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Capital Ups and Downs: Week 10

J.P. — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 16:00:16 -0000

by Matt Slocum - AP

Our weekly look at individual Washington Capitals' ups and downs (and yeah, we've used this picture before, but it's so nice it deserved to be used twice):

Goalies	Trend	Notes
Jose Theodore		After having not played in more than two weeks, Theo came back strong with a pair of road wins, a 2.00 GAA and a .947 save percentage for the week. The better he is this winter, the fresher Varly will be in the spring.
Semyon Varlamov		Seemed to lose his concentration a bit late against Florida, but 1-0-0/2.01/.929 keeps the train rollin'.

Defensemen
Karl Alzner		Was on the ice for four of the six goals the Caps allowed last week. With the blueline getting healthier, Alzner once again finds himself the odd-man out - and on his way back to Hershey.
John Erskine		A plus-four rating for the week and not on the ice for a single goal against in 51:38 of ice time, which included 5:37 shorthanded.
Mike Green		Five points and a plus-four rating in three games, including four power play points on a unit that has scored seven times in the last two games.
Milan Jurcina		How do you end up with a minus-two rating for a week in which your team outscored its opponents 17-6? By being on the ice for five of those six goals against.
Shaone Morrisonn		On the trip to Tampa, so perhaps his return to the lineup is near.
Brian Pothier		Plus-two against Carolina, scratched against Philly. Huh.
Tom Poti		Returned to the lineup against the Flyers with twenty minutes of ice time and a pair of assists.
Jeff Schultz		Plus-three for the week, Jeff Cincocinco has only had two minus games since October 17 and is now in the top ten in the League in plus-minus (and is 12th among NHL blueliners in the stat since the start of the 2007-08 season).

Swingman
Tyler Sloan		A penalty in each of this week's three games, two of which were coincidental minors and one of which occurred with the Caps on the power play.

Forwards
Nicklas Backstrom		Four goals, five assists and a plus-four rating in three games including a five-point game in Philly.
Matt Bradley		Scored his fifth goal of the season against Florida, equaling his goal total from a season ago, and took one for the team in a big way on Saturday night.
Chris Clark		A goal and an assist on the week, The Captain now has half as many goals and is one helper short of his production over the previous two seasons combined. Of course, that's not saying much... other than that Clark is finally healthy.
Eric Fehr		Five points in three games, a six-game scoring streak (multi-point games in three of four), and 13 points in 13 games since returning from injury.
Tomas Fleischmann		Three goals in his last two games, he now has eight tallies in games which AO has been out of the lineup and just two when the Great Eight has dressed. Solution? Scratch him when AO's a go. Just kidding. Sorta.
Alexandre Giroux		Ten shots on goal in the last two games, a plus-three rating and a helper in Carolina... but really, we've seen more than enough.
Boyd Gordon		Looking more and more like a lost season for Gordo.
Mike Knuble		Targeting a Wednesday return, but the way the team's playing, no need to rush.
Brooks Laich		Three points, including a couple on the power play as Laich became the fourth Cap to hit double-digits in goals on the season (no other team has more than three, and several teams don't have a single 10-goal guy yet).
Quintin Laing		Getting closer, which might spell the end of Tyler Sloan's time in D.C.
Brendan Morrison		Four points on the week and more points on the campaign than he had in 62 games for the Ducks a season ago.
Michael Nylander		If Nylander was a classic SNL skit, I'm pretty sure he'd be this one.
Alex Ovechkin		Just one goal in the three games the Caps played last week- anyone hear anything to explain why his production was so limited?
Mathieu Perreault		Seven games without a point (granted, his linemates haven't been the type with which skill pivots normally succeed), but he's still doing some things... little things.
Alexander Semin		Has returned to the lineup with six points in two games, including four on the red-hot power play. Key stat: the power play is 30.3% successful in Semin's twenty games played and at just 9.1% in the nine he's missed.
David Steckel		The monkey's off his back... now let's see some more.

