Update: Morrisonn Scratched

Ah, thats what I figured with Clark when he took himself out of that Philly game!

I know they need him but he should probably take the rest of the regular season off.

Tarik, have you talked to him? Has surgery been discussed?

Well I guess that settles that...

Safe to say that if Mo does play, he'll not be anywhere near 100%.

It is remarkable that this team has been able to win games with limited production from Semin, Kozlov, Pettinger, and the injuries to Clark, Pothier, Nylander...ect...this team and coach should be commended on a great season no matter how it ends...truely amazing

@Papa 'Panzer' Schultz
(from previous post)

hehe my opinions are out of caps-hockey love man. I love the way we're playing, but if the mind frame set is: "we can play the same way with anyone at any level" - then we're going to lose, and lose bad. Because there are teams better than us - to beat those we need to play smarter. Can't crash them all in their endzone.

Don't you agree Papa? There are other ways, like clogging center ice and have mini-rushes from the white line.

Anyway the game is starting... GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO CAAAAAAAAAAAPSSSSSSSSS

by the way, I'd like to ask to people playing ice hockey. Is a bruised foot that bad? I mean, I play street hockey but I can't imagine that stopping me for more than one week. Isn't it just a matter of pain (so take a painkiller or something) ? Sorry about my ignorance.

@mauree:

It is if it's actually a broken foot. Bruise? Not so bad. Hairline fracture that moves a little when you play? Owie.

Eminger may suck, but he picked the right time to jump into the rush there. I liked the decision and I like how he's playing physically tonight.

I hope he keeps it up!

Eminger may suck, but he picked the right time to jump into the rush there. I liked the decision and I like how he's playing physically tonight.

I hope he keeps it up!

I'm beginning to hate those smiles on their coach and players. GO CAPS destroy that smile!!!

Alex scoooooooooooreeeeesss

Re-posting my morning posts... Was I close or what?

This is a crucial game tonight, if BB pulls a trick, no matter how he will motivate the players, he is automatic for 'Coach of the year' because Habs are scary good.

Let's see what Alex and Caps are worth tonight. Score first and punish Habs, plaster them, pummel them into pulp...

Watch me doing exactly that. :-)

Achting, Panzer!

Papa 'Panzer' Schutlz

Posted by: Papa 'Panzer' Schutlz | January 31, 2008 10:51 AM

My expectations for tonight:

- 2 goals from AO

- Brash will go and challenge someone and pummel him into pulp: "You want your first PP unit when the score is 3:0 already?"

- Green will continue crushing the net like he did in Montreal

- AO will destroy Komisarek with a hit that will be played non-stop on all networks

- Juice will engrave AK-27 sign on the boards.

What else?

- I will score on my half slap shot to put Caps ahead, but it is depending on BB, if will give me enough ice time for that.

Achtung, Panzer!

Posted by: Papa 'Panzer' Schultz | January 31, 2008 11:14 AM

Achtung, Panzer!

Panzer domination of Osten Conference is on the way!

We rule Habs with iron fist.

How's that, Habs? You want French fries with that?

Hello all!

Been watching the game but could not post.
Ovieeee!!!

Lets Go Cap-I-Tals!!!

They showed Ovechkin's goal 5 times already and I still can't see the puck.

Where did it go? What kind a ballistic speed that puck was flying?

Pretty goal!!

YES ALEEEEEEEEEEEXXXX

I'm in a bar in Minneapolis watching the game (thank God the Wild played last night). Koz and Ovie are kicking butt! The hat trick prediction from above could happen. I love the intensity - the boys are hitting tonight!

J'aime le hockey! Allons-y les Capitals!

@kev,

Merde...

lol Bernie...

@Kev
Dude... I'm watching you... every time you post like that you jinx it...

It really sucks to get a goal .4 seconds to go. Olie made a spectacular save then let a weak one in. Arg!

As I've mentioned this Habs team is scary good. Caps started losing physical battles at the end of the period.

If it wouldn't be Ovechkin so far, oh boy, don't even want to think about it.

