Clark to go under knife, done for season.

Washington Capitals captain Chris Clark has not been able to shake the injury bug since his 30 goal campaign two seasons ago.

Last season the South Windsor, CT native played in only 18 games during the regular season, before a groin injury sidelined him for the remainder of the year.

Clark, who has only made 32 appearances this season will now require forearm surgery and will miss the remainder of Washington's regular season.

"He went to see a doctor today and the wrist has been bothering him all here. He'll probably have to have something done on his wrist -- have some surgery."
"It just got to the point where he wasn't the player we know he is," he added. "He was hurting himself and hurting his team. So we're probably going to go [the surgery] route instead of playing through it without getting any results." - GM George McPhee

Because Clark opted for the surgery, there is a good chance that he could return in time for the post-season, but that it's not set in stone.

What is certain, however, is that Clark will now go on LTIR which will open up a little wiggle room financially for the Capitals to recall personnel from Hershey, or even make a trade.

Luckily for the Capitals, elder statesman Sergei Fedorov will take over the reigns as interim captain, though he will retain his assistant captaincy patch.

Fedorov was signed this past off-season on a one year 4 million dollar contract to provide veteran leadership for a youthful club. Coach Boudreau has assured that when Clark regains his health, he will maintain his role as team captain.

"Clark is our captain, there's no controversy there. When he gets healthy, he'll come back and be our captain."

Washington will face the New Jersey Devils tomorrow night at the Prudential Center in Newark.

Alzner continues to grow as member of Capitals

Over the past few games, rookie defenseman Karl Alzner has seen a drop in ice time.

Part of that has to do with line management, as coach Bruce Boudreau doesn't want to see Alzner, along with defensive partner Bryan Helmer out against the opponents top lines.

The other part of the receding minutes equates to the lack of confidence Karl has played with lately. It started becoming apparent that his game had changed since his call up in November, and that he was struggling.

Then I read up on Tarik's blog and it all made sense.

[Bruce] Boudreau had a heart-to-heart with defenseman Karl Alzner a few days ago after suspecting that the rookie was becoming distracted by the possibility of being sent back to Hershey for salary cap reasons. (When Poti returns, unless the GM George McPhee manages to clear space some other way, Alzner will likely have to go down.)

"I talked to him because you can't do that - it'll kill you," Boudreau said. "Trying to control things that you can't control is murderous on your psyche. If it just so happens that there's an issue, that will happen anyway, whether you scored five goals tonight or didn't score five goals tonight or played 35 minutes. I told him to just go out an play."

"He struggled there for a few games, so I knew something was bothering him," he added.

Alzner said: "I was worrying about getting sent down much too much earlier. About a week ago, that's what I was thinking about. I know the situation. I know who is going to be coming back and approximately when. If it happens, it happens. Not too many guys get to play a full season, or even a half season, when they are 20 years old. My focus now is to make it hard for them."

Since their chat, Alzner seems to be regaining the confidence he showed through the month of December. His minutes are still in the 13 minute range, but his play has been noticeably better.

Case in point, Saturday night's home game against the Bruins. Washington was nursing a one goal lead late in the third period, when John Erskine took an unnecessary elbowing penalty.

With their goalie pulled, the Bruins had a 6-4 man advantage and were controlling the play rather effectively, when Karl Alzner made a crucial defensive play to eliminate a cross ice pass to David Kregci, one of Boston's leading scorers. After intercepting the pass, Alzner calmly dumped the puck the length of the ice ending Boston's chances at a comeback. (video available HERE)

Despite his effective play, it is widely believed that Alzner will be sent down once the defensive corps regains it's health, but it will be strictly driven by the financial position that the Capitals find themselves in.

At the very least, the young Burnaby, BC native got a taste of the NHL this year. Next year will be his chance to step into a more influential role with the club and grow from there.

It is of my personal opinion the Alzner has all the tools to be amongst the top 10 defensive rearguards in this league. It's up to him to continue to build on them, whether in the NHL or not.

Chalk another one in the "L" column.

Two home losses in five nights. Heck, the Capitals had only lost one regulation game at home all season up until this past weekend!

Tonight they were handed their third consecutive loss in an unenthusiastic performance against the Edmonton Oilers who will battle for a Western Conference playoff spot these next few months.

Tomorrow Washington is right back at it, heading to Pittsburgh to try to avoid their - collective gasp - fourth straight loss.

For head coach Bruce Boudreau, the effort presented by the Capitals these past few games has just not been up to snuff.

