Rookies Kick Off Camp

It was just a practice, but already rookie Capitals' players are starting to impress. Cody Eakin is one of those young players that has the coaching staff eager to put him in with the big boys.

"I want to see him in an exhibition game or two at the NHL level," Head coach Bruce Boudreau said. "He's the one junior that's come here I think saying forget it I want to play in the NHL this year. He had a great junior year and we're going to give him a chance to see what he's got."

Other players just found it hard to keep up with the rigorous first practice. Stanislav Galiev had a hard time with the skating drills and had to take a knee or two late in practice. The 86th overall draft pick found himself out of breath as the practice wound down.

Braden Holtby didn't need to be on the ice with the rookies, but with the log jam of pro netminders working out together it was tough to find some ice time. Holtby took part of the practice to get in some work and ice time before fall camp begins.

Joe Finley made an early impression as he takes a spot back on the blue line. His experiment at forward in last year's camp is over as he is looking for a permanent job with Hershey next season. He had a freak arm injury while playing with the South Carolina Stingrays. Finley comes with a new attitude and a bit more composure according to Gabby.

"He's a lot more composed and better, I think," Boudreau said. "[He's] another year older, he's played one year, albeit a short one because of an injury shortened season, at pro. He wants to be a regular in Hershey and he's come here with that determination. I like him."

I would expect tomorrow's practice to be just as tough as today's work out. The rookies are prepping for the rookie game against the Flyers on Thursday.

Caps Win First Preseason Game

Preseason: Capitals 4, Sabres 3 OT
Scoresheet

In a game when the Caps seemed to look a bit shaky for their first preseason game, Semyon Varlamov was anything but. Varly stopped all 17 shots in the first two periods and held on in the third to help his team beat the Buffalo Sabres 4-3 in overtime. Brian Pothier scored the game winning goal on a 5 on 3 power play carry over from the third period to give the Caps the win.

The Capitals didn't quite get the start they wanted in HSBC Arena at the start of the first period. They were badly outworked and out hustled. The Sabres offense seemed to be in fine form as the Caps struggled. Well all but one, Varly. Varlamov came up with save after save against the Sabres who were trying to score on the young goaltender by finding the open man across the ice. But each time Varly had an answer robbing Jason Pominville a couple of times with his athletic splits to cover the once open net.

With the Caps' goaltender keeping them in the game, the Caps seemed to get a good start as Alex Giroux scored the opening goal in the first period. He scored on a feed from Brendan Morrison and it gave the Capitals the early 1-0 lead. Thanks to Varlamov's heroics that scored held until the third period. Then the Sabres finally started getting the shots to go in.

The Sabres scored 2 goals jumping up to a 2-1 lead on goals by Pominville and Clarke MacArther. Mike Knuble tied things up with a goal right in front of the net. The Sabres answered with a goal of their own again going up by a goal. Just 23 seconds after the Buffalo goal, Jay Beagle tied the game.

Buffalo took a couple of bad penalties late, one was a delay of game foul called on goaltender Jhonas Enroth. The other was a check from behind by Mike Weber that had B. Mor injured on the ice for a spell. The Caps carried over the 5 on 3 power play into the overtime period where Pothier beat Enroth with a point slapper and wins the game for the Caps.

The standouts tonight for those gunning for jobs were Karl Alzner, Chris Bourque and Jay Beagle. Alzner cool, calm demeanor seemed to help the Caps get out of sticky situations. Bourque seemed to be Bruce Boudreau's safety blanket for this game. When his line was out there it seemed to even things out a bit. Beagle had 4 shots on net (second only to Nick Backstrom who had 5 shots) and scored the game tying goal just 23 seconds after the Sabres scored their go ahead goal late in the third.

Anton Gustafsson had his moments, both bad and good. The good was he did get his nose dirty in front of the net and that lead to some scoring chances and his two registered shots on net. The bad was when he broke his stick and went to the bench to get a replacement which gave the Sabres a scoring opportunity.

Joe Finley didn't really stand out at all, but he didn't make any glaring mistakes either. He registered two blocked shots and gave the Caps some good size up front.

The Caps come back to DC to get a few practices on Friday before heading to Chicago to play their second preseason game against the Blackhawks Saturday night.

Photo by Rick Stewart/Getty Images

Rookie Camp Ends On Sour Note

The Washington Capitals wrapped up their rookie camp with a rookie game against the Philadelphia Flyers rookies/AHL players. While the end result wasn't the what the rookies hoped for (a 7-3 loss), the week proved to have more positives than negatives for the young skaters.

