Off Wing Opinion

IF it turns out that Ovie can't hack it in the NHL, his fall-back will be comedy. Both Japers' Rink and On Frozen Blog have a list of some pretty interesting questions (all with interesting answers) that were asked to Ovie by SovSport's Gennady Boguslavsky. And since none of us can speak Russian, Dmitry Chesnokov was kind enough to translate. My favorite question:

Q. Is it true that Markov is an amazing chef?

Yes, he can make an amazing burnt omelet in the morning.

It certainly sounds like Ovechkin is enjoying himself right now.

Now, for tonight's game against Carolina. They may be the hottest team in the East right now, so the Caps will have a tough go of it. In their last two big matchups against Carolina they didn't even look like they could compete. Says Caps Nut;

This should be a good game with both teams playing a playoff type game. But the Caps haven't been able to win playoff type games against playoff bound opponents so far season so it could be a long and disappointing night for us.

The good news, according to Tarik, is that Brashear will be back in the lineup, and Huet will be between the pipes. Corey also notes that Erskine is back skating but it isn't known if he'll dress or not. So Sami Lepisto will not be sent back to Hershey just yet. And the Caps are looking to play the spoiler tonight.

The Caps' mindset a few weeks ago was to win the division. Now, it's just get in -- a sentiment that was echoed by Coach Boudreau and many of his players.

"We don't really care [how we get in]," Boudreau said. "It doesn't matter. I know [Carolina] is going to want to win because they can pretty much clinch the division if they win tomorrow night. That will be big motivating factor for them, and we want to deny that."

Whatever the Caps are thinking, they need to be thinking win. If they have to believe they're the underdog to get that intensity then the whole world is against them. If they feel they are due a win, then destiny says it is so. But regardless of what they're thinking, the bottom line is they need to be thinking win. In any way possible, just get it done. They haven't fared well in the big games this season, so tonight will be the defining moment of their season. Either they lose and are probably done, or they win, creep closer to the 8th seed, and show that they can produce in the clutch. They gave everyone a taste of that against Atlanta; lets see if they can do it again.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 25th, 2008 at 11:29 am by Joe Dumas and is filed under 2007-08 Washington Capitals. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Tonight kicks off the Caps 6-game road trip with a Music City showdown against the Preds. According to Tarik, Chris Clark skated this morning but will not play tonight. He will skate again before the game against Chicago and see how he feels. Corey enlisted the help of new Cap Matt Cooke, who played Nashville 4 times this season with Vancouver, with a scouting report on the Predators.

"They are a different team at home than they are on the road," Cooke said. "They come out extremely hard and fast, trying to score a couple early and take the wind out of your sails. They are a fast, puck-moving hockey club."

"Weber, Hamhuis and Zidlicky are all good players. They are good defensemen who are great offensively as well. Zidlicky is looking to go a lot like Green does. Up front, they have Radulov and Dumont who have been playing very well for them. Dumont is a power guy. Erat is pretty shifty. They also have a couple of good checking lines."

"[Tootoo] is guy who is going to finish his check, no matter how late it is. He hits hard, and I give him credit -- he plays physical. But you can catch him running around as well."

It sounds like quite a change from the trap-happy Boston Bruins, so it will be interesting to see how the Caps come out. Both teams can fly, so I expect a lot of scoring chances and back and forth action.

In anticipation of the game CapsChick pairs up some Caps with the country songs that best describe them. The one that stands out?

Alexander Semin "If I Fall You're Going Down with Me" - Dixie Chicks

Caps Nut notes that both Nashville and Washington sit mere points out of the 8th spot in their respective conferences, and are fighting for every point left on the board. And that adds up to a thrilling game in the works for tonight.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 18th, 2008 at 2:57 pm by Joe Dumas and is filed under 2007-08 Washington Capitals. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Breaking News! Everyone loves Ovechkin! Alright, while that may not exactly be surprising, it looks like CSN+ has found a way to somehow center the attention more squarely on Ovechkin. Tomorrow night is the debut of the "OvechKam". There will be a split video feed on tv, with one half showing the game, and the other feed showing Ovechkin's every move. Leonsis talked to Ovie about how to deal with it.

We talked about the "OvechKam" and some advice from me on do's and dont's. There was some Russian spoken that I didn't understand but I think these two have something funny planned for the game. We shall see.

Also, Chuck Gormley has a nice article on just who the league thinks is the best player in the NHL. From Buffalo's Lindy Ruff;

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 11th, 2008 at 4:36 pm by Joe Dumas and is filed under 2007-08 Washington Capitals. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.