John Erskine

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Armchair GM: Fiddling with the Roster
Marcus Johansson looks great in a Bears Uniform.

The Capitals’ awful, awful, very bad, no good week came to an unexpectedly pleasant finish on Saturday night. Alex Semin’s hat trick and Tomas Fleischmann’s OTGWGFTW capped off a miserable stint for the team.  Two deflating losses to the Bruins provide an excellent case study in the Caps’ problems: aside from a soaring PK squad and a competent netminder, the Caps are struggling.

That’s why we assembled the Russian Machine Brain Trust, formed to fight the foes no single hero could withstand. We put on our tweedy jackets, pack our pipes full of snuff, put some Mingus on the hifi, and did some armchair GMing. What follows is our panicked odyssey through the Capitals roster, our premature prognostications, our malevolent molestations, and one cheap crack about John Erskine’s facial hair.

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By 13 years ago

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Caps Scoring Chances thru Oct 16, 2010
jeff-schultz-slapshot

Photo Credit: Elsa/Getty Images

With five games in the books, I survived my first week of logging scoring chances, including DVRing the game Saturday night and catching up Sunday. If you haven’t read it already, my first post explains what I consider a scoring chance. As always, you can see this spreadsheet on Google Docs where I update them every week.

The Caps are getting their money’s worth for Jeff Schultz, who hasn’t had a goal against yet – and that includes leading the Caps in PK minutes with only allwoing a paltry three scoring chances against a man down. When he signed the contract extension this summer, I wrote Schultz could be “one of the NHL’s best bargains two to four years from now. If not sooner.” So far, so good.

On the flipside we have John Erskine, who is the only Capital with a negative scoring chance differential in double digits. Put another way, the Caps give the opposition 2.5 more scoring chances for every 15 minutes Erskine is on the ice. Some of this can be explained because he is being used mostly in the defensive zone as Coach Bodreau’s shutdown blueliner. When John Carlson, the other half of this new shutdown pair is only a minus 2, what explains the rest of it?

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By 13 years ago

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This or That: Tiger Woods or Phil Mickelson?

Here was our favorite response.

Oh God, someone get me out of here.

Have any of you ever wanted to watch some of your favorite NHL players sweat it out on camera? Well if you have, then this “This or That” segment produced by Caps365 is for you. Almost the entire Caps roster is asked a simple question: Tiger Woods or Phil Mickelson? However, for some, this becomes a question of: Does dominance on the playing field trump who you are as a person?

The responses are hilarious. A few of the guys respond in complete defiance (Varly), some blush (Alzner) and some respond in uncomfortable laughter (Laich).

So who would you choose: Tiger or Phil? Whose answer did you like the best? And what is John Erskine so happy about?

By Ian Oland 13 years ago

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Caps Scoring Chances: Week 1
Marcus Johansson

Readers of the blog know I put a lot of stock into numbers to help put context around which players are performing and which aren’t. Corsi is one of my favorites because it is a good proxy for territorial possession in a game.  To get a player’s Corsi rating, simply add up all the goals, shots on goal, missed shots and blocked shots of that player- both for and against- when he is on the ice. If it is positive, that player helps create scoring chances, and if it is negative – well, the opposite happens. Or, simply go to Behind the Net, and let them do the work for you.

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By 13 years ago

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Narrowly Escaping Defeat, Caps beat Sens 3-2 (OT)
Alex Ovechkin scores the OT Game-Winner Against the Sens. Verizon Center Erupts in Joy.

Your new desktop background: Ovi’s  OTGWG. Click to enlarge. (Photo credit: Greg Fiume)

Well, you could argue that the Washington Capitals did not deserve tonight’s win over the Ottawa Senators. You’d probably be right. If not for the superdeluxe hockey of the Great Eight, the Senators would take a matching pair of points with them as they leave D.C.  Despite a dominating performance for the entire game, the Senators trailed 2-1 until Ryan Shannon‘s beautiful wrister beat Michal Neuvirth. But it was Alex Ovechkin who, in overtime, displayed some future highlight reel material to beat Chris Phillips and Pascal LeClaire for the game winner. Mocking expectation, the Caps picked up the win, and they’ve also got a ton of new injuries to show for it. Oh well. Caps beat Sens 3-2!

