A fan site dedicated to Alexander Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals The latest news about Alexander Ovechkin, stories and interviews from Russia and North America, links, pictures and video clips.
Pittsburgh advancing means more Sidney Crosby. Oh I know, he's such a great player, and all you people just love him to death. Frankly, I'm tired of watching him. Mostly, his interviews. He says nothing and does so unenthusiastically. But to me, his game lacks pizzaz as well. Give me Alex Ovechkin any day. He's a much more spectacular player and, unlike Crosby, he looks like he actually enjoys the job that gives him enough money to buy anything in the world he wants.
"To lose those guys is huge. We have to figure out a way to keep guys like Sergei and Jagr and those great older veteran players, have them over here and find roles for them," Osgood said. "I think it's important to have older guys like that, that younger European players can look up to when they get over here and understand how to handle themselves on and off the ice. That's what guys like Igor Larionov did for him."
Fedorov played that role to perfection in Washington where he was a great veteran influence on players like Alex Ovechkin and Alexander Semin. When we spoke to him during the Pittsburgh series, he really seemed to enjoy the role and was energized by it. Fedorov can still play, and I'm with Osgood. Iit'd be too bad if we don't get to see it.
Meanwhile, according to SovSport.ru (May 27, 2009, tomorrow's edition), Gennadi Velichkin, general manager of Metallurg, declined to comment on Fedorov. He said, "I don't know where those rumors come from."
General manager of Salavat Yulaev Oleg Gross has confirmed that they continue to negotiate with Victor Kozlov, but said that it would be too early to say if Kozlov would play for his team next season. "Контракт с ним не подписан" -- "We haven't sign the contract with him."
Assistant Coach Jay Leach will not return to the Caps after five seasons with the team, GM George McPhee confirmed this afternoon. Leach coached the defensemen.
"It was a mutual decision," McPhee said. "He's a good man and a good coach and he helped us get to where we are."
Just to remind you that when Scotty Bowman coached Detroit it was Barry Smith who installed the famous now 'left-wing lock' system. GMGM needs to find a good 'defensive coordinator', a specialist, who could help Bruce Boudreau to improve defense. That's the main area of concern for Capitals now.
According to Sport-Express Sergei Fedorov will play next season in Russia's steel city Magnitogorsk, former Malkin's team. He will be flying to Russia in the next few days to sign the contract.
You have to take everything published by Sport-Express with a grain of salt, but it might be true this time because Sergei's lil' big bro Fedor just signed with Metallurg. Sergei said in the past several times on different occasions that he wanted to play with his brother.
The contract is expected to be for 2 years and at least equal to what Fedorov had in Washington in financial terms.
Sport-Express had contacted Sergei and his father, but both refused to comment. Metallurg is also keeping silence.
Sergei Fedorov is close to signing a two-year deal with Metallurg Magnitogorsk of the KHL. The deal, according to the reports, is for $3.8 million per season over two seasons.
While that may indeed happen, I was just told moments ago by someone in the Fedorov camp that the 39-year-old veteran still has interest in playing for Washington next season. But for Fedorov to return to the Caps, I was told via text message, "a decision has to be made soon by Wash."
Fedorov made $4 million on a one-year contract this season.
I've also put in a call to GM George McPhee. So stay tuned.
Well, with the salary cap going down, I don't think we'll see Fedorov in Caps uniform.
The Russian newspaper Sport Express reported Tuesday that the 39-year-old center would be signing a two-year deal worth $3.8 million per season with Metallurg Magnitogorsk of the Continental Hockey League.
But his agent Pat Brisson of CAA Sports said nothing was decided yet.
"Sergei is going to spend a couple weeks in Russia with his family," Brisson told ESPN.com via e-mail Tuesday. "At the same time he's had multiple offers to play in the KHL. He will explore his options while in Russia. However I also believe he might play in the NHL next season. The Capitals have his rights until June 30th. We should continue speaking to them in the meantime."
Fedorov is slated for unrestricted free agency July 1.
Washington forward Alex Ovechkin, Sporting News' NHL player of the year, was named on 36 of 39 ballots by league coaches and executives and heads SN's 2009 All-NHL team.
The other top forwards are Pittsburgh's Evgeni Malkin, the second-leading vote-getter with 31, and New Jersey forward Zach Parise, who garnered 20 votes. Washington's Mike Green was the leading vote-getter among defensemen with 30 and Boston's Zdeno Chara was second with 17. The goaltender selection is Tim Thomas, SN's goalie of the year.
All-NHL Team Alex Ovechkin, F, Capitals • Topped 50 goals for the third time in the past four seasons. Evgeni Malkin, F, Penguins • Led the NHL with 113 points, the highest total of his skyrocketing career. Zach Parise, F, Devils • Gets better every year; 45 goals put him among the league's elite scorers. Zdeno Chara, D, Bruins • Led Boston's resurgence with a physical presence and NHL's hardest shot. Mike Green, D, Capitals • The seventh defenseman in league history to score 30 goals in a season. Tim Thomas, G, Bruins • Led the league in save percentage (.933) and goals-against average (2.10).
More:
Player of the year: Caps' Alexander Ovechkin
Coach of the year: Bruins' Claude Julien
Executive of the year: Bruins' Peter Chiarelli
SN's rookie of the year: Blue Jackets' Steve Mason
Pavel Lysenkov couldn't reach Ovie for 3 days. "You know what, I kind of declared a moratorium," explained Ovechkin. "I decided that for the first three weeks after arrival I will repent all PR, no interviews, no shots for glossy magazines, no TV interviews..." When Pavel asked why, Ovechkin said, "Give me a break! I haven't seen my friends for three hundred years!"
You have to give credit to Pavel for breaking Ovechkin's moratorium.
So, you decided to lay low like a submarine? Alexei Morozov had the same kind of mood after the World Championships in Bern this year. No, I am not laying low. I just want to relax to the fullest. I just don't need a lot of commotion around my name right now.
Can you say that this was the most difficult season in your career? Yes. One of the most difficult... Look how far we made it in the playoffs. I never played in the second round before. It was tough both mentally and physically.
Let's cheer you up a bit. The Sporting News named you the best player in the NHL after surveying 292 NHLers. More than a half named you the best player in the league. Do you like it? This is so far [away] for me now... I don't even want to think about it now.
Now I believe you that this was a very tough season. You have to understand me correctly. It is very nice to hear news like that. But I have switched off from hockey right now. It is in the background for me.
I remember what you said after the season ended: "No one will make me watch hockey now." I won't even get close to a TV.
Not long ago [OnFrozenBlog] rated Washington's players' season. Two marks: one for the regular season, the other for the playoffs. Like in school for essays? One for grammar, the other for content?
Yes. So, Ovechkin got A+/A+. How would you rate your season? I don't like to either praise or criticize myself. What's the point? I will only agree that the team and I played well in the Stanley Cup. But there is a huge difference between 'playing well' and 'we got past Pittsburgh and made it to the [finals].' Do you see it? Pittsburgh right now is battling with Carolina, but our season is over.
But you had your first postseason hat-trick. Even now you're currently third in the scoring race in the playoffs. As a professional, I will say that my individual play was good in the playoffs. But as a part of the team... Yes, we didn't get the Cup. But let's be optimistic. Last season we lost to Philadelphia in the first round, also in seven games. This year we got stopped at Pittsburgh in the second round. So, God willing, just like this, step by step we will make it to the championships rings.
Was it a serious blow that you lost Game 7 at home to Pittsburgh with a score of 2-6? Honestly? Serious... It took me about a week to recover. I couldn't accept the fact that playoffs were over for us.
