The Concern Over the Capitals Goaltending Depth

Possible moment of injury: Sabourin on the ice after being run by Louis Robitaille Jan. 21 (photo by Kyle Mace)

For Hershey Bears fans, it was the tweet heard 'round the world.

timleone: Sabourin slated for knee surgery. Out 2-3 months.

With Braden Holtby still nursing a mild knee injury, the Washington Capitals goaltending depth suddenly went from average to nil. It's a big blow, as Dany Sabourin, after a tough start to the season, has been doing really well in the past two months, going 10-2 in December and January starts, with one shutout. The Bears called up Todd Ford and Jared DeMichiel from South Carolina. Ford, while he has AHL experience, is not exactly an AHL starting goaltender, and DeMichiel, on his first callup, has never played in an AHL game.

For a team sure to be in some tough playoff battles in a matter of months, it's bad news. It's also concerning when it comes to the Washington Capitals -- Semyon Varlamov and Michal Neuvirth have both missed games due to injury this year, and the prospect of calling up someone who played his last game in the ECHL doesn't exactly settle the nerves. Ford and DeMichiel will work in the short-term, but what about long-term?

Earlier today, South Carolina announced that they had signed goaltender Andrew Loewen of the SPHL in order to replace their losses in the crease. But should someone else suffer an injury, either in Hershey or in Washington, what can be done?

The recent re-emergence of Ray Emery, due to the timing of these injuries in Hershey, immediately comes to mind for me. Emery has successfully recovered from what could have been a career-ending hip injury, and has made it clear that he wants to get back on the ice. Obviously, he needs to get his start in the AHL to make sure that he is in top condition, and he's ready for the opportunity to play in the A. 

Rumors are that Philadelphia, Anaheim, and a third, unnamed team are looking at signing Emery. But given the situation in Hershey, it's not a stretch to suggest that the Capitals take a look at him. 

Emery is a very capable goalie, leading the Ottawa Senators to the Stanley Cup Finals in 2007. With all the hubbub surrounding the Capitals' postseason woes, he becomes even more of a viable long-term option.

Tim Leone, too, has made the suggestion, saying, "Ray Emery might loom as an intriguing long-term possibility. The free agent, who hasn’t played this season in the wake of hip surgery, is exploring playing opportunities to get back to the NHL and could theoretically use an AHL stint as a launching pad."

Sabourin is not yet scheduled for surgery, so his recovery timetable is still as unclear as can be. But should it be longer than expected (take a look at Patrick McNeill, who had surgery in the offseason and just returned in December), Ray Emery looks to be a very attractive option for a contract with the Capitals.

It's a tough but interesting situation in the Capitals organization's nets right now. Keep an eye on the Capitals front office, particularly around trade deadline time. There could be some goaltending shakeups in the works.


 
If the Capitals were to trade for a goalie or sign a free agent goalie, who would you like to see?  Let me know in the comments.

Game Recap: Colorado Select v. Edge School

Brittney Brooks makes a save

In the first grueling day of round robin competition, each team played in two games. Imagine that you just got off the ice from a full game two hours ago. Guess what? Now you have to play again, and play just as hard.

At 6:30 this evening, that's what the Edge School had to do after a tie earlier in the afternoon with Belle Tire. But yet they didn't seem to have lost any of their steam despite having finished the game at 4:00. They came out with a lot of firepower and didn't let up against the Colorado Select, ending up with a 6-2 win over the Select.

The Edge School dominated the first period, scoring four goals in the first period alone. Colorado goaltender Brittney Brooks was excellent, but didn't have much help from her defense, especially against the explosive Edge School offense.

Colorado's defense picked it up in the second period, and the period was dominated by a defensive battle between the two teams. It was the only period in which the Select outshot the Edge School (11-9). It seemed the Select were about to turn it around -- they did, but not quite enough. Alexandra Karlis and Shara Jasper scored for the Select in the third period, but the Edge School scored two more late in the game to eliminate any inkling of a Select comeback.

It might not be obvious from the score, but Colorado goaltender Brittney Brooks was fantastic. I chose to watch this game because I wanted to see more of her. And she didn't disappoint. Again she showed her athleticism, making yet another save in the splits, but it was a toe save in the third period that put my jaw on the floor.  

The initial stop was routine, but an Edge School player was waiting on the other side of the net for the rebound. Brooks quickly flung out her right leg to seal the hole in the corner of the net. Were she in the NHL, it would have been a highlight-reel save.

Soon after, she was able to stop a flurry of shots from the crease and ended up lying on top of the puck to get a whistle. Her play even moreso reminded me of Varlamov during that particular save, as there have been a couple times this season where the puck has ended up under his back. In addition to the several snappy glove saves Brooks made, I remain impressed by her talents.

I'll be attending several games tomorrow, look out for those recaps!

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.

What's Wrong with the Caps?

 photo by Jonathan Newton/the Washington Post Photo

The Caps have tied Montreal in the series at 1-1, but they have played notably poorly in their first two games.  What do the Caps need to do in order to win this series?  Here are my very own "keys to the game."

Solve Halak

Luckily, we already know how to solve Jaroslav Halak, but now the Caps need to actually do it. Eric Fehr's breakaway goal is a perfect example of where Halak is weak - high blocker side.  When Halak goes into the butterfly on lower shots, he's near unbeatable.  The Caps need to avoid shooting so low and shoot higher in order to best him.  Both Carlson's and Backstrom's goals were high glove side.  We solved Henrik Lundqvist last year (remember high glove side?) so Halak can be solved too.

Solve the Habs D

Especially after the first two games, it's become abundantly clear that the Habs D is, well, really freakin' good.  Hal Gill is a) enormous and b) leads the league in blocked shots in this postseason (he blocked 9 shots in Game 1 alone).  Jaroslav Spacek was a major problem for the Caps in Game 1.  Andrei Markov has also been excellent thus far.  This one is a little bit tougher to solve, but at least in the case of Hal Gill, he's not very fast.  Bruce Boudreau may want to consider putting speedy guys like Jason Chimera and Éric Bélanger on the ice against Gill.

Caps Goaltending

While José Théodore was outstanding in Game 1 with some sparkling saves, he allowed 2 goals in the first 2 shots last night.  The first goal was embarrassing, and you could chalk up the second goal also to some poor defensive moves.  Pulling him in favor of Varlamov was absolutely the right call, but who to start in Game 3?  Theo has been solid all year, but many are saying start Varlamov, who has a great playoff record but was shaky during this regular season.  Coaches will want to keep an eye on both in practice and definitely rotate the goalies to keep them fresh.

Top Line Must Improve

This definitely improved last game, as Nicklas Backstrom notched a hat trick in OT.  Ovechkin had a goal and a helper, but Bruce may want to consider putting Alexander Semin on the top line instead of Mike Knuble.  Both Knuble and Semin have not been effective so far in the playoffs, so shaking up the top line might benefit both of them.  Obviously Ovechkin-Backstrom-Semin can get too cute, but other times, they're outstanding.  It could be worth it to try out the line combination and see if it can spark the offense we all know they can produce.

No one knows what Bruce Boudreau and the Caps might do, but they can't continue playing as they are right now and expect to move on in the playoffs.  Game 3 is tomorrow night at Bell Centre in Montreal.  We'll see what happens.