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NHL Trade Deadline Open Thread: The Caps Did What?


Who knows what thoughts lurk behind those steely, impassive eyes… (Photo credit: Nick Wass)

This weekend has been quiet. Too quiet. Trade deadline is 3 PM today, so expect a great deal to go down before then. Here’s where you can come to get the all updates relevant to the Caps! Buckle up, folks, because here we go.

This post will be updated throughout the day. Freak out, stress, and speculate wildly in the comments below!

If you submitted a guess for the Trade Deadline Pick ‘Em contest, stay tuned! Whoever guesses closest to the time of the first Caps move will win some cool stuff.

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On February 27, 2012  0 Comment
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RMNB’s 2012 Trade Deadline Contest

These could be yours!

Update: Congratulations to Alan Campbell who correctly guessed “No trades.” Thanks to everyone who participated. That was fun, minus the whole nobody getting traded to our team part.

Original Post: With the trade deadline rapidly approaching, we wanted to once again try to put a little fun into the most stressful day of the hockey year. Here’s the deal. You guess the time (without going over) on when the Caps make their first trade of the day on our Facebook Fan Page (i.e. 11:22 AM) and if you are the first person to get the time right or are the closest without going over, you win this signed Mike Knuble “Be A Player” Rookie Card, a game-used Mike Green jersey card, and a game-used Alex Semin jersey card (pictured to the right).

You have until either 10 AM EST to submit your picks, or when GMGM makes his first move, whichever comes first.

Fine print: You must like our Facebook Fan Page and follow us on Twitter (@RussianMachine) to win. There will be only one – I repeat – one winner. If you pick the same time as someone else, the person who guessed the time earlier will win. You may pick “none” (as in “no trades”), but you must be the first person to guess it to win. Also, keep in mind that the trade deadline is Monday at 3pm, and many trades will be reported after that time as they come in. Finally, we will use the first media member to tweet the deal as the official trade announcement time.

By Ian Oland On February 27, 2012  0 Comment
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Capitals During Wartime: Knuble’s Sunset and Vokoun’s Choice

[Ed. note: Capitals During Wartime has illuminated struggles in Washington leading up to the trade deadline. Read previous installments: Centerless, Road-weary, Negativity, Bruce vs. Dale, and Trending topics.]

By this time Monday, Capitals general manager George McPhee will have already made whatever moves he has deemed wise for the future of his club. With all the prognostication and educated guessing about trade scenarios going around, I have decided not to add any noise to an already muffled signal.

Instead, we conclude this series with a look at two Capitals players who will loom large on Monday in one way or another. Those players are Mike Knuble and Tomas Vokoun.

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By Peter Hassett On February 26, 2012  0 Comment
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Tic-Tac-Toe: Reviewing Keith Aucoin’s Goal Against the Leafs
Keith Aucoin goal

Photo credit: Graig Abel

Saturday night, during the Capitals’ 4-2 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs, future AHL hall-of-famer Keith Aucoin scored his first NHL goal of the season, and his first since October 24, 2009. For those who are counting, that’s 854 days.

“It’s been about two years now, I think, since I last scored a goal,” Aucoin said with a smile to The Washington Times’ Stephen Whyno. “It’s only been 10, 11 games, but it feels like forever, and it was nice to finally get one and help the team win.”

General Manager George McPhee, clearly unimpressed by his feat (or more likely saving cap space ahead of tomorrow’s trade deadline), sent Aucoin back down to Hershey early this morning.

Coiner’s goal was so pretty, it deserves a closer look. Let’s set the scene. After going down 2-0 to the Caps within the first five minutes and then 3-0 by the second period, the Leafs were left scrambling to climb out of a hole. The play starts at 5:13, with the Caps in possession of the puck in their own zone.

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By Ian Oland On February 26, 2012  0 Comment
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Video: Michal Neuvirth Robs Gunnarsson, Save of the Year Candidate

Photo credit: Nathan Denette

During the second period of the Capitals-Leafs game, Michal Neuvirth denied Toronto’s Carl Gunnarsson with a flashy glove save that deserves a spot on this week’s highlight reel. Video is below the jump.

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By Ian Oland On February 25, 2012  0 Comment
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A Good Weekend: Caps beat Leafs 4-2

Photo credit: Graig Abel

Not a bad way to go out. The Washington Capitals’ domination of the Toronto Maple Leafs was likely the last we’ll see from this version of the team. Knowing this, the Caps busted out all their greatest hits from the last few years. Let’s review!