Also your coach Bruce Boudreau said that Ovechkin played in the postseason with groin and wrist injuries. If it was in the regular season you would go to see a doctor and not an opposing goalie. And who didn't have injuries, tell me? Semin played with a injury, Sergei Fedorov(notes), John Erskine(notes), Mike Green(notes). Half the team was injured. But what can you do? You have to play. I personally played every game on painkillers.
Who do you feel for if the Stanley Cup? Ilya Kovalchuk confessed that he is rooting for the Penguins. I wouldn't say that I am feeling for the Penguins. I actually don't care who wins the Cup. If it's Detroit, Chicago or Carolina, I won't be upset.
But you also told Malkin and Crosby, when they knocked your team out: "Go ahead and win the Cup." That's not what I said. I just wished them luck, that's all. It won't be some kind of a bonus for me if Pittsburgh wins the Cup and it will be like Washington lost to the eventual winner. It is a position of a loser.
You won't even give your predictions? I will, if you want. Pittsburgh and Detroit will meet in the final, just like last year. When are you traveling to Las Vegas? On June 14, I am traveling with a friend.
Four days before the awards ceremony? Actually I have never been to Las Vegas before. There will be time to hang out there, walk around...
Go to a casino... Only on a tour. I won't play the roulette. I am not a gambler.
[Maybe] you can bet on 8, take the jackpot. Beginner's luck. Do you think money falls on me from the sky? I earn them with sweat and blood. I cannot throw them left and right.
And this is after you made $9 million last season? Making one million a month, what do you do with this kind of money? I don't look at my bank account. Yes, I treat money wisely, they are not stashed in my closet without use. Sorry, I won't give media any details. But nothing has changed in my life because of the fact that I am making more money now than I did last year. I am still the same Alex Ovechkin.
When the season ended, Boudreau did not have a team meeting but rather invited each player individually to talk. What did the coach talk to you about? My contract is not ending. That's why we didn't talk about the future. Just some common words: what wasn't good during the season, and what was... We wished each other to have a great vacation. Nothing serious.
Did he give you any homework for the summer? I am not a little boy. Boudreau knows that I get ready for the season myself. I work with a fitness trainer.
And when will it start? Oh, don't ask! Let me take a rest!
I know that as soon as you came to Moscow you went to a Eurovision song contest. Yes. Ari Zakarian picked me up at the airport and we went to get a credential [for the contest], ate at a restaurant. Then we went to the contest.
Ovechkin at Eurovision, photo kp.ru
Ovechkin and Rudkovskaya at her book presentation, photo kp.ru
I watched it together with Ari, Dima Bilan, Yana Rudkovskaya. And, can you imagine, I fell asleep when contestants started singing. The time difference took its toll. I just switched off for like 10 minutes. They I was woken up and even felt good.
Why didn't you go to Miami? Your whole "gang" is there now - Kovalchuk, Semin, Kozlov, Fedorov probably, even Morozov promised to come... I don't feel like going there, you know... I wanted to go to Moscow, to my parents' dacha. I rushed there the second day I was here. Right after the Eurovision song contest. I missed Moscow so much, that even on a plane from Washington I felt such nostalgia.
What kind of schedule is the famous hockey player Alex Ovechkin living now? I sleep until I am completely happy. Now I get it all after whatever sleep I missed during the NHL season. I can easily wake up at three or four in the afternoon.
And then go to a club? It depends on how it goes. My Moscow days are just starting... Alright! Gotta go!
Breaking news of the day: Evgeny Malkin's hat-trick in game 2 of the Pittsburgh - Carolina series. Now our forward has 4 out 10 total Penguins' goals and 25 points, he surpassed his partner, Sidney Crosby (24). What happened last night in Pittsburgh?
As one remember, before the start of the series you could hear people wail "Crosby, Crosby" from every single corner. Seems like it impressed everyone how he played against Ovechkin, which is probably the strongest stimuli for him.
Canadian Crosby is a really good, exciting hockey player, but I've always responded to those wails, "Guys, the number one in Pittsburgh is Malkin!" He is stronger, bigger and better as a center forward, as a puck distributor, even as a physical force. It seems that Carolina didn't share my opinion at first. They were seriously prepared for a Canadian: I see that against him at every shift change they've put special people.
However Carolina doesn't have Ovechkin and this is where Crosby got bored.
The attention to Malkin was on a back burner for which the Hurricanes paid.
Is any intrigue in these series gone?
Frankly I like Carolina. A very mobile, aggressive, vertical team. If I am not mistaken, three years ago in the second round they had already ceded 0-2, but then won four games and then eventually they won a Stanley Cup. Therefore, Malkin & Co. have to be very careful and consider the following two games in Raleigh very seriously.
I am just saying that for him playing against Ovechkin was the major factor, the main irritation, he can't stand Ovie, he can't stand the fact that he was robbed by Ovechkin of the Calder Trophy, he can't stand the fact that he is only the second best player, according to Bruce Boudreau and the hockey world. To me he is even the third best after Malkin, or maybe the fourth after Datsyuk.
So let's just make a scientific experiment to prove it, let's follow Crosby and compare him to Malkin from now on. Based on my theory Crosby should not be as visible as he was in the games vs Ovechkin.
So far my theory works, Malkin was better in scoring, in faceoffs, in hits, in shots, in +/-. Basically Malkin was better than Crosby in every category.
Alright! My scientific experiment continues into game 2. And what we've got here?
G=Goals A=Assists P=Points +/-=Plus/Minus PN=Number of Penalties PIM=Penalty Minutes TOI=Time On Ice SHF=# of Shifts AVG=Average Time/Shift S=Shots on Goal A/B=Attempts Blocked MS=Missed Shots HT=Hits Given GV=Giveaways TK=Takeaways BS=Blocked Shots FW=Faceoffs Won FL=Faceoffs Lost F%=Faceoff Win Percentage PP=Power Play SH=Short Handed EV=Even Strength OT=Overtime TOT=Total
Malkin totally outplayed Crosby, but it was expected. He outplayed Crosby in the first too, but this time he scored a hat-trick. So it's totally totally this time. Even Kunitz, who played 3 minutes less than Crosby has better numbers.
So far my experiment proves the trend, Crosby showed up vs Caps only because of Ovechkin. His best scoring/games were game 1 and game 2 that Pens lost to Caps.
A lot of people in Pittsburgh think Sidney Crosby is the best player in the National Hockey League. A lot of players in the National Hockey League think otherwise.
In an astonishing survey of 324 NHL players -- roughly half the league -- conducted by Sports Illustrated, Crosby finished tied for eighth with a meager 1.9 percent of the vote.
Washington's Alex Ovechkin was the overwhelming winner among the players, receiving 51 percent of the vote. Detroit defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom was second with 11 percent.
The next four were the Penguins Evgeni Malkin and Detroit's Pavel Datsyuk seven percent; Calgary's Jarome Iginla and Detroit's Henrik Zetterberg five percent.
The magazine did not list the players who finished sixth and seventh but made a special note of Crosby's finish because it was so shocking.
The voting, in which players could not vote for their teammates, was done before the start of the playoffs. Crosby leads all players in goals and points in the playoffs. He finished third in scoring during the regular season, behind Malkin and Ovechkin.
Alex Ovechkin at the world premier of Russian movie "Путь"/"The Route" (May 19, 2009)
Michael Madsen plays a role of American aircraft carrier's Captain in this Russian movie. Madsen gave a speech before the movie and said that it was a privilege for him to be engaged in such a big project.
Washington Capitals left wing Alex Ovechkin, the NHL's most dynamic scorer and colorful entertainer, has been named Sporting News' Player of the Year, an opinion shared by 147 of his 292 peers who voted for the award.
Ovechkin, a repeat MVP, led the league with 56 goals, the only player to finish the season with 50 or more. He joined Wayne Gretzky and Mike Bossy as the only players to record three 50-goal seasons in their first four years.
