Preseason

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13 Days Out: The Sartorial Brilliance of Joseph Edward Beninati
joe B

Last night’s Baltimore Hockey Classic was fun. Alex Ovechkin shattered glass just by looking at it, Braden Holtby chillaxed, and decapod crustaceans of the infraorder Brachyura attacked the ice. But the big treat for me– aside from, ya know, Caps hockey– was the return of Joe B’s suits.

As the world’s foremost academician on the topic of Joe Beninati’s gameday clothing, Tuesday night was like discovering an ancient tome of heretofore unknown wisdom. And to think: we’ve got like 80 more of these on the way.

By Peter Hassett 10 years ago

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14 Days Out: Grabovski!
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After a bit of a delay securing a work visa, presumptive second-line center Mikhail Grabovski has finally joined the Capitals in Arlington. If you’re looking for a reason to get excited about the Caps in 2013-14,  he’s a good place to start.

Get this: he’s a forward from the former Soviet Union. He dipped out on his first team when he wasn’t having fun. He drives puck possession like a maniac. He’s blamed for poor playoff performance. He’s basically Alex Semin 2.0.

We’ve already been through the ringer with the guy. We wanted him badly at 2C in July, though we didn’t think it would happen. Then, it happened, and there was much rejoicing. Then we rambled on about how big of an upgrade he was (and we agreed it is “Grabo” with one B.) Then some folks did the “rah rah Ribeiro” thing, and we were having none of it. Then we took a guy to task for improper use of #fancystats. Then we learned Grabo had a no-trade clause. Then human rain cloud Neil Greenberg said Grabo was bueno, and we knew it was legit.

George McPhee did good.

By Peter Hassett 10 years ago

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Joel Rechlicz Scores Shootout Goal– No, Really
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Artists’ rendition by Peter H. Age 29. (Click to embiggen)

Joel Rechlicz has played 26 games at the NHL level and come away with a career total of one point: an assist. He’s not now nor has he ever been a goal scorer. Which explains the reaction of Caps radio man John Walton when Rechlicz was tapped to take the fourth shootout attempt of Monday’s exhibition game against the Philadelphia Flyers.

“Oh my goodness.”

 

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By Peter Hassett 10 years ago

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15 Days Out: Coach Swap!
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As one of the few competent Canadian teams in the NHL, the Vancouver Canucks have been watched with rapt attention the last few years. Coach Alain Vigneault had optimized the Sedin twins as much as possible to squeeze every last creepy-twin point out of ’em, but still the team repeatedly disappointed in the playoffs.

Meanwhile, in New York, John Tortorella encouraged an egalitarian, block-all-of-the-pucks philosophy that yielded decent results. But after four and a half seasons without a Cup (page me when you hit 38), “decent” results weren’t enough, and Torts’ caustic media persona was no longer welcome in Manhattan.

So they swapped! Tortorella is the new coach of the Vancouver Canucks, and Alain Vigneault is the new coach of the New York Rangers. The personality stories alone would make the move worth it, but this season should also bring us some new data about how coaching does or does not drive a team’s performance. Personally, I think NYR got the far better side of the deal.

Plus, Torts is now like 3 time zones away. Water-bottle squirting yutz.

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By Peter Hassett 10 years ago

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Stan Galiev’s Breakout Game
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Photo credit: Sean Kilpatrick

Washington Capitals prospect Stan Galiev entered last season as a high-rated prospect, a talented Russian forward with lots of promise. After winning multiple championships with the St. John Sea Dogs and dominating the QMJHL, Galiev was rated #29 on Hockey Prospectus Top 100 Prospects list for the 2012-13 season.

Unfortunately, when Galiev first played for the American Hockey League’s Hershey Bears, he looked lost at times. He struggled on defense, not surprising considering how easy things came for him in juniors. The game was just a little bit too quick for him.

Galiev, however, finished on an upswing after a demotion to the ECHL’s Reading Royals, scoring 47 points in 46 games (including this sick goal). He also scored 11 points in 13 playoff games to help Reading win the 2012-13 championship. Over the summer, Galiev trained with renowned fitness guru Steve Saunders in Amish country along with Dmitry Orlov and Semyon Varlamov. Instead of sulking, a determined Galiev worked even harder.

Because of that hard work, Galiev was arguably the team’s best player in Washington’s first preseason game of the year Saturday. Less than one week into training camp, Galiev might have turned a corner in his development.

