The Caps practiced at Chelsea Piers in NYC today. Chris Clark went through part of the practice, but not all of it. Tom Poti did not skate, while Alexander Semin went through the entire session. All three are still considered questionable for tomorrow night's game against the Rangers.
The Caps are going through the morning skate right now. Alexander Semin is not skating. Tom Poti is out there, but not moving around very much. That's about all to report for right now. Oh, that and this town having a Tim Horton's on every street corner is the greatest thing. Ever.
UPDATE: Glen Hanlon confirmed the Caps will be without Chris Clark, Alexander Semin and Tom Poti tonight. GM George McPhee said Clark will ride a stationary bike today and they will see how he is feeling afterward. McPhee said it is day-to-day with Semin, which sounds like they are back in limbo with his ankle again. Poti said after the skate that his groin does feel better than it did St. Louis and he is hoping to return Thursday at Madison Square Garden. Without Clark and Semin, Brian Sutherby will dress for the second time this season.
This has been said before, but the Toronto media loves them some Alex Ovechkin. He was holding court for about 15 minutes in the dressing room, and then did a few one-on-ones after the big scrum broke up. A few of the younger players who haven't played here before were marveling a bit at the scene around Ovechkin's stall.
OK, so there is a lot to report from the Scottrade Center as the Caps finish up the morning skate. First, Semin's deal is for $4.2 million in 2008-09 and $5.0 million for 2009-10, and thus a $4.6 mil cap hit each year. He said he hadn't thought about what he will buy first, but Alex Ovechkin thinks it will be a house.
Second, Chris Clark did not make the trip to St. Louis, but the team may try to fly him up to Toronto for Monday's game. He does not have a concussion; he just has a lot of stitches in his left ear. Tomas Fleischmann will take his place in the active lineup, but not on the top line (more on that in a second).
Third, Tom Poti ruled himself out for tonight's game. After a short skate, he said his groin doesn't feel good enough to go, but still hopes to play Monday against the Leafs.
Finally, here are the lines for this evening. There are a few surprises.
Ovechkin-Backstrom-Kozlov
Fleischmann-Nylander-Semin
Pettinger-Gordon-Laich
Brashear-Steckel-Bradley
Morrisonn-Jurcina
Pothier-Schultz
Green-Erskine
Brent Johnson will be in net against his former team.
The Caps have signed Alexander Semin to a two-year contract extension. More later but I've got to talk to Glen Hanlon right now.
No Tom Poti at the morning skate, so the Caps practiced with some pretty radically different power play groups. In a move similar to what Carolina has done, the Caps went with five forwards on the first unit. And not just any five forwards: Hanlon is going with the big guns (Alex Ovechkin, Alexander Semin, Michael Nylander, Viktor Kozlov and Chris Clark). The second group had defensemen Mike Green and Brian Pothier on the points with Nicklas Backstrom, Matt Pettinger and Tomas Fleischmann up front.
"I think if we were sitting here after eight games and we were in 15th place and we weren't happy, I think we could just tinker with it a little bit and move a player here or a player there," Hanlon said. "I think sometimes you say, 'OK, here is a real contrast.' It gives them something totally different to think about than their lack of success."
Hanlon said "it doesn't look good" on Poti, which would mean either John Erksine is in or Steve Eminger could come off IR. Also Fleischmann is probably not going to be in the lineup, but Hanlon wanted him to practice with the power play. He said one of the Big Five forwards will stay out on the ice with Backstrom and Pettinger with the second extra-man unit.
As for having the Alexes be the last line of defense in a shorthanded situation:
"They are the key to it. If they work hard to get the puck back when they lose it and we have some success, that is great," Hanlon said. "But it is like I told them, I can live with the power play not helping the team — I don't like it. But I cannot live with it hurting the team by allowing shorthanded goals."