2010 Winter Olympics: Capitals Hopefuls

J.P. — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 16:00:15 -0000

via photobucket.com

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With the Olympics barely two months away, let's take a look at which Caps can expect - and hope - to hear their names called when rosters are announced later this month:

Pack Your Bags

Alex Ovechkin, Alexander Semin (Russia)

Ovechkin has represented Russia in at least 80 international matches (including eight in the 2006 Turin Olympics), and Semin brings another 50 games of international experience to the table. The two were instrumental in Russia's gold medal win on Canadian soil in the 2008 IIHF World Championship, both finishing in the top six in the tourney in scoring. The only thing that can keep the pair from hunting for a loonie to dig out of the ice in Vancouver is injury.

Nicklas Backstrom (Sweden)

Only three Swedish NHLers have more points than Backstrom since the Caps pivot made his NHL debut, and he'll play an important role in Sweden's bid to repeat as Olympic champs.

Fairly Safe Bets

Milan Jurcina (Slovakia)

Jurcina's size and durability should make him an Olympian for the second time.

On the Bubble

Mike Green (Canada)

It doesn't get much more bubblicious than Green, whose defensive lapses may prove too much for Steve Yzerman to handle in a single elimination tournament, especially given other, safer puck-moving Canadian blueliners. Is a high-risk/high-reward pick a guy the Canadians are willing to put out on the ice before the home crowd?

Tomas Fleischmann (Czech Republic)

Flash was looking a lot better a few weeks ago and may be a bit one-dimensional for this type of team, but he's still got a shot at making the Czech squad - he's actually eighth among Czech NHL goal scorers over the past two seasons. Ales Hemsky's injury couldn't have hurt his chances either.

Semyon Varlamov (Russia)

Vladislav Tretiak said recently that "It will be difficult for Varlamov because Bryzgalov is playing unbelievable, Nabokov is playing unbelievable, it's a big competition. I told him today he has a chance, because three goalies will come to the Olympic Games." Tretiak also said that he expects his team to be a 50/50 mix of NHLers and KHLers. But if Russia was smart and looking ahead to Sochi in 2014 (as we know they are), they'd bring Varly along for the ride.

Long Shots

Michael Nylander (Sweden)

If Nylander were over in Russia right now lighting up the KHL, he'd have a chance to represent his country in Vancouver in February. Add one more regret to his 2009-10 season.

Oskar Osala (Finland)

Picking Osala would be a surprise pick, to be sure, but as far as long-term investments go, this could be one worth making for the Finns.

Capital Ups and Downs: Week 9

J.P. — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 16:00:12 -0000

by Graham Hughes - AP

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Our weekly look at individual Washington Capitals' ups and downs (with special thanks to winterion for the icon set):

Goalies	Trend	Notes
Jose Theodore		Hasn't played a second since November 14 in Jersey; Gabby's got to get him back out there soon.
Semyon Varlamov		Varly went 2-0-1/2.27/.919 with a shutout this week but was probably even better than those impressive numbers would indicate.

Defensemen
Karl Alzner		The up arrow might be a little generous, but think of it more as "Alzner's an upgrade over some of the Caps' regulars on the blueline" rather than a direct comment on his two-game performance (which has been solid if unspectacular).
John Carlson		Held his own in his first NHL tour of duty.
John Erskine		Averaged 18:44 of ice time per game this week, which is too much time for a marginal NHL defenseman and may be why he's been looking so slow of late. Or maybe it's just that he's so slow.
Mike Green		Had the shift from hell in overtime on Monday night, but had nice assists on Monday and Wednesday. In other words, his offense isn't the problem... and never has been.
Milan Jurcina		Getting big minutes on a struggling penalty kill; six blocks and four hits in two games.
Shaone Morrisonn		Perhaps his absence is impacting his usual partner Green's play.
Brian Pothier		Adding a bit of physicality to a game that's really coming around nicely.
Tom Poti		Missed on the penalty kill.
Jeff Schultz		Assist, plus-two rating for the week. Ho hum.

Swingman
Tyler Sloan		Plus-two as a defenseman against the Sens, nothing as a forward against the Sabres.

