No Brashear, Semin

Probably it's a good thing if Sasha's sitting today out, and maybe tomorrow too, if he's still under the weather. We don't want him coughing on anybody else, anyway!

Brash being out may or may not mean anything for Friday's game; I'd rather he rest that knee than come back too soon and risk injuring it further... :( That wouldn't be cool!

@Tarik/Katie/Whoever - Is there any way we can get ahold of a mobile version of this site? I can't log in from my Blackberry to post responses, and all the ads are really annoying in that format!

@IRTR - I second the request regarding blackberry access! I can get the updates but not the comments which are often the most interesting and amusing parts of this blog.

from previous..

@ FLDave

Then we have a disagreement.

The fact remains though that in order to win a championship in the NHL, you are going to need a goalie with a GAA of 2.00 or less a save pct of .930 or above and a stifling D so your offensively gifted players can actually make a difference.

Posted by: rdy4all2000 | March 26, 2009 11:15 AM | Report abuse

I third the request for a Blackberry-friendly design. This site is pretty horrid on a Blackberry.

Hmm. I guess we'll find out tomorrow whether either or both of them can go.

@SombreroGuy (from last post) - Awesome! Did you tape the game, perchance? I'd like to see some of what went on there from a different angle than what we got...

rdy4all2000,

The league has changed since the Oiler's dynasty and goaltending has become much more important. Plus there are a lot of if's with a team this young. I do know that I have seen some games (Detroit and Boston come to mind) where they were absolutely dominant. If they can get up for the playoffs they may suprise us.

Stay in bed, Semin! Get well soon, buddy....

Im not the one who brought up the Oilers..you did

I said that its D and goaltending, you disagreed

So yes, the game has changed.

semin isnt sick. he was just out celebrating clinching the playoffs

The fact remains though that in order to win a championship in the NHL, you are going to need a goalie with a GAA of 2.00 or less a save pct of .930 or above and a stifling D so your offensively gifted players can actually make a difference.

Posted by: rdy4all2000 | March 26, 2009 11:15 AM | Report abuse

I had no idea there was criteria - I guess all the teams can just go home now because none of the teams have a goaltender with less than 2.00 GAA. OR, are you talking about the playoffs in which they have not started yet... If you are that confident, bet your house on the Caps losing...

Giguere had a .922 save % when he won the cup...
Cam Ward had a .920 save % and a GAA of 2.14

rdy4all2000,

You said D and goaltending wins playoff games. That your goalie needs to have a GAA of 2.0 or lower. I just pointed out that the Oilers were a dynasty without great defensive D men and with a goalie whose GAA was in the upper 3's.

I'd also like to throw in my support for a Blackberry-friendly site.

I would like to throw in my support for a mobile site, FLDave, 828, American Pie, omelettes, and the Caps. Thank you.

Sure hope we get The Donald back for Friday night...

Anyone watch the CGY-PIT game last night? Scary. CGY really busted their butts and deserved to win, but just couldn't get any puck-luck on MAF. Reminded me of far too many WAS-PIT contests from the Pre-Ovechkin Era. So, the Caps are not the only team this season that has been given fits by a run-of-the mill goaltender.

That said, I did especially like how CGY was able to move the puck behind the enemy net and stand PIT up physically; Dion Phaneuf also made some excellent defensive plays on PIT's odd-man rushes that might otherwise have been goals-against.

One thing that gives me hope was the fact that PIT missed THREE (3) empty-net shots in the game's final seconds...

Honestly, I want our Caps to win the Cup more than anything.

However, IF the Caps should fall short of the Finals, I'd like to see CGY win it rather than anyone else in the East.

I can read comments on my BlackBerry, but ever since those huge ads started running on the blog, I don't usually bother reading the blog from my BB at all. Takes too long to load now -- used to be great!

The Caps have seven games left and are playinge every other day, starting tomorrow. The Flyers still have 10 left? What the heck kind of schedule are they playing to finish? They'll be tired...they are still wanting to hold onto fourth.