A lot of people in Pittsburgh think Sidney Crosby is the best player in the National Hockey League. A lot of players in the National Hockey League think otherwise.
In an astonishing survey of 324 NHL players -- roughly half the league -- conducted by Sports Illustrated, Crosby finished tied for eighth with a meager 1.9 percent of the vote.
Washington's Alex Ovechkin was the overwhelming winner among the players, receiving 51 percent of the vote. Detroit defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom was second with 11 percent.
The next four were the Penguins Evgeni Malkin and Detroit's Pavel Datsyuk seven percent; Calgary's Jarome Iginla and Detroit's Henrik Zetterberg five percent.
The magazine did not list the players who finished sixth and seventh but made a special note of Crosby's finish because it was so shocking.
The voting, in which players could not vote for their teammates, was done before the start of the playoffs. Crosby leads all players in goals and points in the playoffs. He finished third in scoring during the regular season, behind Malkin and Ovechkin.
Just fresh from the celebrations of the World Hockey Championship victory, Moscow's hockey world is experiencing another event. The best hockey player the world, the Washington Capitals forward Alexander Ovechkin has arrived to the capital after the end of the NHL season. Traditionally Ovechkin spends the entire vacation at home until the opening of the training camp in September.
While still in Washington in his last interview to the media Ovechkin said that he will rest at "full speed" for a first couple of weeks at home. "I have a lot to do at home, I want to see all my friends," said Alexander. "I think my parents won't see me at home too often."
Even an injury that Ovechkin received during the Stanley Cup run won't prevent him to carouse and amuse. In a series against Pittsburgh the forward played with a groin injury. The hockey player himself said that no surgery was neccessary, "time will pass and my injuries will heal themselves."
On Wednesday Izvestia were able to reach his father, Mikhail Viktorovich. He explained that Sasha still didn't forget about the family and spent quite a lot of his leisure time with them. "Certainly we have missed our son," said his Dad. "Although my wife and I would often visit him in America during the season."
Ovechkin senior confirmed that Sasha would stay at home almost entire summer. "We look forward for our family to go to dacha, our vacation cottage, cook barbecues and go fishing," confessed his Dad. "Well, at the height of summer Sashka will go to the South." [tj - The Black sea resorts and beaches uncluding Turkey.] Ovechkin, by the way, is quite conservative in his choice of vacation places. He is not so charmed by exotic Maldives or Hawaii, he likes to go to Turkey and Cyprus as he used to since he was a kid.
Ovechkin's former club Dynamo is another important item on his summer agenda. Even after leaving to the NHL Alexander did not forget about his hometown team, he comes there every year. "He comes to the headquarters, as well as to our training camp at Novogorsk," said Dynamo's spokesman Artiom Dorozhkin to Izvestia. "He can spend the whole day here with us and talk to everyone, to the management, to his first coach or simply to the kids from the hockey school."
Ovechkin has three months to rest and relax. However in late August, shortly before the opening of the Washington Capitals training camp, he will participate in team Russia's Olympic training camp in preparation for the upcoming Olympic Games in Vancouver.
A very interesting comparison of Washington Capitals and Carolina Hurricanes by Malkin and Fedotenko. I think it should be memorized by Coach Boudreau and imprinted on the wall in Washington Capitals locker room before the next season starts. :-) The description of how Caps D played vs Pens is not the recipe for winning hockey games in the playoffs, but it is a recipe how to avoid elimination in the future.
Fedotenko: The Hurricanes have the third forward playing very strong. You can say that he is looking to help defense all the time. That's why Carolina doesn't allow breakaways and counter-attacks, 3 on 2, at least not too often. Our counter- attacks were practically non-existent. It turned out that we were constantly playing against the same number of opposite players. Another thing I'd like to point out is Hurricanes' character. They don't give up. For example, at the end of the first period we pinned them decently. They withstood our offense and then began to create their own scoring chances.
What can you say about the goalies?
Fedotenko: Both Ward and Fleury have played great. Our goalie helped us a lot, especially in the last minutes of the game. We were aware of the fact that Ward would play well. We need to shoot more and to put more pressure on him.
Compared to Washington Carolina's defensemen look better.
Fedotenko: Their defensemen are not very big, but they skate fast and are very quick at passing the puck. That's why it's hard to catch them in their zone. You skate to the defenseman as fast as you can, but he had already given the pass to someone.
What is the difference between Carolina and Washington?
Malkin: A completely different team. Their goalie is as good, but I think Carolina's defense is better, they play very tenacious style. Capitals can't boast about their defense, but their offense is better. So, Carolina is the Washington in reverse.
So... what we've got here?
The third forward helping defense? Sounds like a left-wing lock.
Why Capitals were unable to leave their zone? Because Caps D is too slow, they spend too much time deciding who to pass, doesn't matter if they're big or tall. Practice, practice, practice...
Why Pens were outshooting Capitals and creating more scoring chances? Because they were constantly outnumbering Caps when they were attacking, 3 on 2 all the time since Caps offense (the third forward) was not helping their defense.
As I mentioned in The Lamentations of the Fallen, it's not just a free agent market or the trades that could magically improve Capitals, it's also the things to ponder for Boudreau. Something needs to be altered, not just 'run and gun' all the time, the new defensive system needs to be installed, whether it's a left-wing lock or a modified trap, something. It doesn't mean that the team has to play it all the time, it means the team has to know and practice it to flip the switch when needed. A good way to practice flipping the switch would be playing "the system" on the road and "run and gun" at home.
What Washington really needs might be a change behind the bench. Whether that's a new man or a new approach is up to Bruce Boudreau. He performed miracles last season, transforming the Caps from struggling underachievers into the league's most entertaining squad. That style worked wonders during the regular season, but it glossed over the team's fatal flaw: the lack of a cohesive, executable defensive scheme. They were able to get by against the Keystone Rangers and their popgun offense. Not so easy to do against a team with multiple high-end weapons like the Penguins.
To some extent, Boudreau has coached to his talent, crafting a system that makes the most of the tools at his disposal. But the team's near complete disregard for defense, and its inability to adapt as Pittsburgh exposed that weakness, is inexcusable.
The good news? It's a lot easier to teach a scorer to defend than a defender to score, so the Caps aren't in a bad spot...unless Boudreau is unable to create a system that the team will buy into. He certainly deserves another chance to do just that, but the leash won't be long. He needs to sell his players, especially Alexander Ovechkin, on the need to commit to two-way play. I'm guessing the pain of this loss will help sell his plan. If it doesn't? The Caps might need to look in another direction.
I've got a couple emails a while ago that I'd like to share...
As a reader of your blog and fellow admirer of all things hockey, I wanted to share with you (and readers) an illustration of Ovechkin. This was created for a magazine article, but scrapped at the last minute. Therefore, I am making it available to all via my webpage.
I would also love for feedback/suggestions for changes from you and your readers.
Cheers, Joe Hill
And here's the second one...
TTT Photo will be used as a supplement to Tic Tac Toe Hockey to make my life easier. New photos both edited and rough will be uploaded to TTT Photo, and the full archive should be online sometime after the SC Finals.
Tic Tac Toe Hockey is still the main event, but maybe there's someone out there who can stand more pixels. In the words of The Doors, "Love me two times."
Otherwise he has been, as ex-player and analyst Darren Elliot admiringly described Crosby to espn.com's Scott Burnside before this series, "the most gifted grinder in the game."
"Maybe there was a bit of an edge to Crosby’s game because of the Alex Ovechkin factor during a seven-game series."
I tend to agree with Alan, where was Crosby when Pens were facing elimination, the chance to miss playoffs? It was Gonchar and Malkin who had changed the momentum, not Crosby. Pens went with 4 or 5 decisive victories in a row to make playoffs possible when Crosby was injured. The Empty Netters even jokingly said "should we sit Crosby? The things were going real well without him."