Forwards
Nicklas Backstrom		As Ovechkin returns to form, so to does Backstrom (even if the numbers don't show it... yet). The big face-off win with 15.5 seconds left in Montreal and the shootout-deciding tally earn an up arrow.
Jay Beagle		Scored his first NHL goal in Ottawa, but took a bad penalty in Montreal. Decent short-term fill-in.
Matt Bradley		Not much to report - he must be in the "taking names" portion of "kicking ass and taking names."
Chris Clark		Scored in Ottawa, but is struggling a bit out there.
Eric Fehr		Three goals and an assist, a plus-three rating and ten shots on goal. Most importantly? His three goals totaled 63 feet from stick-to-goal line (and I'll take the under). Keep up the Knuble, Laich impression, Fehrsie.
Tomas Fleischmann		It's been a half-dozen games since Flash scored, and he's actually losing ice time (gasp!) to Fehr, among others.
Alexandre Giroux		Look at the Corsi. Look at the rate at which he's taking penalties. Tell me he's not the worst player to don the red, white and blue so far this season.
Andrew Gordon		A quick cup o' coffee and see ya later.
Boyd Gordon		No news ain't good news.
Mike Knuble		Skating again, which is a good sign (even if it is a finger injury).
Brooks Laich		An assist in Montreal, but only one shot on goal in three games for the week. Looking good, though, on a line with Morrison and Fehr.
Quintin Laing		Did an in-game interview on Comcast Sportsnet despite having his jaw wired shut. Seriously.
Brendan Morrison		Goal, assist, plus-three and 53.8% in the dot. In 50:02 of ice time for the week, he was on the ice for three goals for and none against.
Michael Nylander		Yawn.
Alex Ovechkin		A pair of goals, a pair of assists and a pair of penalized hits; AO's really got to be careful regarding that last number.
Mathieu Perreault		Pointless in five and only two shots on goal and a 38.7 win percentage in the dot for the week.
Alexander Semin		Caps offense scoring .74 fewer goals per game without Semin this season (but also giving up .68 fewer goals per game), and power play efficiency drops from 28.2% with Sasha to 10.7% without.
David Steckel		A 14/15 face-off performance against Buffalo saves the week for the snake-bitten Steckel, who is one of a half-dozen NHL forwards who have played 25 games this season without scoring a goal.

Thursday Caps Clips: Giving Thanks for a Shutout

J.P. — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 13:40:50 -0000

More photos » by Nick Wass - AP

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Your savory breakfast links:

Recaps and other assorted musings on last night's big win from Corey (blog, article), Tarik (blog, article), Vogs, Ed Frankovic, Examiner (gamer, notes), Puck Daddy, CBC and Hockey Mom.
Odds that there's some idiot out there who will criticize Alex Ovechkin for saluting the crowd during the Three Stars announcements after being ejected from the game? 3:1.
More on the implications of Abe Pollin's passing to Ted Leonsis's business interests. [Washington Times, Washington Post]
Stick with this one - it's worth it. I promise. [Tackfilm (h/t Ice Warrior)]
If last week was Matt Bradley's, this one must be Brooks Laich's. [NHL.com, NHL.com (video), NHLPA.com]
Michael Nylander non-news: "the KHL remains the target solution, but it's a delicate and difficult process." And, apparently, lengthy. [ESPN]
The Caps have the most points in the NHL since Brian Burke took over in Toronto. Huh. [CBC]
Semyon Varlamov is FOX Sports' fifth-best rookie so far this season. Obviously this list was created prior to last night. [FOX Sports]
Upper Deck has some new "Biography of a Season" cards out, including one detailing a feat not yet two months old. Hot. [Upper Deck]
Dmitri Orlov lists Kirill Koltsov and Bobby Orr as two defensemen after whom he models his game, giving the Internet the chance to see Koltsov and Orr in the same sentence for the first time ever. [RussianHockeyFans.com (h/t Ice Warrior)]
It wouldn't be Jersey Fouls without at least one local entry. [Puck Daddy]
Finally, on this day of giving thanks, we'd like to thank everyone who has made our first year at SB Nation (yes, it was one year ago today we came over) such an incredible success. Enjoy the day, people.

