Spenser Smallwood

About Spenser Smallwood (@russianmachine)

Sizing up the Penguins: special teams

You may have read this before. In fact, one year ago, tomorrow, we published a very similar story. Some of the personnel has changed, but not much else. The Washington Capitals still use the 1-3-1 on the power play. The Pittsburgh Penguins still use the umbrella.

Not too much has varied on the PK as well. The Caps use a diamond/wedge, and the Pens use a similar diamond that can rotate into a box. Both rely on pressure. This will be the story of who executes and specifically how.

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By Spenser Smallwood 6 years ago

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Sizing up the Leafs: Special teams

The special teams battle between the Toronto Maple Leafs and Washington Capitals will be one to keep an eye on when the series commences on Thursday. Both power plays were dominant in the regular season, and both penalty kills finished the year in the top ten. An edge here is something the Leafs will need if they hope to knock off the Caps.

You will certainly recognize the Leafs power play as they use the same setup as the Caps, and their penalty kill may be familiar albeit one the Caps regularly see rather than employ. Let’s take a look.

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By Spenser Smallwood 6 years ago

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Capitals faceoff set plays and why they work

The Washington Capitals have been using faceoff set plays in the offensive zone to generate scoring chances this season. The key to these plays is adding new wrinkles, making them harder to read for the opposition.

The Caps’ most common faceoff play is the direct win to Alex Ovechkin for a shot, but the Caps have many others, some of which we will be focusing on here.

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By Spenser Smallwood 7 years ago

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Karl Alzner plays in 500th straight game with Caps, congratulated by Cal Ripken (Video)

By playing a shift in Friday’s matchup with the Chicago Blackhawks, Karl Alzner became the third defenseman since 1944 to play in 500-straight games. Considering how physical hockey is and how demanding an 82-game schedule can be, this is an impressive milestone. And the congratulations have been pouring in.

Baseball Hall of Famer and owner of the longest consecutive games streak, Cal Ripken, Jr., congratulated Karl in a tribute video made by the team.

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By Spenser Smallwood 7 years ago

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All of Nicklas Backstrom’s milestone assists (Video)

Nicklas Backstrom is without a doubt the best passer in franchise history. Yet it seems surprising that the unassuming Caps center is the third fastest active player (Sidney Crosby and Jaromir Jagr) and the second fastest Swede (Peter Forsberg) to 500 assists. With Backstrom reaching the threshold Saturday night, I took a closer look at all of Nicky’s milestone assists.

Let’s begin with his first.

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By Spenser Smallwood 7 years ago

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Report: The Capitals will not wear third jerseys next season

According to The Star Tribune’s Michael Russo, NHL teams will be ditching their alternate sweaters for the 2017-18 season, as Adidas takes over as the the NHL’s new official jersey outfitter from Reebok.

That means that the Caps will likely be waving goodbye to their current third-jersey throwbacks.

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By Spenser Smallwood 7 years ago

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Watch this polar bear mascot fall down repeatedly during a commercial shoot (Video)

Late last year, White Bear Mitsubishi (located in White Bear, Minnesota) set out to film a commercial featuring their polar bear mascot, a dealership representative, and the notorious Goldy Gopher. The shoot, set at University of Minnesota’s Mariucci Arena, is home to the locally popular Golden Gophers hockey team.

The concept was brilliant. Except when shooting began, a problem revealed itself immediately.

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By Spenser Smallwood 7 years ago

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2017 World Junior Championship review: Caps prospects shine and United States wins gold

This year’s iteration of the IIHF World Junior Championship featured three Capitals prospects and numerous wow moments on the way to the United States clawing their way to the gold medal on Thursday in Montreal. This years tournament will be remembered as having one of the best medal rounds in tournament history with three of the four games going to overtime and all four of the “big four” teams involved. Let’s look at the best moments for all those involved in this year’s tournament.

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By Spenser Smallwood 7 years ago

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Ilya Samsonov named best goalie of 2017 IIHF World Junior Championship by media

A few hours after stopping 38 shots while backstopping the Russians to the IIHF World Juniors bronze medal, Ilya Samsonov was named to the tournament All-Star team by the media.

Samsonov was arguably Russia’s most valuable player in the tournament.

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By Spenser Smallwood 7 years ago

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Travis Boyd scores tenth goal of the season in Bears’ 5-2 victory over the Phantoms

The Bears’ top four leading scorers (and Zach Sill) provided the goals in Hershey’s 5-2 win over the Lehigh Valley Phantoms on Monday. Reigning AHL player-of-the-week, Vitek Vanecek, made 23 saves in the win.

The Bears’ second leading scorer, Chris Bourque, got the Bears’ first goal, his 499th career point for Hershey. Travis Boyd, the team’s leading scorer, would put the Bears up less than a minute later. Next, Paul Carey would extend his point streak to 19 games on a deflection. Christian Thomas and Zach Sill finished the game off for the Bears with goals in the third.

Boyd now has 29 points in 29 games. The goal also marks his second straight double digit goal season in the AHL.

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By Spenser Smallwood 7 years ago

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About Spenser Smallwood (@russianmachine)