Laich to take his lumps

Per Tarik, Brooks Laich's arbitration hearing is scheduled for today.

Brooks is a decent grinder who put up workmanlike stats (8 g, 10 a last year, 7g, 14a the year before), but I'm not sure he's going to get any more than a verbal beatdown out of this maneuver. He skated with Semin for a portion of last year, and if the Caps put together a montage of the number of easy scoring chances created by Semin that he flubbed I don't see an arbitrator giving him a big raise.

Frankly, if the arbitrator does, I think the Caps will walk away and let him become a free agent. They now have a glut of players capable of playing third line minutes at both center and the wing. I'm not sure, but I think that may be Laich's strategy. Perhaps he sees the writing on the wall here in DC and would like to sign with a team where he'd get more minutes rather than shuttle back and forth between DC and Hershey all year long. One can't really fault the guy if that is indeed the case.

Nevertheless, it's going to be a rough afternoon in the hearing room for Mr. Laich.

Tootoo is a bad midget

From the Deuce:
Have you seen Jordin Tootoo's punch on Robedas yet? Look it up. I told you that midget was a bad, bad man. Ouch.



For the record, Tootoo is listed at 5'9". That would be accurate, but only if they measured him with his skates on. For his transgression, Tootoo was suspended for 5 games and expelled from the Lollipop Guild.

Chris Simon is a moron

I don't even know where to begin with this one, folks. Chris Simon takes a big hit, which clearly rattled him, and responds by slashing his opponent across the face, knocking him out. Simon has done some idiotic things before, but he could have killed Hollweg last night.

I'm thinking he gets the rest of the regular season and the playoffs. When McSorley slashed the Donald in the head in a similar incident, he was effectively blackballed from the league from that point on. Simon deserves nothing less. Playing tough is one thing. This was sheer idiocy.

Another day of the Trap, another loss

In Sunday's game against the Penguins, the Caps yet again played the neutral zone trap, putting no pressure on the Penguins defense and allowing them to carry the puck out of their own zone unhindered. And once again, the Capitals lost. They also had another game with almost no production in the offensive end. Anyone noticing a trend here?

I'm all in favor of playing defensive minded hockey when the circumstances demand it. And if the Capitals still had half their defensive lineup out with injury, I'd see some sense in playing the trap. But that's not the case. If anything, the Caps defensive roster is in the best shape it's been in since before the lockout.

Milan Jurcina has been nothing short of a revelation, proving that 1) you should ALWAYS trade with the Bruins (see Thorton, Joe and Iafrate-Juneau for further evidence) and 2) I'm a moron. The knock on the guy with the B's was that he wasn't as physical as a man with his physical attributes should be. Well, we've seen NO evidence of that here in DC, as he's been a force to be reckoned with on the blueline, consistently knocking players off the puck and playing the body like only he and Big John Erskine seem capable of doing.

Indeed, the Caps depth on defense has improved to the point that they've been able to send one of their brightest defensive prospects (Mike Green) back to Hershey to regain his confidence and offensive flair. This team is still a bit thin on D, but nowhere near as much as they have been for most of the season. With Pothier and Erskine back in the lineup, they look as good as they have in years. And while nobody is claiming the Caps still don't have a hole (or 2) to fill on the back line, they aren't in a position where they need to trap. But they do.

Because of that, their offense has absolutely no flow. For most of the season, the Capitals were able to create offense because they forechecked hard in the offensive zone, putting pressure on opposing defenses and capitalizing on their mistakes. Right now, they are sending exactly ZERO forecheckers, which has stunted their offense to the tune of 2 goals or less in 8 of their last 9 games, the only exception being their game against the putrid LA Kings. That is PATHETIC offensive production. There's a reason Ovechkin and Semin can't find their scoring grooves. It's because they're not spending enough time in the offensive zone to do so. And until the Caps stop playing the trap, it's only going to get worse.

At this point, the playoffs are out of the picture for the Capitals. A loss is a loss, whether it's 3-2 or 7-5. It makes no sense to continue to bore the fans to sleep and continuously lose games at the same time. If they're going to go down, the Caps need to go down swinging. And that means leaving the trap where it belongs: in the garbage heap.

A note to Glen and Ted

We like you Glen. Really, we do. But if you don't stop playing the trap, we're going to riot.

Seriously.