Leveling the Playing Field

David M. Getz — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 20:15:08 -0000

More photos » by Luis Alvarez - AP

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It's in the nature of just about every sports fan to analyze their favorite team. The problem is that the data to do so is oftentimes incomplete, unreliable, or just not there. Defense in hockey, for example, is notoriously difficult to measure. Point production is at least in part a factor of who a player plays with and against. Save percentage is a decent measure of goaltender performance - but a goalie playing behind a bad team's going to have a hard time putting up the same kind of numbers as a goalie playing behind a defensive juggernaut.

One way to try and compare data is to normalize it - to do whatever you can to make it so the players on a level playing field, so you can compare apples to apples. That's the logic behind a lot of what Gabriel Desjardins at Behind the Net does: sure Nicklas Backstrom has more goals than Eric Fehr, but given the disparity in playing time, power play time, and strength of teammates, is that disparity as big as the raw numbers make it seem? Does it exist at all? By turning ice time and goals in to goals per minute, you can get a little bit closer to the answer.

The problem is that when you do that, the numbers lose some of their relate-ability. When you say Alexander Ovechkin's 56 goals were an incredible achievement, people are right there with you. When you tell them he scored 1.57 goals per sixty minutes of five-on-five play they might assume it's impressive since it's Alexander Ovechkin, but they don't relate to it in the same way.

With that in mind, we've decided to normalize individual player scoring data and convert it in to run-of-the-mill statistics by assigning everyone on the team the same amount of "ice time". We decided to go ahead with 18 minutes a night, since that's more or less what a player who gets regular ice time but isn't a top line or top pairing guy gets. Each player is assumed to play 14:12 of even strength ice time and 1:57 of power play ice time per game i"in order to roughly correspond with how much time the player would get based on the amount of time the Capitals have spent in each situation so far this season. We also assume each player get 1:51 of penalty kill time, although this doesn't factor in to point totals since the team doesn't have any shorthanded goals. The method isn't perfect - it doesn't account for quality of competition or teammates, and obviously some players are hurt by the fact that in reality they play so rarely on the the power play. Still, it's an interesting exercise to see the effect of. standardizing ice time does on total production

Or, in other words, if everyone got the same ice time and scored at their current rates, what would their stats look like?

	G	A	P	ESG	ESA	ESP	PPG	PPA	PPP
Nicklas Backstrom	3	14	17	2	11	13	1	3	4
Matt Bradley	5	6	11	5	6	11	0	0	0
Chris Clark	2	10	12	2	5	7	0	5	5
Eric Fehr	7	8	15	7	5	12	0	3	3
Tomas Fleischmann	12	6	18	8	2	10	4	4	8
Boyd Gordon	0	7	7	0	7	7	0	0	0
Mike Knuble	7	13	20	6	11	17	1	2	3
Brooks Laich	7	11	18	4	9	13	3	2	5
Quintin Laing	4	0	4	4	0	4	0	0	0
Brendan Morrison	7	9	16	6	8	14	1	1	2
Alex Ovechkin	16	8	24	14	6	20	2	2	4
Mathieu Perreault	6	12	18	6	12	18	0	0	0
Alexander Semin	7	15	22	5	5	12	2	3	5
David Steckel	0	3	3	0	3	3	0	0	0

	G	A	P	ESG	ESA	ESP	PPG	PPA	PPP
John Erskine	0	2	2	0	2	2	0	0	0
Mike Green	2	13	15	2	10	12	0	3	3
Milan Jurcina	0	3	3	0	3	3	0	0	0
Shaone Morrisonn	0	3	3	0	3	3	0	0	0
Brian Pothier	4	5	9	2	5	7	2	0	2
Tom Poti	0	0	4	0	3	3	0	1	1
Jeff Schultz	1	5	6	1	5	6	0	0	0

So what've we got?