Tonight's game will have a little extra meaning for Backstrom, who said that he looked up to the Sedin twins while growing up in Sweden. They also played in the Swedish Elite League as 17-year-olds and Backstrom was the highest-drafted Swede since Daniel and Henrik went No. 2 and No. 3 overall in 1999. It seems a little crazy to me, but when the Sedins were 17 and playing for Modo, Backstrom was all of 10 years old. Backstrom said he played with one of the brothers in a charity game for sick children, but has never played with or against them before.
So the consensus among those who followed the 2007 NHL Draft was the group lacked a Crosby or Ovechkin-type franchise player and there might not have been an NHL-ready player in the bunch. Well, we're about three weeks into the season and those prognostications appear to be a bit, well, wrong. The No. 1 overall pick, Pat Kane, has three goals and 13 points in nine games for the Blackhawks. Chicago could send him back to London of the OHL before its next game and not start his free agency clock, but Kane obviously isn't going anywhere. Not only is he leading all rookies in scoring, but he is tied for sixth among all players. So much for his diminutive frame (I interviewed him the day before the draft, and he is certainly diminutive, but certainly not lacking for confidence) keeping him from making an instant impact.
The real surprise is the guy who went No. 6 overall, Kane's junior teammate Sam Gagner. Dave's son leads the Oilers with seven points despite missing a game. Edmonton has one more game before it has to make the decision, but Oilers coach Crag MacTavish has already implied that Gagner isn't going anywhere. I'm sure cynical Caps fans are already salivating over Gagner's success (he was taken one pick after Washington selected Karl Alzner, after all) but it has a lot to do with opportunity. The Oilers (and the Blackhawks to a lesser extent) are going with a severe youth movement – otherwise Gagner would be back playing for Dale Hunter in London right now.
The Caps are just getting started here at K-Plex. As of right now it looks like no Alex Ovechkin or Michael Nylander today. Tomas Fleischmann is taking Alex's place with Viktor Kozlov and Chris Clark, Brian Sutherby is with Alexander Semin and Nicklas Backstrom, the third unit is the same as last night and Matt Bradley is skating with Dave Steckel and Donald Brashear.
Update: Tom Poti also did not skate today.
Update: Just got done talking with Glen Hanlon. He said Alex Ovechkin and Michael Nylander were given the day off, but Tom Poti is dealing with a "nagging injury" and they will make a decision on him tomorrow morning after the skate.
-- Corey Masiak
Alexander Semin is off injured reserve and in the lineup tonight. Glen Hanlon said he expects Semin to log a full workload, which would probably be 18-20 minutes. Previously Hanlon has hinted that Semin might only play on the power play and see spot shift duty when he returned. Word from the other dressing room is that Marc Denis will be in net for the Lightning. The lines will be the same as they were yesterday at practice:
Ovechkin-Kozlov-Clark
Backstrom-Nylander-Semin
Pettinger-Gordon-Laich
Brashear-Steckel-Fleischmann
Morrisonn-Jurcina
Poti-Green
Pothier-Schultz
Extras: Sutherby, Bradley, Erskine
The entire Caps squad is getting warmed up here at K-Plex after the power play guys were out early to get in some work. Brooks Laich and Dave Steckel have changed places from yesterday, putting Laich with Boyd Gordon and Matt Pettinger and Steckel with Donald Brashear and Tomas Fleischmann. Yesterday, Flash looked like he was on the outs, but he's back in there today. Saw Joe Motzko out in the parking lot before practice, and he's not on the ice now. A team spokesman said he's on his way back to Hershey. This would obviously open a roster spot for Alexander Semin, and he's out there with the Swedes again today, but there's been no official move to get him off IR yet.
Caps are working on the power play during the second half of practice. Mike Green is in place of Joe Motzko on the top unit, joining Ovechkin, Clark, Kozlov and Poti. The second unit is Nylander, Backstrom and Pettinger up front with Pothier and one Alexander Semin on the point.