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By Peter Hassett 13 years ago

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Me Laich-y! Caps Beat Bruins 3-2 OT.
Me Laich-y. Brooks Laich Scores The Game Winner in Overtime. Caps Beat Bruins 3-2.
Weird bounces, Long goal reviews & Floating Pucks. What a fun night. (Photos by Nick Wass)

Weird bounces, Long goal reviews & Floating Pucks. What a fun night. (Photos by Nick Wass)

Funny isn’t it that the Capitals and Bruins will meet twice in the last week of the regular season before playing one another in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. If tonight’s game sets a precedence for next week, we’re due for some entertaining hockey.

Tonight’s victory over Boston saw goals from fan favorites Nicky Backstrom, Mike Knuble and Books Laich, who secured the overtime gamewinner. Despite the everpresent physicality of Zdeno Chara’s bleeding nose and the dynamism of Patrice Bergeron, the Caps emerged victorious. Three games or bust.

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By Peter Hassett 14 years ago

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Captain America Scores! Canes Beat Caps 3-2 (SO).
John Carlson Scores His First Career NHL Goal against the Carolina Hurricanes
Legace's Oscar Worthy Performance Sends Ovechkin to the Box For Goalie Interference. (Photos by Gerry Broome)

Legace's Oscar Worthy Performance Sends Ovechkin to the Box For Goalie Interference. (Photos by Gerry Broome)

Sorry, we thought the photo should be extra big tonight. The Washington Capitals took too long to suit up for tonight’s appointment with the Carolina Hurricanes. A sleepy first period left the boys from Chinatown with a two-point deficit. The Caps woke up and delivered captivating hockey for the rest of regulation and overtime, but it wasn’t enough to best their division rivals.

For the second time in as many nights, the Capitals could not seal the deal in an hour of regulation hockey or the five bonus minutes. But unlike last night, the Russian Alexes did not go 2 for 2, and Bruce Boudreau’s hunch did not pay off. When Mike Green‘s shot sailed high over the Carolina net, it was game over. Despite their best efforts the Caps fall to the Canes 3-2 in the shootout.

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By Peter Hassett 14 years ago

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Caps Beat Thrashers 5-2! Number 13, Baby!

Ovechkin Scores League Leading Goal Number 39 Against The Trashers

John Erskine Rocks Chris Thorburn's World (AP Photo/Nick Wass) (Top: Mitchell Layton/NHLI via Getty Images)

John Erskine Rocks Chris Thorburn's World (AP Photo/Nick Wass) (Top: Mitchell Layton/NHLI via Getty Images)


Greetings from Arctic Frederick, Maryland. From deep within our carbon-neutral geodesic dome, the RMNB staff watched tonight’s date with Atlanta Thrashers with a subdued passion. Sure, the Thrashers are fighting for a playoff spot, but they also just lost superstar Ilya Kovalchuk in a radical trade to the Devils. So while this game didn’t have the same drama as others lately, it did present a degree of mystery.

Mystery solved. The Caps turned in an even performance for two periods before heating up in the third. Your standard goal scorers Ovie and Backy were joined by Jason Chimera, Mike Green, and even the bipolar Alexander Semin on the scoreboard tonight. Netminder little Mikey Neuvirth turned in an A+ effort to keep the Thrashers to two. Even John Erskine had a great night, making hay out of Chris Thorburn’s brainpan. And if you’re paying attention, you’ll notice that the Caps scored five goals again, ensuring free wings from Glory Days for the 10th time. Now all the ticketholders have to do is survive the epic snowstorm hovering over the tri-state area.

Instead of teasing the bullet points, here’s a secret: blogatrician Ian Oland has a crush on CSN’s Lisa Hillary.

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By Peter Hassett 14 years ago

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Russian Machine Sometimes Breaks: Your Awfully Frequent Caps Injury Update
The Washington Capitals suit up to play the Philadelpha Flyers today at Verizon Center.  And wouldn’t you just know it?  We’ve got some injuries.
  • John Erskine is still out with an upper-body injury. Erskine (pictured below) hasn’t played since the Thrashers game on the 9th. Johnny hasn’t been a bit off since around Christmas, so we’re hoping this rest will give him a chance to recharge his batteries.
    John Erskine and his flesh-colored hair are out tonight.

