Daily Archive

We wrote not long ago about how bewildering it has been to be a Caps fan these days, following a team firmly in command of the division, vanquishing demons at the Igloo and MSG alike, winning “statement game” after “statement game.”  It’s breathtaking, really.

With Carolina losing its fourth straight last night, the Caps are now 12 points ahead in the NASCAR Division, with each team having played 45 games.  At about this point last season, Les Capitals sat 5 points out of the division lead.  And it took a 24-10-3 record the rest of the way to win the division, on the final weekend of the season.   Think Carolina or Florida (the latter of which is a point behind the former) has that kind of run in them?  Doubtful.

So, cautiously optimistic, there’s nowhere to look but up.

Boudreau said to Tarik today:

“Our goal is to catch the teams that are ahead of us.  Boston happens to be there now. We don’t know if it’s possible, but you have to have something to shoot for every night.”

Indeed.  And Boudreau would know about not giving up on impossible dreams.

But the rest of this season, dare I say it, might just be about (i) the second versus third seed in the conference and (ii) staying healthy and maintaining good game habits.  The NY Rangers, Canadiens, and even the Flyers, are within striking distance of the Caps’ current second seed, so that fight will continue through to April 11th, for sure.

A victory tomorrow would say a little bit more about what the Caps could accomplish against a premier playoff opponent, and would be thrilling in that way alone, but would still see them nine points behind the Bruins for the top seed in the East.  Sure, we think the B’s will cool off a bit, but making up nine points, given those numbers above, seems insurmountable right now.

Last season, Carolina was overcome in the Southeast despite the ‘Canes going 21-11-2 last season, since January 16, 2008 (and the Thrash completely collapsed, going 8-16-6 down that same stretch).  The B’s certainly won’t crumble in Atlanta fashion, and probably would have to fall a bit further off of the pace than a post-mid-January Carolina streak to be catchable.  Especially with the inevitable increase of those pesky three point games.

So, what do we think?

Couple of items for your perusal on a Friday afternoon:

Our old friend, Capitals buyout and current $250,000 cap hit, forward Ben Clymer, shares his thoughts on playing in Red Square for the KHL’s inaugural all-star affair:

It was an incredibly cold day, something like minus-16 degrees Celsius. It was a little windy, but not too bad. The wind in your face from skating was far colder. Actually, I might still be a little sick from the game!

Your hands, your toes and your face are just freezing in a game like that, no matter what else you put on. I wore a hat under my helmet, an extra long-sleeved shirt, an extra pair of shorts and I tried to use a pair of heavier skiing socks to keep my feet warm, but I’ll tell you what, after five minutes my feet were completely numb.

Every intermission I took my skates off in the dressing room to try and warm them up, but at no point did they regain feeling until finally about half an hour after the game. It made me think about all the times when I was a boy skating outside in Minnesota and I would get frost bitten on my toes.

Of course, it also adds to the experience when you get in on the scoring and I was lucky enough to get one in the first period off a nice pass from my former teammate in Washington, Jakub Klepis, who now plays in Omsk. In hindsight, I wish I would have grabbed the puck; it would have been a great keepsake to have, but at the time I didn’t think of it and just kept playing.

Yup, Clymer in the ASG.  And he didn’t think to collect that puck?

And this morning, another compelling statistical crunch from The Forechecker, who breaks down the travel distances and time-zone changes for each team, during this season and last.

The Caps are, predictably, tied for the fewest time zone changes (with the Sabres, Devils, and Islanders), with 8.  Phoenix, enduring plenty already off the ice, also suffers the greatest number of time zone changes this season:  forty two.

Great video segment here from ABC 4 in Charleston, SC of Coach Boudreau giving advice to his son, Ben, who is having what we have to think is the time of his life, playing pro hockey in the “Premier ‘AA’ Hockey League” for the South Carolina Stingrays.

Ben has a goal and 2 assists in 21 GP for the ‘Rays this season.