In the OT when the Caps went on the power play when Garnet Exelby got dinged for delay of game, Glen Hanlon sent Alex Ovechkin and Alexander Semin out to play the points. It seemed to me that Ovechkin wasn't entirely comfortable out there, so I asked him about it after the game.
"I felt comfortable. The coach asked and I know what I must do," he said. Right then, Caps GM George McPhee appeared to slap him on the back. In the postgame press conference, I asked Hanlon if we would ever see that combination again. He replied with a very emphatic, "no".
A few days ago at On Frozen Blog, Pucks and Books wrote the following:
This is my morning allegation: Boyd Gordon, the quarterback of last night
It’s interesting, I was just making the same point about Sutherby – too often we look for instant gratification with our young and talented players. We see only numbers, and when the numbers don’t meet our expectations we’re demanding the person in question get traded right away instead of waiting for their development to take it’s course. I’d like to see the Caps keep the bulk of this young team together for at least another one to two years and give them time to grow – it’s already starting to happen, and if we’re willing to be patient we could be seeing something really special very soon.
After looking over the replays, I agree that Gordon purposely set up the shot so Semin could rebound it in. He wasn’t getting hacked, and he could have either directly passed it or ripped a shot of his own on net. With that said, his “pass” off Huet was difficult, yet pulled off expertly. The best assist I’ve seen all year.