I just looked at the Flyers sked: three back-to-backs left? That is some crap scheduling. Seven games over ten days to end the season. I'd be pissed if I were a Flyer fan. But, I'm not.

This is relation to the last thread on playoff opponent. Below is the starting goaltender for the last 8 games for the teams who were spoke of most. I chose 8 games because it is a good barometer of how a goalie is actually playing currently.
Look at the numbers..if the playoffs started today, who would you rather face? Do you feel confident with JT? Should we read anything else into these numbers about defense, offense, or our goaltending..you decide.

Last 8 games

JT-
4-4
2.25 gaa
.915 sv pct

Biron -
6-2
2.12 gaa
.940 sv pct

Fleury
5-3
2.12gaa
.920 sv pct

Ward
5-3
2.37gaa
.929 sv pct

From the Times:

First, Alexander Semin and Donald Brashear are not on the ice right not at K-Plex. So right now the Caps have only 10 healthy forwards on the ice ... but John Erskine is wearing a white jersey and skating with the fourth line so make that 11. Sergei Fedorov and Nicklas Backstrom have also swtiched places, as have Eric Fehr and Viktor Kozlov.

Here's what that looks like on paper:

Ovechkin-Fedorov-Fehr

Laich-Backstrom-(Semin)

Fleischmann-Nylander-Kozlov

Erskine-Steckel-Bradley

Other teams have put a defenseman up front, but this would be the first time the Caps have done it in the Bruce Boudreau Era. The Caps have actually gone the other way, putting Fedorov and Laich on defense in a pinch.

-----------------
We need a get in front of the net power fwd? Insert John Erskine.

im talking about playoff goalies..chances are the winning SC goalie has low gaa and high percentage.

Yes, I did say goaltending and D wins it...im talking now..not 20 years ago..who cares about 20 years ago?

The Caps have seven games left and are playinge every other day, starting tomorrow. The Flyers still have 10 left? What the heck kind of schedule are they playing to finish? They'll be tired...they are still wanting to hold onto fourth.

Posted by: saintex | March 26, 2009 12:18 PM | Report abuse

No, they play every other day, starting NEXT Friday. After tomorrow, their next game isn't until Wednesday.

@CapsChick:

I don't get the comments on my Blackberry, nor do I get the ads. I wonder if there is a correlation....

All I want is to go to VC tomorrow night and to see my home-dominent Caps (you know, the guys we watched most of this season) put a pounding on Tampa Bay and then storm strongly into the playoffs! Please, hockey gods, make it so!!!!!

@ IRTR - I did not DVR or tape it, sorry! When they showed you guys it was part of a group shot of what I presume was the fan club section

SA-Town,

Think it may have more to do with anticipating a brawl with Tampa?

no

@rbpalmer,

Nice catch...my magnetic Caps calender always screws me. Either way, the Flyers have a crappy schdule.

It would be interesting to see how Erskine is playing the wing. Is he just a 3rd guy, or are they running drills with him crashing the net? You know, my boys and I, they're 16 and 19 and play(ed) AA youth hockey so they're pretty good, talked about our concern, which is most of your's as we enter the playoffs. It is of course secondary scoring. The thing we all realized at the same time was that Brooks Laich went into a little of scoring drought about a month ago. It was because he was trying to do the curl and drags and all the things that OV, Semin, and Backstrom do, and can get away with for the most part. When Laich decided to go back to playing more of a muck if up style, his style, crashing the net, creating screens, he started scoring some pretty important goals. I wish Steckel, Fehr, Bradley, Brash, would pick up on that. Flash needs to score too but he is a little to small to truly muck it up. He can certainly score more if he is lurking around in the high slot area, but to stand for position and take a beating, probably not, he's just not that type of player, or strong enough IMO.

*offers up burning Tampa Bay Lightning jersey to the hockey gods* Let's GOOO Caps!

Has anyone else thought that Brashear is out because of a concussion versus a knee sprain?????

@jmcale57:

Of course NOT - a concussion would be an UPPER body injury!