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By Ian Oland 10 years ago

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16 Days Out: The Honeymoon is Over in Pittsburgh
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Our friends at the Pensblog wrote an interesting item last week about how the five-year post-championship grace period is already over for their Penguins. If that’s true, it’s gonna be an interesting season for Pittsburgh, as we find out exactly how traumatized that team has become following two epic flameouts in the postseason. It’ll be like a funhouse mirror for Caps fans.

Marc-Andre Fleury had an .883 save percentage in last season’s playoffs and has not peeked above .900 since 08-09. The team chose to bone up its roster at the trade deadline by getting older and slower. Dan Bylsma, all of a sudden on the hot seat, received from Ray Shero a vote of support slash kiss of death. The team fared very poorly when Crosby and Malkin were off the ice, and those marquee players– now 26 and 27– are nearing inevitable declines as they enter their late 20s.

This isn’t me saying the Pens are doomed– they’re not the Maple Leafs or anything. They’re just gonna be a fun team to watch as they work their way through the kind of issues that can derail a team. Then again, maybe Beau Bennett will put up 30 goals and everything will be hunky dory.

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By Peter Hassett 10 years ago

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17 Days Out: Bailamos!

“Bailamos” is about to begin its third season as our official goal celebration song. Let the ruythtyrhthnmn take you over. First person to put this video in the comments of each winning game recap is an extra special person.

By Peter Hassett 10 years ago

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18 Days Out: Hey, Don’t Make Plans for Fridays
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Happy Friday, people. Enjoy it, ’cause for the next few months, your Fridays belong to Uncle Ted’s team.

In November, December, and January, you will have precisely one Friday free each month. You will use it to do Important Things like watch Point Break on Netflix, cook brownies for yourself for discernible reason, and perform a double-blind cohort study to determine if there’s any meaningful difference in the taste between Coors Light, Miller Lite, and Bud Light (hypothesis: there is not).

But then it’s back to the salt mines, where you will be required to watch Friday night hockey on 14 different occasions. The good news is we’ll be here with you, not meeting strange women, not playing fooesball at a dive bar while listening to 12 Play, and not playing laser tag with 14-year-olds at the mall.

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By Peter Hassett 10 years ago

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19 Days Out: Steve Oleksy vs Jack Hillen in a 4D Battle
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Photo: The great Clydeorama

The Capitals are stocked with three excellent defenders in John Carlson, Karl Alzner, and Mike Green. Each brings something to the veritable table: Carlson has an offensive upside, Mike Green is a power play maestro, and the stay-at-home Karl Alzner is threatening to crack a 2.5% shooting percentage any day now.

You can pair those three any way you want, but it is still unclear who else among the other Caps D-men is up to the job of playing in the top four. Here’s a lovely chart  from Greg Sinclair that illustrate’s how Caps D were used and how they performed last season:

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By Peter Hassett 10 years ago

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20 Days Out: Must Have Brouwer’s Power
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I’m not trying to make this series coincide with jersey numbers, but when the Rangers call upon you ya gotta step up.

Troy Brouwer had an excellent 2012-13 season. He improved his 2011-12 goal total by one despite playing 35 fewer games. But he did so by scoring on 7 of the 28 shots he took while on the brower play, a feat I don’t expect him to repeat in 13-14. That doesn’t mean we should sleep on Troy B though; in fact, he will be a crucial factor in the team’s success this season.

I expect Brouwer to be paired with Mikhail Grabovski and Martin Erat, two players known for being stout on tough defensive assignments and driving play in the offensive zone. Brouwer will be expected to be the line’s finisher, a pretty cozy job if you can find the work. His well-above-average 14% shooting percentage should serve him well on the second line, but the secret will be to shoot like a maniac.

We know he’s got the set-up men; we know he’s got the skill; now Brouwer has to become the kanooblian force at even-strength we’ve always hoped he’d be. If Brouwer crashes the net and takes — let’s say– 7+ shots for every 60 minutes he’s on the ice, the Capitals will have two deadly scoring lines. But if Brouwer won’t shoot or if his lofty shooting percentage drops, the second line will be inert, allowing opponents to focus on shutting down Ovechkin and the top line instead.

That’s a lot riding on Brou-Brou.

By Peter Hassett 10 years ago

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