There was a lot of talk that Malkin didn't show up in the first two games. As we know, Pens lost in both. And who showed up there? Who was poking pathetic rebounds like a crazy rabbit? Crosby, but the point is, his team lost, in both games! After that Pens won three in a row thanks to Malkin and the team, but Crosby was not that visible. Yes, he was there, but he disappeared for a while. He did score an important goal in game 7, but it was a freak game, it was already 2:0.
Crosby, even though he never kicked a dog, :-) is a very mean guy, at least competitively mean. I am not saying it's bad. I am just saying that for him playing against Ovechkin was the major factor, the main irritation, he can't stand Ovie, he can't stand the fact that he was robbed by Ovechkin of the Calder Trophy, he can't stand the fact that he is only the second best player, according to Bruce Boudreau and the hockey world. To me he is even the third best after Malkin, or maybe the fourth after Datsyuk.
So let's just make a scientific experiment to prove it, let's follow Crosby and compare him to Malkin from now on. Based on my theory Crosby should not be as visible as he was in the games vs Ovechkin.
So far my theory works, Malkin was better in scoring, in faceoffs, in hits, in shots, in +/-. Basically Malkin was better than Crosby in every category.
To be continued.
G=Goals A=Assists P=Points +/-=Plus/Minus PN=Number of Penalties PIM=Penalty Minutes TOI=Time On Ice SHF=# of Shifts AVG=Average Time/Shift S=Shots on Goal A/B=Attempts Blocked MS=Missed Shots HT=Hits Given GV=Giveaways TK=Takeaways BS=Blocked Shots FW=Faceoffs Won FL=Faceoffs Lost F%=Faceoff Win Percentage PP=Power Play SH=Short Handed EV=Even Strength OT=Overtime TOT=Total
It's entirely possible that Crosby has drawn a bit of inspiration from failing to make the Hart finalists cut because he, like any great athlete, has an ego that helps to fuel his competitive drive.
At times, it looked like Crosby was looking to pass more against the fast and aggressive Hurricanes defense, which is much more effective than the one deployed by the more run-and-gun Washington Capitals, Pittsburgh's opponent in the past round.
Sure, Canes won't allow Crosby to do what Caps defense did, staying next to the net and slamming or poking rebounds like a crazy rabbit. And with that Crosby will switch to what he is famous for, the secondary assists, maybe primary ones, from time to time.
Cole was hit hard by Matt Cooke in a tough knee-to-knee hit in the third. Cole was helped from the ice, but tried to make a return. He skated for 12 additional seconds and left the ice again.
Remember the outcry when Alex Ovechkin went knee to knee with Sergei Gonchar? We will see what is said about Matt Cooke's hit on Erik Cole.
The bottom line is that if you're a Penguins fan who thought Ovechkin should have been suspended, then you should be a Penguins fan who thinks Cooke should be suspended.
During Round Two, Washington Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin used his knee to hit Sergei Gonchar, forcing Gonchar to miss action. Ovechkin received a two minute penalty. No game misconduct. No disciplinary hearing. No fine. No suspension.
Nothing.
Following the hit, Cooke said, “If I did what he did, I wouldn’t be on the ice.”
Today, we will find out whether that statement is accurate.
I wonder what Brooks Orpig is saying? Do not hear anything, hello?
May 18, 2009: Alex and his friend leaving Eurovision's banquet which lasted all night long till 9 AM. It's good that Ovie just flew from the States, it's only a midnight for him!
But not for the four teams eliminated at the quarterfinal stage just completed — for them and for their fans, there is nought but darkness. Despair. Recrimination. A perfect time, then, to bother these fans with a survey in their hour of heartbreak — or, more precisely, to bother their proxies, the independent bloggers from our Hockey Night in Blogdom crew.
We begin with Washington, adding the lamentations of the bloggers representing the other three ousted teams as they come in. Get out your handkerchiefs….
tj of Alex Ovetjkin
What went wrong against the Penguins? Varlamov’s goaltending was outstanding at times, but he was left hang out dry by the Capitals defense for the most part. And as we know defense wins the Stanley Cup.
Encouraging loss, or discouraging loss? It was both, the team went further in playoffs compared to last year, the team has discovered Varlamov, but the way they lost Game 7 was discouraging.
What was the most galling thing you, as a fan of your team, had to put up with? The impotence of the Capitals defense, the play of Alex Semin and especially Mike Green. The fans were hoping he could come up big, but it never happened. We know he played with injury, hopefully he’ll be better next time.
What must the Capitals do to improve for next year? Don’t be shy about naming names. Capitals need to improve in defense. Trades, free agent market, but also more things to ponder for Boudreau. Call it a left-wing lock or the system, but something needs to be done.
Do you wish success in the playoffs for the team that beat yours, or failure? No, I really hope Penguins will choke again. For Capitals fans Penguins are and always will be an evil empire. (No hard feelings, Pens fans :-) )
Alexander Ovechkin was invited to the grand finale of
Eurovision song contest. He was one of the 10 honorary guests along with the mayor of Moscow Yuri Luzhkov.
May 16, 2009 (Moscow time) Alex Ovechkin and Lena Katina. Photo KP.RU.
It's kind of a shock to me that Ovie is already in Moscow. Just day before yesterday he was in a locker room giving his last interview to the media and saying the he was leaving to Moscow "today". Frankly I thought he kidding as usual. And how he ended up as a honorary guest at Eurovision so quickly? Well, Yuri Luzhkov is a friend of Ovechkin's family. Here's an excerpt from Tatiana Ovechkina's interview to Sport-Express last year:
After this summer in Toronto Alex got a bunch of trophies and Washington D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty arranged a chic reception in honor of Ovechkin. He handed him a symbolic key to the city. I am very happy that Alex is so loved in America.
But I would like to say about another Mayor, [about Mayor of Moscow] Yuri Mikhailovich Luzhkov. Few people are aware that he was helping Alex. I had never told it to the journalists. Our acquaintance with Luzhkov started in 1990s, when he began to support women's basketball Dynamo team where I was the president of the club. There were different situations, but in all matters related to the hockey future of Alex, I was always asking for an advice from Luzhkov. And he'd always give us the correct advice. When in 2004 Alex was chosen as a number one pick, the first person I called was Yuri Mikhailovich. And after Alex signed the contract with Washington I've sent the fax to Luzhkov thanking him on behave of our entire family.
He turns 40 in December, but Sergei Fedorov wants to return for a 19th NHL season - preferably with the Washington Capitals.
Fedorov becomes an unrestricted free agent in July and may have to take a pay cut from the $4 million he made this season, but he isn't thinking about retirement.
"I cannot imagine myself retired; I don't know why," he said Friday. "I still have some legs left, I still enjoy the game and certainly enjoy this group of young, talented players."
Ovechkin: "I just tell him I didn't want to hit him. I just said 'Sorry' and I explained what happened over there. Very good relation. I don't want to hit a guy to get him injured."
WASHINGTON - MAY 13: Alex Ovechkin #8 of the Washington Capitals and Sergei Gonchar #55 of the Pittsburgh Penguins shake hands after Pittsburgh's 6-2 victory in Game Seven of the Eastern Conference Semifinal Round of the 2009 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Verizon Center May 13, 2009 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
The difference between the two is that Sidney Crosby’s main influence was Wayne Gretzky. I think Ovechkin’s is Rasputin.
Ovechkin is mercurial, emotional. He brandishes the hockey player’s badge of honour, a missing front tooth, like a ceremonial mace. We were talking in his first year and he was struggling to find a word in English. He laid his left fingers across his right. Try it. The word he was looking for? Prison. That, friends, is an expansive thinker.