Caps need to regroup... Habs are very fast, BB should implement shorter shifts, and punish, punish Canadiens at every opportunity.

Rule 'em with the iron fist!

The translation from frenchie is:

"I love hockey! Let's get the Capitals!"

Yea right, good luck with that.

@le kevbpgc

Le Tricolore peut manger de la merde.

Hopefully the BB novelty has not worn off on the boys.

I can see Brash throw a gatorade bottle across the locker room. He has no love loss for the Habs and his Jacques Lemaire comfy-ness.

Habs - 18 hits, Caps - 14 hits

and 10 out of 14 by Ovechkin, weel, maybe not 10, but close :)

C'mon, guys, hit 'em hard!!!!

I will lead Caps in the third!

Holy crap, .4 seconds. Are you kidding me???!!! Olie hasn't faced much so far, but he has looked very good except for that last goal.

Ovie is looking good - 2 goals, 1 assist. Extending his lead in goals and now tied with Alfredsson for league lead in points. Took a big hit, but doled out a really nice one, too. He is playing with a lot of fire tonight!

@Dean,
Easy bro, kids can be on this b-log...lol...

You're right, hopefully they don't read french.

AO was 11th in NHL in hits before the break. After this game he might jump up to second place. He gives and he takes, blooded by Begin's hit, goes out and scores another one.

He is worth every freaking penny of his contract.

Hey, Ovie,

You rule this nursery!

You are the best hockey player in the World!

vraiment, "allons-y" means "let's go there". Dean is correct in that my post is not grammatically correct as "les Capitals" is not a place, but baissez ma derriere! LET'S GO CAPS!

mauree-
I didn't do it! This time it was total coincidence. All I said was "Let's go to the Capitals".

@le kevbpgc

Please accept my apologies. I should have known.

I took 3 yrs of high school french but learned more practical french when I worked for the Orlando Solar Bears for a season of the IHL. Remember them? Anyway, I'm laughin' right now 'cause the Caps are "IN" it, yeah!

"Mon ca-llis de tabairnac, seboir d'este Frenchie!" (phonetic to not offend anyone)

HAT!!!

Stoppage: Objects on Ice.

Ah, the lovely understatement of the NHL's real-time score.

*throws his hat onto the ice*

*throws his hat onto the ice*

*throws his hat onto the ice*

*throws his hat onto the ice*

*throws his hat onto the ice*

*throws his hat onto the ice*

Guys and gals,
???? worth the duckets? ????

Wow Schultz just got burned.

Once Mo gets back he needs to get scratched for a couple of games, hes got burned a few times this game.

Without looking at what's happening in the other games, a 4-pt night would give Ovie the point-scoring lead as well as the goal-scoring lead, yes?

Holy *%$!, Kolzig would not have a job on ANY OTHER FREAKING TEAM in the league at this point. Cut that dead weight loose, he's killing (KILLING) the team. Unbelievable. There's no reason at all why he should play another game in the league. NONE.

Hmm... Olie Chokezig? Chokie Kolzig? Chokes McGoalieman?

...I welcome suggestions from those more clever than I.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!

my goodness Alex... my goodness

YEEESSSSS

Oh my god I love that kid.

Alex OvHATchkin + 1 !!

If that pylon the Caps had in goal tonight isn't buying OV dinner for the remainder of his time in DC, something isn't right in the world.

Holy Jesus, BB. START JOHNSON FROM HERE ON OUT. Even when HE sucks, he's better than Loaf.

He is the Michael Jordan of hockey, capable of carrying his team to victory through the force of his will.

The kid is unbelievable! And he saved Olie's butt big time.

What a game! Hey give Olie a break. None of those goals were soft! We could have lost in overtime! Olie made the stops on at least two hard ones. Go Caps!!

Kurt-
I think you should go with Loafie Pylonzig.

I think Ovie needs to keep the smoke visor. Really. It could be diminishing his telegraph on the shot.

It would have sucked so much to lose this one. Caps were playing smarter than tuesday. Credits to Montreal, they're really good (but I don't like them).