Mike Knuble was in large part brought in to help the team's power play, but he's tied for seventh in power play points among forwards and doing most of his damage at even strength.
Shaone Morrisonn makes $1.975 million, is tied for the worst GAON/60 on the team, and has done nothing offensively despite playing most shift with Mike Green. If the Capitals want to free up cap space and are tired of waiting on Michael Nylander, I have a suggestion for them...
David Steckel...oof.
Matt Bradley's more productive at even strength than Tomas Fleischmann. Take it for what it's worth (hint: not much).
At even strength Mathieu Perreault is outproducing Nicklas Backstrom, and Brendan Morrison and has been equal to Tomas Fleichmann and Brooks Laich. Très bien. Now how 'bout some power play time for the kid?
Jeff Schultz has been the team's third most productive defenseman. As much as I like Sarge, that's not good. Maybe instead of pining for that "big, crease-clearing" defenseman we should be hoping that Caps find away to get another puck mover on their roster. Or that Tom Poti starts bringing the kind of offense he's capable of. Either/or.
Eric Fehr is third in even strength goals and twelfth in even strength ice time per game.
Chris Clark has as many or more power play points per minute as Alex Ovechkin, Alex Semin, Nicklas, Backstrom, Mike Green, Brendan Morrison, Mike Knuble, or Brooks Laich, raise your hand. Maybe we can cut him a little slack in terms of raw numbers?

What jumps out at you? Who might deserve a few more minutes each night to showcase what they can do? Just as importantly, whose numbers do you really think are indicative of their talent, and whose numbers aren't telling the whole story?

Capital Ups and Downs: Week 8

J.P. — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 16:00:13 -0000

More photos » by Darren Calabrese - AP

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Our weekly look at individual Washington Capitals' ups and downs:

Goalies	Trend	Notes
Michal Neuvirth	-	A home loss and unimpressive numbers in his NHL season debut don't tell the whole story of Neuvy's Friday night, but he'll certainly want to show more in his next recall.
Jose Theodore	?	Difficult week for Theo off the ice, is back with the team now and looking to get back on track.
Semyon Varlamov	▲	A 1.44/.949 week should result in nothing but wins. Alas, Varly will have to settle for a win Tuesday and the knowledge that he's the only reason his team got a point on Saturday night.

Defensemen
John Carlson	-	Led the team in hits in his NHL debut and isn't shy about shooting the puck or skating it into the offensive zone. There's a reason his arrival has been eagerly anticipated.
John Erskine	-	Dropped the gloves with Georges Laraque, but seems to be getting slower (at least by comparison to his fellow rearguards) every game. Correlation?
Mike Green	▲	Five points (all assists) in three games to take the lead among all NHL blueliners in points, but needs to be less generous in distributing the puck to opposing teams.
Milan Jurcina	+	Missed all three games - as many as he didn't play in all of last season.
Shaone Morrisonn	+	Got his bell rung in Wednesday night's game and missed the weekend.
Brian Pothier	▲	Took six shots and blocked nine in three games. Solid.
Tom Poti	+	.Missed much of Friday night's game and all of Saturday's; just three shots on goal in his last eight games.
Jeff Schultz	-	A pair of three-hit games and a plus-one rating for the week - big minutes and few stats to show for 'em.

Swingman
Tyler Sloan	-	Scratched in New York, started on the wing Friday night only to be shifted back to the blueline for most of the game and all of Saturday night. The versatility was nice; the play on the blueline less so.

