Knuble and the Caps Catch the Hawks in OT

photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images

I don't usually do game notes, but it was too exciting a game to stay silent. A couple of notes on the overtime win over the Blackhawks:

• This was by far Jason Chimera's best game of the season. He was showing off his speed and he had more chances than usual. It wasn't just Chimera though; the Chimera-Laich-Fehr line was the best of the day, generating a ton of scoring chances, and scoring the third Capitals goal. Eric Fehr fed Brooks Laich a great pass in front, and Corey Crawford had no chance to save it.
• Mike Knuble's overtime goal was beautiful; dirty, but beautiful. Knuble's forehand-backhand-forehand dance around Crawford's crease was the best his hands have looked in a long time. Marcus Johansson's pass to Knuble was picture-perfect.
• Speaking of Johansson, he was a force on the ice today. He led the team in shots on net with seven. The penalty he took late in the third period was dumb, as it led to the tying Blackhawks goal, but his pass to Knuble in overtime seemed to make up for it.
• Braden Holtby looked a bit shaky in net today. The Blackhawks' first goal was a soft one through Holtby's five hole, and their second was a bad angle shot that squeaked through seven hole, and bounced off his back into the goal. You can bet that Arturs Irbe will be working with him on situations like the second goal in practice.
• NBC seemed to be crediting everyone but Jason Arnott for Alexander Semin's reawakening. Semin also had a good, hardworking game today. His work ethic for the past seven games since Arnott entered the lineup has been consistently strong. I was in the locker room yesterday after practice, and when Arnott and Semin came in, they were chatting away. It was funny to see Arnott trying to figure out what the heck Semin was saying, but he was talking. Of all the times I've ever previously been in the locker room, I've never heard Semin say a single word. There's no doubt in my mind that Arnott is responsible for Semin's inspired play.
• Who knew that Boyd Gordon had such a cannon on him? I definitely wasn't expecting him to bomb a shot from so far away - and have it go through Crawford's pads. This is why the Caps keep Gordon around; he is essential to the penalty kill.

Overall, the game had all the intensity of a playoff game. Both teams were running on all cylinders and playing their best hockey. Considering that the Caps came away with the win, it speaks favorably to their playoff hopes. With Montreal, Detroit, New Jersey, and Philadelphia coming up, hopefully the Caps can keep up the excitement.

JWHL All Stars Show Their Star Quality

Walking into Kettler this evening, I didn't quite know what to expect. My experience with women's hockey starts and ends with my high school girls' hockey team. We were terrible; since there were only three high school girls' teams in the area including us, we were regularly beaten by embarrassing margins by boys in peewee leagues.

But once warmups began for the JWHL All-Star Game, I knew that this was on a whole different level.

Simply said, these girls are good.

The teams were divided into Team White and Team Dark. One team wore their individual team's white jerseys, and the other team wore their team's alternate jerseys (which were red, black, green, dark blue, depending on the team). The game was just two periods long for the sake of scheduling, with a very short intermission between the two periods.

Three of the four Challenge Cup participants that were part of the IIHF world women's U18 championship gold medal-winning Team USA were in the All-Star game (the fourth is on a team that has not yet arrived in DC). Despite an attempted comeback by Team Dark in the second period, Team White was victorious over Team Dark 5-4.

Though gold medal-winning goaltender Megan Miller finished up the game for Team White, it was Brittney Brooks, who played the first period, that made an impression to me.

Brooks, playing for the Colorado Select, is 6-4-2 this season with the Select, with a 2.63 GAA and .893 SV%. She reminds me of Semyon Varlamov; she's quick with her lateral movement in the crease, has great reflexes, and benefits from her flexibility (she made one save in the splits during the game). She allowed one goal, early in the game, and faced 13 shots.

In terms of forwards, when I signed up to cover the tournament, I was told about Haley Skarupa, a native of Rockville, MD. One of the scoring leaders in the IIHF Women's World U18 Championships, she is also the Captain of the hometown Washington Pride and has 33 goals this season -- in 18 games. Playing for Team Dark in the All-Star game, Skarupa racked up four assists (assisting on all Team Dark goals) and was awarded third star of the game. She's fast, a very smart skater, and puckhandles like a pro.

One more that deserves a mention is Amanda Pelkey, another member of the gold medal-winning Team USA. She is Jason Chimera-fast, no joke. Imagine Jason Chimera with Alexander Semin's puckhandling and you've got Pelkey. She is fancy on the skates, and is not only fast but incorporates her skillful skating with her keen ability to control the puck on her stick. It's no surprise that with her skill set, she was tied for first in scoring in the IIHF tournament.

