Thinks finally coming up "Fehr"

It took Eric Fehr only 33 seconds to wrist his 6th goal of the season past an unsuspecting Tomas Vokoun in last nights 3-1 win over the Florida Panthers. His latest tally has doubled his past two seasons in combined scoring, as he only put in 3 goals between the 2006-07 and 2007-08 seasons.

Fehr began his professional career with Washington's AHL affiliate in Hershey, where he scored 53 points in 73 games, as well as potting 11 points in 19 playoff games en route to Herhsey's 2005-06 Calder Cup Championship.

The following season, the 6'4" 212 lbs forward battled through injuries while putting up a point per game average for the Bears (41pts in 40 games and a ridiculous +20 rating).

However, last year put a halt to Eric's professional hockey career as he suffered from a hip problem which doctors could not treat as they were unable to find the source of the problem.

Fehr was shelved for the majority of the season when he finally met a specialist who concluded he suffered from a lower back injury which was causing the symptoms in his hip.

He was able to suit up for 34 games last year, splitting time between Hershey and Washington, with mild success. It was evident that he was still not in peak condition to be an every day NHL player.

This past off season, the Capitals resigned Fehr to a one year $735,000 deal, hoping that he could prove he was worth the 18th overall selection in the 2003 draft.

The signing seems to be paying off in spades, as Fehr is on pace for 25 point season, which is one shy of the 26 which fellow Capital Tomas Fleischmann registered in 2007-08.

The Winkler, Manitoba native has really turned on his game as of late, contributing 5 points in his past 5 games, while making good on his opportunity to return to the line-up after Chris Clark has been placed on IR for the remainder of the season.

Evidently, Eric's campaign won't match the point production he saw with Brandon of the WHL or his rookie season in Hershey, it is certainly a step in the right direction for the 23 year old winger.

He still projects as a top six forward in this organization, and with this being a contract year for Viktor Kozlov and Sergei Fedorov, it will be interesting to see if Fehr is given the opportunity to step into the role in which he was drafted.

As for now, at least Fehr can take solace in the fact that for the first time in three seasons, things finally seem to be coming up "Fehr".

Capitals shouldn't take Panthers lightly.

On Thursday night, Washington Capitals followers saw what can happen when you don't fully prepare for an opponent.

Multiple defensive breakdowns, a handful of breakaways and a 5-4 loss to the .500 Western Conference L.A. Kings.

And while tonight's opponent - the Florida Panthers - are a full 12 points behind the Capitals in the Southeast Division, it would behoove the Caps not to look past them as an easy victory.

In their last ten games, the Panthers are temped 6-2-2 and now sit alone in 8th position in the East.

The last time these southern felines made the playoffs? Get out the archives and look up the 1999-00 season when they lost in the first round to the New Jersey Devils (who wound up winning the Cup).

But this year, the Panthers seem poised to erase the demons of seasons past and have all the right tools to win the division still.

Sound familiar? Well it should. Last year at this point, the Capitals were 26-24-5 before going on their unconscionable streak that saw them win the division in their final regulation game. This year, the Panthers are well ahead of that mark with a 25-18-8 record and plenty of games against their division left to go.

To this point, Florida is 8-3-2 against teams in the Southeast and have only played the Caps in one of their six meetings this season (which they won 5-3).

Their youth movement is leading the charge offensively with Stephen Weiss, Jay Bouwmeester, Nathan Horton, David Booth and Michael Frolik leading the charge for the Cats.

As a plus, their young legs could prove quite the advantage once the grind of the final weeks of the season set in.

Washington's task tonight will be to silence the critics who say they aren't nearly successful enough against the NHL's second tier teams, and take the Panthers to task on home ice.

These divisional games could prove to be the difference come April, and if the Capitals don't wish to go the way of the Carolina Hurricanes of last year, it's best they take care of business starting tonight.