Today's Lineup

What is everyone sleeping in today?

Fehr on second and Kozzie/Nyl on third line, interesting...

Glad Steckel is back.

Let's cook us some red-wings :D

Why is Gordo scratched? He is our best PK player
Anyway LET"S KICK SOME RED WINGS A**
GO CAPS

What is everyone sleeping in today?

Posted by: goskins1982

People are at the game!!
--------------
LET'S GO CAPS!! :)

Fasten your seatbelt

I'm glad we kept the line ups, I'm really interested to see the second line and how they perform. I say see... but really I'll be lucky to HEAR. Thanks for posting that link Bernie, I'll give it a shot but I seem to remember it not working here at my nazi bank.

At the game, Gordo's warming up. Not sure what the deal is.

my whole house is sick, so no game for me today. arrrgh.
Glad to hear Gordo is skating. I like it when he's in, rather than a scratch.

Usually healthy scratches skate on afternoon games in warmups since there is no morning skate.

@mauree

I agree, interesting lines, looks cool in theory. Gotta mix it up when things are goin quite right. Lets hope it works!

LETS GO CAPS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Good call Tarik...

No need to overdo it. Its a long season, plus Katie needs some seasoning and grit.

LETS MAKE UM PAY!!!!!!!!!!!

GGGEEEEEEEZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

SHOOT SEMIN SHOOT!!!

gotta pot those gifts.

looks like Semins got the "dipsy doo's" again....

Semin's gotta unleash that.

Gordon was scratched in favor of Steckel, which is fine with me. Steckel is solid on the PK, and he's a little better offensively this season.

Poti took a hard slapshot.

Almost a hold or hook on slowboy schultz.

Fehr's miss moments ago is exactly why he's scratched so much. He never finishes.

Doc Walker a Caps fan for a long time? Who woulda thunk?

semin shot three times in the first 3 minutes and went wide every time.

just saying.

Unbelievable pace so far! Loving it.

We've had all the best chances. Conks with some great saves.

Leino, last year's Finnish league top scorer that I mentioned Detroit calling up is on the line with Datsyuk and Hossa! Wow! Certainly can't complain about not getting a real shot to show what he can do.

Man, Conklin is a beast today... He's even getting the deflections. Just keep putting them on net boys!

just saying what, richmond?

doc walker would be an offensive minded defensiveman, hahaha.

thats awesome.

im saying let them play their game.

if a guy shoots wide 3 times his first 3 chances, then maybe he should try to hold on to it for a little longer and expose a shot.

thats why semin is there and we are here guys.

good to see 980 on the caps bandwagon...and they can talk super bowl...thats a media win win.

chelios and locker.... HAHAHAHA.

@isaacc7
We have a habit of making opposing goalies look like beasts lately. Lets see how he plays with a few pucks behind him.

@richmondphil
I get you, but looking at the play, he was closer to the net than he had been for those other shots and had Ov there for the possible rebound, goalie on his heels. Thats why I say shoot.

beautiful goal there...

That was a highlight goal.

damn.

that was a beautiful goal.

imagine, to score your first NHL goal like that...

yes

Jurchina!!!

deflections rule.
looks like weve got a game today folks!

Juice! Kozzie deflection?

perfect deflection.

right through his 5er.

would like to see the two color guy experiment

That was a stunning goal by Detroit.

And I loved all the traffic in front on Juice's goal. Traffic + Hard Shot = GOAL!!

@fehr

i didn't know exactly what play you were talking about. was going in/out as my wife was leaving for work.

he probably shouldve shot there, and held it the first 3, haha.

How on Earth do the DeadThings keep coming up with these gems. Ville Leino was a UFA they signed last spring from the Finish Elite League where he was 2nd in league scoring.

I guess this Ville Leino guy has already impressed. Damn, what a goal!

Fun game so far. Hope this keeps up! Their passes are so slick, I hope they're taking notes - and film - of them.

the red wings are able to sign people like that because they are the red wings. they have the best front end management in hockey.

i mean, when you lock up the conn smyth winner at 12/72, you are doing something amazing up there in michigan.

and like Joe B. said, I and many others expected Brunnstrom to go to the red wings too.

Brunnstrom is so good..hat trick in his first NHL game.

these sound clips are awesome. I want more conversation between other players, especially Carter. haha

DaleDUI

REALLY good scouting all around the world.

To be fair, a few teams went after Leino.

hahaha

"I would like a puck."

KLM line is amazing.