Having a good week was John Carlson. Not only was he one of the best players on the ice for the rookie game, but Carlson just seemed head above shoulders over the other players though out camp. He has improved his hockey sense to go with his heavy shot and good speed. It will be interesting to see how he progresses into next week with the veterans.

Trevor Bruess also had a great camp and played very well in the rookie game. He is all sandpaper in the way he plays. He spent some time this summer before camp practicing with some of the veterans. Cody Eakin also impressed. Eakin had a goal and his speed was lethal against the bigger Flyer defenders and through out camp.

It was a bit disappointing not to see Stephan Della Rovere take the ice for practices or the rookie game. I am hoping to see more of him in the next couple of weeks and maybe for some of the preseason games.

The players that just didn't impress through out the week includes Anton Gustafsson. Lil' Gus has some seasoning to do. Not to say that the son of Caps great Bengt Gustafsson hasn't been working on improving, but he is just not there yet. He needs to work on core strength and staying on his feet. As well as a season or two in the minors should help improve his hockey sense a bit.

A few of the defensemen had good camps, but in the rookie game they were a bit sub-par. Eric Mestery and Kevin Schmidt had a rough go of it through out the rookie game. They just could not control the Flyers forwards in front of the net.

Dmitri Kugryshev also had a rough game. Not only was he elbowed in the first period and shook up, but his play was a bit sloppy and took a bad offensive zone penalty when the Caps seemed to build momentum. He was eventually replaced on the power play line for first time forward Joe Finley (that could be they wanted to use Finley's size in front of the Flyer goaltender).

Speaking of Finley, the once defenseman now forward was the talk of rookie camp. He did okay for his first game as a winger. He still looks a bit shaky on the break out and has to learn to make that transition and head man the puck once the pass comes his way. Otherwise he was sound positionally and made a few good cuts to the net during the rookie game.

As a whole, the Caps rookies did a good job up in Voorhees New Jersey to take on the Flyer rookies. It was a bit of a lopsided affair with the Flyers 20-21 year-olds against the Caps 18-19 year-olds, but I felt the Caps future held their own. They definitely out chanced the flyers and out shot them. A few lucky bounces the other way and it is a different game.

Now camp goes from development to the real deal. Veterans report to camp tomorrow and are available to the media in the morning. Their first practice is not until Sunday morning, but they will be going through physicals and some off ice testing until then.

It will be interesting to watch what happens when the rooks skate with the big boys. It will be easy to see how jumps out and who just gets washed away in the crowd. There will be some big battles for back up goaltender, defense jobs and third and forth line jobs. Will the Caps take chances on some up and comers in the system, or will we see basically the same roster as last year? All questions will be answered in a few short weeks.

The Quest For The Cup Starts Here

71 players, two practice rinks, rookie and regular training camps, and six preseason games. It's the dawn of a new season. One that finds the Washington Capitals' expectations far exceed just getting to the next round.

Their hope is not only to battle for first in both their division and in their conference, but a team that can and will make it to the Stanley Cup Finals. This is a team that felt if they had different fortunes in a certain game seven, they would be the ones lifting a special banner this October. This is the Cup or bust season for the Capitals.

Not that any player would say such a thing, but read between the lines and you will notice this team finds its exit from the post season last spring a bit unsettling. They plan to fix that bad heartburn they had just 4 months ago.

And it all starts here, at Kettler Capitals Iceplex. 71 players will take to these two rinks atop the Ballston Commons parking garage to take on another grueling NHL season. Rookies will take the stage first, then veterans wander in a week later. And just ten days from now, the Caps will be playing in their first preseason game in Buffalo N.Y.

Here are a few interesting things you will see and want to keep an eye on this week at KCI.

Semyon Varlamov changed the spelling of his first name and has some new pads. He will also be on the ice for the rookie camp. Along with Braden Holtby and Micheal Neuvirth, the goaltenders will be battling for spots in Hershey and for the Capitals. Don't think that Varly the number one position in the bag. Jose Theodore is in the final year of his contract and I would expect that he will be playing top notch goaltending throughout camp and the preseason to retain his formally number one spot.

At this point the battle really comes down all three goaltenders, Theodore, Neuvirth and Varlamov for spots one and two on the Caps roster. And the competition looks fierce.