After another disappointing night from the offense on Saturday, Glen Hanlon has shuffled the deck a little up front for this morning's practice. Chris Clark is back on the top line with the Russians, Alexander Semin is skating with the Swedes, Dave Steckel has joined the checking group and Brooks Laich is centering the fourth group with Joe Motzko on one side and Donald Brashear on the other. That leaves Tomas Fleischmann, Matt Bradley and Brian Sutherby on the "fifth line." There are 25 guys on the ice right now (Semin and Steve Eminger are still on IR), so someone has to go should the other Alex be deemed fit to play Wednesday night against Tampa Bay.
To recap:
Ovechkin-Kozlov-Clark
Backstrom-Nylander-Semin
Pettinger-Steckel-Gordon
Brashear-Laich-Motzko
Fleischmann-Sutherby-Bradley
Just gone with Glen Hanlon's pre-game media session. Boyd Gordon is going to play tonight after missing the past three games with back spasms. Hanlon said Gordon probably would have played Thursday if it were a playoff situation. To make room for Gordon, Brooks Laich moves back to the wing on the fourth line and Matt Bradley moves to the press box.
Hanlon also said he expects Alexander Semin to practice with the rest of the team Monday, but wasn't ready to commit to any timeline for his return. He did say it is probably more about Semin's conditioning than dealing with the injury going forward.
- Corey Masisak
Alex is a pretty genuinely funny guy, but some of his stuff after practice today was top-shelf material. It is pretty clear he is pretty much over the whole Crosby-Ovechkin deal (more on the rivalry in tomrrow's paper, of course), so he was doing his best to not talk about it. Some of his comedy is going to make the paper, but his best answer isn't:
"Bucky (equipment assistant Brian Metzger, who was cleaning up in the dressing room behind us) can play hockey. Maybe he can be the best, you never know. Maybe now he do his stuff, but next year he say 'I go to the ice and skate,' and he will be next Gretzky.' "
Glen Hanlon had his troops workong on the power play for the second half of the practice this morning. The main focus was clearly established a presence in front of the net and creating more traffic. Chris Clark was the man on the spot with the first group (with the Russians) and Matt Pettinger was tabbed for the second unit (with the Swedes). Joe Motzko was on the left point again and paired with Tom Poti. Mike Green and Brian Pothier were on the points for the second group. There also seemed to be a concerted effort to send a second guy into the scrum in front after the first shot.
- Corey Masisak
Alexander Semin just went through a pretty long workout on his own, and the rest of the team is not getting cranked up. No changes to the forward groups (8-25-50, 19-92-43, 18-21-17, 87-39-10) and Boyd Gordon is still in a green jersey with Brian Sutherby. Glen Hanlon did hint at changes to the power play groups, so I'd expect them to be working on that at some time today.
There is probably the best crowd of the regular season here at K-Plex, for what it is worth. That is on the heels of a pretty bleak crowd at the Phone Booth last night.
Alexander Semin is back on injured reserve to make room for Jeff Schultz. He's been out long enough that the Caps can make it retroactive to a week ago and bring him tomorrow if they want, but Semin is not expected to play tomorrow night against the Islanders. Schultz will likely take John Erskine's spot on the active roster and skate with Brian Pothier. Boyd Gordon said his back is feeling better, but isn't sure about tomorrow.
Jeff Schultz is out on the ice. That makes 24 guys (well, 23 on the ice right now because Alexander Semin isn't out there), so someone has to go on IR or be sent down to put him on the roster.
Here are the jersey color combinations today. There are certainly some interesting ones:
Ovechkin-Kozlov-Motzko (Red)
Backstrom-Nylander-Fleischmann (Blue)
Pettinger-Laich-Clark (Gray)
Brashear-Steckel-Bradley (White)
Sutherby-Gordon (Green)
HSBC Arena is a large, expansive building. How large and how expansive might be a little tough for me to tell until the next trip, but after a night at MSG, HSBC looked humongous. There is way more extra space in the bowels of the arena, and the seating layout makes it look twice as large as the Garden.
The place was, like MSG, about 99 percent full and it was a pretty boisterous crowd. Again, my seat at the Garden may have made that place sound louder than HSBC, but I think the overall layout has that affect anyway.
