retirement annnouncement

Today at 11am 42 year old Lidstrom will be announcing his retirement from the NHL through a press conference from from the restaurant connected to Joe Lewis Arena. more details to come as the days go.

offseason transaction #2

#Caps have re-signed G Dany Sabourin to a one-year extension. Sabourin was the back up to Braden Holtby in Hershey after Holtby was called up.

Happy memorial day

Happy memorial day and a big thank you to all who have served or are currently serving now

funny thing i came across

so i think Zach Hamill may have to answer some questions about this photo when he gets to town.....LOL

Breaking news. Trade update

As per the Washington Captials: a trade has been made with the Boston bruins sending Chris Bourque to the Bruins for Zach Hamill. Chris Bourque's father (Ray Bourque) played for the Bruins.

I think it’s a good trade. Seems change starts early. Good luck to Chris Bourque in his new town.

Zach Hamill

Number: 52

Height: 5' 11"

Weight: 180

Shoots: Right

Born: Sep 23, 1988 (Age 23)

Birthplace: Vancouver, BC, Canada

Previous team: Boston Bruins

Drafted: 1^st round 8^th overall 2007 entry draft (Bruins)

                               

               

Gp	G	A	P	+/-	Pim	Pp	Sh	gw
16	0	2	2	3	4	0	0	0

                               

Chris Bourque

Number: 56 Height: 5' 8" Weight: 174 Shoots: Left Born: Jan 29, 1986  (Age 26) Birthplace: Boston, MA, United States

Drafted: WSH / 2004 NHL Entry Draft Round: 2nd (33rd overall)

2009-2010 NHL stats

Gp	G	A	P	+/-	Pim	Sh	gw
1	0	0	0	-2	0	0	0

               

The plot thickens in Russia

kuzya's #92 in the rafters in TRAKTOR

Kuzya looks to be having his jersey number retired in TRAKTOR. Possible jump across the pond? Hopefully

News from the rink

Craig Berube -former cap,has expressed that he would be interested in the Capitals head coaching position if they offered it to him.He is currently an assistant coach with the Flyers.

Player report card:Braden Holtby

Braden Holtby

G-70

Cap hit-$637,777

Regular season 11-12    

Gp	W	L	T	Ot	So	Ga	Sv%	Gaa
7	4	2	-	1	1	15	.922	2.49

Playoffs 11-12

Gp	W	L	T	Ot	So	Ga	Sv%	Gaa
14	7	7	0	4	0	30	.935	1.95

What we expected:

After going 10-2 with a .934sv% last year a lot of us caps fans were hopeful of seeing Holtby in the lineup on a regular basis. This of course all changed unexpectedly when the capitals signed veteran goaltender, Thomas Vokune, to a one year deal. This put a damper on plans for Braden to get his chance at a full season with the caps. This is where maturity prevailed. We saw a great work ethic even though it was a rough year down in a talent depleted Hershey that eventually landed him as the #1 goaltender going into the post season.

What we got:

            During the regular season we saw limited action from the young goaltender. He only appeared in 7 games that also happened to be during a rough stretch and the tail end of the season. He proved him so adequate especially at the end of the regular season. This is a goaltender that only gets better with more time in the net and he showed us that. There was a mental toughness to this kid unseen since the days of Patrick Roy and Ron Hextall and a fluidness and sass to his saves that we all loved seeing. With the tutelage of Olaf Kolzig and Dave Prior we saw a goaltender that is now ready for the big show.

What to expect

        As much as we would like him to be the second coming of Patrick Roy we have to remember he is still only 22 years old. He has a bright future in front of him I would not be surprised if he made the starting roster to start 12-13 seasons. I would not be surprised either to see him get 25-35 starts. As I said before, he will only get better with time. This is a mentally tough goal tender who constantly adapts his game to be better. If there is more excitement on my end for any other player to return yet I haven’t seen it. You can’t shake this kid mentally he’s got it all. It was unfortunate for the post season to end against the rangers. But at the same time it allowed me to see that there is hope for a cup run next year with this net minder in the crease.

       

Player report card: Alex Ovechkin

Alex Ovechkin
LW-#8-C
cap hit -9,533,461

What we expected:

Gp	G	A	Pts	PIM	+/-
79	32	53	85	41	24

this was last years stat line.
the easiest thing to say from last year is that well captain my captain we expect more from you.
if it was that easy.
we also expected you to mature as a captain. after all that C on your jersey isn't just a fashion statement. we as a fan base also wanted to see a return of more physical play from you. you know the type that scores goals or creates opportunity. it would have been nice to also see you at the top of the leader boards again reclaiming your right as the best player int he world. but...
What we got:

Gp	G	A	Pts	PIM	+/-
78	38	27	65	26	-8

After a slow start you picked up some steam making a determined run at the league leader board for goals this year. finishing in 5th over all in a very low scoring year league wide. you saw a dominance for a while in the extra period of play as well netting a few game winners yourself. we also watched you this year start to mature as a captain. there were a lot of questions when Bruce Boudreau was fired about weather or not you were hard to work with or non compliant to his system but you showed us with your work under Dale Hunter and the fact that you bought into a system that was not necessarily one you would flourish in and helped make a memorable playoff run happen this year. you became a leader on the ice as opposed to the first one the press runs to.
What to expect next:
so next year we would like to see these numbers improve of course.
we want to see you grow more as a captain. and a stronger run in the post-season you've showed us that you are a leader on the ice and we like that a lot. now we want you to be a leader int he locker room.you still showed us that you are one of the best of the best. we understand your not getting any younger.its time for your next transformation the Seasoned Veteran.


Overall:B+

the start of something cool

Well I've mulled this over for a while. I've  decided to start my own blog.
here you will find my hockey musings. news about the caps and hopefully in depth analysis from me about my favorite team the Washington Capitals if you want to contribute feel free to more the merrier  more posts will come soon and hopefully ill start with player report cards for the 2011-2012 hockey season for all 30 dressed players and coaches and personnel.