You have possibly the most gifted offensive player in the league, and one of the best dangler/snipers to boot. If you insist on hammering them into a system that 1) completely denigrates their talent and 2) makes the best offensive players in franchise history boring as hell to watch, we're going to have a problem. A big problem.

Now, if you don't mind, we have a few words for your boss, too.

Ted,

We LOVE you. Really, we do. But if you support a coach, ANY coach who consistently plays the trap, you might as well lose our (credit card) numbers right now. You want to see what the trap does to to ticket sales? Take a look at the empty cavern they have over in New Jersey. And don't talk about the Cups the Devils have won. Look at the fans they've lost, and way their style of play has forced multiple "rule enforcement" changes to keep the league afloat and exciting.

See, Ted, we're hard core hockey fans here, born and raised. And even we won't come see a team that consistently plays the trap.

We're also hockey players here at Grumpy Caps Fans, Ted. We've played the trap. It stinks. We've played against the trap. It stinks. If you think you're going to attract top quality offensive free agents to a team playing the trap, you're sorely mistaken. NOBODY likes playing the trap. And given two contracts of equal value, only an idiot is going to choose to go to a team that plays it. The Capitals have historically had trouble signing marquee players. Do you really want to make it even harder for the team?

Yes, it can be necessary to fall into a shell to win a game when you have the lead late in the third period. But playing it for 3 periods will alienate players and, more important for an owner, new and old fans alike.

Thanks for your time.

Why defense shouldn't always come first

When Tarik ran a story a few weeks back on the team's desire to get Alex Ovechkin to play more (and better) in his defensive end, I warned that it was too soon. And I was right. Since that time, the Russian Machine has improved his two way play, working harder in the defensive end and not trying (as much) to get a jump out of the zone in order to beat the opposing defense. The result? Since January 23rd (the day of the article), the Caps record is 3-6, and their offensive output has fallen off sharply. They've looked listless and, as in the case of the loss to the Rangers, completely impotent in the offensive zone.

How bad has the Caps offense been? So bad that their only goals against New York were caused more by a bad section of boards (video 1, 2) than their offensive play.

The Capitals simply don't have enough depth to have Ovechkin subverting his offensive skills in order to play a better all-around game. The team's offense revolves around him and, to a lesser extent, Sasha Semin creating opportunities with their all-world offensive abilities. The rest of the team is expected to chip in when possible and bang home rebound opportunities created by their young left wingers' shots. As much as I like Captain Clark, it's safe to say he wouldn't have nearly the point total he has without Ovechkin creating for him (and drawing coverage off of him). Ditto for Zubrus, but without the whole me liking him part.

We all know that superstars from all sports sometimes need to conform to a scheme or philosophy that may not put their skills to best use in order to win a championship. But right now, the Capitals are not a championship caliber team (and unfortunately they're not even that close). Asking one of the very few players on the roster capable of lighting the lamp to shackle part of his game was a bad move. The Caps need to remedy the issue by relieving AO of some of his defensive responsibilities, or else the rest of this season is destined to play out just as badly as Saturday's game against New York.

All Star Jersey Mayhem

Japer's Rink has a post up on the new Reebok designed All-Star jerseys (along with a nice rendition of what the new Caps jersey would look like next year, if only we didn't screw it up).

I'm going to go a different route with this. Take a look at the price for one of these things: $110, $185, $350, $425. This HAD BETTER be one time, All-Star jersey only pricing. If it's not, it's another idiotic move by a league that seems intent on alienating every fan that loves the game and making it inaccessible to those that want to get into it for the first time.

Think about it... a replica NBA jersey sells for $45-60. A replica NFL jersey sells for $75-100. Replica MLB jerseys sell for around $75. MLS sells theirs for $65-80.

You're telling me the NHL, which trails all these leagues in popularity in the US, is going to charge more than all these? And, in the case of a jersey with an actual name and number, at least $85 more?

Lets put this into perspective: a father with 1 kid is given tickets to a game. He loves it. The kid loves it. The kid wants a jersey of his favorite player (Alex Ovechkin, of course). So dad goes to take a look at the replicas and BAM! a $185 price tag stares him right in the face. If you're that dad, (not a lifelong NHL fan) what do you do?

And if the league wants to move hockey away from the perception that it's a sport for the elite only, this is exactly how NOT to do it.