After having seen the level of talent these young women have, the tournament should be an exciting one. Be sure to check the schedule and get to some games this weekend.  You'll be pleasantly surprised.

The View Behind the Bench

Johansson on the bench just after scoring his first NHL goal (photo by me)

The best seats I've ever had for a Caps game were still in the days of the Student Rush promotion, when I sat sixth row in section 112 or 113 for a November 6 game against the Carolina Hurricanes.

My friend's fiance is a season ticket holder, and while she usually accompanies him to games, I tag along if she's unable to go. So I was planning to be at last night's game against the Bruins anyway. But turns out, through some miracle twist of fate, he managed to snag glass seats behind the Capitals bench.

It was an unbelievable experience sitting right there. I couldn't see much of the action due to Bob Woods being parked in front of my face for 2/3 of the night, and Dean Evason for the other third, but it was interesting to watch the players interact on the bench no more than two feet from where I was sitting. So here are some random observations of the evening, since my night was near limited to watching the guys on the bench.

• No one seemed more excited for Marcus Johansson's first NHL goal than Alexander Semin. Off on the other, small bench where the backup goaltender usually sits, Johansson joined Semin there after coming to the bench from his goal shift. Semin gave the rookie a huge hug.
• Speaking of Semin, he had a great game. In one shift, he picked up at least three giveaways that his linemates gave up and singlehandedly kept the puck in the offensive zone. He also was very in tune with what was happening on the ice while he was on the bench. He jumped to his feet and protested a questionable penalty call on the Capitals (I believe it was when David Steckel was taken to the box for tripping in the second period).
• The guys who ask the most questions to coaches on the bench are David Steckel and John Carlson.
• Michal Neuvirth must have really been sick, because not only did I not even see him leave the ice, but he never returned back to the bench.
• The smell of sweaty hockey equipment does get pretty rank as the game goes on, but for me it just brought me back to my days of playing hockey and smelling like crap.
• A big chirper on the bench is Jason Chimera. I'm not sure who the Bruins player was (it was quick, it may have been Brad Marchand), but as he skated by the Caps bench, Chimera said something to him and the player responded, "Hey, f**k you." That's hockey, folks.
• Matt Hendricks is a creature of habit and has OCD tendencies worse than most goalies. I've noticed that when the guys get on the ice for the game, he instantly starts stretching his arms and shoulders using his stick. Sitting behind the bench, I discovered that after every single shift, he takes a water bottle and douses the back of his neck. Every shift. Without fail.
• I situated myself at the tunnel as the guys came down to take the ice for the first period. Getting the glove bumps from several of the players was awesome.
• For my first appearance on the Versus telecast... I was busy tweeting. Quite fitting, really. (on second look, I may have actually been taking a picture)

My photos from the evening are on flickr. Despite the loss, I think it was a pretty hard-fought game from the Caps.

Focus on... um... Dudes Traded to the Caps

I've admitted that I have a weakness when it comes to the Western Conference - basically I don't (edit: can't without Center Ice which I can't afford) really watch much of it or know all the players.  But I definitely wasn't the only Caps fan saying "Who?" when it was announced that the Capitals traded (Ed. note: *sniffle*) prospect Stefan Della Rovere to the St. Louis Blues in exchange for D.J. King.  So for all those Caps fans who were wondering who the heck this D.J. King is, I've compiled some information, much in the style of my "Focus on Prospects" posts.  Just to help Caps fans get acquainted and know what to expect.  Here we go...

photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images

Name: Dwayne "D.J." King

Position: LW
Shoots: Left
Height: 6'3"
Weight: 230 lbs
Birthdate: 1984-06-27

Hometown: Meadow Lake, Sask.

Based on popular opinion, there's no question over what King's role is on a hockey team: he's a fighter.  A Donald Brashear 2.0 if you will - obviously younger than Brash at 26, but big, tough, and willing to drop the gloves with the toughest guys in the league.  In fact, he's already dropped the gloves with, well, all the toughest guys in the league.  Blues fans have pointed most often to his regular bouts with Derek Boogaard pretty much every single time the Blues met the Wild (and now with Boogaard also joining the East as a New York Ranger, their bouts can continue).  A notable fight with Boogaard is below, and is one of the longer hockey fights I've seen, as well as covering about half the ice:
 

He's also regularly matched up with Ducks tough guy George Parros (three times alone in the 2007-08 season).  King has even traded blows with... John Erskine?  In the 2003 preseason (a year after King was drafted), Erskine was with the Dallas Stars.  In a preseason game against the Blues, King and Erskine got into it, and King dropped Erskine with a heavy right hook.

