Re: What's Next for the Capitals?

by **SensFan71** on Thu Jun 25, 2009 10:46 am

look forward to seeing Sharapova at more of the Caps games, rumour has it she and Ovie are an item, lucky guy, she is still not Ana Ivanovic though.

by **wprager** on Thu Jun 25, 2009 11:25 am

SensFan71 wrote:look forward to seeing Sharapova at more of the Caps games, rumour has it she and Ovie are an item, lucky guy, she is still not Ana Ivanovic though.

Maria is 6'2" (same as Ovie). But the climb is very scenic.

by **SensFan71** on Thu Jun 25, 2009 11:58 am

wprager wrote:
SensFan71 wrote:look forward to seeing Sharapova at more of the Caps games, rumour has it she and Ovie are an item, lucky guy, she is still not Ana Ivanovic though.

Maria is 6'2" (same as Ovie). But the climb is very scenic.

I think I would take my time with that climb cool)

by **wprager** on Thu Jun 25, 2009 1:24 pm

And visit all the scenic places, the nooks and crannies, the rolling hills, the valleys in-between, the analogies just keep rolling of my tongue.

by **SensFan71** on Thu Jun 25, 2009 1:31 pm

wprager wrote:And visit all the scenic places, the nooks and crannies, the rolling hills, the valleys in-between, the analogies just keep rolling of my tongue.

no kidding, something so innocent can be turned so dirty with very little thought :^^^^: Facepalm

by davetherave on Fri Jun 26, 2009 10:24 pm

Not on the 'mainstream' mock draft lists, Johansson is an 'out of the box' choice...

http://www.eurohockey.net/players/show_player.cgi?serial=101913

by davetherave on Thu Jul 02, 2009 7:19 pm

Caps columnist Tarik El-Bashir comments on Knuble's move to Washington:

CAPITALS ADD KNUBLE TO SKILLED TOP LINE
Veteran is prepared to do the 'dirty work'
Tarik El-Bashir, The Washington Post, July 2, 2009

The Washington Capitals acquired precisely the type of player they've lacked in recent seasons, signing rugged veteran Mike Knuble to a two-year contract in the opening hours of free agency yesterday.

Knuble, who spent the past four seasons playing for the rival Philadelphia Flyers, is a 6-foot-3, 230-pound winger who muscles his way to the net, sets up there, then uses his deft touch to slip rebounds past the goaltender. He has scored at least 21 goals in each of his past six NHL seasons, including reaching the 30-goal plateau twice, and is also considered a locker room leader.

"We just felt we needed someone else, a player on [the top] line in particular with [Alex] Ovechkin and [Nicklas] Backstrom, that will go to the net," General Manager George McPhee said. "Mike's made his living there. He was the right guy for us, and we got what we felt was the right deal for him. We replaced a 13-goal scorer [Viktor Kozlov] with a 27-goal scorer, and the team is better as a result."

Knuble, who turns 37 on Saturday, will earn $2.8 million per season, the same amount he earned last season in Philadelphia.

But on a day they welcomed Knuble, the Capitals also bid adieu to a fan favorite.

Donald Brashear's three-year run in Washington officially came to an end when the enforcer signed a two-year contract with the New York Rangers, the same team that called for the 37-year-old to be suspended in the Eastern Conference quarterfinals for his controversial hit on Blair Betts.

"We are happy for Brash," McPhee said. "But we couldn't pay that number."

Brashear is set to earn $1.4 million per season, a $200,000 raise over what the Capitals paid him last season. McPhee, meanwhile, reiterated that he feels the Capitals can survive without a heavyweight enforcer.

"How much do you really need them in the big game?" McPhee said. "In the early part of the season you want them, and there are probably up to 10 games a year you wish you had one. [But] we're trying to load up on talent."

Signing Knuble edged the Capitals even closer to the salary cap ceiling of $56.8 million and likely means the team is done signing free agents, McPhee said.

"Probably," McPhee said when asked whether the Capitals were done. "I said [on Tuesday] that we're probably not going to do a lot in free agency unless there was something there that made sense. We did it. It was unanimous amongst our pro staff that this was the right guy."

McPhee said he'll turn his focus to the trade market in an effort to make further upgrades. The Capitals could still benefit from the acquisition of a second-line center to replace Sergei Fedorov, though Brooks Laich has been penciled into that position for now, McPhee said.