"It gets to the point where everybody wants to be the scorer but nobody wants to be the mucker and you're not going to do anything," Boudreau said. "Everybody's waiting for somebody else to do the work. They want to finish."

The fact of the matter is this losing streak is but a small blip in the standings, and has been a long time coming. One simply could not realistically expect the Capitals of continuing the torrent pace they were on, and seem to have crashed hard dating back to Friday. Their recent fall from grace as anointed darlings of the East seems to have proven unfavorable with the fan base.

But lets keep in mind that this team is more than capable of returning to the form they showed merely a week ago. One can only hope that coach Boudreau will have them ready to go tomorrow night, where they won't need much added inspiration while facing a long time foe in Pittsburgh.

Fans will just have to remain patient, and above all else - "Don't Stop Believin'"

Varlamov will start on National Stage

This morning Bruce Boudreau confirmed that rookie goaltender Simeon Varlamov will start in tonight's game in Montreal. The game will be broadcast nationally across Canada on CBC's Hockey Night in Canada.

"My thought was, 'Let's see what he's got'," Coach Bruce Boudreau said. "The last time I saw him [in Hershey] he was great. If it's baptism under fire, well then it's baptism under fire. We'll see how he reacts to it."

Varlamov has posted a 10-3-0 record in Hershey this year, as well as a 2.34 GAA and .909 SV%.

He was selected by Washington in the first round, 22nd overall in the 2006 draft.

Also, take a gander over at www.capitals.nhl.com and have a look at their roster page. Brett Leonhardt has been added to the list of their goalies.

The WEAGLE will return tomorrow with thoughts on Varlamov's first professional start.

Bruce Boudreau; A holiday gift that all Caps fans can cherish.

Bruce Boudreau made his NHL coaching debut November 23rd, 2007 in a matinee with the Philadelphia Flyers in which Washington left with a 4-3 overtime victory.

It seems as though the employment of Boudreau was an early Christmas gift for the organization and by the looks of it - is a gift that keeps on giving.

Since that fateful day, Capitals fans have been blessed watching their team sky rocket in the standings and are now back on the scene in the NHL.

According to the Nielsen Report, Capitals local television ratings are up 140 percent over 2007's numbers, which represents the biggest jump in the NHL.

A lot of that has to do with the offensive system implemented by the new bench boss, which captures the blend of firepower and finesse that the Capitals possess, a style that speaks to a new generation of hockey fans.

Since the departure of head coach Ron Wilson after the 2001-02 season, the Capitals saw they're record plummet to a somber 119-156-61, which includes a playoff drought that spans back to the 2003-04 season.

Bruce Cassidy and Glen Hanlon both preceded Boudreau, but neither saw much success.

Last year, the Capitals were supposed to turn the page. Hanlon was into his third year, and this team had nowhere to go but up.

Except they didn't. In fact they crashed and burned.

6-14-1 to be exact. And that was after starting the season 3-0-0. Management had finally seen enough and took a chance on a very successful career minor league player and coach to see if he could right the ship.

And right it he did.

The remainder of the season, the Capitals went on a torrent pace going 37-17-7 to clinch their division and a playoff spot on the final game of the regular season.

This year Boudreau is upping his game a notch going 14-9-3 despite lacking offensive talents such as Alexander Semin, Sergei Fedorov and highly skilled defenseman Mike Green.

In the 2003-04 season, the Capitals blueline was a revolving door which featured names from the past such as Brad Norton, John Gruden, Jean-Luc Grand-Pierre, Todd Rohloff, Steve Eminger, Rick Berry, Jason Doig and Joel Kwiatkowski - just to name a few.

This year? Try Bryan Helmer, the AHL's leader in games played with over 800. Tyler Sloan, another career minor leauger making his rookie debut. Karl Alzner, a 20 year old rookie who leads all defensemen in ice time since his call up. And most recently Sean Collins, who will be filling in for Sloan in the Capitals next game versus the Toronto Maple Leafs. The 25 year old Collins is just another one of the many blueliners who will get his first sniff of NHL action this year.

But yet this rag-tag bunch manages to get it done.

Yes, there is a method to Bruce's madness. Part of it is strategy, but the other part of it is an unexplainable charisma that his players seem to feed off of. One that stresses the fortune these players actually have to be playing in the NHL, and that they should not take it lightly.

"I'm not used to losing, quite frankly, and I've come to the conclusion that I really don't like it. If I'm fired up I've found out that they follow my lead pretty well and I want them to be fired up."