There will be some new goaltending faces at camp, like Jason Bacashihua. He was originally drafted by Dallas in '01, and played a game or two for the St. Louis Blues. He was signed as a UFA by Hershey/Capitals in July. Also Todd Ford, a tall goaltender at 6'4", who was originally a Toronto draft pick in '02. Ford has struggled being sent back and forth from the one minor team to the next, but found a nitch in the ECHL with Victoria where he had a .915 save percentage and 2.64 GAA.

Joe Finley is listed on the forwards side of the roster instead of defense. It is not that big of a surprise as the coaches made the switch at developing camp in July. It a lot of ways I can see what they are trying to get out of Finley, a big gritty forward that has size and isn't afraid to hit wearing down opposing defenders and playing a good two way game. Think of it as a David Steckel clone perhaps. Finley's move to the forward position has been one he has been told to work on all summer. Per Tarik on his blog:

"We told [Finley] we wanted to try him at forward and we wanted him to go back to North Dakota to practice as a forward," [Bruce] Boudreau said. "We want to see how much that has improved because I asked him on the last day [of development camp]. Now he's had a couple of months."

We will see how that little experiment goes.

Micheal Dubuc returns. He easily impressed the coaches in development camp and could fight for a spot on the squad. It will be easier to gain a grasp of what he is capable of when he is mixed in with the veterans, but he should be the one to watch for the rookie game and in intrasquad scrimmages. He just has a nose for finding the back of the net.

Some noticeable misses in the rookie camp roster are defenseman Patrick Wey, forward Greg Burke, center Phil DeSimone, goalie Dan Dunn, forward Andrew Glass, and defenseman Dmitri Orlov (all were at the summer development camp, but according to the list generated by the Caps media relations none of these names appear on the rookie or training camp rosters).

Battles for defense should be a good one. Black horse and underdog Karl Alzner could crack the opening night roster. So could Tyler Sloan, a popular choice of the coaches when the blue line was hurt last season, and also rookie John Carlson, who has done nothing but improve every time we see him. It will be a tough nut to crack because the Capitals did not lose a single starting defensemen in the off season. All will return and all will be looking to keep their spots with the big club.

The Capitals training camp practices are open to the public and start today at 10:30 am. Rookie Camp is first and ends on Friday with the rookie game against Philadelphia in Vorhees N.J. Then the Veterans report on Saturday, September 12th and training camp begins on Sunday with the first squad hitting the ice at 10 am, the second at 11:45 am and the third group at 2:15 pm. Times are subject to change. Schedule of all the caps training camp practices and schedules can be found on the Caps' website.

Hockey is back!

Finley Arrested, Nice Mug Shot

Joe Finley was arrested and cited for disorderly conduct. According to the Grand Forks Herald:

Joe Finley, 22, and Matt Frattin, 21, are both charged with disorderly conduct. In addition, Frattin faces a fleeing charge and Finley faces a charge of giving false information to officers. All the charges are misdemeanors.

Finley and a UND team mate were throwing objects out of a Grand Forks home. It was their home, but the broken glass and items were thrown into the street as a result of their aggression. Both started to run when police arrived but Finley stopped, Frattin did not.

Finley offered a credit card with a different name on it as identification but finally told the officers his real name when he was taken to the station.

Finley was a first round draft pick of the Capitals in the '05 NHL Entry Draft.

The news was broken in the DC area by the Times blog, In The Room.

Group A Dominates

Sorry for the late post, I had engagements this evening.

Group A didn't just win the game by dominating almost the entire game, but also by scoring seven straight goals in the third period. Dustin Carlson's nightmare as the blue team's goaltender. It capped a great scrimmage for the boys in the white Capitals' practice jerseys in the second of three scrimmages schedule for the week as they win it 8 - 3.

Group A had three dominating lines, the Backman/Glass/Bruess line (or the BBG line), the Perreault/Mitchell/Sheen line, and the Dubuc/DiSimone/Broda line. Each one of the lines scored at least two goals. Michael Dubuc now has 5 goals in this summer's camp, while Mathieu Perreault scored a pair today. The BBG line was a great grinding line that kept the blue side frustrated and making bad mistakes.

The overall play was a bit sloppy, a sign that the week is wearing long with some of the prospects. Bad passes, misplays with the puck were the norm. If it were not for Garrett Zemlak putting forth a tremendous effort for the Blue team in the first half of the game, the white score could have easily reached 10 or 12 goals. But Zemlak kept his team in it, as he posted a shut out in the 30 minutes he played.