    John Erskine and his flesh-colored hair are out tonight.

  • Brian Pothier didn’t skate at yesterday’s practice at Kettler, so we suspect he’ll be out again tonight.  Pothier sustained a rib injury during the Panthers game earlier this week. That leaves us with two D-men missing in the line-up.
  • So here comes Captain America himself: John Carlson. The star of the WJC had a pretty good game (2 shots) against the Leafs on Friday, and he’ll probably play tonight. Does anyone else get the feeling we’re looking at the future of the franchise?
  • Hershey Bear Karl Alzner will probably rejoin the Caps next week, but until then we’ll probably have to make do with Tyler Sloan on a D-pairing. After that, Tyler can get back to earning a massive paycheck for doing pretty much nothing.
  • Russian machine Alexander Semin was a gametime decision on Friday night. While his wrist continues to bug him, he got the clean bill of health and snatched up two points. He’ll probably be on the ice tonight, and he’ll certainly get a hat trick.  He’s due.
  • Wednesday’s pugilists, Shaone Morrisonn and Jason Chimera, sustained no injuries from their (totally awesome) fights. Chimera came to the defense of a battered John Carlson at the end of the Leafs game and could have faced suspension for an instigator penalty in the last five minutes. The white wizards of the north in Toronto decided that this wasn’t a case of thuggery and message-sending, and will not be enforcing that suspension. Chimera will be playing tonight.
  • Finally, Semyon Varlamov remains on the mend, nursing an MCL sprain. We’d love to see him by Thursday’s Pens game, but we’ll probably have to wait until next weekend. At least he won’t have to hang himself.

This afternoon’s matinee begins at 3 PM. The Philadelpha Flyers continue to be a team in crisis, but I wouldn’t count them out. There’s something honorable in their struggle. Of all the Caps’ rivalries, the Flyers are the only team I WOULD pee on if they were on fire.

By Peter Hassett 14 years ago

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Do The Caps Need An Enforcer? Russian Machine Says Sorta

It’s a question that was posed on Capitals Insider last week and last time I checked 60% were against and 40% for it. Well call me Don Cherry but I happen to be part of the 40% who are still fans of “olde time” hockey.

To me, fighting is as much a part of the game as still calling jerseys “sweaters”. Fighting serves its purpose as a deterrent from dirty play as well as physical play against a team’s superstars.

The Washington Capitals have no deterrent right now. None. You can argue that their offensive prowess and efficiency on the Powerplay is the deterrent, and I would agree…but really for contending teams only. My worry is that later in the season, teams out of the hunt that may have a score to settle with the Caps, aren’t going to care too much about giving up a couple of meaningless goals in a game that they’re already completely out of. There will be quite a few more Mike Duco’s in the league at that point looking to make a name for themselves with their teams. I’m not in any way advocating taking an enforcer on the playoff roster, this is strictly a regular season move.

The enforcer is no different to me then a defensive specialist in basketball, they are quintessential role players. It’s because of this that we expect them to win every fight, its what they do…I’m still struggling with what Wade Belek did to Donald last year.

I guess part of me is also tired of losing as well, I respect Brads and Erskine for standing up when it’s needed, but it’s not really fair to them. Why should they have to consistently go against guys out of their weight class? I’m tired of seeing my team pushed around (and or terribly bloodied); I’d like to see Sugden get a shot.

Let’s take a look at some real world enforcer analogies.

  • Are you more inclined to push your luck at the bar if one of your friends used to be a college offensive lineman? Of course.
  • Do you know anyone who was beat up as a kid when everyone knew their older brother often times got suspended for fighting? Probably not.
  • Would you wear a Michael Crabtree jersey to an Eagles game in Philly with a stadium full of snow, if you were sitting next to Mr. T? Well, even if Mr. T was there, you still probably wouldn’t do something that stupid. But you get my point.

By Mark Randle

By 14 years ago

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