Bourdeau, unlike his predecessors has proven that he can ice a competitive squad, and regardless the set backs that the team faces, he'll have them ready to play.

And let's not forget that with his chubby stature and glowing cheeks, he strikes a glaring resemblance to jolly old Saint Nick, all the while bringing joy to the hearts of Capitals nation.

The Walking Wounded return to D.C.

Just when things couldn't get much worse for the Capitals in terms of injuries, they did.

Closing out a five game road trip that saw the club go 1-3-1, including losing the last three in a row, Washington suffered their biggest blow last night in Minnesota, losing three more players in a 4-3 loss.

Jeff Schultz, Boyd Gordon and John Erskine all left the game due to injuries. Schultz suffers from the most serious ailment, breaking a finger which will sideline him for 4-6 weeks.

Gordon and Erskine are now both listed as day-to-day, joining fellow teammates Mike Green, Alexander Semin, and Sergei Fedorov.

Both Green and Semin should be ready to return to the line-up for either Wednesday or Friday's games, while Fedorov is still uncertain.

The loss of Schultz is particularly concerning, given the total lack of cap space and healthy defenders. It is rumored that he will be placed on LTIR (Long Term Injury Reserve) where he will join Brian Pothier who is suffering a career threatening concussion.


Being placed on the LTIR would mean that Schultz must remain out of the line-up for both 24 days and 10 games, slating his return for late December.

It is likely that Erskine will play through his soreness as Sami Lepisto is the likely candidate to be called up from Hershey to fill in for Schultz.

The Capitals now return home to face the Atlanta Thrashers in the hopes of breaking a three game regulation losing streak, the longest in Bruce Boudreau's tenure as coach.

More information on the Capitals injury bug can be followed on Tarik El-Bashir's blog, an excellent source for up to date team news.

OBS: A Recipe for Success

OBS. If you were to describe the acronym, words like dazzling, sensational or maybe just sick.

Ovechkin, Backstrom, Semin.

Last year it was known as the OBK Line (Ovechkin-Backstrom-Kozlov) which was leaned on heavily for offensive production in the second half of the season, and were large in part the reason that the Capitals won the Southeast Division.

However early on in the season, OBK was not generating the success that it saw last year. Ovechkin was off to a slow start, as was Kozlov. As for Backstrom, there were extended periods where you were unsure if he was still in the line-up.

Merely a few weeks ago, Kozlov went down with an injury, Ovechkin was returning from a trip to Moscow and Backstrom was demoted to third line duties. When very little seemed to be working offensively, coach Bruce Boudreau decided it was time to put all his eggs in one basket.

Before Sergei Fedorov went down with an injury, he was given the duty of centering the first line. But with him out of the line-up, Backstrom was given a chance at some redemption.

So far the decision has been paying huge dividends, and is making Boudreau look like a genius.

Alexander Semin has been a monster this season. With 13 goals and 14 assists (27 points) in only 15 games this season, is well on his way to surpass his 43 point season last year. He has been leaned on almost exclusively to fashion points for the Capitals as they found ways to win tough games. Since being united with Backstrom and Ovechkin 4 games ago, he has 5 goals and 5 assists.

Semin, however is not the only one benefiting from the new line combos.

Alexander Ovechkin is back with a vengeance. He has scored goals in back to back games, and seems to be getting back on track with his offensive production, marking 2 goals and 6 assists with his new line mates.

Most impressive however has been Backstrom who has been stagnant early on this season. Being moved to the third line seemed to have lit a fire under him as he has put up 1 goal and 5 assists in his last 3 games, most notably a four point showing at Carolina on Tuesday.

It seems that the Capitals are an entirely different team with the newly assembled OBS Line, and Washington has been putting together complete performances from top to bottom, something which has been lacking to this point.

Tonight the potent OBS Line will take on the Martin Broduer-less New Jersey Devils, which has the Capitals fan base eager to get this one started.

Making the Most of your Opportunites

Since the 2002-03 campaign, Brent Johnson has never started more than 35 games in a year. The past 5 NHL seasons, Johnson has been a career back-up, as well as a journey man, making brief stops in Phoenix and Vancouver before being claimed off waivers by Washington in October 2004.

A gamble that paid off for the Capitals, as former "sure bet" prospect Maxime Ouellet never paned out and now finds himself playing in a Senior A League in Quebec.

