And just like that, the team's salary cap troubles have been alleviated.  In fact, there's suddenly plenty of room to take someone else on.

So let's go shopping.  First step is to find out which stores are open.  Looking at the standings, Carolina's the only team that's completely out of it (and I doubt they'd deal with the Caps), but Anaheim, St. Louis, Minnesota, Columbus and Edmonton all have to understand that the odds aren't good for them, especially given the identities of the teams ahead of them.

So who out there might be available and might help the Caps?  Let me start by throwing out a few names...

The Legend:  Scott Niedermayer
($6,750,000 cap hit, UFA after this year)

He's got Stanly Cup Rings.  He's got a Norris.  What more could the Caps possibly want?  I don't know if he's actually available, and I don't know if he's be willing to move east, but he could be just what the doctor ordered.  Can you imagine the Niedermayer-Alzner pairing?

The Dale Hunter:  Owen Nolan
($2,750,000 cap hit, UFA after this year)

Nolan strikes me as the perfect match for this team.  With Brendan Shanahan's retirement, there aren't many sure HOF greybeard forwards still out there and playing well.  Nolan may or may not be a HOFer, but he may be the next best thing.  He was one of Ovechkin's heroes, and a man Ovi modeled his game after.  Who else in the league has the stature to tell Ovechkin to shorten his damned shifts?  Who else has played longer and more effectively without winning a Cup?

Heart and Guts:  Saku Koivu
($3,250,000 cap hit, UFA after this year)

If you thought Ray Bourque finally getting to lift the Cup with Colorado was memorable, imagine Saku finally getting his name on the Cup after all he's been through?

The Enforcer:  Derek Boogaard
($875,000 cap hit, UFA after this season)

Simply put, one of the most feared punchers in hockey.

The Defensive Stalwarts:

Barret Jackman
($3,625,000 cap hit through '11/'12)

A better physical defensemen than Brendan Witt ever was.

Kim Johnsson
($4,850,000 cap hit, UFA after this year)

Smooth and skillful. Underrated around the league

Jan Hejda
($2,000,000 cap hit through '10/'11)

If you believe Alan Ryder's numbers, he's one of the most underpaid players in hockey.

So who would you most like to see in a Caps uniform?

So, before the discussion in this fanpost went completely off the rails and had to be closed, one very cool idea had been raised.  DMG summed it up best:

In my wildest dreams I imagine using the power of the internet to start up some Caps songs and/or chants and getting together a section to do them at games.

by David M. Getz on Nov 14, 2009 12:05 PM PST up reply actions   0 recs

Well, why the heck not?  Maybe we can come up with something. 

Step 1 is to figure out what makes a good football chant.  From my perspective, we'd probably need to start with a tune that everybody already knows -- probably won't have much luck teaching the whole crowd a new tune.  The words should probably be moderately family friendly -- no acutal curse words -- though rhyming with a swear you think is coming, or suggestive lyrics (Ovechkin scores before, during, and after the game), is probably OK.

Anyone else have any good thoughts on what would make for a good chant?  Anyone have one in mind?  I don't think there'd be anything wrong with stealing adapting someone else's classic chant from the Premier League or anywhere else.

On Wednesday’s Caps Clips, JP linked to a poorly written sportsnet.ca article:

WHERE'S THE BEEF? When the NHL Players Association held its recent conference call, Alexander Ovechkin joined the party. But Ovechkin wasn't on the call to talk about the future of the NHLPA. All he wanted to do was whine about not getting all the money back that he put into escrow.

I am told players earning in the neighborhood of $500,000 to $700,000 were furious with Ovechkin, who by the way, quickly got off the call. Ovechkin, in case you didn't know, is on a 13-year contract that pays him $9 million a year for six years and then $10 million a year for seven years.

The players are on the fourth year of a collective bargaining agreement in which they pay money into escrow each season. In each of the first three years players received most of that money back. Last season the players started off by putting 13.5 per cent of their pay checks into escrow, but part way through the year their contribution was increased to 22.5 per cent. Few players, Ovechkin apparently being one of the exceptions, expected to get much back. In fact, players did receive a little more than five per cent back.

Not enough to please the Russian superstar, though.

Ovechkin is currently out with a mysterious injury that could keep him on the shelf for five weeks.

"Maybe he's not even hurt," one player joked. "Maybe he's protesting not getting his escrow back."

Of course that is not the case, but Ovie didn't do himself any favors by bitching about escrow on a call that was supposed to be about the future of the Players' Association.

Obviously, I wasn't on the call, so I don't know what Ovi really said.   But there is a legitimate beef that Ovechkin, and anyone who signed a multi-year contract before this offseason, has with the NHLPA.  In fact, any player who signed a long-term contract before this offseason is getting hosed.

The thing about the NHL collective bargaining agreement is that the players aren't actually paid in salary -- they're paid in equity.  In effect, the players collectively hold a 50%+ nonvoting share of NHL revenues.