Pavel in the 6th round. Zetter in the 7th. Lidstrom in the 3rd. Holmstrom in the 10th.

yeah...thats why i said the red wings have the best front-end management...which would include scouting.

that doesnt change the fact that other teams went after Leino though does it?

I have no problem with the way Semin plays. It is ridiculous to question it.

Great goal by Detroit, great play by Leino, but I think Theo could have played it better by being more patient, he tried to make a "cute" (as the semin's detractor would say)play and it failed.

Is there anyone worse than Joe B? Example. Schultz, on a great play, steals puck from Datsyuk pass it to OV and all you hear is "Ovechking steals the puck .." and back to "blah, blah, blah,(anything but what is happening on the ice)".

@opita

that was definetely not ovie's takeaway. haha

I keep hoping to change my mind, but I still think that Morrison is the weakest defenseman we've had up here. He always seems to be taking penalties.

and in case you read that wrong, i am agreeing with you. no sarcasm.

@richmondphil

You are right about that sir.

Never said it didn't...

good work on PK.

passing now pretty much bites.

Semin is falling down again...

federov is so smart.

i mean, sure his physical body is deteriorating with age, but he still makes great no look plays.

Could we PLEASE stay out of the box???

oof, if that connected with Hossa, that wouldve went in.

great job by backstrom.

Richmondphil.
I am glad I am not the only one who caught it.

yeah, i didnt see who it was, but i guess you say it was Schultz. I just saw a Caps poke check it trough datsyuk to Ovechkin and Joe B. babbling on about ovechkin's great steal.

Sorry guys but I still can't stand Schultz. He's getting owned out there.

LOL.

looks like semin caught the ovie whiffles.

green got back so fast on that one.

good job green for making up for a mistake that could've been.

What is wrong with Semin? He is fanning on his shots. So now he is falling and he is fanning...

greenie!

great job green.

oh boy, i feel bad for scuderi every time i see it.

Green!

great job on backstrom to, getting hooked down, drawing the penalty, and then still getting it perfectly to greenies blade.

loving it.

Sweet goal by Green!

yeah, you better make that one up semin.

No ice time, yet Fehr still gets points!!

Semin has to learn to stop hooking guys down when they beat him..

"Mike Green with a lazer been" said Joe B.
completely oblivious of the great play by Backstrom, I think it was him, I suppose we would know much later who it was.
back to blah, blah.

my initial comment was in reference to Semin's crappy pass in our own zone and then his takeaway again to make up for it.

..then he drew the hook.

..then they scored on the PP.

*sigh* nobody clearing the crease.

Ironically, the only Cap I saw clearing the crease consistently was Alzner.

I'm pretty sure Semin is an idiot. Pretty sure about that.

@opita

great job on backstrom to, getting hooked down, drawing the penalty, and then still getting it perfectly to greenies blade.

loving it.

Posted by: richmondphil | January 31, 2009 1:55 PM

don't worry, us competent hockey viewers can notice it (from our tv as opposed to a birds eye view) and give credit due. haha

Tarik,

Is it me or is Semin one of the dumber/boneheaded players in the league? I am honestly getting sick of him and his stupid decisons especially in taking dumb penalties. What is wrong with him

Semin is starting to piss me off.

Jose is SO slow and can't move lateraly

Trade Semin!!!! He is not good!!! LOL.
The only bad penalties are his, everyone elses are juuuuussst fiiiinnnne.

with that said, i still love Joe B.

nostalgia.

That's something like 3 straight games where Semin has taken a penalty leading directly to a goal against. Bench him or something to send a message, that just can't be allowed. Boneheaded plays like that hurt this team so much

If you don't like the commentary, turn off the volume and turn on the radio.

Not much Jose is going to do to stop that last goal, but I do agree that he has looked slow lately moving from post to post. But he's played fairly well, overall. Caps just have to clear guys out from the front of the net.

Maybe Semin needs a healthy scratch to send a message about taking foolish penalties, particularly late in the periods. Caps don't have time for his nonsense anymore. I'm also not a huge fan of Ovechkin and Semin being on the same line because defenses can then key on that top line and deem it ineffective, making it even harder for the Caps to score. Ovie and Semin have been largely ineffective through two periods. Well, Semin has been a huge help to the Wings, I guess, but not to the Caps.

I would never shut off Joe B. and Locker, but that doesn't change the fact he is a pretty bad "play-by-play" guy.

OK, this is probably a basic dumb question, but - Why is Mike Green a defender? He can score, he likes to score, he can certainly move - so why isn't he a winger instead of on D?