But ever since his inception to the NHL ranks with the St. Louis Blues, Johnson has always been pushed by competition in the pipes. Whether it was Roman Turek, Fred Brathwaite or Chris Osgood, Johnson was never able to take the reigns as a legitimate number one starter. In his time in The Gateway City, he never received more than 58 starts in a year, but also never registered a GAA of over 2.50.

Johnson was finally moved the year before the lockout as the Blues continued trying to straighten out their goalie carousel. When he finally landed in Washington, he came to a team in the early stages of a rebuilding process [his stats show how grueling the rebuild was] and at this point was looked at as no more than a career back-up.

Finally this season, Brent Johnson is getting the chance to fuel a competition for the starting job.

Jose Theodore was signed by the Capitals this summer and has failed to meet expectations up to date. His .885 SV% has been less than adequate and his 2-3-0 record is not what Washington is looking for coming out of the gates.

In an attempt to inspire his team, coach Bruce Boudreau called on the 31 year old Johnson to start a handful of games, and Johnson accepted the role and hasn't look back.

To date he has registered a 4-1-2 record, his only regulation loss coming in the Capitals season opener where he came in relief of Jose Theodore.


His scintillating .931 SV% is ranked 3rd in the league as he ranks 5th with a GAA of 2.11.


It might be early yet, but it certainly seems that Johnson still has all the tools to become a number one goaltender, and that he is finally being given the chance to put them all together.

"I think its confidence," Boudreau said of Johnson. "He's in the last year of his deal. He loves the area. He loves being a Capital. He knows he's got a great chance and a great opportunity. A new guy has come in, and granted, he's probably going to be the No. 1 guy when it's all said and done. But it's not like Olie, where you knew he was always going to be the guy. So Johnson kind of has that spring in his step." "I want to get Jose back in there, but it's tough to take [Johnson] out when he's playing that well," he added.

While there is little certainty at this point, it appears this will be an interesting season in the crease.

Pre-Game Thoughts: 11/04/08 Washington Capitals at Ottawa Senators

The month of October has not been as kind to the Washington Capitals as their fans had hoped. Granted, they are 5-4-1 and are still above the .500 mark, the bar coming into this season was set at a rather lofty level, which as previously mentioned, has yet to be achieved.

I have previously stated the the Capitals are a slow starting team and this season bears no exception. It will be important to rack up points early in November before heading on a west coast road trip which has the team visiting Anaheim, Los Angeles and San Jose in a three night stretch.

Not to mention the hot start from the Carolina Hurricanes who seem to be able to plug anyone into their battered line up and still consistently win games. It will be important for Washington not to fall too far behind early as it a repeat of last years heroics would be fairly unlikely.

Lets take a look at some of the positives for Washington. Tonight, star forward Alexander Ovechkin will be back in the line up after heading back to Moscow for a week to visit his sick grandfather. Contrary to reports posted on www.life.ru, Ovechkin's grandfather is still alive in hospital, and Alex was glad to have been given the opportunity to see him.

"My mind was already back in Moscow," he said. "I called George [McPhee] and said, 'George I need to go back to Russia and see my grandpa because I don't know when he is going to die. Thanks to the Capitals. They said go there and be with your family. It helped me a lot."

Ovechkin's presence has been missed in the line-up and hopefully he is able to return rejuvinated and into mid-season form as the Capitals will try to turn up the heat and prove they were not just a one year wonder.

Also of note is the demeanor of Coach Bruce Boudreau, who I felt had let his players away with a lot so far. A shutout at the hands of the Sabres on Saturday changed his complex as he skated his players into the ice on Sunday and stated there will be no free rides this season. Perhaps this tough love is what players like Mike Green, Chris Clark, Shaone Morrisonn, Nicklas Backstrom and Jose Theodore need to kick start their game.

The Senators, too, are having a rocky start to the year with a 4-5-2 record so far. Alex Auld will be their starting goaltender and he possesses a 3-2-0 record with a .931 SV% this year.

The Caps will need to be able to capitalize on the power play and prove that they can play a full 60 minutes worth of hockey if they intend to win this game. So far they have taken untimely penalties which have cost them goals against.

It is clear that the Caps will have to make their own break as November's schedule is not kind. They cannot afford to repeat last years mishaps.

Boudreau Sounds Off

In today's blog on the Capital Insider, Bruce Boudreau was not a happy man, probably as disgruntled as he has been in his coaching stint with the Capitals. Washington players were skated up and down the ice for the full 50 minutes of practice following their 5-0 loss to the Buffalo Sabres the previous night. Here are a few excerpts from the interview.