All right, so the guy can fight.  Anything else?  Well, not really.  But that's why he's a fourth-line guy.  King started out his career playing in the WHL with the Lethbridge Hurricanes.  While there, his stats very much mirror Matt Bradley's current NHL stats - usually averaging around 12 goals a season.  He hasn't scored much more than 1 goal a season since being in the NHL, though that's not his job.  Hockey's Future says he can be a "fourth-liner in the NHL when his team is in need of some muscle."  He doesn't have much of an offensive prowess but can "bang in the occasional goal."  Not that we would need another power forward with the likes of Ovechkin, Backstrom, and Semin.

And "muscle" is something that the Capitals need - the Caps have been without a proven fighter since the departure of Donald Brashear, aside from the occasional fights courtesy of Matt "Paper Skin" Bradley, and to a lesser extent, Jason Chimera.  This has been a bit of a weak spot for the Caps - without a tried and true enforcer, guys like Mike Green, Alexander Semin, and Nicklas Backstrom have had a target on their backs (targets that have gotten Green and Semin injured in the past).  It's important to note in the above video that in the scrum, King seems to be coming to the defense of his teammate Weaver, who was boarded a bit after the whistle.  Case in point: after the trade, King was told about Max Talbot's recent comments on Ovechkin, and King responded:

"Wow. I guess that’s not going to be happening too much longer, I guess."

In summary, King is huge, physical, and protects his teammates.  While he's not exactly a 2C or the defensive defenseman that the Caps still need, he is filling a role that has been missing in the past.  He's had major problems with injuries, but seems to be recovered from his latest, and is fresh off a conditioning stint in Peoria.  He should be right at home on a tough forechecking line with Bradley and David Steckel.  It's tough to say how well he's going to do in an offense-loaded system as is typical to the East, but let's just say that training camp should be very interesting.

Focus on Prospects: Stefan Della Rovere

photo by Aaron Bell/OHL Images

Name: Stefan Della Rovere

Position: LW

Shoots: Left

Height: 5'11"

Weight: 200 lbs

Birthdate: 1990-02-25

Hometown: Maple, Ontario

For anyone who watched the 2010 World Junior Championships, Stefan Della Rovere ("Delly" to fans) is not an unfamiliar name. Famously losing the Gold Medal to American hero John Carlson, Della Rovere wore an "A" for that Canadian team and had three goals and three assists in Team Canada's six games. 2010 was not his first WJC - he also played in 2009, notching one goal and one assist - oh, and a disconcerting 26 PIMs in just six games.
 

In fact, Della Rovere's lack of discipline is really the only thing that coaches and scouts have found wrong with his game. He's been perceived as a "pest" and even "dirty." He's not one to shy away from a fight, but his propensity for taking dumb penalties has thankfully waned a bit as he matures. In his first full season with the Barrie Colts (his current club in the OHL), he led the team in PIMs with 171. He promised to cut down on the questionable penalties after the 2009 WJC in order to make the 2010 roster. This season, he has gained a little more discipline and spent 125 minutes in the penalty box. However, the "pest" role can be a useful one for the Capitals, as Jason Chimera showed us during the postseason series with Montreal, so long as Della Rovere can keep it under control, continue to improve on his discipline and not turn out to become a goon.

The best part about the "pest" status is that Della Rovere can also score goals. In his 2008-09 Barrie regular season, he scored 27 goals. This season was his first after being drafted in the 7th round (204th overall) by the Capitals, and made the late pick a standout prospect. He was subsequently signed to a three-year entry-level contract with the Capitals in April 2009. After his season with the Barrie Colts ended in 2009, Della Rovere played two games with the South Carolina Stingrays (the Capitals' ECHL affiliate) and recorded one assist.

He returned to the Barrie Colts for the 2009-10 season, now wearing the "C" for his club, and racking up 18 goals and 23 assists in the regular season. He's continued to build on his reputation as a grinder; Corey Masisak has compared him to Matt Bradley for his willingness to sacrifice his body to make the tough hits. For this, he has earned his teammates' respect. A Canadian junior hockey news site interviewed several of Della Rovere's teammates and his coach after his 2010 WJC selection. Teammate Ryan Strome said he deserves the letter on his jersey - in Barrie and at the WJC:

"He's probably the most appreciated player on our team... He puts the team ahead of himself. That's why he's where he is."