Ovechkin relentlessly seeks out contact. He redefines how a hockey player can score. His release is another man’s twitch. The Hockey News found when you work league-wide goals per game into the equation, Ovechkin has been as prolific a goalscorer in his first four years as Wayne Gretzky was in his. Bill Torrey, longtime GM of the New York Islanders contends that for much of a game, players simply don’t think about scoring. The real goal scorers prowl about the game looking for just those moments. Mike Bossy, Torrey said, was such a player. Ovechkin is another.
Ovechkin is an artist powered by his own passion to score. His celebrations, his ill-conceived ‘hot stick’dance after he scored his 50th and the bar tab that is making the internet rounds, are built to scale.
Crosby is the third generation superstar. The elements Gordie Howe brought from Floral, Saskatchewan, decency, humility, were picked up by Gretzky in Brantford and, a generation later, Crosby in Cole Harbor.
The exotic defines Ovechkin. Its absence is what makes Crosby Crosby. For all his skills - he is a powerful skater who is profoundly difficult to knock off the puck – he is positionally much less reckless and therefore far more sound than Ovechkin. Crosby does what everyone else can do, only better. Ovechkin does what no one can manage. That’s the difference.
Crosby scored truly pathetic goals vs Capitals. Would there be a better defensemen like what Red Wings have, or a meaner, more physical, Pronger type, would it be a goalie who "eats" rebounds, Crosby would score two goals at most. Crosby is quick, but he doesn't have either a good slapshot or a good wrist shot, even Malkin, who kisses Crosby's ass, admits it. So yeah, he used his quickness, no question, but like Darren Elliot said, "he played like a grinder, the most gifted grinder".
"[What's remarkable about Russians is] just the overall skill level that they have," said Capitals defenceman Mike Green, a Calgary native and the game's premier offensive defenceman, earlier in this series. "Their skill, and their sight, and their vision on the ice is incredible, and as a Canadian guy - we're not taught skill. We're taught dump-and-chase-and-hit, and battle until you score."
That has summed up much of Crosby's work in this series. Saturday night, he did produce a sweeping rush to the net in the first frantic seconds of overtime, but failed to finish. Otherwise he has been, as ex-player and analyst Darren Elliot admiringly described Crosby to espn.com's Scott Burnside before this series, "the most gifted grinder in the game."
Alex Ovechkin said he suffered a groin pull in Game 4 of the series against the New York Rangers. He also said he was suffering from a wrist injury in the playoffs.
Both ailments needed required injections before games, he said.
Ovechkin also said he does not need surgery on either his groin or wrist, adding, "Thank God." Makes you wonder what he might have done had not been playing hurt, considering he led all scorers in the Pittsburgh series with 14 points and eight goals.
The injuries:
Mike Green (shoulder) Alexander Semin (thumb) Tom Poti (broken foot) John Erskine (broken foot) Alex Ovechkin (groin pull, wrist) Shaone Morrisonn (groin, ankle)
McPhee also said that he will speak to his pro scouting staff and the players before deciding whether to bring back pending FAs Sergei Fedorov, Donald Brashear, Brent Johnson and Viktor Kozlov.
Sergei Fedorov said he not only is not retiring, he wants to play again next year in the NHL and with the Caps. He said his agent, Pat Brisson, approached Caps management about an extension in January and they said to wait until after the playoffs.
Viktor Kozlov said teams from Russia are interested in him but he wants to stay here and specifically with the Caps. He said he's going to talk everything over with his family before deciding on his future.
Alex Ovechkin played with both groin and wrist injuries during the playoffs. He said it isn't his job to lobby McPhee about retaining guys like Fedorov or Brashear, but he did the team "100 percent needs a guy like Fedorov" and Brashear is "like everyon's bodyguard" and the team needs him or someone like him.
Bruce Boudreau expects there to be "a good battle" in training camp next year for the No. 1 goalie spot. Simeon Varlamov is not likely to join the Hershey Bears for their playoff run. Jose Theodore said he expects to be back and ready to compete for the No. 1 job.
Mike Green injured the AC joint of his shoulder in Game 1 against the Penguins. When asked about surgery, he said, "We'll see." GM George McPhee said he didn't think any of his players would need surgery.
McPhee said he doesn't intend to buy out Michael Nylander's contract. Nylander did not talk today. Boudreau said he will sit down with Nylander and talk to him and talk to McPhee before the team makes any decisions about Nylander's potential role next year.
Alexander Semin was playing with an injured thumb.
Shaone Morrisonn had a pulled groin.
John Erskine and Tom Poti each had a cracked foot bone.
On Victor Kozlov talks with the team in St. Petersburg, Russia:
His wife is from St. Petersburg and they still have condo out there. His wife really wants Victor to sign there.
Peter Lockley / The Washington Times Fans at Verizon Center applauded the Capitals in the final minutes of Wednesday's Game 7 loss to the Penguins.
I wanted to thank you all again for your support and for the genuine respect and love you have all shown for our team even in defeat in Game 7 of Round 2 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The two minute standing ovation to our team at game’s end is the talk of the league and several executives from other teams and the league itself have called me to mention it. Thank you again. That was very classy and elegant and nice. Our team’s salute to you on the ice was heartfelt. Our fans are special and one of a kind.
I've got this email addressed to Ovechkin and Varlamov. Hopefully Alex and Varly will read this letter from their fans.
Subject: Мы ещё победим!!
Здравствуйте, Саша!
Закончилась 7-я игра – мы болели за Вас и за Capitals всей семьёй: я, жена и наш сын Никитка.
Обидно, что проигрыш, не получилась 7-я игра, но мы всё равно за вас!!! Будет следующий год, ещё будут победы и будет Stanley Cup. Обязательно будет!
Никитка очень расстроился. Ещё в прошлом году (ему тогда только исполнилось 5 лет) он прошёл отбор и попал в ‘Silver Stick’ division – элитная хоккейная команда 7 летних звёздочек (Whitby, Toronto, Canada). Но тогда он ещё не бредил хоккеем. А вот как увидел playoffs с Овечкиным и Варламовым, так и «заболел» хоккеем – после каждого периода тащит нас вниз в бэйсмент сыграть хотя бы пару мини-периодов: один период он – Овечкин, второй период – он Варламов. Он говорит – «Я когда буду играть в NHL у меня будет jersey #8 и написано на ней “OVECHKIN”. А я смеюсь и говорю – конечно #8 только написано пожалуй будет “FENEV”.
Спасибо вам, ребята, за то, что увлекли его своей игрой!! Неизвестно, что из него получится и получится ли вообще, но то что он благодаря вашей игре увлекся хоккеем по-серъёзному и нашёл своих кумиров – это уже замечательно. И я на вашем примере показываю ему не только как надо играть, но и как надо вести себя, как быть самим сабой и как быть Человеком. Ещё раз спасибо вам обоим за такой пример!
Конечно хотелось бы написать Вам по случаю победы, но.... не важно, вы всё равно классные ребята и всё ещё у вас получится! А мы будем за вас опять болетьJ
Саша, передайте от нас огромный привет и пожелание успехов всей команде, и особенно нашим русским ребятам, а от Никитки ещё особый привет Семёну Варламову – пусть знает, что у него здесь растёт защитник и болельщик по имени НикиткаJ
Всем вам всего самого доброго!
С уважением,
Сергей, Таня и Никитка Фенёвы
Whitby, Canada
Here's the translation:
Subject: We will win one day!!
Hi, Sasha!
The Game 7 is over, the whole family, my wife and our son Nikitka were rooting for you and the Capitals.
The defeat is insulting, it didn't work out in game 7, but we are still rooting for you! There will be next year, there will be the victories and there will be the Stanley Cup. It must be!
