The NHL on Monday held a conference call featuring hockey broadcasters Don Cherry, Mike Milbury and Pierre McGuire. There was much discussion of the Caps series against the Flyers. Here are a few excerpts. (Thanks to the NHL for a transcript of the call.) Especially intriguing are the comments from Cherry about Caps GM George McPhee and McGuire's reference to Alex Ovechkin as a "cyborg."

On the series against the Flyers:

McGuire: "I think this series has a chance to have the most bloodshed of all the series, and the big reason why is because of the targeting that's going to go on. Whether you talk about going after Alex Ovechkin or even challenging a rookie like Nicklas Backstrom, I think that's going to be real tough for Backstrom who's never played in an NHL playoff game.

"I think when you look at the Philadelphia Flyers under John Stevens, he brought back a little bit about what made the Flyers good in the 1970s and that's intimidation. It's not easy to do now with the way games are being called, but I expect you're going to see players like Braydon Coburn having an impact on the series Philadelphia is going to win. I think you're going to see Steve Downie and Scottie Upshaw potentially have an impact if Philadelphia is going to win."

"This will be a long, physical bloody series and I think the Washington Capitals will win it, but I think they're going to win it under severe physical duress."

On whether the Caps are built to make a playoff run:

Cherry: "This might be an awful letdown going into the playoffs, and I really don't think they're built for the playoffs to tell you the truth. All the other teams have to concentrate on Ovechkin. But we'll see how it goes."

McGuire: "Yeah, I think that there's going to be a learning curve here. You look at the Pittsburgh Penguins last year, going out in five games to Ottawa. They had to learn how to win, too. They're all as a group in Pittsburgh talking about we're not going to let that happen this year. We were kind of throttled by the Ottawa Senators. So they'll be more prepared for it. Even though it's easier to say, Fedorov's Stanley Cup experience brings a lot to that dressing room, especially for two of the better offensive players, Ovechkin and Semin because he can talk to them in their native language and calm them down. He was a huge influence during the last six or seven games of the season when they had a chance to lose their focus. Fedorov wouldn't let that happen. Quite frankly I think they're still a few years away from being a competitive team for the Cup but this has been a huge stroke of genius by George McPhee."

On head coach Bruce Boudreau and general manager George McPhee:

McGuire: "I think the MVP of this entire thing is George McPhee, the general manager of the Washington Capitals at the trade deadline. One of the reasons they are in the playoffs is he got Fedorov, he got Matt Cooke who's been a tremendous energy player for them, and obviously Huet. What they've done with Bruce Boudreau is they've cultivated talent like Mike Green to put them in a position where they have a chance to succeed."

Cherry: "I think George McPhee did a great job. I heard him on the radio, and he said, yes, well, we all knew that Boudreau was a great hockey mind. That's why he left him in the minors for 17 years I guess it was, and he named him interim. Who's kidding who? He was there just until he found another coach, and all of a sudden he pulled a little magic out and now he's staying. But make no mistake about it, when he first went there, he was just cannon fodder until he found another coach."

On Alex Ovechkin:

Milbury: "He's taken it to another level that I haven't seen. When you see him jumping up against the glass and the enthusiasm that he demonstrates with his teammates, whether it's him scoring a goal or not doesn't seem to matter to this guy. There's no question he's as electrifying a player as I've seen when you put him in that category. Crosby last year was in that similar vein, but I think Ovechkin may have knocked it up a notch."

McGuire: " A lot of guys need other players around him. He can make himself great and make this team win because he is so overwhelmingly dominant because of the physical nature of his game. The one thing that he does, and Don and Mike coached against him and obviously Mike played against him. Teemu Selanne was great but he needed Andy McDonald with him or another career type of player to do that. Alexander Ovechkin doesn't need that. You give him a stick and a puck and he doesn't even need gloves. He's virtually indestructible. I would call him a cyborg. When you look at it, he is without a doubt the MVP of the league, and whoever has a vote that doesn't vote for him should have that vote rescinded. He's the MVP of the league."

-- Tim Lemke