To those who say trade Semin after he takes dumb penalties, I think you need to look at the big picture. Even with those bad kinds of plays, he is still a net positive for this team. He helps us win more games than he causes us to lose. The way I see it, once he learns to avoid those dumb plays, he will become that much more valuable.

@jen-s

I have heard that Green was a winger before he went to amateur leagues. I can't confirm it though, maybe someone who followed him/Canadian prospects better would know. I kinda follow the Euro side more.

then he again, he looks up to neidermayer, so it's probably not true now that I think about it.

Is it me or is Semin one of the dumber/boneheaded players in the league? I am honestly getting sick of him and his stupid decisons especially in taking dumb penalties. What is wrong with him

Posted by: BA7701 | January 31, 2009 2:02 PM

its not just you, most of the smarter hockey fans out there are willing to admit just how dumb and boneheaded Semin can be all too often. he needs to be benched to send a message. Bruce needs to have the cojones to do that
Good to see Poti's back though, our defense looks better with him back there.

Is it me or does every goal that Theo let in look pretty much the same? He gets woefully out of position, turns around and makes that futile desperate dive.

I said it before, but I swear this guy is gonna give me a heart attack in the postseason

@jen-s

Because he is a kick-ass skater who can play defense. Why make him an top 50 offensive forward when he can be a top 5 offensive defensemen?

Is it me or does every goal that Theo let in look pretty much the same? He gets woefully out of position, turns around and makes that futile desperate dive.

I said it before, but I swear this guy is gonna give me a heart attack in the postseason

Posted by: donknutts | January 31, 2009 2:11 PM

I agree 100%. Every other game he gives up an empty netter

I love Semin, but after that last shift I'd bench him to get something through to him. That was terrible. He came into the offensive zone, but then turned back, lost the puck and got a penalty that the Red Wings ended up tying the game on.

At the same time, he might be really pissed off now, so maybe giving him more playing time is good because he's gonna try to make it up to his teammates.

Theo does have a tendency to overcommit early, which is why he can be so out of position. Maybe it's because he realizes that he's become much slower, so he tries to get to a spot faster. But some of the goals he's giving up lately are PP goals that are more a result of poor PKing by the other guys on the ice who can't clear the puck, knock guys down in front or stop the seam passes.

it all happens when Semin loses puck, he tries to correct his mistake and get a penalty. this time when i saw him losing puck I said to myself, we screwed, that's a goal

I love Semin, and he is a far better "skilled" player than ovie. ovie is more complete.

his wrist shot is faster and more accurate. ovie's is just deadly quick off the ice. he can dangle a lot better to. he takes take pretty dumb penalties and over compensates for his mistakes.

trade him? I really don't see it happening at all, and it would sort of suck since I just bought a Semin jersey, but if we got the right people for him for the better of the team then go ahead.

takes take?

does take*

your theo playoff fears are very real.

19-24

The Caps defense does an excellent job passing to Detroit's forwards

If you don't like my commentary don't read it.

To those who thinks Semin's penalty was dumb, you need to look at the replay in slow motion. I have done that three times. Here is what I see.

Semin fans on a pass to green.
Green gets puck but makes a weak attempt at dumping the puck but it gets intercepted by Detroit. (bad play by gree)

Semin steals the puck from #92 of detroit along the boards. (good play by semin)

Semin to Federov back to Semin. Both of them are close to each other along the board.

Semin begins to skate away from the board but #81 of detroit makes a good play and the puck goes up. (good play by 81 detroit)

Semin reach up and slaps the puck down to the ice while he is being checked by 92 and 81 of detroit (Good hustle by all)

Semin is hooked by 81 and he is on his way down as he is trying to move the puck and in turn hooks 81. (great hustle by both players)

The ref does not see the first hook by 81 but calls Semin's penalty.

Now you tell me how this guy is bad.

I wish I had DVR.

Another penalty on the Caps....*sigh*

but, to be fair, semin has taken dumb penalties in the past so it is somewhat realized.

semin still has more than 1 ppg, and I fully support the idea that if he did not get injured he would be leading the league, or atleast right next to Malkin right now.

I'm not sure anyone's saying that Semin is bad. I think we're just saying that he takes dumb penalties at inopportune times. Sure, Hossa could've been called for the hook there, but Semin skated the puck out of his offensive zone, and that started the whole play.

@JSchon

I see your point, but how many times has this board lit up with "Green is a terrible defender" complaints?