Marcus Johansson wrapped around Reimer’s net for an unchallenged goal in the first minute. Alex Semin fought off Luke Schenn and scored five-hole. Jeff Halpern took two whacks and hit top shelf. Keith Aucoin finished a bang-bang sequence from Johansson and Ovechkin to make it 4-0.

Colby Armstrong cracked the shutout with a wristshot early in the third period. Tim Connolly got a greasy one on a power play to make it interesting, but they ran out of time. Caps beat Leafs 4-2.

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By Peter Hassett On February 25, 2012  0 Comment
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Evgeny Kuznetsov Travels to Germany to Have Knee Examined

Friday night in Chelyabinsk, Caps prospect Evgeny Kuznetsov suffered what appeared to be a nasty knee injury in Traktor’s 2-1 win over Spartak. Kuznetsov, who can be seen writhing in pain for several minutes, was stretchered off the ice and immediately taken to the hospital.

While many news organizations in Russia speculated that the 19-year-old had torn ligaments in his knee, an MRI was conducted and Traktor’s official team website claimed that the test came back negative. It also said that their star player should be good to go for the KHL playoffs, which begin next week.

Now it appears Kuznetsov is seeking a second opinion.

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By Ian Oland On February 25, 2012  0 Comment
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RMNB Week in Review: The Week From Hell


Photo credit: Patrick McDermott

This is probably not a week that you want to remember in great detail, things didn’t go, uh — exactly as planned, but don’t worry, we’ll whip right through this quickly and painlessly and move along, there’s another game tonight, so there’s no time for moping. The Caps went 1-3-0 this week with losses against the Lightning, the Canes, and the Sens. Sad trombone. And just because a TSN commentator chose to utter the words “How could things get worse for the Washington Capitals?”, Alex Ovechkin also suffered a lower-body injury, didn’t participate in multiple team skates, and missed the game in Ottawa. Despite all this, the week did end on a good note when Ovechkin caught the Brooks Laich fever and unexpectedly declared himself ready to go, and then promptly scored against Montreal in a game that the Caps won. It’s a huge relief that it ended well, but I think most of us are just glad this week is over.

Elsewhere in the NHL, lots of other people were having bad weeks too. The day after it was revealed that his “upper-body injury” was probably a concussion, Jonathan Toews crashed his car into a pole, Pavel Datsyuk had knee surgery that will put him out for two to three weeks, Vincent Lecavalier is out indefinitely with an upper-body injury, and the Maple Leafs goalie tandem is testing their franchise’s patience, Jeff Carter, on the other hand, had probably about the best week that he’s had in nine months as he was traded out of Columbus to the LA Kings, which is good news for him because it’s probably exhausting to keep up a sulk for that long.

In case you were wondering the most important question, though — how does everything in the world apply to the Washington Capitals? — we’ll break it down for you after the jump.

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On February 25, 2012  0 Comment
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It’s Good to Be Home: Caps beat Habs 4-1

Photo credit: Mitchel Layton

Friday night’s meeting between the Washington Capitals and Montreal Canadiens was an exciting one. The only thing that muddled the joy is that funny feeling that this may be one of the last times we see this version of the team play..

Mathieu Perreault got on the board by redirecting a Jason Chimera pass along the crease that Tomas Kaberle deemed not worth his time. Jason Chimera took the puck for an 80-foot stroll, pushing Carey Price into the net along with the puck. 16 seconds later, Marcus Johansson dropped a pass to Dmitry Orlov, who set up Alex Ovechkin waiting in the circle for a one-timer. That shot found the back of the net, giving the Caps a solid 3-0 lead going into the third.

Rene Bourque ended the shut out (actually 260 minutes and 4 seconds long) with a shorthanded goal. Joel Ward got the empty netter, and that was that. Caps beat Habs 4-1.

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By Peter Hassett On February 24, 2012  0 Comment
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Evgeny Kuznetsov Suffers Apparent Knee Injury, Stretchered Off Ice (Updated)

Update 1:50pm: Traktor’s website says Kuznetsov should only miss a week’s worth of time and will be ready to play in the KHL’s Gagarin Cup playoffs on March 1st.

In the final minutes of Traktor’s 2-1 win over Spartak, Caps prospect Evgeny Kuznetsov was checked by defender Andre Benoit near the corner boards. According to Soviet Sport’s Pavel Lysenkov, Kuznetsov was badly injured on the play. He “fell down, was yelling, slamming hands against the ice, and was in terrible pain.”

The 19-year-old KHL superstar was then stretchered off and taken to a hospital for a MRI.

After the game, Traktor coach Valeri Belousov told the media that Kuznetsov may be done for the year.

Video of the hit that caused Kuzya’s injury can be seen below the jump.

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By Ian Oland On February 24, 2012  0 Comment
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