Forwards		.
Nicklas Backstrom	▼	One assist in his last five games, no goals in his last nine, no shots in his last two... needs to get back on track.
Jay Beagle	-	Got his first NHL point on Tuesday night, but not much else to speak of in limited minutes.
Matt Bradley	▲	No, he didn't do much over the weekend, but Brads did more than enough on Tuesday to earn an up arrow for the week. #needsmoreBradley
Chris Clark	▼	Got a shot at top line RW, but couldn't stick. Saturday night's game was his first in five without a minus-one rating.
Eric Fehr	-	Sniped a nice goal Friday night, but just four shots on goal for a week that included some better-than-usual minutes.
Tomas Fleischmann	-	Nine-game point streak snapped Friday night, has now gone four straight shots on goal without scoring, killing his shooting percentage.
Andrew Gordon	-	Blink and you missed his eight-shift season debut.
Boyd Gordon	+	Gordon's missing a lot of time in an important season for the RFA-to-be.
Mike Knuble	+	Tuesday night's battle in Manhattan was exactly the kind of game for which you want Knuble in the lineup, but there will be plenty of those come spring.
Brooks Laich	▲	Goal, assist, plus-two, 11 shots on goal and can play on any line or in any situation (he's the only Cap forward averaging more than two minutes per game on each of the special teams units). Bless you, Brooksie.
Quintin Laing	♥	A well-deserved purple heart for Q.
Brendan Morrison	-	A nice goal late against Montreal, but penalties in each of the three games, one the ice for both power play goals the Caps surrendered (and four of six goals against overall) and neither of the extra man tallies they scored.
Michael Nylander	●	Zzzz...
Alex Ovechkin	-	For anyone else, two goals in three games would be a great week. But for The Great Eight, the bar's set higher. And he can be better.
Mathieu Perreault	-	Continues to produce in limited ice time (he's between Ilya Kovalchuk and Alex Ovechkin in 5-on-5 points per sixty), and even won 54% of his draws this week.
Alexander Semin	+	Could've used him against the Leafs. And the Habs. And the Rangers.
David Steckel	-	Keeps doing what he does best (winning faceoffs and killing penalties), but no forward in the League has taken more shots without scoring a goal than Stecks.

Capital Ups and Downs: Week 7

J.P. — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 16:00:35 -0000

More photos » by Nick Wass - AP

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Our weekly look at individual Washington Capitals' ups and downs:

Goalies	Trend	Notes
Jose Theodore	▼	Brutal week (0-1-0/7.17/.714) leaves his season numbers in tatters, but more important than just this week, JT60's GAA and save percentage over the last five games: 4.29 and .850. Yikes.
Semyon Varlamov	▲	Don't look now, but after a 2-0-0/1.02/.964 week (including a marathon shootout win), Varly has a GAA that's half a goal better and a save percentage .019 better on the season than his main competition in D.C. More important? That 7-1-0 record.

Defensemen
John Erskine	-	Led the team in hits and was +1 against the Wild, scratched against Jersey. Such is the life of the sixth/seventh/eighth defenseman.
Mike Green	▲	A goal and four assists in three games and, with three points while up a man, the key to a power play that went 4-for-7 for the week.
Milan Jurcina	▼	Bad game against the Isles (including a bad penalty that led to the game-tying goal), out with a muscle pull for the next two.
Shaone Morrisonn	-	Led the team in hits against the Isles and blocked shots against the Devils.
Brian Pothier	▲	Continues to assert himself in the offensive zone with great results, including Friday night's game-winner and seven shots on goal in three games.
Tom Poti	-	On the ice for five of the ten goals the Caps allowed on the week (including an empty netter).
Jeff Schultz	-	Missed two games, came back to do his thing in Jersey.

Swingman
Tyler Sloan	-	Skating as a blueliner for the two games he played this week, he didn't show up much on the stat sheet... which isn't a bad thing.

Forwards
Nicklas Backstrom	▼	Minus-5 rating and just one assist in three games (not to mention a 2-for-10 night in the dot Saturday). Think he'll be happy when AO returns?
Matt Bradley	-	Solid work Friday night, a helper and the team's only plus rating Saturday.
Chris Clark	▲	Assist streak ends at four on Friday, one game after his shootout winner. Eight shots in less than two games since the Knuble injury - a sign of things to come?
Eric Fehr	-	Points in four of five entering Saturday night, gets yet another chance to make an impact with Knuble out.
Tomas Fleischmann	-	Has pointed in every game since his return except the first and his three-point week includes a power play goal and two extra man helpers. But a minus-six rating on the week (minus-two against the Isles, minus-four in Jersey) prevents him from getting a green arrow here.
Boyd Gordon	-	Blink and you missed his return to the lineup and subsequent exit from it.
Mike Knuble	▼	An assist and minus-two rating against the Isles and a busted finger against the Wild. But the Caps got him for April, not November, so don't worry too much.
Brooks Laich	-	An empty netter was his only point of the week, but 14 shots on goal is a nice number for three games.
Quintin Laing	-	Played the prototypical Q game on Friday night, didn't do much on either end of it.
Brendan Morrison	▲	Points in five-straight, including power-play helpers in the past two games where he's subbing for AO on the point (and doing quite well).
Michael Nylander	●	The dreaded yellow circle of "What the hell, dude?"
Alex Ovechkin	-	Getting closer to playing, but not in the way that we're all getting closer to dying - most expect the Great Eight in the lineup Tuesday night in Gotham.
Mathieu Perreault	▲	Goal, assist, plus-two for the week and has yet to have a minus rating in any of his six games. We'll talk about those faceoffs some other time.
Alexander Semin		Two goals against the Isles (and countless other fantastic chances) and one of the world's worst turnovers against the Devs. He's trending neither up nor down - he's trending Sasha.
David Steckel	-	Dominating the dot (70% for the week and 83% against Minny), but still yet to find the back of the net. It'll come, Stecks.