But I appreciate that perspective. I guess I'd have to research his early days and see whose idea it was to put him on D.

Richmmondphil
they really help.

I forgot to add on my last post:
Joe B. "BLAH BLAH BLAH"

No wonder people don't appreciate some of these players, the game is fast and our play-by-play man is telling us "blah, blah blah ...

nice scarf Ted!

cdon
"...but Semin skated the puck out of his offensive zone, and that started the whole play."

I understand you probably do not have the replay to go back and analyze, but there was nothing else he could do. As I said he passed to Federov who in turn sent it back and there was no room to do anything else other than to skate away from the boards, and the two detroit guys were all over it.

we needed a hero

OVIE!!!!!

omg OVI what a goal

CRAP.

i missed the play while getting my cats food.

and just heard SCOREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

Beautiful goal.

ohhh, nice hands on that one ovie.

proving me wrong, haha.

Being a smaller goalie, it's in Theo's interest to be aggressive. It's a balancing act though and he certainly can get caught badly out of position. But he's also pretty athletic so he can make it back to the post a lot of the time. Risk and reward, good and bad. Like Semin, he can look alternately brilliant and boneheaded.

All Nylander does is skate in circles, he is so annoying.

what i dont get is...fehr could take that shot a hundred times and get stopped...Ovie needs just one chance....ITS UNCANNY!!!

Whoa. First time that move has worked in a while. Beauty.

So glad BB took Semin off Ovie's line. Spread out the scoring and gave the Caps a bigger body on the top line. Kozlov made that Ovie goal.

@opita,

Fair enough. I'll take your word for it.

Fehr has missed on three golden chances today. When will he start putting those away? Maybe next season. He could be next year's Fleischmann.

Ring another up

great play off the draw.

now, let's just finish this one.

OVIE BABY!!!

ovie is my lover

Backstrom to OVI!

that last one is pretty in slo mo

CDON
totally agree with you on the goal. Our play-by-play man only give credit to the goal scorer most of the time, completely ignoring the complete play set.

get a hat trick ovie

Darn it, I missed both goals getting some kibble for my hamsters

what happened there?

why did they show the wrong guy?!?!?!

Don't know, I was cleaning my litter box for my 15 felines

this finish is amazing

no room in the penalty box

Seriously? This is bad comedy.

last one wasn't a penalty darn it

do they know its ok to finish strong?

What a brain fart bunch this team has been recently. What's with taking penalties in the last two minutes of a hockey game lately?

that was deflection.

what a finish!

great penalty kill

seems like whatever they did, worked.

GOD BLESS THE CAPS!!!!!!!!!

woo hoo!

Theo was amazing. OVI was the difference. What a game!

Some guys should walk Semin to his car and kick his ass...

with his two goals, he is stays up by one over Carter. (who got two last night.)

Ovie looks cuter today than usual :)

Please Lisa...

You think Ovi knows what a "sounding board" is?

Someone please replace her with Carrot Top.

Kozlov had a pretty strong game today. And Fehr had chances but didn't score. (How many times have we seen that story line?) Poti's reinsertion was a huge difference, too. Really helped the defense and the PK.

"Some guys should walk Semin to his car and kick his ass..."

Especially for the last three penalties on the last two minutes, right? LOL.

I love these lines!

@DrAdamson

those were not the lines we finished with. kozlov was back with ovie, and I saw semin out there with backstrom sometimes even strength.

hideous tie worn by locker

Mauree,
I disagree. I don't think Ov was the difference. I think Theo was, although, I think the first goal was a bad play on his part.
I think Ov played well, but his second goal was a result of great play by others - of course, I have to give him credit for being in the right place. The first goal was OV play but well assisted by Kozlov and I think Nylander.

Come on STUPID Rangers!! We need help!

Some guys should walk Semin to his car and kick his ass...

Posted by: wtf_e_fehr | January 31, 2009 2:52 PM

that would be too kind

Great win! Was a little scary at the end. This is why Ovie is a big time player. Bruce's switch of Kozlov for Semin on the first line worked.

To the idiots who wanna trade a player every time he makes a bad play, can we trade you so that we don't have to listen to your nonsense anymore?

I don't see you posting garbage on here when Semin scores great goals or makes amazing assists. Yeah, he sucked today. I'd be the first one to admit it. But you have to be a total moron to wanna trade him. The mistakes he made are correctable. The talent he has is unteachable. He's an absolute gem and we're lucky to have him. And btw, prior to this game he scored points in 7 straight games.