Dmitri Orlov has been having a great development camp. In his scouting report they call him an "opportunistic hitter" and he did find a couple of opportunities to pull out his hip check. He has the speed to make up for mistakes, he knows when to pinch in and when to back off. Very rarely was he ever out of position. Toward the end though, the Group B just couldn't over come the skill and speed of Group A and Orlov was not completely immune from being taken advantage of. Perreault pick-pocketed Orlov for his second goal of the day and that was the dagger in the heart of any comeback for the blue team.

Speaking of blue team players that impressed, Cody Eakin also did well. His speed factored in two goals for the blue team. One an assist, the other a goal. John Carlson also helped the blue team's cause with a couple of good clears and some great passes. He has yet to have a chance to open up and use that cannon of his.

There was a scary moment in the scrimmage when Jake Hauswirth crashed the net with Anton Gustafsson. The pair of them went into the net hard and Lil' Gus got the worst of the goal post. He cut his forehead really bad and he was stunned and on the ice bleeding as trainers came to the rescue. Hauswirth and Zach Miskovic (who also was in the collision) looked to be a bit shaken but okay. Braden Holtby, the white team's goaltender, was hardly hit at all as the players dove to miss him. Gustafsson did not return.

Injuries weren't uncommon on the fourth day of Development Camp. Patrick Wey caught a puck in the mouth, required stitches. Stefan Della Rovere had to sit out due to a sprained shoulder (he also had stitches on his upper lip). Joe Finley took a stick up high and got cut on his lower lip. It is a sign that every player is playing as hard as they can to impress the Caps' management.

Finley has been slowly improving through the course of the camp. On day one, he seemed to want to hit everything in sight, often slipping out of position to do it. In scrimmage two, he played a better positional game, letting the hits come to him. He also tightened up his discipline after getting whistled for two penalties in scrimmage one.

I would not be surprised if the coaches decide to mix up some of the players between Groups A and B. Group A just was too much for in the second scrimmage. The only answer the blue team seemed to have was being more physical and pray their goaltender can help them out.

Saturday's scrimmage should be a good one in either case.

Caps Notes:

• Jeff Schultz did sign his qualifying offer, but faxed the one year, signed contract not to the Caps office. Instead he faxed it to NHL headquarters. It doesn't void the contract, usually the Caps will alert the league's office of the contract signing. But the confusion made for some he said, they said comments last night. In either case, Schultz will be back as a Capital for next season.
• Japers Rink figure a way to see everyone tweets from development camp. It was very sweet of him to include mine, as choppy and mis-spelled as it was.
• The Caps' prospects got a guided tour of the DC and WashingtonCaps.com was there to film it. At one point Jake Hauswirth is wired for sound, it is both funny and educational! Also if you watch within the opening song sequence you will see Garrett Mitchell almost miss the bus after the White House stop.
  

Just A Morning Skate

Group A took the ice this morning at Kettler and I had a chance to check out the kids. It turned out to be a grueling two hour practice where the coaching staff threw just about everything they had at the prospects attending the summer development camp. Some struggled, some excelled and others impressed.

Of those that stood out, for me, were Mathieu Perrault, big guy Joe Finley, Joel Broda and Trevor Bruess. As well as goaltender Braden Holtby. For Perrault, this is old hat (his third camp to date if I am not mistaken). Not much phased him through the whole practice. He stayed consistent and played tough.

Finley seemed to welcome the challenge in defending Perrault during a one on one drill. Finley is all about size, at 6'7" and 240 you can hardly miss him on the defensive line. But Finley doesn't have Perrault's speed so Finley had to cheat a little around cones and make more direct cuts to keep up with the speedy forward. At one point Finley caught up with Perrault only to deflect his shot right up into his face below the visor (jaw or chin). Finley shook it off and didn't even miss the next round.

When they got to the 5 on 3 and 5 on 5 drills, Finley wanted to show case his physicality. He missed two hits at center ice and the one good hit he got in took him out of position, leaving his linemates high and dry. I'll chalk it up as rusty-ness for now.

Joel Broda also impressed. He has a nose for the net and doesn't shy away from being physical in front of it. His linemate, Trevor Bruess, was the agitator of the day in the 5 on 5 drills. He was also involved in most of the hitting (both giving and receiving). Bruess loves to cut off wingers, get in the grill of the defenders and create havoc in the neutral zone. And all of it for practice. I can't wait to see what he does for the scrimmages.

Those having a tough time were players that were none too familiar with Bruce Boudreau's deep need for perfection and their first time to a NHL development camp. You can say it was nerves and complex drills thrown at them on the first day.