Two big things stick out at HSBC: 1) They play both the Canadian and U.S. national anthems, and the guy who performed Saturday night was treated like a rock star (he may be a regular). He was excellent. 2) They still have a real organ there, although I feel like it was not utilized enough. They played this rock song that had some Irish or Scottish stuff mixed in before faceoffs a lot, and while I liked that song, I could have used some more organ as well.
I hate to bag on it because we were in NYC the night before, so it was going to be tough to measure up; but there is very little to do in downtown Buffalo. Tarik and I did drive over to Anchor Bar on Main Street after the game, and if there is one place to see there, that is probably it. They invented the buffalo wing, and while I am not a aficionado on the topic, I thought they were some quality wings.
As for the Caps, they took the day off today. Why, some people might ask after being beaten badly twice this weekend? Coach Glen Hanlon said that team physiologist Jack Blatherwick thinks two days on and one day off is the best way to get the most out of this three-day break. So the Caps went through their longest practice of the season Monday, took today off and will skate again tomorrow morning at K-Plex.
Also, if anyone was watching that Buffalo-Toronto game last night on Versus in lieu of the baseball and football games that were on like I was, those Caps fans might not be as upset with the loss to the Sabres. Buffalo is just flying right now. They've scored at least five goals in three straight, and they might have scored 10 last night if not for hitting a half-dozen posts and Andrew Raycroft making about six ridiculous saves. Of course, they might have had 10 against the Caps if Brent Johnson hadn't been spectacular in the first 30 minutes Saturday night.
Something that I was reminded of last night that I forgot to mention on here earlier – those Versus ads are awesome. You can check all of them out here. People can complain about not being able to find the network or even know what Versus is, but they do a pretty bang-up job with everything from the pre- and post-game to the in-game presentation to those ads. It is not TSN or CBC, but neither was ESPN.
The Caps had their longest practice, including training camp, of the season this morning. Several of the players said they were working on basic stuff, but doing it at a much faster tempo.
Alexander Semin and Alex Ovechkin both left practice in the early stages, and Boyd Gordon skipped the second session. Afterward, coach Glen Hanlon said Ovechkin has a minor injury, but will play Thursday, Semin will not play and Gordon will ready to go. The team is taking tomorrow off, but Semin and Ovechkin will be in for treatment.
Two games in two nights in two cities means a little less sleep than normal (and a lot less when one of them is Manhattan), so today is a good day to go back and revisit the two arenas the Caps played in this weekend.
I have to say up front that one of my good friends in this business has been to Madison Square Garden for college basketball games and came away unimpressed, so I wasn't sure if I would buy into the aura of the place.
The first thing that hit me when I walked into the actual arena (after roaming around the rest of the massive building aimlessly for about 20 minutes) was how small it seemed. The seats go out instead of up like the modern arenas, and there are far fewer aisles, so the seats are much more condensed. When empty during the morning skate, it really looked like there couldn’t be more than 12 or 13,000 seats in the place.
That changed when the people started showing up. The print media guys actually sit down on the ice in the corner, right above where the Caps entered and exited the ice. It was a vastly different view than from above. It was fabulous when the puck was at our end and not so much when it wasn't.
I will certainly admit that the atmosphere hooked me. I was out by our seats about two hours before the game when the anthem singer was warming up, and let's just say the anthem is a little different experience in that building. Then the place started filling up, it was rocking from start to finish.
"Just by atmosphere alone, it has to be in the top five," Caps captain Chris Clark said. "It is an older building, but it has everything you need, but the atmosphere and just being in the building in the nicest part."
Throw in the banners, the ceiling, the Rangers intro which is kicked off by Howard Cosell's opus on the city - it all makes for a pretty awesome hockey experience. Maybe it is different for basketball, and I am sure it is if there aren't 18,000 people rooting for the same team, but consider me hooked on the World's Most Famous Arena.
