of him. He's a good prospect and he does a lot of things well, but he's still got some work to do."
Hanlon singled out Kyle Wilson as someone who stood out to him. Wilson only played 10 minutes but did create a couple of scoring chances, including a quick breakaway for himself.
Fleischmann also played well, setting up the Backstrom goal (more on him in the paper) and making a couple of nifty stickhandling moves. He still needs to prove he can finish some of those plays consistently to make this team.
Johnson also put in a solid two periods of work. It was a bit of a mixed bag for Mike Green. He had a fluky goal, banged a shot off the crossbar and logged 24 minutes, but he took a pair of penalties, including one of the two in overtime.
The young defensemen, Karl Alzner and Josh Godfrey, looked like it was their first NHL experience. Both had their fair share of miscues.
"I noticed in the first period I had a lot of options. I guess it was really fast and I was just a little bit behind the pace and didn't make the tape-to-tape passes," Alzner said. "I think I stayed in the loop pretty good and I was a part of things. I wasn't a standout, but I am happy to get one now. My hands were shaking. I was telling [teammates] that my hands were shaking so much in between periods because I didn’t know what to expect."
Alzner is earning a well-deserved reputation as a quote machine, and today was no different. He referred to a conversation he had after the first period with "Mr. Pettinger." When asked about it, he said he won't start calling guys by their nicknames until he makes the team.
For those interested parties:
Pettinger-Gordon-Clark
Fleischmann-Backstrom-Bouchard
Laich-Steckel-Clymer
Motzko-Wilson-Bourque
Erskine-Green
Boumedienne-Pollock
Alzner-Godfrey
There are thousands of people roaming the parking lots outside of the RBC Center … and there isn't a college basketball game here for several weeks. Carolina offered free tickets to people starting at 10 a.m. and there are plenty of fan-friendly activities to keep people bust when they weren't waiting in an extremely long line for the free seats.
Coach Glen Hanlon told us before the game that Nicklas Backstrom will center a line with Francois Bouchard and Tomas Fleischmann in his first preseason game. The veterans that will dress include captain Chris Clark, Boyd Gordon, Matt Pettinger and Ben Clymer along with defensemen John Erskine and Josef Boumedienne. Some of the other younger players of note include forwards Dave Steckel, Andrew Gordon, Kyle Wilson and Chris Bourque and defensemen Karl Alzner, Mike Green and Josh Godfrey. Brent Johnson and Michal Neuvirth will be in net.
The original practice schedule had only two groups on the ice at K-Plex tomorrow, which would have meant a healthy round of cuts. But tomorrow's schedule has been altered to include Group C, and Hanlon said they will keep the guys who will be sent to Hershey around until Wednesday. The Bears start practice on Thursday.
Also, Alexander Semin returned to practice today after crashing into the boards and suffering a cut near his left eye.
It was another day, and another Russian leaving the ice bloody.
One day after Viktor Kozlov took a puck to the face (he returned to practice today with a new visor on his helmet), Alexander Semin and Matt Pettinger got tangled up and crashed into the boards together during the second period of the scrimmage on the main stage. Semin got up and left a blood trail as he skated to the bench. He was in the room afterward and, save for a cut above his left eye, appeared to be fine.
Chris Clark pointed out to Alex Ovechkin that it was two Russians in two days, and that he'd better watch out tomorrow.
As for the scrimmage, the blue squad jumped to a 4-0 lead and held on for a 4-2 win. Before Semin left he put on quite a show. In the first period he weaved through about four guys on the power play with some nifty stickhandling. Later he left a defender behind with a spin-o-rama move in the neutral zone. Neither of those displays topped him skating backwards through three guys in the offensive end. In some my favorite coachspeak, he can do some things.
Nicklas Backstrom stole the puck from Andrew Joudrey at the blue line and banged a breakaway shot off the crossbar. He also threw a couple of solid checks today and generally did not look fearful of mixing it up along the boards.
One guy who doesn't need to be told to mix it up is Chris Bourque. The 5-foot-8 forward was throwing his body, which is listed at 181 pounds (he said more like 175) around every chance he had.
The line of Matt Bradley, Brian Sutherby and Brooks Laich had a pair of goals. Bradley scored on a one-timer and Sutherby scored on a breakaway after defenseman Josef Boumedienne blew a tire in the neutral zone.
Mathieu Perrault will not be with the Caps tomorrow in Raleigh because he was returned to Acadie-Bathurst after practice today. There will be a full round of cuts either after the game tomorrow or before practice on Monday, as the camp shrinks from three groups to two.
