Panthers 7 Caps 4

Well, the 2008-09 Washington Capitals regular season began with a 7-4 stinkbomb on the road against a Southeast Division opponent, why shouldn't it end that way? I guess the good news is that nobody died or got hurt. If nothing else, the Caps are good at keeping the fanbase on their toes.

All coach Bruce Boudreau was looking for in this game was to head into the playoffs on a high note. Preferably with a strong defensive effort in front of Jose Theodore. It wasn't too much to ask against the Florida Panthers, who were just eliminated from playoff contention. The game was meaningless. Plus, the Caps came into this same arena, against this same team a month ago and held them to 0 shots in the 3rd period. Shouldn't be too hard, right?

Umm, yeah. The Caps turned in one of the worst defensive efforts they have put on this year. It was a litany of bad pinches, poor puck-moving and too many odd-man rushes. The Caps D had no answer for Florida's David Booth, who racked up two goals and three assists. Even though he gave up 6 goals, Theo was mostly hung out to dry, facing a lot of two-on-ones, tipped shots and breakaways. Although he's played at a Norris Trophy level all season, Mike Green was maybe the worst offender. He got burned up ince on bad pinches for a breakaway goal by Radek Dvorak (who skated within 3 feet of Theodore and took a slapshot. My old teammate Louie would be proud) and a 2-on-1 goal by Booth. Greener's not going to want to send this one in on the Norris resume tape.

Besides that, the Caps as a team were outskated and outworked by the Panthers. They were fortunate to be in this one to begin with, and when Alex Ovechkin scored #56 to tie the game at 4 late in the 3rd period, it looked like the Caps may escape. But as was the case all night, the mental focus wasn't there and the Panthers scored two goals in 8 seconds (both on odd-man rushes) to end any hope for Washington. Just a very poor effort all around and not the way you want to go into the playoffs.

The only thing we did find out last night is who the Caps will be facing in the 1st round. And your winner is: the New York Rangers. Game 1 will mark the first time in almost a month the Caps have faced a playoff team. I'll have a little preview up here early next week but needless to say, the A-game is going to be needed. A first round exit is no longer acceptable. Now we're going to see if this team is the bunch that went 4-1 against NHL heavy hitters Boston and Detroit, or the team that got beat 4-1 at home by the 2nd worst team in the NHL.

Here's last night's horrorshow as documented by NHL.com.


So, it's on to the Stanley Cup playoffs and a date with the boys from Gotham City. But for one last time in the regular season, let's say good night to da bad guys.

Caps 3 Panthers 0

Now that was more like it. After getting murdered in Atlanta last night, the Caps bounced back with a very strong defensive effort to take two important points from the Florida Panthers in the hockey mecca known as Sunrise, Fl.

Sometimes in athletics, the best thing that can happen is getting right back out there the next day. When you lose as bad as the Caps did last night, you just want to get back out there on the ice and kick the shit out of whoever is next on the schedule. While the Caps didn't put on their shit kickers and kick some shit for the entire 60 minutes, they sure did for the last 20. The same Caps who were shredded by Atlanta last night morphed into the 1995 New Jersey Devils, holding the Kitty Cats to 0, I repeat ZERO, shots on goal in the third period. This is a Panthers team fighting for their playoff lives, the kind of desperate team that has given the Caps troubles this year. Hell, the last time the Caps saw the Panthers, Florida put a real thumping on Washington with a 6-2 victory at the Phone Booth.

Tonight? Different story. The Caps won the kind of ugly, defensive game they need to win to go places in April and May. This Caps team plays much better anyway when they focus on defence and not all trying to be Harry High School heroes out there.

A couple quick notes:

-I thought Sergei Fedorov looked very strong tonight. Maybe the game off last night gave him a little spring in his step. He is almost 40 and despite being in great shape, a little rest can help keep Feds fresh for the postseason when his two-way skills and experience will be very important.

- The big criticism lately has been about the Caps lack of secondary scoring. Well tonight, one of those secondary guys, Viktor Kozlov, scored tonight on a Sakic-like wrist shot.

- When Brooks Laich scored the first (and game-winning) goal shorthanded, it got me to thinking - when was the last time the Caps scored shorthanded? It seems like forever ago.

- Alex Ovechkin didn't get #50 tonight but Mike Green did get #25 in an open net to move him that much closer to the 30-goal plateau.

- I wonder how Jose Theodore kept himself busy since he didn't have any work in third period. Did he look in the stands for some groupie love? Was he contemplating writing a novel? Thinking of asking the usher to get him a green beer? I'm curious to know what goalies, who are strange birds to begin with, think about when they don't see any shots.