I was watching some of that Rangers-Bruins game and the Rangers looked out of sorts, especially on offense. They couldn't sustain anything in their offensive zone. They kept getting trapped at center ice.

@opita

It was Nylander, then Kozlov. And Kozlov made that goal, scooping the puck around three or four Wings. Ovie did the rest, but it doesn't happen without Kozlov's gritty work there.

@ wtf_e_fehr

Someone should come to your mom's basement and kick YOUR ass. And take your computer away while they're at it.

Same goes for cstanton1.

My left shoe is more interesting to listen to.

yeah Rangers definitley aren't that good, they can't score, but then again no one can score on Thomas

@opita

I don't think we disagree.

I meant the game was stalled (honestly DET was dominating at that point), but all OVI needed was a split second. That made the difference.

Huge game by Theo, some of those saves weren't easy. I'm still waiting for the fans at VC to cheer him on. I know I will come March 8 vs the Pens.

hey why does Comcast Sportsnet not have Capitals Postgame Live???

ranndino.
I agree with you on your last post.

wtf_e_fehr and Cstanton1
"Some guys should walk Semin to his car and kick his ass..."

When you guys wake-up from your drunken stupor, why don't you do it yourselves. You should be sober when you check yourselves into the hospital

@rachel216

Thomas isn't in goal today. It's Rask. Rangers still can't get anything past him. But they're not getting great opportunities. They did just ring one off the post, though.

on to tomorrow.

Sens coming off a shutout loss to the Masonite wall.

Oh, thanks CDon, for clearing that up.

@opita1 and @ranndino

Come on, are you guys trying to start and internet fight or something. Get real, I am expressing my opinion. Thats what blogs are for. Semin has made a series of COMPLETELY bone head plays recently, and as a fan, it pisses me off...PERIOD. No need to come at me like that.

CDON
Thanks. I wasn't sure who it was.

Mauree.
We are in agreement.

Ok. now time to shovel some snow. It was a nice game, some good postings, and some not so much.

UGH rangers

wtf_e_fehr.
Not internet fight. You made the dumb-ass remark "Some guys should walk Semin to his car and kick his ass..." and I responded in kind.
I respect your opinion on players and plays made during a match, but that was not an opinion related to the game, that was a personal attack.
We can disagree without being stupid, your remark as well as my answer to you and Cstanton was.

@rachel216

they don't do PGL for afternoon games in general, just night games.

Fehr had 5 shots in 9mins of playing time? Maybe we should give him some decent playing time he will start to develop!!!!! He has not played in quite a while. Good come back game!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!11

Update:

Is anyone more excited than me about the beginning of the stretch run?

Looking Ahead: Really really Good News UPDATE!!!

The last 21 games of the season the Caps schedule includes:

13 games against division foe
4 against Atlanta
3 against Tampa
3 against Florida
3 against carolina (2 at home)

2 games against the Maple Leafs

1 against the Bruins (A)
1 against the Penguins (H)
1 against the Flyers (A)
1 against the Predators (A)
1 against the Sabers (H)
1 against the Islanders (A)

Looking good for the stretch run! All we need is a veteran puck moving defensman.

@Freez

Just back from the Phone Booth. Fehr had a great game -- despite the penalty -- and SHOULD get more ice time...I agree!

Everyone else -- looks ya'll were pretty rough on each other during the game.

Can't we all just get along? LOL

GO CAPS -- it was just like the playoffs at the Phone Booth today. AWESOME!!

GAME OBSERVATIONS

Scratch Semin: He needs to sit at least a game. Regroup and get his head back into it. I think he's still thinking about his bongo drum showing in that fight haha. One game won't hurt.

Penalty kill: Much better - they became more aggressive even with Detroit sitting a guy in front. I liked it. You have to be relentless and keep the pressure on.

Ovie in the clutch: What else is there to say - at times he drives us crazy with not so smart passes but then he has more of these kind of moments when he finds the back of the net.

Team effort: They were physical and knocking guys off the puck. They blocked shots and Jose Theodore made big saves down the stretch.

The refs: Go away refs. That was a joke and the end of the game penalties were a result of Gary Bettman making a phone call HAAAA. Honestly the first delay of game penalty was really the only one that seemed legit. That second one - I could hear the puck hit the stick on the way out. The refs are deaf. Who cares now? Two points.

Back home - time to payback Ottawa for that BS late goal loss before the break.

