Personally, I think this award is Henrik's to lose at this point.  To get it for a 3rd consecutive year, I really think Ovie needs both scoring and goals titles to overcome the suspensions and win it.  Without those suspensions, I would view this like a prize fight.  You have to clearly show you're better, or it goes to the incumbent.  (I'll also go on record, I think the Pearson is much more prestigeous than the Hart).

Let's compare the top 3 skaters 5v5 GF/GA/60, as this is one stat that I think clearly eliminates one candidate:
Ovie and Hank are both among the league leaders in +/-, but what got me started on this path is the 3rd candidate which shall not be named.  He's nowhere to be found.  Mired down at a minuscule +9.  Comparing the numbers, what jumps out at me most is the talk that Ovie is not defensively responsible.  Take a peek at the following:

Ovie:  64 GP, 4.54 GF/60, 1.63 GA/60, +43  (60 game min, Ovie has a team best GA/60)

Hank: 74 GP, 4.54 GF/60 (eerie, isn't it), 2.27 GA/60, +33

3rd guy: 75 GP, 3.94 GF/60, 3.25 GA/60, +9  (2nd worst on the team GA/60.  Nobody on the Caps has a GA/60 worse than this guy)

Another aspect going for Ovie is the team's record since he was named Captain, but can that record and the streak that followed his C be enough to sway voters who are tired of his questionable contact?  Only a few months will tell.  But for me, this award is a 2 horse race (unless we start talking about goalies...  I could make a case for Bryz or Miller over either of these guys).

So, I was very sad to see Olympic bracket the other AM after Breakfast.  No, that's not how long it took me to figure it out.  Here in London, breakfast time is just about the end of the previous night`s games. 

What I noiced disturbs me and I don't think I ever noticed it before.  In the NHL, the playoffs are re-seeded at the end of each round.  I have always liked this.  The best qualifying teams should have the "easiest" path through the playoffs.  However, that tournament is a winner-take all, loser goes home situation.  There is no silver/bronze in the NHL.  You have to beat everyone you play, no matter who, to win anything.

The olympics, not so much.  Seeds are set in stone at the end of pool play, and your path to gold is determined early.  Canada has to go through a majority of our boys in the Quarters and I think that sucks.  I think both "groups" have it backwards.  In a non-winner take all, you want your best teams playing at the end.  There are prizes for those left standing, and shouldn't those also be the best teams?  With the righ upsets, you could have your #1 team playing an 8 in the Quarters while a #4 seed gets a #12 seed.  By re-seeding, you ensure that EACH ROUND is the best vs the worst.  This helps weed out the worst at every level you have the best chance of seeing the best teams at the end.  Say a 12 upsets a 1, well, #2 then gets that 12, by virtue of them being the next best team.

I'm sure it's always been done this way, but can anybody give me a reason why we have two tournaments that are "seeded" in what appears to me to be such a bass-ackwards way?

-Speaking of backwards, I'm glad I fly home tomorrow so I can stop using these horrible keyboards-

EITM Contest

So, sledding in to work this AM I caught the latest promo announcement from Elliot in the Morning.  They've teamed up with the Caps and are collecting submissions for a new Caps Goal Song.  Instead of some random catchy song of the moment, the Caps are now looking for something unique and they are turning to their fan base to create it.

This is quite a neat promotion.  Follow the link for details.  Personal feelings about Elliot's show aside, he's been a great ambassador for the game in this area since he arrived and I know there are some people who read this blog who could create something awesome for this promo.  Feel free to provide a link on here for it so we can all enjoy.

Spent my college days a RIT (Can't wait for Pinizzotto gets a game), which, at the time was a D-III hockey school, and a great one at that.  We got pretty crazy with some of our cheering from the crowd and generally had a good time at every game we went to.  We used to, after each goal announcement, have a giant bell that would get rung for each goal that had been scored...  Count up, and claim we wanted...the next one, whatever number that was.

On very special nights, when the goalie was particularly bad, or the score was getting out of control, it would transform into "It's All Your Fault..."  In either case, we were ALWAYS smart enough to know when a goalie was pulled, and adjust the taunt appropriately.  Two games I've been to this year, our fans can't seem to grasp this concept. 

I am not trying to get down on anybody who wants to cheer, and have a good time during the game.  Some may not like it, or think it's corny or silly, but fan expression is one of the things that makes hockey so great.  The goal count up is a good goalie taunt in it's own right.  We hockey fans in DC have an uphill battle vs. the hockey media in being viewed as a "hockey town..."  Please, do everybody a favor.  If you sit next to someone who participates in the goal count-up, please make sure that when the goalie is pulled, kindly inform them that the counting needs to start back at 1...

Thank you.

Call me selfish, but this post is either to support my thinking that I'm just being crazy, or dispell said fear and realize I'm in the company of other like-minded individuals.  What sparked this was a recent visit to @cmasisak22.

What I'm referring to is the game's reverence for it's end-of-year trophy.  We hear classic tales of players who refuse to touch it if they have not had their name on it.  Players who will bypass attention to lesser team awards (conference trophies, Boston not raising a division banner this year) with their eyes set on the prize.  Players treat the SC as an icon that one has to prove they are worthy to be in the presence of.  My question to Cap's Nation:  Are fans as "reverent" when it comes to the Cup? 

When I see references to the SC used in conjunction with the Caps (signs, fan-game-attire, advertisements, Corey's wallpaper on his Twitter page), I feel like something's out of place.  I'm crazy, right?

*sorry, had to add a poll option, just for BP

So, the amateur reporter in me picked up some information yesterday from a source I will not disclose, but who was "close" to the situation. Seems that Ovie was getting quite bored watching his teammates pump 5 goals on the Cats on Sat night, so after Campbell's puck to the face, he apparently made his way to the Florida locker room to check on Gregory. (Side note, source said Gregory kept asking to go back to the ice after each sound of the horn in the 3rd.  Dude didn't want a gruesome lip/cheek gash to keep him from helping his teammates).

Is he just trying to lock up another vote for the pearson, or maybe put some face time in with Colin's son so when he goes after Chimera/Boll's head in the next CBus game maybe he gets some leeway?  Either way, classy, Ovie.  One more of the many reasons the next 12 years* will be so much fun.

*-Barring trade/olympic snafu.  I honestly don't think we'll see him play the full contract in Caps Red.

What business does any team have in signing a 30 year old player to a 12 year deal?

To cheat the cap, that's what.

Hossa has clearly accepted that he will be playing the rest of his NHL days in Chicago.  Not a bad move for him.  However, there's no way the guy's playing 12 years of that contract.  What Chicago has done is cut Hossa's cap hit in half by assuming the guy will retire in 6-8 years, thus removing the cap hit (but still having to pay him).

NHL needs to step in and stop this blatant bull-crap before it gets out of hand. 

This is essentially a 5-7 year deal for 8-12M a year that looks like a 5-7 year deal that only hits the cap for 5M per.

Queue the first 50-year deal in the NHL in 3...2... ...