-- Corey Masisak
With the injuries to Boyd Gordon and Alexander Semin, the Caps recalled forward Joe Motzko and he is in the lineup tonight. The Caps had an open roster spot, so no counter move was necessary, but it does mean Brian Sutherby returns to the inactive list after one game.
The addition of Motzko does mean, for the time being, there is a player with his name on the Stanley Cup in the dressing room. He did not play during the regular season for Anaheim last season (he did suit up seven times for Columbus), but the Ducks called on him for three playoff games including one in the Cup Finals. He has one goal in 11 career regular season games.
Glen Hanlon told us after the morning skate that a personnel move could be on the horizon this afternoon, but that it won't be a trade. Boyd Gordon skated on his own at one end, but it looked like he was moving pretty gingerly out there. He said afterward that he was close, but that he wasn't sure about tonight. Hanlon said Chris Clark will join Alex Ovechkin and Viktor Kozlov on the top line, while the Swedes will stay together in the second group, but everything after that is up in the air. He mentioned Matt Pettinger as a possibility with Nylander and Backstrom.
Here is some bonus material from the story in the paper today about Swedish media coverage of Nicklas Backstrom (because my blog updates have slacked the past couple of days thanks to that crazy ridiculous Navy-Pitt football game, you don’t even have to pay an extra five bucks to get the bonus disc).
A couple of quick facts that didn't get in the story: 1. Magnus told me that his news agency staffs almost every Brynas road game in the Elite League, and 2. I asked the TV guys to rank the Swedish players based on their popularity back home. They said Forsberg is unquestionably at the top, Henrik Lundqvist has rapidly ascended to No. 2 ahead of Henrik Zetterberg, while Mats Sundin and Nicklas Lidstrom are probably about the same behind those three.
From Magnus Hagerborn, a writer from Nicklas' hometown of Gavle:
"You have to say that [he is a hometown hero]. He is very popular and we have written so much about him. He played two full seasons in the Elite League and last year there was great hype."
"I first heard about him myself when he was in juniors because he was the son of Anders, who won the championship with Brynas in 1980. I knew him first from that."
"It was not until he made it through to the first team [the big club for Brynas] that we started to really cover him. That's when we understood that this guy was special."
From Henrik Ek, a freelance writer who lives in New York:
"In Sweden hockey is the No. 2 sport. Even though it is the second-biggest sport, there is not as much media, not as many people come to the games. For us to be here, we go, 'Oh, this is huge.' "
"Magnus has his blog, and the interest in Nicklas is huge. It is hard for daily newspapers because it is really the day after."
"He was pretty shy with us [at first] too. He seems to be more comfortable with us when we talk about stuff that he knows won't be in the paper, like a normal conversation between two people. When he knows he is going to be quoted it is a little different."
On whether the guarded nature comes from his father, as a former player, teaching him how to act with the media:
"I don't think so because his father is much more open and outspoken. His brother [Kristoffer, who plays professionally in Sweden] is too.
"Last year started really well. He was the scoring leader for quite some time and then after the junior championships, his play went down a little. Maybe it was the pressure [from the WJC].
"I think he is a player who needs to feel comfortable - when he has control over everything and knows what is going to happen.
"Michael [Nylander] is great. I had a lot to do with him last year when he was in New York, and he is a great guy. He did one of his best seasons last year, so people in Sweden are excited about him too. He was 35 years old and had his best season, so people want to know more about him too."
"It is also exciting to have two Swedish players on the same line. We have that in Detroit and Vancouver, too."
And finally, from Backstrom, who I don't think understood that this was going to be a light-hearted story and was pretty serious with every answer:
"I think it is just going to be in the beginning for the first couple of games, so I try not to think about it. I just want to play and if they want to come here and right about, that is fine."
On whether or not he heard from anybody back home after the season opener was broadcast live in the early morning hours (a fact that I should have had in the story, but forgot):
"The game [Friday] was on TV, so a couple of guys called me and said they saw me on the TV, but just friends."