"If they're not going to work to our standards during the game, then they're going to work that hard during practice," he said. "I've been through a lot of those, and they're not fun. I'm trying to send a message that the coaching staff was displeased with the effort."

"We didn't compete. I'm not used to it. Here we had a chance. We see everyone else in our division losing."

"It's the first time where we went end-to-end for 50 minutes, nonstop. I don't want to use the word punishment. Everyone would have loved to have had Sunday off and relax and enjoy themselves. But this isn't a country club. If you come to work you're going to get rewarded. If you don't come to work then you will pay the price."

Hopefully Washington is able to turn their game around in time for Tuesday nights game against the Ottawa Senators.

Pre-Game Thoughts: 10/25/08 Washington Capitals at Dallas Stars

If there is a team that parallels the Washington Capitals early into this 2008-09 season, it would be the Dallas Stars. Both teams are entering this season with tremendous expectations on their shoulders, many of them involving hosting the Stanley Cup come June.

But if the first seven games of this season have shown us anything, it's that both these teams have failed to deliver on the pre-season hype.

This may be taken as an overstatement, and understandably so, considering the season is not even 1/10th completed, but with the buzz around these teams, their records thus far do not sit well with fans.

Lets also keep in mind that both teams are missing star players at key positions. Both Tom Poti (Capitals) and Sergei Zubov (Stars) are veteran leaders on their respective blue lines, and command crucial ice time in their teams pursuits of victory. Furthermore, both pivots are injured, Poti nursing a sore groin and Zubov out with a hip injury which has him sidelined until at least sometime into November.

If that wasn't enough add Viktor Kozlov, John Erskine and Donald Brashear to the list of Caps injuries, while noting the Stars are without the services of Steve Ott, Jere Lethinen and Doug Janik.

Suffice to say, both teams have gotten out to a sluggish start largely due to the holes in their line-up as they fail to ice a complete team.

Stars goaltender Marty Turco has not been able to get on track so far this year and limps in with a 3-4-1 record along with the third worst GAA (4.04) in the league. The only starter worse than him statistically is Martin Biron (4.50 GAA), who the Caps could not solve often enough last spring.

For Washington, their starting goalie has yet to be confirmed, but with back-to-back solid performances, I would give the nod to Jose Theodore. Theodore, like Turco, started off the season a tad bit rusty but is now beginning to regain his form from last year. Hopefully tonight the Capitals will be able to play well enough for him to earn his third win of the year.

Washington's song and dance this year has been the lack of consistency. Alexander Ovechkin has marked a quiet 4 points (2G, 2A) so far this year, and Swedish center Nicklas Backstrom has a measly two points (2A) this year, which puts him way off the pace of another 69 point campaign.

But also bare in mind that the Washington Capitals are historically a slow starting team, no matter what their expectations. Last year they were a feeble 6-14-1 before righting their ship en route to the Southeast Division Championship. Moreover, both Ovechkin and Backstrom had particularly slow starts to the year in 2007-08 as well, only to kick it in to high gear come the month of September, while Alexander Semin (6G, 5A and team leading scorer) was in and out of the line-up with an injured ankle.



Right now it's simply a case of players feeling sorry for themselves and squeezing the sticks too tightly. In their 2-1 loss to Phoenix on Thursday, the Capitals registered 31 shots on Michael Tellqvist in a losing effort. Most nights, 31 shots is good enough for three goals let alone one, but things will smooth themselves over in time.

If you are a fan of the Capitals, you have to believe that at some point, this team with gel and return to the form that dazzled fans last year. The key will be not to rehash last years struggles by repeating a 6-14-1 record through the first quarter of the season. As long as they are able to sit around .500, they will be in fine shape.

Hopefully, Boudreau can succeed where Hanlon failed.

In Bruce we trust.

Pre-Game Thoughts: 10/23/08 Washington Capitals at Phoenix Coyotes

Jose Theodore could not have played much better in a 2-1 loss to the Calgary Flames on Tuesday night.

Theodore stopped 26 of a possible 28 shots in a losing effort, as the Capitals fell to 3-2-1 on the season.

Tyler Sloan also played a gritty 9 minutes in the loss, laying the hit of the year (to date) on an unsuspecting Daymond Langkow midway through the first period. The hit ended up granting the Capitals a 9 minute power play as Rene Bourque racked up an astounding 19 minutes in penalties in trying to atone for his teammate.