"That was real competitive. Coach Boudreau is a really good coach. You better have your thinking cap on and make sure you listen." Trevor Bruess tweeted after the practice had ended.

Zach Miskovic had a tough run of practice. Often falling behind or asking others what was going on. Garrett Mitchell also seemed lost in the crowd. I was watching for him to step in, be more aggressive and physical, he choose the "wait and see" strategy a few times. As did many of the first timers who were trying to get it all down. Nils Backstrom, an invitee, looked out of shape at the end of practice as he was getting out skated by the Holtby the goaltender during the last skating drill.

Speaking of Holtby, this has been a different goaltender from the year before. Last summer, the then 19 year old looked a bit out wide eyed and tentative. You could see the potential he had. This summer, it's plain to see how much he has grown. Not only has he filled out his pads, but he is making smarter decisions with the puck. He is calm and collected and he came up with some very solid saves through out the two hour session. He did have some trouble going side to side and challenging a bit, but it's easy to see that Holtby could be in chocolate brown next season.

Dan Dunn was the other goaltender and he looked much as he did last summer. Good size, solid fundamentals. Besides that, nothing to fancy. He is has a solid butterfly that is hard to beat (because of his size 6'5", 200 lbs.). Dunn and Holtby still have some growing to do, mainly in the rebound department, Holtby more than Dunn. But camp is still young.

"I was rusty out there," Holtby tweeted after the workout. "It's a feeling-out process for most of us on the first day. And the first bag skate always hurts."

I was only able to take in the morning skate, I will be back out to Kettler tomorrow morning to take a look at Group B. You can always follow me and my observations on my Twitter account: twitter.com/pckhdsthghts.

Caps notes:

• George McPhee announced today the hiring of Mark French as head coach of the Capitals' farm team, the Hershey Bears. French was in town for the development camp. The Capitals have put up a few of the coach's comments up on their video page.

Who To Keep An Eye On

Over the next three days, PHT will be taking a closer look at the kids coming into town over the weekend for the Capitals' development camp. Some players we will be seeing for the very first time while others may look at next week's development camp as old hat. Either way, the Capitals have invested heavily in their draft picks and their scouting. Camps like these give the Capitals' organization and the fans a chance to see the fruits of that labor.

First let's take a look at some of the returning crowd to Kettler.

John Carlson is rated number 3 on the list of top prospects in the Capitals' system according to Hockeysfuture.com. This will be his second stint in development camp. The first time around the coaching staff have the defenseman some critiques and when training camp started a month or so later, he didn't let those constructive comments go to waste. He spent last season with the OHL's London Knights (former Cap Dale Hunter's team) then was sent to Hershey when the Knights were eliminated from the playoffs. Not only a top prospect for the Capitals, he will also attend the U.S. national junior evaluation camp in August. He was a first round pick, drafted 27th overall in the '08 NHL Entry Draft by the Caps.

Mathieu Perreault played his first full season with the Hershey Bears last year. He also was featured in 21 playoff games in the Bears' march to a Calder Cup Championship. He tallied two goals and six assists in that playoff run. If you can remember, Perreault was the scoring champ in the QMJHL with a 114 points, he led all Hershey rookies in points and was 10th overall in the AHL. He was chosen 177th overall (6th round) in the '06 Entry Draft.

Also returning is Francois Bouchard (pictured right), who was Perreault's line mate for a majority of the season along with another Cap prospect Oskar Osala. Bouchard is a creative forward who dazzled Caps fans last summer with a spin-o-rama move to score. According to the Capitals PR release:

The move looked familiar, as it is the same one his brother (Minnesota Wild's Pierre-Marc Bouchard) has used successfully against Chicago and San Jose in NHL shootouts. You may think that Francois picked up the move from his older brother, but it is the other way around. After Pierre-Marc debuted the move in 2006 he was quick to credit Francois for coming up with the idea and showing it to him first.

Bouchard registered with 15 goals and 20 assist in 64 games with the Bears last season. He was the Capitals 35th overall (2nd round) pick in the '06 Entry Draft.

If there was ever an up and coming pest in the NHL, it could be Stefan Della Rovere. The 5'11", 196 lbs. forward is a pure agitator that other teams love to hate. He makes his second appearance at the Capitals' development camp. He spent last season with the OHL's Barrie Colts and was apart of the World Junior Championship gold medal winning team Canada. He racked up 149 PIMs in Barrie, but also nearly had a point a game with 51 points in 57 games. Della Rovere was picked 204th overall (7th round) in the '08 Entry Draft.