My goodness what a game for Alex... just looking at his joy after the last goal, it's so inspiring :)

Carolina in OT btw.

How can any one argue that Cindy is better?

+1 for Loafie Pylonzig. I'm not a big Olie basher, but that name is awesome.

So I think we should all vote in favor of stem cell research in the elections this fall in hopes that we can develop the technology to clone 5 Ovechkins.

Bonus tonight if Toronto steals a point from Carolina after scoring w/ 12 left in the 3rd!

Looks like the Caps aren't the only team in the Southeast who are able to blow 1 goal leads in the final minute...but let's hope the Caps are the only one tonight who end up winning the game.

Dean-
Natioalism.

Nationalism. sheesh...

So much for that, NHL.com shows brind'amour with the winner :-(

Carolina wins in OT. Boooo

@kevbpgc

American/Estonian

@dean,
If the season ended today, Ovie would get The Hart. Corbie is good but not team MVP, ya know? I think that is what we all agree.

Why not team MVP? He is the Caps for the most part.

jhonson tuesday 39 shots 3 goals ,,,,,,ola the gola 19 shots 4 goals jajajaja what a joke,,,,,,,,,,,star jhonny next game thanks ov you are the man

Kolzig's job (at five million bucks a year, don't forget) is to make huge saves. That's what he used to do regularly, which is why we all loved him so much way back when. He's no longer capable of performing reliably. Hell, I've never even worn ice skates and if you shoot on me enough times, I'll eventually make a 'game-saving' save. (Of course, by then the score would be 83-0.)

Oh man, if I were coach, Kolzig would have to earn his starting job back, beginning in the ECHL, because he's not starting goalie caliber by a loooong shot.

Ovie is a freak of nature in the hockey world, so he will eventually win them all any way.

Awesome game by Kozlov, and obviously the Ocho tonight. And I really think that this is another of those games where Olie's numbers looked much worse than his actual game. On that last goal, it's a smart move to just get flat on the ice and try to cover up the whole side of the goal. I was just wondering why the whole team was just standing around him, and nobody took Lattandrese. He was just standing all alone with his stick on the line.

Dean-
Is that your nationality? I was answering your question re: Cindy. I think many putzes from the western hemisphere and especially hosers from up north are biased in Cindy's favor. AO is clearly better at this time. I've never seen anyone better. I'm no hockey player. But I've been watching NHL games for 25 years. I saw #99 and #66 and he's better IMHO.

It looked like either Gordon or Jurcina in their attempt to push the puck under Olie to freeze it, pushed it under and through him. It didn't appear to be his fault.

Ovie is worth every cent so far.

Keep in mind that to find a frequently-starting goalie nearly as poor stat-wise as Olie this season, you have to look at Holmqvist. And even that's not hair-splittingly close. He's just plain not cutting it, and the team is lucky so far that they're scoring enough to bail him out pretty frequently.

Also, Jurcina was the man on the back end again tonight. He seems to be REALLY confident again. He played 26 minutes and change, had 4 hits (though I swear it was more than that), and 3 blocked shots. I've really felt safe when he's on the ice.

I am a first generation American of Estonian parents. I used to live in No.VA. but now live in Dayton, Ohio.

Stephen -- good point on Jurcina. He's definitely playing better the last 5-10 games.

Like they said during the broadcast, he's leading the league in hits the last...uh...couple weeks (or something). Sorry, forgot the time frame. :-) But unlike Erskine, he's throwing the body AND playing strong positionally.

In Estonia,Latvia and Lithuania, Ovie is the man. Cindy is looked at as being one step below. Basically Cindy is looked at the same as the rest of the top tier.

Hey, Ovie!
I love you!
Best thing in the World!
You own this nursery!
[Pointing at Cindy]: Loser!
[Pointing at Briere]: Loser!
[Pointing at Ovechkin]: Best thing in the World!

Achtung, T-34!

Juice was good tonight,
Caps were good tonight,
Habs were good tonight,
Ovechkin was out of this World tonight.

How about Shultz coming through tonight?