Both will remain in the line-up for the Capitals Thursday night game in the desert against an up and coming Coyotes team.

After watching his power play go 0-4 on the power play, including a lack luster effort on a nine (yes NINE) minute power play, Coach Bruce Boudreau is stressing his players to get traffic in front of the opposing goalie to generate scoring chances on the man advantage. This will come as a relief, as those who follow the Caps feel they have been much too cute in trying to concoct masterful tic-tac-toe plays rather than just putting the puck on net. The Capitals rank 16th (5-32) in the league so far on the power play, which is somewhat of a disappointment considering the talent they bolster.

For the Coyotes, they will send Michael Tellqvist to oppose the Capitals. Tellqvist was a modest 9-8-2 last year with a 3.07 GAA.

Phoenix sits 25th overall in goals per game, averaging at only 2.43.
They are also 23rd in goals allowed per game at 3.40, which marks almost a full goal difference per game. The Coyotes have relied on the mentality of scoring by committee as Shane Doan, Olli Jokinen and Kyle Turris are their team leaders in points.

Washington will have to come out stronger than they did on Tuesday night, and also show more discipline as they took 10 penalties throughout their game with the Flames, including four 5 on 3 opportunities.

The last time that Alexander Ovechkin was in Phoenix was in his Calder Cup year (05-06) when he scored only what can be referred to as "the goal". We will see if Ovechkin can duplicate this feat in tonight's match as he desperately seeks to get his season on track.

Washignton Capitals Quick Hits 10/20/08

A couple quick hits before tonight's pre-game thoughts:

Tyler Sloan has been recalled by the Washington Capitals. Coach Bruce Boudreau plans on playing Sloan in tomorrow nights game in Calgary. Washington's line combos in practice today were as follows:

Ovechkin-Fedorov-Clark
Laich-Backstrom-Semin
Fleischmann-Nylander-Bradley
Brashear-Steckel-Fehr/Gordon

Morrisonn-Green
Sloan-Schultz
Erskine-Jurcina

Sloan, a native of Calgary, Alberta will suit up in his first ever NHL match, so it will be a great career milestone for the 27 year old defenseman. He played a handful of preseason games with the Caps back in September

Tom Poti will make the trip out west with the rest of his teammates, but will not play Tuesday as he is still nursing a sore groin.

The Hershey Bears recalled goaltender Michael Neuvirth, though he is not expected to play. It appears that he will in fact be loaned out to another AHL squad after all. Simeon Varlamov is also nursing a slight injury but should be fine.

Finally, the Washington Capitals signed goaltending prospect Braden Holtby today. From Tarik's blog:

"The Caps have signed goaltender Braden Holtby to a three-year entry level contract.

The 19-year-old fourth round draft pick (2008) is 6-3-0 this season for the WHL's Saskatoon Blades. He's also got a 2.23 goals against average and a .922 save percentage."

Pre-game thoughts on tomorrows game in Calgary will be loaded later tonight.

Caps scratch past Pens as injuries mount

Even the great Harry Houdini wouldn't have found his way out of the mess the Washington Capitals found themselves in last night.

Washington, who was in Pittsburgh to face the rivaled Pens, fell flat on their face early on as Pittsburgh took a commanding 3-0 lead early in the second period. Adam Gologoski, Evgeny Malkin and Petr Sykora all scored on the power play for the Pens who looked as though they were going to continue their domination of the series.

The Caps, however, had different ideas and stormed back to score four unanswered goals by Fleischmann, Semin, Nylander and Gordon. Jose Theodore had another rough start but finished strong stopping 23 shots in the 4-3 final.

Washington's penalty kill was "off" to say the least last night with only a 50% succession rate (3-6). So far this year they are 17-24 (70.8%) which puts them 25th in the league. They will have to be more successful on specialty teams in order to live up to their projections this season.

Adding to the bad news, the Capials lost defenseman Tom Poti early in the first period with what is being diagnosed as a groin injury. It is unclear how long he will be out of the line-up.

Poti now joins the likes of Viktor Kozlov and Donald Brashear who are also out with injuries. Brashear's status for tomorrow night in New Jersey has yet to be determined, while Kozlov is diagnosed as "week-to-week".

Washington called up winger Chris Bourque earlier today, meaning that Sergei Fedorov will be playing defense for their next match-up, while Bourque will fill in for Fedorov up front.

Brent Johnson will get the start in Saturday's game as coach Bruce Boudreau continues to flip between his two netminders.