Braden Holtby (pictured left), a prospect goaltender, surprised many in last year's camp. But his good play at camp didn't end with training camp last summer. Holtby started in 61 games for the Saskatoon Blades and was one of two goaltenders to hit the 40 win mark by season's end. Holtby practiced with the Bears during their playoff run and may play a bigger role in Hershey's goaltending depth next season. He was picked 93rd overall (4th round) in the '08 Entry Draft.

If Josh Godfrey's name sounds familiar, it's mostly because of his defensive partner Karl Alzner as both were on the '08 gold medal team for Canada (they were also partners on the Calgary Hitmen squad). The pair worked together for their country, but Godfrey was hampered with an injury last year. He spent a majority of it not with Hershey, but with the South Carolina Stingrays (who were also champions last year, defeating the Alaska Aces for the ECHL's Kelly Cup). Godfrey shows how talented and deep the defensive core is for the Capitals. He was the Capitals' 34th pick overall (2nd round) in the '07 Entry Draft.

The Capitals' biggest prospect (literally) would be Joe Finley. The 6'7", 240 lbs. defenseman has been to a Caps development camp before, but he has missed the previous two due to his college obligations (college players can attend a NHL camp, but NCAA rules stipulate they must pay their own way to the city and for their own accommodations). He suffered through an injury last season, but Finley has been a rock on the blue line for the North Dakota Fighting Sioux. Most will remember Finley as a tough guy who once punched a guy in the line to shake hands and he also went after a visiting team's mascot. He was an '05 draft pick.

Also returning is Dan Dunn (pictured right), a big goaltender who spent last year with St. Cloud State. But he may be looking for work this year as he played second chair to junior Jase Weslosky, who was drafted by the Islanders. Dunn only started 5 times last season and played in nine games. It will be an important camp for him. He was selected 154th overall (6th round) in the '07 Draft.

Tomorrow we will look at a few more prospects that will grace our presence at the Capitals development camp, included a pair that were not even drafted.

Can't Keep It Bottled Up Anymore

Okay a lot of NHL drama going on, I can't keep my opinions to myself much longer. Some if it is older news, I know. But I've been busy.

First, Danny Heatly asking for a trade and refusing to be traded to Edmonton. The drama seems to be in limbo at the moment. I think the very action of asking for a trade waives any kind of trade clause on any contract. Also, if you ask your general manager for a trade after you publicly committed to money and time to be with a particular team you give up any say over what team you may be traded too. At first I thought Heatly was an okay guy, not any more.

Second, Chicago and their paperwork. I guess when you live in the windy city, one should get a paper weight (sorry old joke). Now the NHLPA has filed a grievance with the league over the paperwork. At worst, some big players for the Blackhawks get a taste of the free market as unrestricted free agents. But they were already restricted free agents and Chicago had a right to match the contract offered them. It may not be a huge deal. Plus the other 29 general managers may just give the "too bad" signal to the players association and not sign any of the players with bad paperwork, allowing Chicago to resign them. At least the PA is looking out for their own.

Third, Alex Ovechkin becomes an ambassador for the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi. There is a possibility the NHL will pull out of letting players play in the Olympics, but that is maybe why they made Ovi a full fledged ambassador. It's also a great pick up line for the ladies I'm sure. You have to admire Ovi's countryman's spirit.

Lastly, Brian Burke successfully gets his goaltender. TSN reports Burke has gotten Jonas (the Monster) Gustavsson to be the starting goaltender for the Toronto Maple Leafs. Possibly leaving long time Capital Olaf Kolzig with out a team if the Leafs do not resign him. He is a Free Agent this summer. Gustavsson comes highly touted from the Swedish Elite League. He has size (he looks big in net, hence the nickname 'Monster') speed and good basics. However, he hasn't seen scorers like Evgeni Malkin, Jerome Iginla, Ilya Kovalchuk or Ovechkin. So he is basically a wild card for the Toronto Maple Leafs. Some of his highlights are on YouTube.

Caps Notes:

• Barrack Obama mentioned Alex Ovechkin's name in a speech and some fans were quick to jump on the "why doesn't he come to Caps' games?" critic. Honestly, I think he has much more important things to do rather than take in hockey games or basketball games. Like finding jobs for hundreds and thousands that will be on the street after the States budgets get slashed. Just my gut reaction.
  
