Caps Bear Down in 5-1 Win

The 2010 Calder Cup championship team seems to be the gift that keeps on giving.  Three representatives of the 2009-2010 Hershey Bears scored tonight in the Capitals’ 5-1 win over the New Jersey Devils: Andrew Gordon, Jay Beagle, and John Carlson (in that order).  At a time when the teams’ top players are dry on offense, it was a boost the Caps needed.

The youthful injection was visible from the start.  The Caps’ younger Gordon scored at 16:41 into the game, a game that had little momentum or intensity until that moment.  It was his first career NHL goal in his fifth career NHL game.

“It’s a weight lifted off my shoulders,” Gordon said, “I came here wanting to contribute and show I could do it up here.  I’ve had a couple of opportunities the last few games but finally got a nice one to squeak through on a great pass.”  Gordon later added an assist on Jason Chimera’s goal, recording the first multi-point NHL game of his career.  Chimera reached a milestone on the play too, notching his 200^th career point.

Beagle would be the next Bear to contribute.  His goal came almost halfway through the game, at the 10:01 mark of the second period.  It also felt good for Beagle to get a goal against Martin Brodeur, a player he grew up watching.  “Marty, you know, he’s an intimidating guy,” Beagle said, “I saw him in warm-up, and grew up watching him, and to score on him was obviously a great thing.”

Why Johansson Beats Perreault for NHL Spot

Perreault after scoring his first NHL goal

The debate between rookie Swede Marcus Johansson and his French Canadian counterpart Mathieu Perreault has been ongoing since training camp.  The battle between the two for the role as 2^nd line center on the Caps was a blast to watch, and when the decision was ultimately made to start Johansson with the big club there seemed to be more outrage from the fan base than cheers.

That is understandable, as the Washington Capitals organization is a tight-knit one, and most Caps fans are also Hershey Bears fans. They have watched Perreault develop and tear up the AHL, and when they see performances like Sunday’s 6 assist effort from 85, they feel attached and utterly confused that he is not playing in the NHL. It is a natural progression; and it is also wrong.

Hershey Bears Bonding (the Video)

As you all know from my previous post, I went to a Hershey Bears Calder Cup playoff game last May with my brother.  This is some of the video I shot from the trip.  I put it up on youtube a while ago but just realized I never posted it here. Enjoy a look into the love-hate relationship that is me and PFC Dowd!

And Then There Were Two

Entering training camp, the Caps had one center spot up for grabs. The candidates were youngsters Mathieu Perreault, Marcus Johansson, and Cody Eakin.  Eakin was a long shot from the beginning, but his play throughout camp kept him in the conversation.  That is, until he was sent back down to captain his junior team in Swift Current for the 2010-2011 season.

Eakin’s play impressed many over the last few weeks, and it didn’t go unnoticed by coaching staff.  The organization would probably love to have him in Hershey this season, but Eakin doesn’t meet the AHL’s minimum age requirement.  Looking down the road, don’t be surprised if he cracks the Caps lineup in the next two or three years, which is a pretty sweet deal for a 19 year-old.

Glimpse of the Future: Patrick Wey

To get us through these last couple of months until training camp, I will look at some of the lesser-known prospects in the organization who have unexpectedly impressed.  This will be called "Glimpse of the Future" and this will hopefully be the first of many I am able to do. Enjoy!

Patrick Wey let out a sigh of relief this morning when he was not among those who received the news they would be leaving Lake Placid, N.Y. and the United States National Junior Team Evaluation camp.  The Capitals’ fourth round (115^th overall) pick in the 2009 Draft is safe for now.

At last month’s development camp, Wey impressed.  His skills appear to be coming along, and the more time he gets playing with older, larger players at Boston College the more he will develop.  The 6’2 200lb physical yet well-rounded defenseman began his elite hockey career with the Waterloo Black Hawks of the United States Hockey League.  The Pittsburgh native moved to Iowa to play for the Black Hawks at the tender age of 12.

Went Camping...And Loved It

I feel the need to strengthen my firewall and put up the most indestructible online defenses I possibly can, for I fear the wrath of fellow life long, intense Caps fans. What I’m about to reveal is so blasphemous, so inexcusable, so shameful that some would probably believe it warrants permanent exile from the Washington Capitals community: I had never been to Kettler Capitals Iceplex (or Ballston Mall, for that matter) until last Tuesday.

Now before you all burn me at the stake because I can swim, remember I paid my fan dues during the lean years and even received my very own Joe Juneau blue away jersey as a Christmas present. I have a hockey stick with the signatures of the entire 1998 team. We used to have a ticket package of about 15 home games a year until 2003.  I wore 12 in every sport and on every team I played for Peter Bondra.  Have I won back your love and my credibility? Good.