Monday Caps Clips: Quiet Start to The Week

J.P. — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 11:38:56 -0000

by Bill Kostroun - AP

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Your savory breakfast links:

Two of the top ten individual seasons of the 2000s belonged to Caps (and don't be thrown by the anachronistic picture of AO). [Puck Daddy]
Out of control. Inconsistent. Simultaneously brilliant, awful and just plain inexplicable. Alexander Semin? No. Alexander Semin's hair. [Caps In Pictures]
More love for the Caps' pint-sized pivot. [NHL.com]
Michael Nylander is circling dangerously close to our collective last nerve. [Peerless]
Finally, happy 32nd birthday to Josh Green and happy 61st to Dave Forbes - two of the 23 men in Caps history to don the number eight.

Michael Nylander in D.C.: A Timeline

J.P. — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 16:04:40 -0000

via daylife.com

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With Michael Nylander supposedly on his way out of town in the near future, now's as good a time as any to look back at his time in D.C. - the ups, the downs and the circles.

November 1, 2002 - Chicago trades Nylander and a 2003 3rd round pick (which the Caps used to select Stephen Werner) to Washington for Chris Simon and Andrei Nikolishin.

October 2, 2003 - Nylander breaks his leg in a preseason practice when Nolan Yonkman "crashed into him." He'd return to the lineup in late February, 2004 and play three games for the Caps.

March 4, 2004 - The Caps trade Nylander to Boston for the a 4th round pick in 2005 (used on Patrick McNeill) and a 2nd round pick in 2006 (used on Francois Bouchard). Nylander's final stats for his first tour of duty in Washington:

GP	G	A	P	+/-	PIM	PPG	PPA	GWG	SOG	PCT
74	17	41	58	4	44	7	10	2	142	12.0

July 2, 2007 - TSN.ca reports that the Edmonton Oilers have signed Nylander. But Oilers VP of Communications Allan Watt tells us that it's not a done deal, and later in the day the Capitals confirm that Nylander is theirs (pleasing at least one blogger). Meanwhile, Jaromir Jagr is unhappy with the Rangers' decision to let his pivot walk, so that's an added bonus.

July 3, 2007 - The Oilers file a complaint with the League (and get snippy with bloggers).

July 4, 2007 - Some reaction from Canadian bloggers and our own look at the man behind the man at the center of the controversy. Also, the League responds to the Oil's complaint.

July 5, 2007 - Edmonton GM Kevin Lowe gets his side of the story out there.

July 6, 2007 - The wheels seem to have come off Lowe's wagon.

July 8, 2007 - A bitter Canadian town lashes out at the most powerful city in the world.

October 5, 2007 - Nylander makes his second debut with the Caps and scores a goal against Atlanta. The playmaker has now skated with four of the most prolific scorers in team history: Peter Bondra, Jaromir Jagr, Alex Ovechkin and Alexander Semin.

November 23, 2008 - The Caps relieve head coach Glen Hanlon of his duties and replace him with Bruce Boudreau and his much more up-tempo, north/south offense. Spoiler alert: this won't end well.