• Okay, back to hockey. Development camp is less than a week away and as usual the Caps are going to lean heavily on the kids for the future of the team. The names to watch will be Anton Gustafsson (who missed last year's camp due to injury), Joe Finley (the big meany from North Dakota), Jake Hauswirth (who made quite the splash in last year's camp) and first round pick in the '09 Entry Draft Marcus Johansson is not confirmed to be there, but is likely to show. Camp is from July 13 - 18.
• All this week, be sure to turn on NHL Network as they will be replaying the Rangers/Capitals series starting with game one today. Relive the Caps first series win in nearly 11 years.
  

Quietly, Theodore Hits 30 Wins

A 100+ point season for a forward, 30 goals for a defenseman. It's pretty impressive, but another number jumps out: 30 wins. Jose Theodore has quietly been the hard working, go-to goalie for the Capitals while the attention has been focused on Alex Ovechkin's highlight reel goals and Mike Green shattering the record books.

While it's a few games shorter than the league leading 43 wins, or his save percentage is a few spots shy of the league average, Theodore has been coming up with game saving stops at the right times for the Caps. The injury to Brent Johnson gave more than enough starts for Theo and while he has only two shutouts, his goaltending has been solid enough for the Caps.

It's not easy being a goaltender for the Washington Capitals. With their high powered offense and improvised 4 on 1's can turn into a lot of odd man rushes the other way. It is a Caps' system that gave Olie Kolzig fits, where Christobal Huet thrived and Theodore has learned to cope with.

Theodore is tracking the puck better, reading the play faster. He is also getting some help from his defenders as they try to keep a majority of shots against him to the outside. It was a shaky start for JT60, as he didn't seem to fit in as well as Huet. But that has changed as communication between defenders and Theo has improved.

The Caps have brought up some pretty good talent in the farm system like Simeon Varlamov and Michal Neuvirth, but Bruce Boudreau always went back to reliable Jose Theodore. Johnson's injury played a big part of that, but it has also been Theodore's play and his athletic saves have at the very least kept the Capitals in it.

Caps Notes:

• The Capitals took an optional practice today. They play a game every other day for the remainder of the season which should be good conditioning for the playoffs. Rest should be top priority for some of these days off.
• The Caps signed prospect Joe Finley to a entry level contract. A few days ago they also signed Stephan Della Rovere.
  
• There is some talk of bringing 19 year-old Braden Holtby to the Hershey Bears with Neuvirth out with an injury. Holtby's season ended with a 4-3 loss to Lethbridge in Game 7 in the final.

Atlanta Flashers

Okay, for lack of better taunting name for the Southeast rivals, the Capitals start the season on the road in Atlanta against the Blousers. That is bad too. The Caps announce their schedule yesterday and their first home game is October 6th, against the Hurricanes (or as my wife calls them, a stiff wind).

Rookie Camp apparently is going well. I had the chance to check out some of the drills yesterday and caught the first 30 minutes of the scrimmage. I had just a couple thoughts about the rookie camp. Oskar Osala is a big kid. Listed as 6'4", 222 lbs., he has some good speed too for a big guy. He is no defenseman either, listed as a left winger, he does have some soft hands. His speed and hands make him an eyebrow raiser for the coaching staff.

Nicklas Backstrom doesn't really belong in this group, and you can kind of tell that he thinks that too. During drills Nick basically skated around everyone, and he was just playing on another level. But during scrimmage, he looked half speed in the first 30 min. Granted, I couldn't stay for the entire session and I am just going off of what I had seen, but Nick didn't move his feet and hardly backed-checked. Wash Post did a feature on him, good read.

Joe Finley seemed timid to me, as well as Karl Alzner. The two defensemen prospects sometimes seemed lost during drills, but were both able to quickly pick up after a couple of mistakes. Neither showed any physical presence during the scrimmage. I am sure all of that will change as camp goes on.

Simeon Varlamov is a great goaltending talent. But just needs a little more experience. The Caps did sign the Russian goaltender who seems excited to be in DC playing for the Capitals. His reflexes are good, pretty solid positioning. He was by far the best goaltender at camp.

Other than that, it looked like many of those kids were starting their a life of career AHLers. A few did show their speed, but just seemed to lack those stand out skills. Again, it's early in camp and I am sure their will be more fireworks as camp plugs along. As players try to impress coaches, the level of hitting, stick handling and passing should start to rise.

On a final note, the practice jerseys the Caps had, both in white and navy looked very good.