"We'll spend the next couple of months talking to clubs and seeing what other things can be done out there," McPhee said. "If there are other things to do, we'll do them."

In the meantime, the Capitals could be satisfied that they got their man. And vice versa.

"It was everything I wanted in another team," Knuble said. "It was on the East Coast, another good city on the East Coast, another team that's considered one of the best teams in the Eastern Conference. I think this team is on the verge of something good, maybe even something great."

Knuble also said he is looking forward to complementing the Capitals' cadre of skilled players, a role he is familiar with.

Last season in Philadelphia, he played with Mike Richards and Simon Gagne.

"I'm pretty confident that the way I play the game and the things that I do that I've proven [while] playing with Joe Thornton and Peter Forsberg, guys like that, that I can help these guys be big players," said Knuble, who was a member of the 1997-98 Detroit team that swept the Capitals in the Stanley Cup finals. "I know what to do for these guys, how to work, win battles in corners and do a lot of the dirty work to get these guys the puck. I take pride in that. No one needs to tell me how to play with these guys."

Although Knuble is nearly 15 years older than his new linemates, he said he is confident he has plenty left to offer.

"If you look at my statistics throughout my career, I didn't play a lot of hockey until I turned 30," he said. "I didn't have a lot of mileage on me. I consider myself a low mileage guy. The guys that play a lot when they're younger, by the time they turn 37 they've got the back problem, knee problems, shoulder, wrist. As frustrating as it was to sit on the bench as a fourth-liner back then, in the long run it's been a blessing for not letting me get too beat up early in my career."

by davetherave on Sat Jul 11, 2009 6:18 pm

Caps owner Ted Leonsis connects with fans through his blog 'Ted's Take'...here's his take:

Some Additional Change

http://www.tedstake.com/2009/07/11/some-additional-change/

We added a new free agent center to our team roster yesterday with the signing of Brendan Morrison. Although we will all miss Victor Kozlov and Sergei Fedorov in our line-up, the two new free agents that we signed - Mike Knuble and Brendan Morrison - actually had better individual statistics last season in comparison so you could rationalize that we have indeed upgraded in each position. Time will tell.

What is most important to me is that we stayed on plan. We added free agents to our line-up on short term deals and at reasonable financial terms and these are really talented veteran players who WANTED to come and play in Washington, some taking less money than they could garner elsewhere because of the quality of our team; our city and fan base; and because everyone wants to play on a Cup contending team. Everyone loves the Kettler Capitals Iceplex and wants to enjoy its comforts.

We are now stronger down the middle. We have drafted young centers as well, many of whom will be at our development camp this coming week.

We are strong at wing. We should have great goaltending. We have lots of good young D and many prospects awaiting their turn to make our team. Camp will be very competitive this coming pre-season. The future remains bright. See you all at Kettler this coming week. Go Caps!

by davetherave on Mon Jul 27, 2009 6:57 pm

Nothing's A Given
Simeon Varlamov came out of nowhere in April to make a name for himself in Washington. Still, don't expect the goalie to be handed the top spot in camp, says E.J. Hradek

EJ Hradek, ESPN.com, July 27, 2009

Armed with just six games of NHL experience, the 23rd overall pick in the 2006 draft made a monster splash coming off the bench to backstop a first-round playoff comeback against the Rangers. He blanked the Blueshirts twice en route to a seven-game series victory.

In Round 2, Varlamov helped Alex Ovechkin & Co. push the eventual champion Penguins to a Game 7 before melting down in a 6-2 blowout loss.

Now the 21-year-old comes into training camp as the club's expected No. 1 stopper, but he won't be handed the job.

He'll get a stiff challenge from veteran/last year's starter Jose Theodore and fellow 2006 draft pick (34th overall) Michal Neuvirth. Another 21-year-old, Neuvirth will get a serious look after leading the Caps' AHL affiliate, Hershey, to a Calder Cup championship. In fact, the Czech-born goaltender was named the league's playoff MVP, posting 12 wins and a .929 save percentage.

It will be very interesting to see how Varlamov responds to his new challenge and the lofty expectations he created during his spring fling. It also will be worth monitoring how opposing teams attack the Caps' kid goalie. In the latter part of the second round, Varlamov's glove hand was exposed by Penguin sharpshooters. I figure he must be spending a good portion of his summer vacation working on improving that hole in his game.

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