Bourque Who?

After years of quietly pulling for the 5'9", 173 lbs. forward to make it the big club, it finally happened and didn't happen, then happened again all at once. Calling him a dark horse to make the Capitals for almost 3 years now, it was exciting to see a spot for him in the lineup. But when the salary cap became an issue, the Caps had no choice but to put some one on waivers to send them back to Hershey. Pittsburgh picked up the crafty forward and in a way, Chris Bourque finally made a NHL roster, just not the Caps roster.

Frankly, I am happy for him. He goes to a team that thinks they can use him after the Penguins themselves lost a player to the waiver wire. Bourque has his shot at the big league and maybe this is for the best in the end. He has the potential to be a sneaky scoring forward. The Penguins will be forced to play the young forward, or place him on waivers yet again if they send him to the W/B Baby Pens.

We all sort of got hypnotized by the last name Bourque. But as I always say, don't hate the player, hate the game. Since I love the game, I have to accept it and know that Bourque will be just fine in a Penguins' sweater. As for the Caps, they just lose out on a player with no compensation for him. A bit frustrating to see the Caps' management got caught with their pants down a bit.

And don't put this on Micheal Nylander, he didn't put Bourque on waivers or force GM George McPhee's hand to do so. McPhee signed Nylander to begin with, now McPhee has to deal with his contract the best he can since Nylander doesn't fit in Bruce Boudreau's system.

Caps Notes:

• Caps are all set for their season opener against Boston. Jose Theodore will likely be in net for the first game. Mike Knuble may not see any first line duties at first according to how they have lined him up on the second line in practices. Of course, this just might be Boudreau holding his hand close to his vest.
• Matt Bradley will be wearing a newly designed helmet to prevent concussions made by Cascade Sports and designed by Mark Messier. I have some first hand knowledge of the helmet, because I have been playing with the Cascade helmet for just over a year now. It may look a little bigger, but if it does what it says then it's worth it.

Let's Go Caps!