What brought me to Kettler three times this week was the combination of live hockey deprivation, a fascination with 2009 first round draft pick Marcus Johansson, and a temporary glimpse into the future.  That’s right fans, it was Development Camp time.  I was familiar with a large portion of this year’s crop of campers, so I figured it was finally time to get in on the action and see what all the fuss was about.  And boy did I get it shoved in my face from Day 1.

Bears get the Capital Treatment

Last night, the Hershey Bears made AHL history yet again by setting the record for franchise Calder Cup Championships (which they also set last year at 10) at 11 when they beat the upstart Texas Stars 4-0. They took the series in sic games, lifting their 2^nd consecutive Cup on home ice. The Bears are the oldest and most storied franchise in the AHL, and being founded in 1938, they are older than all but the Original Six NHL teams. The Capitals are lucky to have such a winning team as their minor-league affiliate. The Bears are the only other team in sports that dominated their regular season as much as the Capitals did this past year, setting an AHL record 60 wins and a 24-game home winning streak.

Affiliation between NHL and AHL teams changes constantly, especially as AHL teams come and go. The Capitals have only been affiliated with the Bears since 2005 (their previous affiliation was Portland, where they sent many players to play during the lockout). However, this affiliation has taken on a whole new meaning for this franchise and it’s fans. I don’t know another organization in which the fans of the NHL team regularly attend games of their AHL affiliate. Caps fans follow Hershey almost as vigorously as they follow the Caps. It’s far from unusual to see Bears merchandise at Verizon Center. The fan base celebrates Bears championships more than most hockey fans celebrate their team’s Stanley Cup championships.

What makes this affiliation more significant from a hockey standpoint is that the two teams play the exact same system. They both play with a high-powered, quick-strike offense and encourage D-men to jump into the play. The Caps’ core players have been drafted by the organization and brought up through it. When they have a need, they first look within the organization to fill it. Mid-season call-ups don’t feel out of place because it is the same system they are used to playing. When the team needed a new coach in 2007, they called up Bruce Boudreau, then head coach of the Bears. He knew the system and knew most of the players—because he had coached them to a Calder Cup championship in 2006.

When they needed to fill an Assistant Coach position, they promoted then Bears head coach Bob Woods, and promoted his assistant Mark French to the head coaching job in Hershey. It is important for them to keep things within the Washington Capitals “family”. It has helped the development for prospects as well. When they come up to fill in the Caps line-up, they know the system, so it is one less thing to worry about.

There are several players on this year’s squad who appear just about ripe to join the big club next year out of camp. With the Caps possibly having to pay for a 2^nd line center, veteran stay at home defenseman, or maybe even a goaltender on the free agent market, they will be looking to fill in other holes as cheaply as possible. This spells a great opportunity for call-ups from the last couple of seasons to prove their worth at the NHL level. John Carlson and Karl Alzner have essentially been promised spots next year by both Boudreau and George McPhee. Mathieu Perreault and Chris Bourque will get serious looks next season, especially for Perreault with the vacancies at center. Michal Nuevirth also has a strong chance to make the team since it seems the team does not wish to sign a veteran goaltender to back up Semyon Varlamov.

While others will get a look at camp, those are the five with a significant chance of making the big club this year. After free agency opens, it will be clearer which roles the Caps are looking to fill within the organization, and that could help or hinder any of these players’ chances.

Second Line Center

As we inch closer to the Draft (June 24^th) and the start of free agency (July 1^st), reports have been surfacing about who is and isn’t resigning with the team they finished the season with. The Caps are no different, as news has been slowly leaking about the direction the team is headed going into next season. It appears goalie Jose Theodore, who endeared fans this season by bouncing back from the utterly tragic death of his two-month-old son with a terrific 09-10 campaign, will not resign with the Capitals. This indicates that General Manager George McPhee has decided it’s finally time to see what a Semyon Varlamov/Michal Nuevirth goaltending tandem can do.

It has been announced that Scott Walker and Joe Corvo, two depth players acquired at the trade deadline for an anticipated deep playoff run, will also not be returning to D.C. Today, Tarik El-Bashir reported that Brendan Morrison will be leaving Washington as well. This re-opens a need the Caps will now have to spend two year trying to fill: a second line center.

When Sergei Fedorov left to play with his brother in the KHL, the Caps signed Brendan Morrison to fill the void. He was cheap, and during the first half of the season GMGM looked like a genius for the deal. Morrison stacked up goals and points at levels way beyond his paycheck. Then he hit a wall (hard) during the second half of the season. It became clear that he was not quite the fit for that role.