So after the morning skate I made my way down to the new NHL store, which held its grand opening today. If you have not heard, the store is at 1185 Avenue of the Americas (the corner of 47th St. and 6th Ave.) in Manhattan, and if today was any indication, it will be a beacon of hockey greatness in the middle of the Big Apple.
There were literally thousands of people in and around the place. Just walking around in the store was not easy. There were plenty of things to do outside the store like get autographs, sign up for XM radio or pick up a free popsicle (and a key, which if you went and stood in line and your key opened a lock made you a winner in this NHL Unlock Your Dreams deal).
But inside is where the action was at. To the left of the main entrance sat Lord Stanley's Cup, and there was a line out the door and wrapped around the block to get your picture taken with it. There are these gigantic photos about 25 feet tall along the left wall of Alex Ovechkin, Sidney Crosby, Joe Thornton and Martin Brodeur showcasing the new uniforms. Sorry for the shoddy photography, I blame the tools (my cell phone) with which I had to work with.
To the right of the main entrance there is a display of all the new Reebok jerseys along a glass wall. In the middle of the store there was a spot for people to play both NHL 08 and NHL 2K8. Above the checkout kiosk are eight flat screen, high-def TVs but that wasn't as cool as the chandelier made out of hockey sticks.
Above the back wall is the XM Studio, and NHL Live with E.J. Hradek and Don La Greca was going on and being piped into the sound system in the store. There is also a Starbucks attached to the back of the store.
The store basically has everything. Jerseys (replicas at $114.99 and authentics at $249.99), t-shirts, sweatshirts, team-themed shoes, hats, sticks - it is all here. My favorite stuff was what I deemed the Retro Wall. There are shirts with all of the old school logos and old school teams (I nearly broke down and bought this sweet Quebec Nordiques shirt, but the line made me think twice). I did hear one customer expressed disappointment that only home jerseys were on sale.
This brings me to the coolest part of the day, at least for me. I was scoping out the merchandise, and Will Arnett of Arrested Development fame walks past me. Now, I thought it was cool that a real celeb was here to check out the place, but it became pretty funny to me to watch him move through the store almost completely incognito while everyone else stared at the NHL celebs.
The Commish, Gary Bettman and his right hand man, Bill Daly were down on the floor, former Devils Ken Daneyko and Bruce Driver were up on the balcony (and
then in the studio on air with Don and E.J.), and I also saw former Islanders Eric Cairns and Butch Goring taping a segment in the Starbucks.
I kept thinking it must be a New York thing, but here I am watching Will Arnett try on a Maple Leafs sweatshirt while a father was pointing out Ken Danyeko to his sons. Then came the best part - the line to buy stuff went all the way to the front door, so Arnett tried to talk his way out of standing in line. His first attempt didn't work, but eventually another store employee relented.
But for anyone who visits Madison Square Garden (and considering the dozen or so Caps jerseys I saw today, people from the District do make the trip), the NHL store is not that far of a walk, and it is well worth it. You will probably have to stand in line to check out though.
The Caps just got done with their morning skate here at the Garden. Boyd Gordon is here but did not skate, and coach Glen Hanlon does not expect him to play tonight or tomorrow in Buffalo. David Steckel moves up to the third line and Brian Sutherby will make his 2007-08 debut on the fourth line.
I took the train up this morning, which was a first for me. We passed through Newark, and I had to see it with my own eyes to confirm it, but yes they did build a hockey arena in the heart of downtown Newark. The Devils won’t play in Prudential Center until Oct. 27 after a nine-game road trip to start the season.
I’m off to the grand opening of the NHL store (more on that and my first experience at the Garden later).
So I missed my first practice of the season because I am in Pittsburgh to cover the Navy football game (for those of you that don't know, I covered the Mids for the past three years and it is much cheaper for the company to send me up here than Mike Fratto, our new beat writer), but Caps media relations maestro Paul Rovnak informed me that Alexander Semin did not practice with the team, but did skate for a few minutes afterward without all the other equipment.
