Four months with out Caps hockey and we are cramming in 3 games in less than 4 days. I haven't had time to get my season pass up and running on my Tivo. The Washington Capitals play Vancouver tonight at the phone booth. All these games, it's already starting to bug my wife.
It may not be such a bad thing that the Capitals get off to a slow start. I would rather have these breakdowns early than later. It's only two games into the season, calls for axing the coach and the GM and throwing Jose Theodore out of town are a bit premature. These players have had the whole summer off. It's not going to be instant chemistry when they get back. Although there were some pretty amazing plays in the second and third periods of the home opener that look very familiar.
I think the jury is still out on Theo. I can understand the pressure that he puts himself under coming on to a team on the up. I believe him when he said he was trying to do to much. "I said to myself, 'Go out there and play like you can,'" Theodore told reports after his win at Verizon Center. "From there I did my part and the guys did the rest." Once Theo settled down, made simple plays, he was able to master the front of the net and his defensemen played better in front of him.
Nick Backstrom is like a shadow out there. He look much like he did at the beginning of last year. He did show some good flashes with the puck and a nice pass here or there, but I think he needs to step up his game if he wants to stay in either the number one or number two line. But again, it's only two games in.
NHL notes:
I Love, with a capital L, the retro Oilers look. It brought back flashes of Wayne Gretzky breaking down the wing and Mark Messier camped out in front of the net. Instead it was Shawn Horcoff and Dustin Penner but still, I thought they looked fantastic.
Who would have ever thought that Micheal Peca was this big of a goon. I highly doubt that Peca intentionally whacked a ref. I have seen worse actions from refs breaking up fights and getting full on punched in the back of the head. You can barely see the infraction here on some amateur video. Is that worth an indefinate suspension?
Whoa ho ho, look who is 4 and 0. The New York Rangers, although they almost let a 4 - 0 lead get away in Philly, but the Rangers seem to have it going on. Maybe letting Jaromir Jagr go wasn't such a bad thing.
Speaking of the Kontinental Hockey League, former Capital and all around tough guy Chris Simon leads the league in penalty minutes. Also former Cap Jakub Klepis is on the same team as Jagr for the Avangard Omsk. Klepis has 3 goals and 9 assists, 2 of his goals are game winners. It's a small hockey world afterall.
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