Nikitka is very upset. As early as last year (when he just turned 5 years old), he was selected and got into the 'Silver Stick' division, the elite team of 7 year old hockey stars (Whitby, Toronto Canada). But back then he was not yet been raving about hockey. But as he saw the playoffs with Ovechkin and Varlamov, he became a real hockey fan -- after every period he pulls us down to the basement to play at least a couple of mini-periods: in one period of it he is Ovechkin, in the second period he is Varlamov. He says, "when I'll play in the NHL, I would have jersey #8 and it would have "OVECHKIN" on it." And I'd laugh and say, of course it will be #8, perhaps only it will be "FENEV".
Thank you guys for your great play that made him such a fan! It is not clear how it will turn out and whether at all, but because of you he got a real passion for the game of hockey and found his idols, it is wonderful. I show him by your example not only how to play, but also how to behave, how to be yourself and how to be a human being. Once again, thank you both for this example!
Of course it would be nice to write to you on the occasion of the victory, but.... it does not matter, you are still cool guys, and it will work out for you! And we will root for you again.
Sasha, give a huge hello and a wish of success to the entire team and especially to our Russian guys, but additionally from Nikitka a special greeting to Simeon Varlamov, let him know that here is his defender and a fan named Nikitka.
Green had a bum shoulder, the same one he hurt in Anaheim. Tom Poti had a broken foot, which he suffered in Game 1 of this series.
Ovechkin was battling a groin injury.
Alexander Semin was also hurt, though I'm not certain of his injury. I did hear, however, that the injury likely would have sidelined him in the regular season.
Cryin wont help you, prayin wont do you no good, Now, cryin wont help you, prayin wont do you no good, When the levee breaks, mama, you got to move.
It will be some weeks still before Ovi heads home to Moscow, vacations a bit and then begins his grueling training regimen to better his career. During that time, if you happen to be standing at a D.C. street corner as Ovi passes, his red Caps' flags fluttering wildly in the summer sun, wave and blow a kiss at this wunderkid, or honk your horn if you're behind him and pump a fist out your window. He's one of us, and aren't we damned lucky for it.
ARLINGTON, Va. -- Judging by how Alex Ovechkin seems to embrace the bright lights of the big stage, you would have to assume that he also dreams of scoring the big goal.
Not so, says Washington's No. 8.
"I just want to win and I don't care if I don't score or if I play one minute," Ovechkin said Wednesday morning. "I just want to win the game."
When Ovechkin spoke to the media at Kettler Capitals Iceplex, the opening faceoff for Game 7 against the Pittsburgh Penguins was still more than eight hours away, so he said he would do his best not to think about it for at least a few more hours.
As hard as that may seem, thinking about things other than hockey during a game-day afternoon has been Ovechkin's routine since he debuted in the NHL in 2005. It's safe to say that whatever he's doing, well, it works.
"Right now it's time to sleep," said Ovechkin, who has 13 points in this series and a League-best 20 in the playoffs. "I try not to think about the game because if you think about the game starting right now you're going to be ready, but you're mind isn't going to be ready because you'll all the time be thinking about hockey. I don't do that. I try to think about hockey when I wake up after my nap. When I drive to the Verizon Center, I listen to music and say, 'OK, let's start thinking about hockey and concentrate on the game.' "
In regards to said game, Ovechkin, who has played in two Game 7s, said the key is to play it safe, at least from the start. As the game continues on each team will take more and more chances, but nobody wants to be the one who makes the first mistake.
"Everybody knows if they make some mistakes it's going to cost us a lot, it's going to cost us a goal," Ovechkin said. "It's all about mistakes and easy chances."
"The last Game 7 (against the New York Rangers) was a different game in a different atmosphere," Ovechkin said. "We've never been in this situation before in the second ound. It's going to be cool."
The Capitals had a team meeting Tuesday, May 12, 2009, at KCI as they prepare for Game 7 tomorrow night at Verizon Center.
Ovie after the team's meeting.
Ovie: "Right now I try to order box for my family and my friends and you can't find it, so probably everything's sold out. Box is problem because lots of rich people here in Washington and now they're crazy about hockey."
"It's always great when the fans want to see you and the media gives you more attention than anybody," Ovechkin said Tuesday afternoon at Kettler Capitals Iceplex. "It's sick, good and it's fun. But when you play you don't think like, 'Oh my God, right now I have to do something so after the game I can talk about it with the media and the fans.' You just only think about the victory."
In the meantime, though, Ovechkin said he does soak up the attention by reading the articles written about him and watching himself on television, be it in game highlights or on local news interviews.
"All the time," he said with his famous gap-tooth smile. "I love it."
So, what goes through the mind of a superstar when they see themselves on TV or read about themselves in the newspaper or online?
"I say, 'Wow, it's me, it's good,' " Ovechkin said. "Why not? I am who I am and if I'm in this position why can't I read the news about me, what you guys are writing about me and what you say about me? I love this kind of stuff.
"When I come here it was my dream and my dream was to be the best," Ovechkin added. "I work hard and right now I am who I am and I don't want to stop."
By that he meant both being who he is and playing hockey in the NHL this season.
Ovechkin can't wait for Game 7 Wednesday night, but he refuses to call it the biggest game of his life. That one is yet to come.
"It's one of the biggest games of my career," he said. "I hope my biggest game will be this year, just later. You can say when we played seventh game against New York that this was one of the biggest games. (Monday) night was one of the biggest games, too.
"When you're close to moving forward in the second round, you think, 'Darn, it's such a good feeling,' especially last night when (David) Steckel scored his goal," he continued. "Oh my God it was unbelievable, especially in the locker room. Lots of guys that didn't play, like the doctors and the trainers, were all there. It was emotional and everybody was so happy. I hope tomorrow is going to be the same."
For the Capitals to have that same out-of-this-world experience Wednesday night, Ovechkin said they have to continue to play desperate hockey, playoff buzz words for teams facing elimination.
The Caps are 4-0 when playing a win-or-go-home game this season. They're 7-1 dating back to Game No. 82 of the 2007-08 regular season, one they had to win to clinch a playoff berth.
"I think when we're desperate we have more power than anybody and we play such a simple game," Ovechkin said. "You can see (Monday) night in the second period we played so easy and so simple. We need that for 60 minutes. In the first period we knew they were going to come and make some pressure for us and thank god they scored only one goal (despite outshooting Washington, 18-5). We want to do what they do, pressure them, hit the guys and get lots of shots. It's the seventh game and it's going to be fun and it's going to be hard."
And, memorable no matter what the outcome may be.
"In Pittsburgh, in their stadium you can see (the sign), 'It's a great day (for) hockey,' " Ovechkin said, referencing the famous slogan from “Badger" Bob Johnson. "Tomorrow is going to be a great day to play hockey."
In Round 1, that meant limiting the damage done by Philadelphia's Jeff Carter, the No. 2 goal-scorer in the NHL during the regular season. When the Penguins advanced to Round 2, Scuderi and Gill were told to focus on Ovechkin, who led the league with 56.
"Whether it's playing against Jeff Carter or playing against Alex Ovechkin or whoever we might be playing on a particular night, for the most part, these are guys we're going to lean on," Yeo said.
Scuderi said he was "satisfied" with the pair's work against Ovechkin going into last night but noted that trying to shut him down is not terribly realistic.
"It's more of a pick-your-poison type of thing," he said. "You can let him take that shot from 25 or 30 feet, and it's still a pretty amazing shot, or you can let him get inside and let them have some offensive-zone time, which you don't want, either"
Goligoski's take on Varlamov
Penguins defenseman Alex Goligoski, recalled from Wilkes-Barre before Game 5 because of Gonchar's knee injury, faced Capitals goaltender Simeon Varlamov twice in the AHL this season, enough to convince him that "he's a good goalie."
Varlamov went 1-1 for Hershey in those games.
The one that stands out to Goligoski was a 1-0 Wilkes-Barre victory March 29, when Varlamov made 36 saves.