Rookie Camp Roster Set

Tomorrow is the start of rookie camp for the Washington Capitals. Now they have the roster of players that will be taking the ice early tomorrow morning at the Kettler. Among the players, the ones I will be watching for will be recent draft pick Karl Alzner, Nicklas Backstrom, and Joe Finley.

It will be interesting to see what this group is going to do to impress the coaching staff to propel their hockey careers. It's obvious that only a select few will be marked for full time NHL duty, others will be fighting for those Hershey spots that seem to be getting more loaded with every off season signing Caps management completes.

New to the fold is right winger Joe Motzko, of recent Anaheim Duck fame. He was called up for 3 playoff games, but scored no points. Motzko may not be a starter, but he is yet another player to fill the roster with. I guess GMGM doesn't want to get burned by injuries again.

Here is a list of players that have their bags packed for camp:

19 Nicklas Backstrom, C Draft (1st, 2006)
29 Jamie Hunt, D Free Agent
30 Michal Neuvirth, G Draft (2nd, 2006)
31 Daren Machesney, G Draft (5th, 2005)
34 Sasha Pokulok, D Draft (1st, 2005)
36 Francois Bouchard, RW Draft (2nd, 2006)
40 Simeon Varlamov, G Draft (1st, 2006)
41 Theo Ruth, D Draft (2nd, 2007)
42 Sami Lepisto, D Draft (3rd, 2004)
45 Steve Werner, RW Draft (3rd, 2003)
46 Patrick McNeill, D Draft (4th, 2005)
47 Karl Alzner, D Draft (1st, 2007)
48 Oskar Osala, LW Draft (4th, 2006)
49 Viktor Dovgan, D Draft (7th, 2005)
54 Oscar Hedman, D Draft (5th, 2004)
57 Kyle Wilson, C Free Agent
58 Maxime Lacroix, LW Draft (5th, 2006)
59 Joe Finley, D Draft (1st, 2005)
61 Andrew Joudrey, C Draft (8th, 2003)
62 Sean Collins, D Free Agent
63 Andrew Gordon, RW Draft (7th, 2004)
65 Andrew Glass, LW Draft (7th, 2007)
67 Justin Taylor, C Draft (6th, 2007)
70 Justin Mrazek, G Draft (8th, 2004)
71 Travis Morin, C Draft (9th, 2004)
72 Pasi Salonen, LW Draft (5th, 2004)
73 Josh Godfrey, D Draft (2nd, 2007)
75 Phil DeSimone, C Draft (3rd, 2007)
76 Brett Bruneteau, C Draft (4th, 2007)
78 Brett Leffler, RW Draft (5th, 2007)
80 Dan Dunn, G Draft (6th, 2007)
85 Mathieu Perrault, C Draft (6th, 2006)
86 Luke Lynes, C Draft (4th, 2006)

Summertime...

... And the living is easy. At least until the Capitals rookie camp starts up this Wednesday. A full roster hasn't made it out yet but players likely to appear are Nicklas Backstrom, Karl Alzner, Simeon Varlamov, Sasha Pokulok Joe Finley, Michal Neuvirth along with Maryland natives Luke Lynes and Stephen Werner. Practices and scrimmages are open to the public at the Kettler Capitals Iceplex. Schedule.

The chances of these rookies making the squad depends on how they do in summer camp. No word if there will be smores or singing around the campfire after practice. The Caps are looking a little more loaded up with some summer signings like Tom Poti, Viktor Kozlov and Michael Nylander now in Capital sweaters. That means this rookie camp could be a fireworks show of talent if players wish to also be in the new red, white and blue.

Frozen Four Finally!

I am still not sure why College Hockey gets the shaft. It makes for some exciting drama, especially if you know some of the history of the great college teams. But you can't sell it. No one is rushing out to buy a North Dakota Jersey. Probably because no one sells them either.

The Caps do have a prospect playing in the final four, if for no other reason for a Hockey fan to watch. When North Dakota faces Boston College in St. Louis, Caps' fans should watch for defenseman Joe Finley, who was drafted back in '05 in the first round. The game starts at 8 pm ET on ESPN2.

The first game at 4 pm ET against Maine and Michigan State is also on ESPN2. If the NHL really wants hockey to flourish in the United States, maybe they should do more to get College hockey it's due. More southern schools should have div. 1 hockey teams. I always believed a college like Arizona or USC could recruit like crazy for hockey prospects that want to go somewhere a little warmer than Boston or Lansing Mich.