So that's it for tonight. The four game road trip through the Southeast Division continues Thursday night in Tampa Bay. Until then, let's chalk up one more...for the good guys!

Panthers 6 Caps 2

Was that game ever depressing? Hold on, I need to cheer myself up real quick...

OK, I feel better. Anyway, I wanted to keep this recap short and the Caps today made that very easy with a miserable effort against the Florida Panthers. I said in my recap of the Bruins game that the Caps needed to beware of this game. The Panthers were coming off a miserable game against New Jersey and were going to be pissed off. The Caps were coming off an emotional game on the road. It was a receipe for a lackluster game and the Caps delivered in spades, allowing three power play goals in the first period and falling behind 4-1 after 20 minutes. The game was pretty much academic and the Panthers showed little mercy, continuing to attack, even up 6-1.

So, no complex analysis or deep thoughts needed here. Take this game and do this...


...just put it behind you and focus on the next opponent, the Carolina Hurricanes. We'll see what moves GM George McPhee pulls at the March 4 trade deadline. Hopefully Chris Pronger, Derek Morris or somebody of that ilk will be wearing red. Until then, say good night to da bad guys...

Sports Guy story/Yet another hockey rant

I've never posted an NBA link on here before and don't have much urge to start. But in this case I'll make an exception. Bill Simmons has a column about the NBA's financial woes and where it may lead. It's extremely well-researched and well-written but I must say I took umbrage with one little item...

"Looking at the big picture, the league won't struggle even 1/10th as much as the NHL in years to come -- of all the wildest predictions I heard in Phoenix, the craziest came from a connected executive who predicted that fifteen NHL teams would go under within the next two years (and was dead serious)"

Now, I must say up until I got to this aforementioned sentence, my reaction to this piece was "NHL ain't looking like such a bad option, is it ESPN?" After all, as a Caps fan, I've been stunned by the hockey renaissance in DC. I know I linked to it once already but this Dan Steinberg piece warrants mentioning again. Similar situations have cropped up in Pittsburgh (who were finally able to secure a new arena deal thanks in part to the buzz of getting Sidney Crosby), Boston and Chicago, plus the league has always been near or at the top of the sports heap in places like Detroit, Philadelphia, New York (for the Rangers), Minnesota and the Canadian cities (Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, Vancouver, Edmonton and Calgary).

So it got me thinking, who are the 15 that he's talking about? Is this Simmons, who along with his employer has a history of this sort of thing, taking shots across hockey's bow again? I emailed the Sports Feller to find out so we'll see if I get a response.

As far as I know, in my limited knowledge of the topic, there are at least six franchises that are in serious trouble. The Phoenix Coyotes, whose financial troubles are well documented. Ditto for the Nashville Predators. Florida, Atlanta and Tampa Bay are all towards the bottom in attendance. Throw in the New York Islanders, who are owned by lunatic and have had serious arena problems for over a decade now. So you have six teams. If you want to include New Jersey, who have had attendance problems - again - you can. That's seven, about half the number the Sports Guy is saying.

Now, other than the Devils and Islanders, what do all these teams have in common? They are all teams in the Sun Belt. In the southeast, where by the time the season starts, the temperature is hovering around 85-90 degrees. They are places where Prince Gary Bettman should not have expanded or allowed hockey to go. They are, other than Phoenix, expansion franchises that Bettman added when the league was desperate for cash flow. No disrespect to the fine fans of the 'Yotes, Bolts, Panthers, Thrash and Preds, but Nashville, Phoenix, Miami, Tampa and Atlanta are NOT hockey cities. They just aren't. I don't know much about a lot of things, and I maybe don't have a real valid argument, but having watched and played the game for over 20 years, I know a place that can support hockey when I see it. These cities have as much right to be hockey cities as Lewes, Delaware and Linkwood, Maryland. They don't pass the Eye Test. You know why? Because, other than mayyybe Nashville, it never gets fucking cold in those places!!!! Hockey is not meant to be played in a place called "Sunrise." Nobody in Miami sees ice unless its at a Panthers game or in their mojitos.

The point is, yes, the NHL does have its share of problems, as this apocolyptic Toronto Sun column points out. (and identifies the seven franchises that I just did off the top of my head. Damn, I'm smooth). But is it really that bad? Especially considering that EVERYONE is hurting these days: sports leagues, Wall Street, newspapers, you name it. And is the fact that the Sun Belt franchises are doing poorly (especially when their teams are towards the bottom of the standings) really news? Ok, I will now step down from the soap box.