"He was really good," Goligoski said. "He gets across with his pads real quick. He's got quick feet."
Indeed, the Gonchar situation provides a good example of how opponents get news on injured players even when teams try to deny it to the public. When Capitals coach Bruce Boudreau met with reporters at his team's game-day skate last Saturday, he mentioned that Gonchar had accompanied the Penguins to Washington the previous night, something that no media member except the broadcasters who travel with the Penguins could have known at that point.
Where Boudreau got his information isn't known -- it could have come from someone who worked on the Penguins' flight to Washington, a guy who unloaded or transported their equipment or a hotel worker, among other possibilities -- but the point is that he knew something the Penguins had not made public.
24. Soldiers when in desperate straits lose the sense of fear. If there is no place of refuge, they will stand firm. If they are in hostile country, they will show a stubborn front. If there is no help for it, they will fight hard.
The Caps stood firm in game 6. They showed the stubborn front and they fought hard. Obviously in game 7 it would be Pens in hostile country, but Caps have the momentum. I haven't found yet what Sun Tzu says about the momentum or Simeon Varlamov, if I will, I'll post it.
XIII. THE USE OF SPIES ... 7. Hence the use of spies, of whom there are five classes: (1) Local spies; (2) inward spies; (3) converted spies; (4) doomed spies; (5) surviving spies. ...
13. Surviving spies, finally, are those who bring back news from the enemy's camp.
I think "broadcasters who travel with the Penguins" should be qualified as surviving spies. : -) What do you think? Actually I believe I've read on some of the Pens sites about Gonchar traveling with Pens, but I don't remember where. Maybe we should ask Bruce? :-)
Watch Bruce Boudreau jumping on a bench after Steckel scored at 1:20 and 2:38(repeat), I love our Coach Slapshot, I just love this guy. Ovie is giving the crowd shhhh..., lol, at 2:00.
Wow,that was an awesome experience! After so many years of misfortune in this old igloo the Caps were deserving of this victory and thank goodness the hockey gods cooperated.
Once Rob Scuderi's slapshot hit the crossbar in overtime I had a feeling things would go well for Washington. Bruce Boudreau told me the refs would have washed out that goal had it gone in because of too much interference with Simeon Varlamov.
The refs were very much under scrutiny in this game. There were quite a few calls that were marginal at best and the late slashing call on Brooks Laich in regulation almost made me jump out of the booth.
But the Capitals survived and they did so behind another strong effort from Varlamov. His recovery speed in the crease is truly amazing and he battled all the way tonight. The Penguins could have had a big first period lead were it not for the rookie.
As for the scoring component, the team got a real pick me up from Viktor Kozlov and Alex Semin. When you watch them shoot the puck you wonder how any goalie can stop them. When Kozlov is involved like he was tonight, the Caps are extremely difficult to contain.
The game was decided by a slick deflection from David Steckel. Reunited with Brooks Laich and Matt Bradley, Steckel received instant redemption for his missed opportunity in OT from Game 5. Earlier in the day Coach Boudreau was prophetic when he said "Teams can win with guys who play like David Steckel." Those three guys played like warriors tonight.
I've been very lucky in my career to have been at the microphone for a whole bunch of great playoff series. But this one is as riveting as they come and the stage is set for more Game 7 magic.
Looking at the numbers, Caps played horrible. They were lucky enough to be behind by just one goal.
Pens got 18 shots on goal, Caps had only 5. Huge difference. Caps lost faceoffs as well, 44%.
Fedorov looks very good, maybe he'll make a difference? Green and Semin look terrible so far. Caps need to do something in the second or they are doomed.
End of 2nd. Caps 2, Pens 2: A little better, but not enough.
Below, we present without comment the stats in the Capitals-Penguins series for the four superstars involved: Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin on the Pens’ side, Alex Ovechkin and Mike Green on the Caps’ side. The categories are scoring, plus/minus, penalty minutes, average ice time in minutes, shots on goal, shots blocked and shots missed:
Obviously for Ovie it is more important to beat evil empire with captain crybaby than to argue who's better, but Canadians favor Ovechkin no matter what.
PITTSBURGH -- Early this season, Washington Capitals forward Alexander Semin gave an interview in Russian to Yahoo! Sports. He was candid on a number of subjects, but the one that received the most attention was his assessment of Pittsburgh Penguins star Sidney Crosby. Crosby is widely considered one of the best two players in the game; he is one of the game's very brightest lights. Semin, however, was unimpressed.
"What's so special about [Crosby]?" Semin said. "I don't see anything special there. Yes, he does skate well, has a good head, good pass. But there's nothing else."
Semin went on to say he found Chicago's Patrick Kane to be a much more interesting player; he added that promotion and production can make even the most unskilled player a star. Nobody is saying Crosby is unskilled, of course. But one thing Semin said summed up the source of his critique: "In Russia," said the multiskilled forward, "people like beautiful hockey."
When the second-round playoff series between Crosby's Penguins and Alex Ovechkin's Capitals ends - which could happen as soon as Monday night - one superstar will win, and one will lose; separately, one will be deemed to have outplayed the other, if not by much.
But only one will have created individually indelible images, and beautiful hockey is the reason. On actual points, Ovechkin has 10 in five games - seven goals, three assists - to Crosby's eight, including five goals. But on style points, it's not even remotely close.
Sure, that is not exactly a revelation. But putting the two superstars on the same rink for five consecutive games has driven home how different it is to experience each man at the highest level. Ovechkin, over and over, has taken the breath away. Crosby, as wonderfully as he has played, has not. And speaking in generalities, it is the difference between the art of Russian hockey, and the science of Canadians.
"[What's remarkable about Russians is] just the overall skill level that they have," said Capitals defenceman Mike Green, a Calgary native and the game's premier offensive defenceman, earlier in this series. "Their skill, and their sight, and their vision on the ice is incredible, and as a Canadian guy - we're not taught skill. We're taught dump-and-chase-and-hit, and battle until you score."
That has summed up much of Crosby's work in this series. Saturday night, he did produce a sweeping rush to the net in the first frantic seconds of overtime, but failed to finish. Otherwise he has been, as ex-player and analyst Darren Elliot admiringly described Crosby to espn.com's Scott Burnside before this series, "the most gifted grinder in the game."
According to the shot charts of the Washington Post, aside from a shot from centre ice early in the series, 16 of Crosby's 23 shots have come within 16 feet of the net, and only one of his goals came from outside that radius. Crosby's most spectacular moment came on a rebound goal that he batted out of the air and past Washington's Simeon Varlamov in Game 2; otherwise, he has been less about beauty, and more about grit.
Ovechkin's shot chart, meanwhile, looks like it was produced by a machine gun. Crosby's ultra-gifted Russian teammate, Evgeni Malkin, is capable of producing far more thrilling art; when Malkin really gets going, swooping and whirling and throwing up slivers of ice, he looks like he could be wearing a cape. When Crosby attacks, he looks as though, compared to the Russian supernovas in the series, he could be wearing a construction helmet.
There is nothing wrong with that, of course. Crosby is a Hall of Famer in waiting at age 21 because he is a player who can do almost every single thing exceedingly well. As his coach Dan Bylsma said when asked if there was one thing about Crosby's game that stood out, "One thing? There's lots more than one."
The same could be said, however, about the different ways Ovechkin has carved moments into our collective memories. Crosby has been the most consistent of the stars involved, despite going pointless in Game 5. But aside from the rebound goal, what sticks in your mind when you consider Crosby's work in this series? It's like his polite but bland interviewing style: It's great, but it's not so exciting.