Ice Breakers Goal Shakers

@opita1

My final word on this. It was not a personal attack. It wasnt like Semin has been trying to sleep with my wife. Do I really want him to get his ass kicked physically? HELL NO!!! Do I think that somebody or some group of somebodies should verbally take him to the woodshed? HELL YES!!! My comments are not always to be taken literally, some here realize that, I guess some dont. Either way your response must have indeed been literal, because you took me seriously??? And it was indeed personal, at me, whereas my comment was figurative and toward Semin. So who is the dumb-ass??? Give it a second thought...

I'm glad to see that I'm not the only one who wasn't happy with Semin's play. It looked as though he was lost in space on more than one occasion. A benching may be a good idea, but on the other hand he would take it as an insult not motivation. Also glad to see that Fehr may have almost recieved a little credit here. IMHO 16, 14, 19 was our strongest line today. Good idea Bruce!

opita1:
i've seen semin fight - he'd probably 'bongo' both wtf_e_fehr and Cstanton1's *sses - hahahahahaha

just got back from VC. thought the crowd would be more fired up, but i guess afternoon games are a little more mellow. sat next to an 80ish year old woman who used to go to red wings game in her teens. gordie howe must have been a rookie.

theo should have been second star today. he was outstanding again. erskin has continued to play well and let me add my displeasure at semin's play. he's maddeningly talented but needs to realize he's not going to dangle through teams like detroit, boston etc. what works against florida and tampa dont work against the top teams. ovie can fall into that trap too by trying to make home run passes or drop passes at the blue line.

great game all around. schultz gets the hard hat...

Canadiens just stole 2 points from the Kings with 2 goals in the last 1:53 coming back from 3-2 down to win 4-3 in regulation.

Damn, we could have done with a little West Coast help there.

So I was up in the boonies, but there nonetheless...my god there was a ton of Red Wings fans who would not shut up. Crowd was a little dead until 3rd (shocker with a 12:30 start). Ovie pretty much came to play when he had to, I didn't like the line switches at all. I didn't even think Flash or Fehr had that good of a game, Backstrom just played so well today he made their whole line seem effective. I'm sorry too, I don't care how many shots Fehr had, because he's had plenty of "shots" to be a scorer and contribute and he underachieves every time. That's why he only gets minimal minutes.

Having Poti back was big, he made some heady defensive plays today in our zone, you just don't realize how much you miss his presence and good stick out there, especially on the PK. Semin had a bad game, he still needs to shoot more and although I think he got hosed on his real bad penalty it's a problem that keeps creeping up.

All credit to Jose, Backstrom, Poti, Green, and Ovie tonight. Schultz wasn't completely worthless today, god he just needs some coordination to get a little more agility. Much needed big win, we needed to keep pace with Devils.

since theo's first period meltdown against the NYR
14 2/3 games - 10 wins 4 loses
6 games - 1 goal
3 games - 2 goals
4 games - 3 goals
gaa - 2.04
sv % - .925

i understand from other posts he doesn't have a steller playoff record - be he's been a big reason why they have been in and won some of these games

everybody please stop trying to punish/trade/chastise/scratch semin. when he quits trying then you can complain.

LA Kings suck

Just for the record, I am more excited than windjammer about the upcoming stretch run and so is one other guy I know. So that makes two.

frolov rules.

o'sullivan rules.

kings rule.

I'm afraid I have to side with Opita. Granted, okay, your sarcasm wtf_e_fehr is pretty evident but I think you could come up with some other imagery that's less offensive than Semin getting his butt handed to him by his own teammates. If you wanted it to be funny, it'll be received as that - a joke. Kicking Semin's a$$ for a mistake...er, mistakes...maybe not as imaginative. Semin isn't immune to mistakes. Ovie isn't immune to mistakes. Even you, wtf_e_fehr, aren't immune to making mistakes. Semins, unfortunately, is broadcast to thousands (millions?) of fans and people like you can say what you want to ridicule him? I don't mean to be mean, but we get it. You and a whole mess of others hate/loathe/detest Semin making his mistakes. Putting out bad karma like your "Walk Semin to his car and kick the hoo-ha out of him" just aint' right. If it were your mistakes being televised, I don't think your fans/friends/family/co-workers would like to hear people saying "Walk wtf_e_fehr to his car and kick some sense into him" would appreciate that. I know I wouldn't and sadly, I make mistakes like nobody's business. Semin's still my favorite player and I'll be groaning with the best of them when he makes his next boo-boo. And yeah, sadly, he will. =/ But I still love the guy. Still love the Caps. Win or Lose. (still sound like a newbie, huh?) =P