Hey, Dean,
Do you know that Ovie's Mom has similar ethnicity as Estonians. Actually same language group...

Papa Schultz - nice pinch and pass on that OT goal.

Jurcina looks like he did last year when he first came over from Beantown. If he would do it consistently, he'd be a legitimate d-man.

Olie made some huge saves, just like the old days. The 5-hole goal at the end of the first was not his best. But the one to end the game was not really all him. If everyone had just let him alone to freeze the puck instead of tripping all over themselves, we would have been OK. And the other 2 goals would have been pretty miraculous saves (if I remember them right). I have not been defending Olie much this season, but I'm not sure I would really pile on tonight.

Papa Schultz was smoked once tonight and so were some other Caps, but other than that Schultz looked good. Too bad I didn't have much ice time for my half slap shot.

@Dean,
I was just opinionating on your "better" phrase. We all agree Ovie can win games but Corbie is different in his way. Believe me, I would like nothing more than to blow up Corbie's car.

Let's discuss Corbie March first and see where The Caps stand.

Yeah Cap-I-Tals!!

@Shultz

No I wasn't aware of this. I just assumed they were pure Bolsheviks. I would be curious to know more about Ovie and his family. You never know, my extended family could know his. Not likely, but that would be cool.

@Bernie

Agreed.

I'm not really sure it's fair to blame the team for tripping all over themselves to try and clear the puck away from Olie, though. Keep in mind the amount of goals he's given up with the puck bouncing around his creasal area; I'm sure Papa Schultz and Co. are better off on average if they try to scramble the puck away rather than give Olie his space.

@kevbpgc

Are you a Caps fan or just an Ovechkin fan? I didn't think there would be many Caps fans in Canada if any.

@Dean,
The Baltic States should become their own nation, like The EU. Tallin as the capital!

Great win Caps!

Good night all.

Olie's best days are behind him now. I am just not sure what we can do about it this season. I don't think Johnny is that much better.

The first and third goals were on STUNNING plays by the Canadians and the fourth should be credited to the ref if anyone. Kolzig looked fairly stable tonight, but even as an Olie fan i'm saying he needs to step it up. As i said he played pretty well tonight, but in general his play has been less then...well less then acceptable.

@Bernie

I would love to see them unite. This is the first time in history that they have all gotten along together so well.

If Olaf Kolzig has the least bit of self respect, or love for the game that's paid him so handsomely all these years, he'll retire, AT LEAST BY SEASON'S END. I put it that way because any objective observer has to realize ( By now ) that Godzilla is an absolute liability to the team's chances for success.
No REAL Caps fan would hope for his return next season. Not if it's their wish that the Caps win Lord Stanley's Cup. I'm so sick & tired of these morons claining that somehow Olie is "Owed" a roster spot. That's patently absurd!! He's owed NOTHING. If anyone is "Owed" anything, it's we Caps fans who've been forced to endure Kolzig's continuously pathetic performances these last two ( 2 ) years. ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!! There are no lifetime achievement awards in sports. That's for sentimental wimps, AND LOSERS! Get us a competent goaltender, George. That's both your responsibility, and your duty.

Hey what was going on behind Lisa Hillary while she was talking after the game? Look like people having fun on the ice lol

I hope there's going to be full house saturday against ATL :D

@Puckguru...

There are lifetime achievement awards, but they generally hang from the rafters and count more in memories than in wins.

I think the ref swallowed his whistle in the last minute of the 3rd. We still pulled it off though. I was just hoping to see the Habs go home pointless.

Until Saturday,

Good night all.

I'd like to defend Olie, I really would... he did make some very good saves during the third... but I forgot the last time he allowed less than 3 goals.

Don't look now (because the stats will be updated tomorrow), but Ovechkin is the new points leader in the NHL. Ovechkin - 70 points, Alfredson/Lecavalier - 68 points. Sidney who?

Olie - 4+ goals allowed in 5 of his last 7 starts. Peeyoo!