I thought while I am in town, why not swing by Mellon Arena for the Penguins and Canadiens morning skates? Unfortunately for me the Montreal media was out in full force, so the Penguins dressing room was absolutely jammed with people.
Now, the Igloo is an old, outdated barn to begin with and the Penguins have a bigger day-to-day media presence than the Caps do, but all of the extra TV cameras did not help. I talked to a couple of the guys I wanted to, but even getting within shouting distance of the Sidney Crosby Scrum proved to be difficult (it was two and three people deep at certain points of the semicircle).
Crosby didn't even bother taking any gear off, he just sat down and starts answering questions. After several minutes, part of the media pack dispersed, another group moved forward and Crosby did an entire round of interviews in French. It is no wonder they love the guy in Montreal. My Francais is a bit rusty (or nonexistent) after learning a little in high school, but the whole spectacle was pretty impressive.
I also wanted to talk to Montreal goaltender Carey Price. I thought that would be easy since he is the backup, but of course the Canadiens decide today will be the day for his first NHL start, so he was off-limits this morning. It was certainly an interesting morning, but a little less productive than I wanted it to be.
What better way to celebrate Christopher Columbus than spending some in Nassau Coliseum? Columbus discovered the Bahamas, and Uniondale, N.Y. is far, far removed from the tropics (although the weather suggested otherwise).
You could say Nassau is a unique place, not unlike Philips Arena in Atlanta, but for an entirely different set of reasons. First, the arena is in Parking Lot Land, which is to say there is the building, a Marriott and nothing else in the vicinity (Hofstra is in the distance, but too far to see if the Cornell football team was in town for a slaughter).
Inside the building, everything is downsized from more modern arenas. The concourses are tight, the elevators are tight and quarters in the press box are extremely tight. There are only two floors to the place, so the press box is actually very close to the ice. Everything seems a bit minor leagueish. The seats are old and multi-colored (not techno-color like some places used to do in the '70s to make it look like there were people there on poor-definition TVs, but each level of seating is a different color). The scoreboard is old, and included some Atari-era graphics. There are a few suites, but they looked small and were above the rest of the seating area. The locker room was old, and pretty small.
The Islanders do have Ice Girls, which are a fine addition at any arena in the league (cough, cough Verizon, cough). It was Kids' Opening Day, so after the game children were allowed to go out on the ice and shoot a puck at one of the nets, which seemed like a decent idea for fan interaction.
The coolest thing about Nassau is the history on display. Four Stanley Cup banners, not to mention some cool pictures on the walls in hallway leading to the press box from the era when Lord Stanley was a fixture on the Island. There are not that many NHL franchises that can match the retired jersey/Hall of Fame banners of Potvin, Bossy, Trottier, Gillies, Nystrom, Billy Smith and a really cool 739 (wins) for coach Al Arbour. It is great to honor the early '80s dynasty, but it is too bad the rest of the arena seems to still be trapped in that era as well.
Jeff Schultz was assigned to Hershey today. There is not a spot in the top six for him right now, and there is no reason to have a 21-year old sitting around and not playing. This could also pave the way for Steve Eminger to come off injured reserve.
Some quick additional thoughts from last night while the guys are getting warmed up here at K-Plex:
John Erskine played a little more than eight minutes in the third period last night and 19:05 on the night. Coach Glen Hanlon complimented Erskine's improved skating before the game, and both Hanlon and Olie Kolzig lauded the toughness element that he adds to the mix on the blue line.
I cannot claim this as an original thought because people were talking about in the media room last night before the game, but it still holds up - after two games, John Erskine is outscoring Sidney Crosby. He also has scored more points after two games than Marian Hossa, Ilya Kovalchuk, Pavel Datsyuk and Oli Jokinen among others.
As long as Erskine continues to play like this, there really is not room for Jeff Schultz in the active lineup. It will be interesting to see how much longer he stays with the big club if he is not dressing, especially with Steve Eminger lurking on injured reserve.