So far the Capitals have looked the the cat with nine lives. Just when you think they can't possibly come back, the do; in stunning fashion. The question now becomes how long until they run out of magic in their bag of tricks?

Pre-Game Thoughts: 10/11/08 Washington Capitals vs Chicago Blackhawks

The atmosphere leading up to last nights game was tense, as all Caps fans fidgeted, intent on the puck drop to start the season. And in the span of a few hours, it was the equivalent to letting air out of a balloon. A depleted sinking feeling. Doom and gloom.

And for some, it is doom and gloom. This was a team who was expected to come out of the gates fast and strike it's opponents the same way a puma goes for the jugular of the defenseless gazelle. But last night that was not to be.

The Caps gave up three early goals; and, after clawing their way back to a 4-4 tie they blew up in the third, giving up three more goals for a 7-4 finale.

Mike Green and Alexander Semin both had impressive games, putting up 6 points and scoring 3 of the Capitals 4 goals.

Tonight, they take on a talented lineup, featuring the likes of fellow Winnipeger Jonathan Toews, last years Calder Cup winner Patrick Kane and newly acquired Brian Campbell on the blue line. The Blackhawks bolster a much deeper squad than the Thrashers do, so it will be important not to slip tonight.

There are 4.5 million reasons why Jose Theodore has to be more consistent in net. After a decent preseason, Theodore blew up last night allowing four goals over the span of two periods; a few of them being Olaf Kolzig specials (check dictionary under "softies") and was pulled for back-up Brent Johnson who didn't end up fairing much better.

Chicago will ice a dangerous powerplay unit, so it will be important for Washington to limit their trips to the box.

Defense will also have to buckle down as tonight they face a very agile, aggressive and speedy club. This won't bode well for the JURSKINE duo (a combination of Jurcina and Erskine), who are two of the slower defenders in the bunch. To some it may seem like I pick on them but food for thought:

In two AHL games, Karl Alzner has 3 assists and is a +2 rating. I know it is still early in the year but I'm sticking by my convictions that he should be up here and a shake up will be needed to do so.

But to the doom and gloomers, here's even more food for thought:

I unfortunately do not have the stats handy, but I can assuredly say that under the Bruce Boudreau reign (dating back to last November for people just joining the party) the Capitals have rarely lost in back to back contests.

Bruce will have these guys ready to go. In Bruce we trust.

Random Quick Hits, October 7, 2008

Nothing detailed today, just a few quick updates.

Check out the Capital Insider to view Tarik's interview with George McPhee. They talk a lot about the status of Karl Alzner and the decision to send him to Hershey.

Also be sure to head over to www.onfrozenblog.com to read this heart warming piece on Capitals fan Collin McKinney. Don't forget to catch Part II as well. Collin truly redefines the meaning of the word dedication.

And to leave on a humorous note, watch Washington coach Bruce Boudreau in his second ever acting performance (first being Slapshot!) This video will be sure to put a smile on your face!

Alzner, Bourque and Laing assigned to Hershey; Opening night rosters set.

Just a quick update today; Karl Alzner, Chris Bourque and Quintin Laing were all sent to Hershey today, cutting the Capitals roster to 23 players. You can read more about it in Tarik's blog, but I will post a few excerpts of Bruce Boudreau's comments on the situation.

"They were the toughest cuts I've ever had to make. Because they did everything they could. It's just not in the cards right now, for whatever reason. We know they are going to play games for us."

"One of things we thought was Mike Green started down there [Hershey] and Jeff Schultz started down there and we didn't rush either one of them. We felt the same with Karl. He can develop playing 25, 27 minutes a night [for the Bears] and we know he'll be better for it. We believe he's going to have a great NHL future. But right now, at the start of the NHL season, it wasn't in the cards."

"I don't think anyone was shocked. They were all very professional. Chris said he did everything he could to make this team. He will play for the Washington Capitals. Karl Alzner did everything he could."

"Quintin, he was so proud to be a Washington Capital, he probably took it the hardest."

Here is how the roster will look for Opening Night in Atlanta.