Just got back from the game and it was ridiculously awesome!!!! Everyone should have been there!!! I could have done without the chitchatters near me who once again think they know everything (by the way they didn't know the difference b/t Brads and Petty and all I'm saying is that the names are written on their backs) but other then that it was fantastic...
What did you all think of that last goal by the Habs? From my view it looked as if Olie actually saved it and it should have been put under review....but it's hard to tell....

Ovechkin finished with four goals and one assist for five points, but the last one was the biggest. He took a crossing pass from Jeff Schultz and beat Montreal goalie Cristobal Huet from in front for the overtime goal.

You humble servant Papa 'Panzer' Schultz

And in my praise of Juice, how can I omit the beautiful pass he made to the Ocho for the first goal.

Olie: 4 goals allowed on 21 shots tonight.

Johnson: 4 goals allowed on 40 shots.

Who's playing better?

Nice seeing Lepisto getting an interview during the 2nd intermission. I've seen him in Hershey a few times this year, and have been VERY impressed. He's very poised and smart with the puck. He'll fit in here fine, a great chance next year.

By the way, I do believe we slipped into 9th in the conference with the Kings beating the Islanders in regulation.

Ovie was awesome. Kolzig not much so... but they go the win and that is all that matters. Too bad Toronto couldn't do us any favors tonight and beat the Canes.

The D was stellar as always, cannot believe how good they look when the Habs skated around them while they stood around, just amazing! Oh Eminger suks! 4 soft goals again, we should play Cassivi

Does anyone know if puckguru saw his shadow before he crawled back into his hole?

OV is a beast. Broken nose and 5 points, glad he's a Cap for the next 13 years.

I agree with Bob, the Defense was stellar. What a difference between the two games. The first line is exhibiting strong cohesion, I can't wait for the second line to come together.
Olie was a great goalie, but it is time for him to sit and play backup for the rest of the season. Johnson needs to play, he might not be the best in the league but he is not bad.
I am not as down on Emminger as many of you are, I still think he can contribute and if paired with a good stay at home defender he will be a nice offensive minded defense-man, similar to Green.

Ovechkin is the best player in hockey, I don't care who's injured.

That's the good news. The bad news is the goaltending situation is an unmitigated disaster.

I'll ask it again -- why has McPhee never been asked on the record why he passed on Bryzgalov? Roll your eyes if you want, it doesn't bother me.

Read Vogel's column over at Dump 'n Chase. What you'll take away from it is that #1 goalies do not grow on trees.

This season, there was a 27-year-old #1 goalie just dangling out there, who we could have had for nothing. NOTHING!! And it appears that the majority of people on this board are willing to give McPhee a pass on that as if it never happened. Well, it did happen, and he has never been asked once why.

I love the work Tarik does, I love this blog and I check it several times a day. But as a member of the general public I simply do not have access to McPhee. Tarik does, and McPhee should have been asked to explain this.

AND MORE IMPORTANTLY.. What will he do now. I'd love to see this team score five goals a night, but it's not going to happen. Is there a trade to be made? I've looked around and I don't see anyone willing to give up a starting goalie.

The only other option is to bring up Machesney. I ask you -- could he be any worse than what we have now?

Oneal

Yeah, about that broken nose, did it happen on the hit in front of the bench in the second?

That hit was one of the more vicious ones I've seen - shoulder right to the face and bam. But the kid got right back up and into it - amazing.

I watched all of the game 'cept the last few minutes on XM.
The announcers made no question that they thought Olav Kolzig was making game-saving saves at the end of the game. They claimed he pulled the fat out of the fire at the two minute mark and that the goal that sent the game to OT should have not occured, the whistle would have blown 90% of the time where it was.
(They said the Canadien guy had to scoop it out from under Olie's neck).

I didn't see any of this. But that was what the XM guys said.

I was SO happy to hear the play-by-play on Ovie's goal!!!!

The last thing they said was that the Caps deserved this win far more than the fate they seemed headed for.

Okay, I'm done
:)

time to pull out that "World's Smallest Violin" for Oneal.

It's Friday Oneal.

Im gonna suggest you take this Sat's game off, and really think about if you want to be a Caps fan...Come back next Friday refreshed and ready to work.