No sign of Alexander Semin on the ice today, and he only logged 2:59 of ice time in the third period. Matt Bradley is skating with the Swedes, but if Semin does not play tomorrow I would expect Brooks Laich back on that line like in Atlanta. He had a very nice game last night.
Alex Ovechkin was out on the ice before everyone else trying out some new skates. After the game last night someone asked him about the missing tooth and he responded, "Girls like it. Look like tough guy."
-- Corey Masisak
Ben Clymer cleared waivers today, but don't expect to see him in a Capitals uniform tonight. He was formally recalled after clearing and then reassigned to Hershey shortly afterwards. Had another team claimed Clymer, the two teams would have had to split the $2.1 million owed to him between this season and next. Clymer practiced once with the Bears after being assigned Monday but did not play in the Bears' season opener Wednesday night.
The Caps were able to recall Clymer because of the roster spot opened by putting Alexander Semin on injured reserve, retroactive to last Saturday. He was eligible to come off IR today and he has been activated.
Semin went through the morning skate without issue (of course, he has looked OK in practice earlier this week). But Matt Bradley joined last night's scratches (Brian Sutherby and Jeff Schultz), Steve Eminger (on IR) and Jakub Klepis (yep, still here) on the ice for some extra work after everyone was off, which could lead someone to presume that Semin was taking his place in the lineup tonight. But it is still a game-time decision.
There are going to be days during the season like today when I am kicking myself for getting to the airport too early (and thus wasting some valuable extra sleep), so I think I will peruse the box score from the night before and offer some observations that did not make it into the game story.
1. Viktor Kozlov was a beast below the goal line. This cannot be underscored enough. The smallish Thrashers defense could not knock him off the puck. He and Ovechkin were manhandling people, and that line looked really good.
2. The Pettinger-Gordon-Clark checking line might have spent more time on offense than defense, especially in the first 25-27 minutes of the game. Boyd Gordon got pinballed around a lot in the second half of the game when the Thrashers decided to be more physical, but the line those guys were matched up with (the Marian Hossa line) most of the night had very few chances, save for a Hossa breakaway which happened because of a Brian Pothier turnover in his own end.
3. Keeping with Gordon (and he could probably be a regular in this sort of deal because he does a lot of stuff that tends to be overlooked on deadline), he and David Steckel had a nice night killing penalties. Their active sticks were consistently knocking the Thrashers PP unit out of rhythm. Steckel had a couple of diving clears early in the game and Glen Hanlon used him as a faceoff guy-for-hire again during a draw in the defensive zone when the team was on the power play. He nearly earned as much time on the PK as he did at even strength -- a trend that will likely continue as long he is centering the fourth line.
4. Brian Pothier played only 12:18, least among defensemen and less than seven of the 12 forwards. Pothier got only three shifts in the third period and logged a total of 70 seconds. A Caps spokesman said he was fine after the game. Pothier did, of course, have that very noticeable turnover. Mike Green on the other hand checked in at over 20 minutes and played only nine seconds less than Shaone Morrisonn.
Ah, the sweet sound of my boarding call, which means an uncomfortable but much-needed nap awaits. I'll check back in this afternoon from the Phone Booth as the Caps face the Hurricanes in a showdown for Southeast supremacy. Well, sort of.
One lineup change before we get started -- John Erskine is in and Jeff Schultz is out on the blue line. A mild surprise, but Erskine is a penalty-killing specialist and Atlanta can put some big guns on the ice with the extra man. Plus Schultz did not have a great camp.
In keeping with the theme here in Atlanta, "Believe in Blueland" (which stems from the baby blue uniforms the Thrashers have sported the past couple years), the extensions that hold the panes of glass in place are baby blue, as is a ring around the the top of the dasher boards. Toss in a very blue-heavy scoreboard and some appropriately-colored strobe lights, and it is clear this place is all about the Blueland.
Another nice touch about this place -- the sound system is awesome. Tarik, being the old guy between us, tells me it is the best in the league, and I have no reason to dispute that at this point.