Teammate Kyle Clifford added:

"He's definitely a heart and soul guy... When you need inspiration, you go to him. Just being around him, it's hard not to be inspired."

The Barrie Colts are currently fighting the Windsor Spitfires for the OHL Championship. Windsor leads the series 3-0, with Game 4 on Tuesday. Whoever wins will compete against hosts the Brandon Wheat Kings, as well as the WHL and QMJHL champions for the CHL Memorial Cup. Whatever the outcome, at 20 years old, this should be Della Rovere's last OHL season. Next year, he's likely to join South Carolina, or, depending on what the coaches see in this summer's development camp (he missed most of last year's camp with a shoulder injury), even the Hershey Bears. Hockey's Future rating system puts him as a probable third-liner, but also as the #12 prospect for the Capitals. Barrie coach Marty Williamson agrees:

"He's not going to be the leading scorer on a team, or lead the league in scoring, but he's a hard-working guy who finds a way to get the job done... He always finds a way."

UPDATE 5/11/10: I somehow missed this news the day of, but according to the Barrie Colts (who lost Game 4 to the Windsor Spitfires and thus were knocked out of the playoffs), Della Rovere has been called up to Hershey as of May 6. I've been unable to confirm if he has yet joined the team, but he is expected to be on the Black Aces practice squad and will likely not see game action in this Hershey postseason.

Thanks to Nate Ewell, he has confirmed to me that Delly has joined the Black Aces practice squad in Hershey.

An Open Letter to George McPhee

photo by Washington Post/Newsweek Interactive 

Dear George,

First off, I'd like to thank you and Owner Ted Leonsis for everything you've done for this team over the past couple years. You've taken risks with the team and they've paid off (see: Ovechkin, Alex and Boudreau, Bruce). With the trade deadline less than a month away, I'd like to give you some advice for this important date:

Do absolutely nothing.

Yes, I said do nothing. I can honestly say right now that this is a Stanley Cup team. We of course have the stars, our "Young Guns," but the trades from last year's offseason and this year's mid-season have created the depth the team has been lacking in previous seasons.  

We now have Mike Knuble, "the garbage man," whose work in front of the net is undeniably valuable. His GWG against Pittsburgh just added to his impressive stats – he has 16 points in the last 14 games. He's also become a leader on the ice, perhaps filling a little bit of the hole that Sergei Federov left when he departed for the KHL last year. The respect that his teammates have for him is evident; he didn't get the "A" on his sweater for nothing.

Brendan Morrison was also a great pick-up. Another veteran, and a former member of the famed "West Coast Express" line, he's become a solid assist man for the Caps, racking up 21 assists so far this season. While he's been having a bit of a goal slump lately, he's remained decent on faceoffs, winning just over 50% of all his draws. He has also shown us some gorgeous moves that have rivaled Alexander Semin.

A more recent acquisition was Jason Chimera from the Columbus Blue Jackets. It's no secret that I was never a fan of Jurcina, but I'll try to keep that bias out of this post in this case. I'll admit I didn't know much about Chimera before he arrived in Washington. In his first couple games, I couldn't really formulate an opinion. But I've come up with an opinion now: He is the fastest player I have ever seen. When there's a race to the puck, Chimera is the guy you want on the ice. Not only that, but he also has become a bit of an enforcer, but unlike Brashear, he's an enforcer that can also produce. He has 10 points in his first 20 games as a Capital. He's already gotten a Gordie Howe hat trick for his play on January 13 in an eventual shootout win against the Panthers, just two weeks after joining the team.

Jose Theodore has been having his best season yet as a Capital, and looks to be the Vezina- and Hart-winning goalie he once was. It's been wonderful seeing him finally have confidence in his ability and make those saves that someone 10 years younger than him probably couldn't make. We also have that depth in the crease now; even with Semyon Varlamov injured, Michal Neuvirth has been providing solid goaltending in his recent starts, and continues to improve. Neuvirth will definitely become a valuable NHL goaltender once we start needing him full-time.

I also have to address Jeff Schultz. To be honest, I've never been a fan of his. I thought he often was lazy and loose with the puck. But this season, he has proved me wrong. He has matured to an extent I didn't think possible. He's been a shot-blocking machine lately, and his impressive +/- rating can't be denied. Hey, I can admit when I'm wrong.

With this roster, the Capitals have their best chance yet to become Stanley Cup Champions. We finally have that depth we've been seeking for so many years. It's becoming more and more evident when you look at our unprecedented 14-win streak. Let's stick with what we got, George. Let's just let these guys win.

Sincerely,

Erika