In my opinion, the reason why it is so hard to find a second line center to fit this team is because it is hard to find someone to play with the enigmatic Alexander Semin. His communication skills are less than stellar, he can be streaky, and you literally have no idea what he is going to do. Many a teammate have been thrown offside because of his impromptu dances at the blue line. The center that can finally handle Semin on their wing is going to be the center who flourishes in that role. Brooks Laich, being the super sexy adaptable player that he is, can play with Semin. Also, Laich’s style of play is one that complements any skilled player well. The organization has put 2/3 of this line together, and the glue is still missing. It appears as though they will either use Eric Belanger, who they are in contract talks with, or go to free agency to try and fill this void.

There are two problems with this. One is that the center market is not exactly top-of-the-line this year. Joe Pavelski and Patrick Marleau will most likely resign with San Jose and would cost too much anyway. There are a couple of other options, but free agents will cost money and cap space, and that is one thing the Caps do not have a huge amount of.

It is possible that GMGM will try and move someone within the organization into that role. Flash was able to contribute in that role, but he is too much of a defensive liability to play center, and there is a strong chance he will not be back in Washington next year since the team is in talks for a multi-year deal with Eric Fehr. The Capitals have a few prospects who could make the jump to the big team next year in Mathieu Perreault and Marcus Johansson. However, both of these players fit in much better in a third line role. So do the Caps find someone on the market? Do they promote a prospect who may not be ready for the role? Do they stick Eric Belanger back in there and hope he gets settled in the role? When the free agent market opens many of these questions will be answered. Until then, let the rumors flow like champagne from the Stanley Cup.

First Hershey Bears Game

With my older brother shipping off the join the Army Special Forces in lat June, we've been doing a lot of bonding lately. We played some pickup hockey on Friday, and on Saturday we did something neither of us had ever done before: we made the road trip to Hershey, PA for a Bears game. It was Game 2 of the Calder Cup Eastern Conference Finals against Manchester, and it couldn't have been more exciting, especially since it was an overtime win by the Bears.

We arrived near Giant Center at about 5, too early to go into the arena. We saw an Applebees and decided to get some dinner. Little did we know we were essentially entering the Green Turtle of Hershey. Almost everyone was dressed in Bears or Capitals gear, getting a good meal in before the game. It made me feel less silly for wearing my Backstrom t-shirt to the game (I thought it would make me seem lame to wear Caps gear to a Bears game. I thought the local fans might resent me for it). After a classic 2-for-$20 meal, we headed to Giant Center, picked our tickets up at the box office, and ventured to our seats.

The building was packed, as it was a sellout. We were not one of the lucky fans to receive a free rally towel, which bummed me out a little bit, (I love rally towels. It's weird, I know, but they are fun to wave. I also love getting free things at games) but the energy was incredible. Like any other rink, Giant Center has its own traditions and cheers that are unknown to outsiders, such as me and ArmyBro. We tried to catch on to the cheers we could, and cheered our lungs out. Several things jumped out at me throughout the game, both about the experience and the players.

Make no mistake: Hershey loves this team. People were decked out head to toe in Bears gear. They are energetic and loyal. However, it seemed the crowd had not brushed up on the rules in a while. It may have just been the fans sitting around me, but they were unaware of particulars, such as icing, offsides, hand passing, roughing, and goalie interference in particular. The entire crowd booed with a roar every time a Bear fell to the ice. This isn't all that unusual, but it was more pronounced here. There was considerably more attention paid to the officials, whether it was warranted or not. Hockey is generally hard to officiate, and in the AHL there is only one referee, so maybe I'm being a little soft. But this was not terrible officiating, and it was FAR from the worst I've ever seen. The crowd was very quick to blame any team struggles on the refs and not the players.

Regarding the players, I got to see first hand just how good our Caps prospects are. Matthieu Perreault is a very, VERY good hockey player. This was the closest I had ever been to the ice during a pro hockey game, but I have never seen anyone stick handle like that. Ever. Only Nick Backstrom even comes close to his level of stick skills (Semin probably would, if he didn't make such bad decisions trying to play keep away from four defenders). He puts the puck exactly where he wants it to go, and has a soft touch that makes it almost effortless for his teammates. Jay Beagle is a scrappy, NHL-caliber forechecker who balances out Perreault's skill perfectly. They play great together, and obviously are very comfortable with each other on and off the ice.

Another player who really stood out was Chris Bourque. He had two of the Bears' 3 goals that night, including the game-winner in overtime. He has a fantastic combination of power and skill. The only reason he is not currently in the NHL, in my opinion, is his size. I watched the entire game wishing he was just a little bit bigger. He is small by any standard, and doesn't quite have the shifty-ness of Perreault or Brendan Morrison or Martin St. Louis to make up for it. His style requires a little bit more size that Bourque just doesn't have. He is still an incredible player, and every year he seems to be getting closer to making up for his shortcomings with his play.

Overall, it was an incredible experience. We are already talking about heading up for one of the games during the Calder Finals should the Bears advance. As a Caps fan, if you haven't gone yet, go. These guys are going to be intricate members of the Caps soon, and the future looks very, very bright.