PLAYERS' SHARE OF LEAGUE REVENUES

What will be the players' share of League-wide revenues?

The players' share will be 54% to the extent League revenues in any year are below $2.2 billion; 55% when League revenues are between $2.2 billion and $2.4 billion; 56% when League revenues are between $2.4 billion and $2.7 billion, and 57% when League revenues in any year exceed $2.7 billion.

Salary numbers and salary cap levels, are relative, not fixed.  They're not in real dollars -- they're all based on an estimate of what league revenues will be.  Normally, the estimate is pretty good, and an NHL salary dollar is worth about one real dollar.  But sometimes the estimates are bad, like last year when the financial crisis took everyone by surprise.  By the end of the year, the players had lost 16% of their salaries because that's how far revenues dropped.  Larry Brooks writes:

Slap Shots has learned that the escrow withholding figure for last season has been calculated at a staggering 15.9 percent. That means, for example, that Alex Ovechkin will wind up losing $1.431M of the $9M he thought he was earning last year for the Caps.

Ouch!  Then, in the offseason, the players exercised their 5% salary cap "escalator."  Effectively, that reduced the value of an "NHL dollar" by 5%.  That 5% went to pay free agents -- the salary cap was ultimately set to 56 Million, but it should have been 5% smaller.

Five percent may seem small, but it's more than 2.5 Million.  In effect, the players union voted in June to force the Capitals players already under contract to take up a collection out of their own salaries, and use that to pay Mike Knuble's salary.  General managers must have been thrilled, because they were given the opportunity to acquire new players without actually having to pay any more real dollars.

I can understand why the players wanted to make sure this year's free agents could get jobs, but it's got to be bitter for anyone who did have a contract.  I'm sure Ovechkin is upset about losing about $400,000 so this year's free agents could make more money -- what I don't understand is why other players aren't more upset.  Guys near league minimum like John Erskine and Quintin Laing lost about $27,000 -- serious money for people whose playing careers won't necessarily last very long.

With the significant effects exercising the escalator would have on all sorts of people, you'd think the players association took the decision seriously, right?  Brooks again:

Attendance at the union meetings in Las Vegas was so limited, it seemed as if one had wandered into a game in Glendale. Fact is, the PA did not have enough player reps at its own meeting to tally the vote on the critical issue of voting on the 5-percent cap escalator clause that eventually was adopted through e-mail tally.

Much worse, and perhaps scandalous, is that a number of players went to Las Vegas on the union's dime, partied, and never bothered to actually, you know, attend the meetings. Wait until the summer meetings in Rome.

The NHLPA has become an absolute soap opera.  But you know, when a guy who negotiated the richest contract in NHL history without an agent gets on the line, maybe you might want to listen to him.  He might just have something to say that's worth your while.

Good evening.
Do not attempt to adjust your radio, there is nothing wrong.
We have taken control as to bring you this special show.
We will return it to you as soon as you are grooving.

Hockey is undergoing a renaissance of great audio content, served out for free to anyone who loves the game.  I've been listening to a few hockey podcasts every week for a while, and it's really added a lot to my enjoyment of the game.  I figured I'd share the love.

...the Mothership Connection.
Home of the extraterrestrial brothers,
Dealers of funky music.

The podcast that's probably best known in these parts is the Capitals Report.  The show was indispensable when it was just Vogel.  There aren't too many out there who are more knowledgable about the team.  Vogel brings a great perspective, having a great memory for good times and bad times.  But the show was greatly improved with the inclusion of Brett #80 "Stretch" Leonhart.  What other team has a web personality who can tell you stories about taking shots from the current players over the past week?

Sir Lollipop Man! Chocolate coated, freaky and and habit forming.
Doin' it to you in 3-D,
So groovy that I dig me.

He's John, and he's Francois -- and they come to you every Monday on The Old Barn Hockey Show.  John Walton is Hershey's radio play-by-play guy, and I won't lie: John Walton is better at what he does than certain guys who do Caps games.  This show is the best way to keep up with the farm.  And John and Frank have such unmistakable chemistry, I would enjoy the show even if I didn't care about the players.

Gettin' deep.
Once upon a time called Right Now

It's like this:  if you're a Caps fan, you have to listen to the Hockey Diaries.  You've been hearing a lot about it for the last week or so, but if you've been putting it off for any reason, just download it and listen.  As Caps fans, we are singularly fortunate to have this kind of access to two of our favorite players.  Their personalities really come through, and the stories they tell are unbelievable.  I just don't know what else I can say.  It's awesome.

Let me put my sunglasses on.
That's the law around here, you got to wear your sunglasses.
So you can feel cool.
Gangster lean.
Y'all should dig my sun-rooftop.