January 15, 2008 - Nylander's season is over as his torn rotator cuff requires surgery. His line on the year:

GP	G	A	P	+/-	PIM	PPG	PPA	GWG	SOG	PCT
40	11	26	37	-19	24	5	13	1	77	14.3

October 5, 2008 - Turns out that, contrary to popular belief, Nylander's decision to bail on Edmonton wasn't his wife's doing at all.

October 10, 2008 - Nylander is in the Caps opening night lineup and racks up a pair of goals and four helpers in the team's first six games of the season. He'd go 25 games before scoring another goal.

April 15, 2009 - Nylander plays in the Caps first two playoff games (both losses), then is scratched for the next nine before getting one final game in a Caps uniform on May 9 (another loss). His final line for 2008-09:

GP	G	A	P	+/-	PIM	PPG	PPA	GWG	SOG	PCT
72	9	24	33	0	32	4	6	2	87	10.3

May 29, 2009 - Nylander-to-Avangard (KHL) rumor.

July 19, 2009 - Shortly after the Chicago Blackhawks fire GM Dale Tallon, speculation that Nylander was at the root of that firing.

August 3, 2009 - Nylander tells a Swedish paper that Bruce Boudreau "told me I wasn't good enough."

October 1, 2009 - Nylander-to-Lokomotiv (KHL) rumor.

October 16, 2009 - Nylander-to-Lugano (SWI) rumor.

October 21, 2009 - Nylander agrees to go to Grand Rapids of the AHL on a conditioning stint, where he'd rack up five assists and a shootout goal in five Griffins wins.

Novemebr 7, 2009 - The Caps place Nylander on waivers. He clears. His final career stats as a Washington Capital:

GP	G	A	P	+/-	PIM	PPG	PPA	GWG	SOG	PCT
186	37	91	128	-15	100	16	29	5	306	12.1

November 10, 2009 - TSN's Bob McKenzie tweets "Nylander heading to Russia"... then back-pedals.

November 10, 2009-present - We wait... and wait... and wait...

Friday Caps Clips: Wild @ Caps Game Day

J.P. — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 11:45:23 -0000

More photos » by Nick Wass - AP

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Your savory breakfast links:

Previews of tonight's Caps/Wild game from Vogs, NHL.com and Peerless, and be sure to check out our SB Nation partner Hockey Wilderness for coverage from the other side of tonight's match up.
Alex Ovechkin is "getting closer" to getting back in the lineup. Of course, "closer" isn't necessarily "close" (though it sounds as if he's both, with the smart money on a return Tuesday at the earliest). [Washington Post, NHL.com]
Great interview with Semyon Varlamov following his win in relief on Wednesday night. [Capitals Insider]
AO has more shots on goal through four seasons than any player in League history (with 42% more than the guy in second place), but have his shots on goal actually been under-counted? [Puck Prospectus]
Mike Green doesn't even get a mention as being in the running for Team Canada. Methinks someone goofed. [CBSSports.com]
But Tomas Fleischmann sure is making a case for the Czech team, no? [Washington Times]
What a Michael Nylander move might mean for the Hershey Bears. [York Daily Record]
Not breaking news: a ref missed a call against the Caps. Breaking: he admits it. [The Hockey News]
WWPBD? [Homer McFanboy]
Several Caps (including the coaches) talk about their first NHL fights. Worth it for the brilliant intro. [Caps365 (video)]
Because I can't let something like the above go without fact checking, Matt Bradley is wrong, Chris Clark is right, John Erskine is right (as far as regular season bouts go), Dean Evason is right, Eric Fehr is right, Green is right, Mike Knuble is right, Brooks Laich is right, Quintin Laing is unclear, Shaone Morrisonn is right, Brian Pothier is right, Tyler Sloan is... hmmm, David Steckel is right, and hockeyfights.com is awesome.
Speaking of guys with grit, Stefan Della Rovere talks about playing in the Super Series. [Metro Canada]
Could the Caps be headed to Russia for games against KHL teams? Seems far-fetched, but "anything is possible." [Puck Daddy]
Finally, happy 40th birthday to Patrik Augusta.