And finally, the quote of the day came from coach Glen Hanlon when talking about different line combinations.
"I don't think they are going to play with the same guys for 82 games," Hanlon said. "You know, Scotty Bowman puts Sergei Federov on defense and he's a genius, but if Glen Hanlon doesn't have these guys together for six months he's a nitwit."
There are pictures of Olie Kolzig's new mask on the Net (thanks to Eric at OffWing), so I checked in with Brent Johnson about his new one today.
Watching him from the mezzanine on the second stage at K-Plex (Side note: Needed a way to distinguish the two sheets, so it's main stage and second stage from now on), Johnnie's new mask is also really sweet. It has a very cool design of the Capitol Building on the front and the wings of the Caps new shoulder patch on the sides.
He said Frank Cipra, a legend in the goalie mask painting business who used to work for Itech, designed it for him. Johnson noted his white-heavy mask might actually look better with Olie's white-heavy pads than his blue-dominated duds, and when he adds a second mask it will likely have a bit more blue on the sides. Kolzig said his mask was designed by Dom Malerba from Boston.
Johnson also said he will be with the team tomorrow in its first preseason game in Raleigh, and thought he would be starting in net. It will definitely be the preseason NHL debuts of Nicklas Backstrom and Karl Alzner.
Viktor Kozlov wasn't around when practiced wrapped up, but he just walked by the work room here at K-Plex, so I caught up with him.
He said he was lucky, but his cut did take "twenty-something stitches." He was sporting a nice-sized shiner below his left eye for his efforts, but he said he will be back at it tomorrow.
Of course he will be -- he's a hockey player.
Because the Caps have only five goaltenders in camp (and with Daren Machesney not skating because of a sore groin, only four healthy ones), there were two mysterious masked men on the ice this morning. One is Kris Moyette, a 24-year-old Finleyville, Pa. (a southern suburb of Pittsburgh) native who played at Union College. He spent last season with the Arizona Sun Dogs of the Central Hockey League. The other is Anthony Feyock, a 23-year-old from Johnstown, Pa., who played at the University of Rhode Island last year before joining the Lubbock Cotton Kings of the CHL and playing four games. They'll probably be around until the first round of cuts this weekend. Moyette is sporting an all-white mask while Feyock was wearing his URI mask.
Some notes from the first day of camp:
- It didn’t take long for Viktor Kozlov to make his 6-foot-5, 235-pound presence felt. He "removed" Brooks Laich from the puck with a healthy shove early in the first period of the scrimmage, and stole the puck on the forecheck a few times thanks to his long reach.
- Kozlov also didn't get much time in the scrimmage because he took a puck to the side of the face and didn't return. Freddie Cassivi tried to clear the puck, but didn't see Kozlov skate in front of him. Kozlov skated over to the bench and quickly found a towel to cover his cheek, but the injury didn't seem serious.
- The play of the scrimmage might have been Brian Pothier's 100-foot-plus pass from out in front of his net to the tape of Francois Bouchard's stick near the opposing blue line. Bouchard didn't finish, but the home run-style breakout pass is something the Caps haven't utilized too often In the first two years of the no two-line pass restriction "New NHL."
Bosses around town must think there is a nasty strain of the flu hitting the area, because there are a lot of people at K-Plex at 10:30 in the morning on a Friday for the first day of training camp.
The main seating area is pretty close to half full and people line the outside of the rink as well. There are a few dozen more across the hall at the public rink where another group is practicing. And there are plenty of people upstairs, who are sure to be drifting back and forth between groups.
There are hands-on activities in the parking lot, famous trophies upstairs, places to buy new red, white and blue Caps gear everywhere you look.
Oh yeah, and they are practicing hockey.
After a quick scan it looks like Alex Ovechkin is in the group practicing in the main rink, Alexander Semin is over in the public rink and Olie Kolzig will be in Group C, which practices later while these two groups will be scrimmaging. Several of the players who aren't practicing right now are watching.
Best jerseys in the crowd? There is a Eric Fehr jersey from his junior days with the Brandon Wheat Kings, though that one's been a regular around here the past week or so. In a nice ode to the college game, there are RPI and St. Cloud State (a faithful Andrew Gordon and Dan Kronick fan to be sure) sweaters in the house.
Right wing Eric Fehr and defenseman Dean Arsene failed their physicals today and won't participate when camp starts tomorrow.
Fehr had 41 points in 40 games with Hershey last season and a goal and two assists in two games with the Caps before missing the end of the season with a mysterious injury that is still plaguing him. The Caps deemed Fehr's problem to be his back during the sp