Imagine you're alone in LA, and you walk into a bar for dinner.  There's hockey playing on the TV, and you sit at the bar next to a skinny Ducks fan and a stout Kings fan.  The friendship between the two is only equalled by each one's dedication to his own team, and they quickly draw you into their conversation with real charm and with witty trash-talk directed at each other.  First your meal, then the hockey game you're watching go by in a flash of entertaining conversation.  That's what the Puck Podcast feels like.  

Eddie Garcia and Doug Stollhand are two of the hardest working guys on the internet.  They may not watch and review every hockey game during the week, but it sure feels like they do.  And the daily hockey minute is a fantasic update every morning.  But it's their chemistry and real affection for each other that has made them the #1 podcast on the internet and on iTunes.

Don't stop, get down
Talk!
Blow your horn

Know of any other good hockey shows available for download?  Post 'em in the comments.

We don't say thank you enough.  But this is all a hell of a lot of work.  The clips threads require someone to read dozens of articles and pick the best ones, usually in the very early morning.  (JP thinks about hockey more before breakfast...)  The recaps require someone to play beat writer, a job Tarik, Corey and Vogel all get paid to do.  Just think of what the recap took for last year's miserable loss in San Jose -- would you have wanted to stay up well past midnight to write a review of the Caps' ugliest game of the year?  

The analysis posts are the real stars of the Rink.  They bring deep thought and creative application of statistics to give us all new insight on an interesting issue that maybe we never thought about before.  They combine inspiration and hard work.  The fact that our hosts do all of this for love of the game doesn't make it any less work and shouldn't make us any less appreciative. 

One week into the season, the Rink is certainly off to a better, more consistent start than the team is.  Here's what we got in the past week:

• A clips thread with a review of the Caps opening night victory against Boston
• An analysis of the "distance from goal" stat on the scoresheet, and why it's next-to-useless
• A clips thread with a Leafs game preview
• A Leafs game thread
• A Leafs game recap
• A clips thread with a review of the Caps victory against the Leafs
• An analysis of what it would take for Ovechkin to score fifty in fifty, a subject nearly everyone has been talking about (and the Rink got there before almost any of them)
• A clips thread with a Flyers game perview
• A really deep analysis of the impact of Ovechkin's contract on DC as a hockey town
• A "daydream" analysis of what it would take for the Caps to become a dynasty so provocative, the team's owner felt he had to respond
• A Flyers game thread
• A Flyers game recap
• A clips thead with a review of the OTL to the Flyers
• An analysis of Varlamov's mental state
• A clips thread with a Rangers game preview
• An analysis of the effect of taking and drawing penalties on the Caps' odds of winning a game
• A Rangers game thread
• A Rangers game recap
• A clips thread with a review of the loss to the Rangers
• An analysis of where Eric Fehr could/should play

Add in three timely fanshots (Ovechkin earning 1st star of the week; Limits on player use of social media; and Boudreau accusing half of the Poti/Erskine pairing of denial) and a few fanposts (Caps interviewing Redskins; SBN's power rankings; Matt Bradley's fighting style; and Hershey's roster), and that's 26 content threads generated by our hosts, with 5429 (and counting) comments. 

What is most impressive is that with all the "routine" hard work on clips and recaps, these all-stars still averaged one deep analysis per day.  The post that garnered the most outside attention was written by a man just a couple of days before his wedding.  That's dedication.  

So how do we all say "thank you?"  I'm sure donations wouldn't be turned away, but from where I'm sitting, the main watchword here is "respect." 

Don't threadjack an analysis thread.  It sucks to put hours into one topic only to have a commenter blithely turn the discussion to a completely unrelated thing.  Honduran politics and other off-topic stuff belong in a clips thread. 

Do think before you post.  Intelligent, well-thought out responses are part of the reward for putting together a thoughtful analysis. 

Don't be nasty or crude, unless you're being clever or funny enough to justify it.  The intended audience is mature adults.  We don't have to be careful as though small kids are around, but neither are we titillated by the purely juvenile. 

Do contribute.  Perhaps the best way to say "thank you" is to grab an oar and help out.  Fanposts and fanshots add to the vibrancy of the discussion.  We did pretty well this week, with eight fanposts and twenty-two fanshots, which earned 540 comments.  But that's still less than 10% of the activity our hosts generated.  Even a simple "rec" is  a valued contribution, and it costs you nothing.  


And there is one even more obvious way to say "thank you..."

Courtesy of Hockey Reference.com:

Bill Boyd:  1927-1930

Irwin Boyd: 1932-1944

Bob Boyd: 1974-1975

Jim Boyd:  1975-1977  (Jim and Bob never played together)

Randy Boyd: 1982-1989

Boyd Devereaux: 1998-2009

Dustin Boyd: 2007-2009  (Dustin and Deveraux never played together)

Boyd Gordon: 2004-2009 (Never played with and Boyd except Kane)

Boyd Kane:  2004-2009 (Never played with any Boyd except Gordon)

It's official: The 2009-2010 Capitals are the League's all time leader in Boyds.*

* Gordon and Kane played together once before, in 05-06.