Forwards
#  Player             Height  Weight  DOB           Age  Birthplace
19  Nicklas Backstrom 6' 0"   183     Nov 23, 1987  20   Gavle, SWE
10  Matt Bradley      6' 3"   201     Jun 13, 1978  30   Stittsville, ON, CAN
87  Donald Brashear   6' 3"   234     Jan 7, 1972   36   Bedford, IN, USA
17  Chris Clark(C)    6' 0"   196     Mar 8, 1976   32   South Windsor, CT, USA
91  Sergei Fedorov(A) 6' 2"   207     Dec 13, 1969  38   Pskov, RUS
14  Eric Fehr         6' 4"   212     Sep 7, 1985   23   Winkler, MB, CAN
14  Tomas Fleischmann 6' 1"   190     May 16, 1984  24   Koprivnice, CZE
15  Boyd Gordon       6' 0"   201     Oct 19, 1983  24   Unity, SK, CAN
25  Viktor Kozlov     6' 4"   232     Feb 14, 1975  33   Togliatti, RUS
21  Brooks Laich      6' 2"   210     Jun 23, 1983  25   Wawota, SK, CAN
92  Michael Nylander  6' 1"   195     Oct 3, 1972   36   Stockholm, SWE
8   Alex Ovechkin(A)  6' 2"   220     Sep 17, 1985  23   Moscow, RUS
28  Alexander Semin   6' 2"   205     Mar 3, 1984   24   Krasnojarsk, RUS
39  David Steckel     6' 5"   222     Mar 15, 1982  26   Milwaukee, WI, USA

Defensemen
#  Player             Height  Weight  DOB           Age  Birthplace
4   John Erskine      6' 4"   216     Jun 26, 1980  28   Kingston, ON, CAN
52  Mike Green        6' 2"   208     Oct 12, 1985  22   Calgary, AB, CAN
23  Milan Jurcina     6' 4"   233     Jun 7, 1983   25   Liptovsky, SVK
26  Shaone Morrisonn  6' 4"   210     Dec 23, 1982  25   Vancouver, BC, CAN
2   Brian Pothier     6' 0"   200     Apr 15, 1977  31   New Bedford, MA, USA
3   Tom Poti          6' 3"   210     Mar 22, 1977  31   Worcester, MA, USA
55  Jeff Schultz      6' 6"   221     Feb 25, 1986  22   Calgary, AB, CAN

Goalies
#  Player             Height  Weight  DOB           Age  Birthplace
1   Brent Johnson     6' 3"   199     Mar 12, 1977  31   Farmington, MI, USA
60  Jose Theodore     5' 11"  182     Sep 13, 1976  32   Laval, QC, CAN

Quick Hits - Weekly Edition No. 1.

The following is a list of news and notes for the Washington Capitals organization from Septebmer 26 to October 3.

Capitals prospect Joel Broda (selected 5th round, 144th overall in 2008 draft) has been named CHL Player of the Week. In 4 games this year, Broda has tallied 6 goals and 2 assists, putting him fourth overall in WHL scoring. The Moose Jaw Warriors center was one of the standouts at Rookie Camp only a month ago and hopes to continue making strides towards his professional career.

Sergei Fedorov will be playing defense in tonight's preseason game against Philadelphia, and will be paired up with 6'5'' Jeff Schultz. Don't read too much into the scenario as Bruce Boudreau says it's just an experiment. "If Sergei can play defense, we wanted him to get some sort of an idea of how we play on defense," the coach said. "Nothing more than that. We might try him on defense for [today's] game, just to get him a feel for it in case he has to go back there someday. I was just thinking outside the box."

Goaltender Simeon Varlamov and defenseman Sami Lepisto were part of the latest batch of players to be assigned to Hershey to start the year. Omitted from the list were winger Chris Bourque and defenseman Karl Alzner who continue to try to crack the opening night roster. Bourque will play on a line with Alexander Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom tonight -- a spot I previously thought was reserved for Eric Fehr. If Bourque is able to have a solid game tonight he could very well make the roster. As for Alzner, he will again be paired up with Tom Poti, which could foreshaddow that they will start the season together.

Regina Pats Brett Leffler suffered a concussion last Saturday's game, as the Pats lost 3-2 to Prince Albert in a shootout. Leffler will be out of the line up for atleast a full week while trainers diagnose the severity of his injury. He was selected by Washington in the 5th round of the 2007 Entry Draft.

The Hershey Bears defeated the Norfolk Admirals 5-4 in their first AHL preseason match up. Michael Dubuc scored twice, while Francois Bouchard and Ben Boudreau each potted a goal in the win. The moment was extra special for Boudreau, son of Washington Capitals head coach Bruce Boudreau, who scored his first ever professional goal with his father in attendence. The Bears will open their season September 8 in Wikles-Barre Scranton.