Ovechkin, though - the wow moments keep piling up. His first goal in Game 5 was like magic; Ovechkin gained the zone, stopped, took a stride, and unleashed a 50-foot wrist shot that simply tore over the glove of Marc-André Fleury. Ovechkin's explosion, his aggression, the way he celebrates - "If I got that happy, I'd probably have retired sooner," says 39-year-old Capital Sergei Fedorov - and his heavyweight hits are simply electric, over and over. And it's hard to get accustomed to the shock.
"I can't say enough about him," said Capitals forward Brooks Laich after Ovechkin scored three goals, two to swing the game in the third period, in Game 2. "He's my favourite player ... He electrifies the building, and I'm so glad he's on our team. He's just so much fun to play with."
And, of course, to watch. It's only one aspect of the game, and Crosby still drives an enormous amount of attention the NHL's way. But as this series spins towards its end, it had reminded us again that Crosby plays; Ovechkin performs.
"We're different people, that's the bottom line, and people like to make a lot of stories behind that," Crosby said before the series began. "Some people like his style, some people like my style, it doesn't matter. We're just different."
2. On Saturday afternoon, TSN of Canada reported that Penguins defenseman Sergei Gonchar would miss "several weeks" due to an apparent knee injury suffered in the first period of the club's Game 4 battle against the Capitals. After the Pens grabbed a 3-2 series lead with an overtime win Saturday night, I ran into Gonchar. While unavailable to play, he traveled with his teammates to Washington. I didn't speak to the Penguins' top defenseman, but I watched him make the long walk down one of the Verizon Center corridors.
Now, this is a totally unscientific assessment, but I don't think he'll be out for "several weeks." He was walking without any noticeable trouble or limp. Of course, he wasn't running, either. When I asked a former league executive who has traveled with teams during the playoffs about what I'd observed, he agreed the injury likely isn't as bad as the broadcast report indicated. He believed if it was that significant of an injury, Gonchar more than likely would not have traveled to Washington. Instead, the official believed that Gonchar's accompanying the team was a sign the player was getting some heavy treatment from the medical staff.
In the playoffs, as you all know, teams aren't very forthcoming about injuries, and I can understand why. In this case, I don't expect to see No. 55 on the ice for Monday night's Game 6 at Mellon Arena. But I wouldn't be shocked if he were to become available if the Pens-Caps series goes to a Game 7 on Wednesday.
PITTSBURGH — Alex Ovechkin was supposed to address reporters inside the Mellon Arena here after the Capitals’ morning skate ahead of Game 6, but he skipped out. Maybe he wanted to get away from the media before the game, in which the Caps face elimination to Pittsburgh.
Three reporters caught up with Ovechkin outside the arena, though, as he and teammate Alexander Semin waited for a ride to the team’s hotel. Here, Ovechkin answered questions patiently and thoughtfully.
“I don’t know,” he answered when asked why the Capitals have won five of six elimination games under Coach Bruce Boudreau, including three against the Rangers in the opening round. “I don’t know why we’re in this situation. We lost three times in a row, two in overtime.” The Caps have blown a 2-0 lead over the Penguins, including an overtime loss at Washington on Saturday.
“We can’t feel good about why we lose in overtime,” Ovechkin said. “Two mistakes, two bad bounces. We didn’t score goals in overtime. In overtime, one mistake’s going to cost you a lot.”
Those are honest answers from Ovechkin, who doesn’t hide his emotions much. After he injured Sergei Gonchar with an apparently accidental knee-to-knee hit in Game 4 here, for example, he was genuinely downcast as he spoke to reporters.
And he has also seemed something between annoyed and hurt when asked over the last few days about his own performance. Ovechkin invariably answers that it’s a team game. He has seven goals in the series, but the Caps trail 3-2. After the Game 4 loss, someone asked him why he had managed only two shots on goal (he had no goals and an assist) and whether he was tired. “It’s always me,” he said quietly, his voice trailing off.
So now here was Ovechkin, standing by the freight entrance of the Mellon Arena (Semin, who doesn’t speak much English, retreated), making that point again, as the team bus backed in.
“Winning is for everybody — for me, for Green, for Backie, for Varly,” he said, name-checking defenseman Mike Green, center Nicklas Backstrom and goalie Simeon Varlamov. “It’s not like one player can win a series or game. Yes, one player can do something good, score goals, but it’s all about how you’re going to prepare for the next shift, the next shot, the next body check. You know, it’s not about one guy.”
Was he going to stand up and give a speech in the dressing room?
“No, I think everybody understands what’s going on,” Ovechkin said. “They don’t need a speech. Everybody knows the situation — if we win, tomorrow night we can go home. Bruce talks to us a lot, and everybody understands what’s going on right now, what can happen,” he added.
“We still feel pretty good about ourselves. We don’t give up. It’s our goal to come back for Game 7 in Washington.”
“It’s the second round and we can move forward. We can try and fight for the Stanley Cup. Right now, you have to win only 10 games to win the Stanley Cup. But to try to win this many games, it’s pretty hard.”
With that, Ovechkin started trying to persuade the driver of the team bus to drive Semin and him to the hotel. The reporters left him to it.
Paraphrasing Alex, "It's tough to be Ovie" right now.
For every person who believed Ovechkin clearly targeted Gonchar's knee and was worthy of being held out of at least one game, there was another who was convinced there was nothing wrong with the hit, and even that Gonchar, not Ovechkin, was the one responsible for the damage to his knee because he tried to avoid the contact.
I said it immediately after it happened. If Gonchar would take it like a man... but you can't blame him trying to escape Ovechkin's freight train. It can scare anybody.
P.J. Stock said on Hockey Night in Canada that Gonchar caused his own injury by trying to leap out of the way.
I don't believe that all knowledgeable Pens fans think it was dirty or intentional, come on, we have video evidence for God's sake. But even those won't say a word, understandably. All the cries come from Pittsburgh only, not a single hockey observer said it was intentional.
Varlamov, however, didn't like the way Sidney Crosby collided with him in overtime, shortly before the goal. (Crosby ran over Varlamov on a break-in; his shot missed the net.)
"I wasn't injured on the play," he said, "but I think he collided with me on purpose, in order to get me out of the game… But I continued to play, so he obviously wasn't successful at that."
This is not the first time Pens are trying to do that. It was Malkin before and now it's Crosby. You can't count on NHL for protecting the goalies, they just don't do it. Someone needs to do the same with Fleury to send a message. It's gotta be stopped one way or another.
That message was delivered in a heart-to-heart chat Pens defenceman Brooks Orpik had with his wounded teammate early yesterday after learning Ovechkin was not going to be suspended.
"I talked to Gonch after breakfast and he told us the best way to get back at (Ovechkin) is to beat him," said Orpik, who was involved in a brief skirmish with the Capitals winger at the end of the first period.
"Coming from the guy who got injured, that was a pretty clear message."
And another clear message is that Gonchar didn't say a word to Orpik that the hit was dirty. How do we know? Because Orpik would scream bloody murder and you would hear it from Crybaby as well.
24. Soldiers when in desperate straits lose the sense of fear. If there is no place of refuge, they will stand firm. If they are in hostile country, they will show a stubborn front. If there is no help for it, they will fight hard.
Caps will fight hard. Don't stop believing. Remember what Shaone Morrisonn said:
“Alex, it’s amazing what he can do. He’s a great leader on the ice. He sparks the team. He believes, so we believe.”
If there's justice, Ovechkin will raise the Stanley Cup before Crybaby.
Or, as Alex Ovechkin said, "It was kind of a lucky goal, but it's a goal."
"You can see first shift [of overtime], Stecks miss empty net and I say, 'Jesus, where is our luck?' " Alex Ovechkin added. "Puck bouncing, and next shift they get power play and score goal. It's not about when you score the last five minutes of the game, it's all about when you play hard, how we want to play and how we can play. I think today we played good, but it's not good enough, so next game is gonna be different. There was in that situation when they [were losing] 2-0, and they come back and they winning right now. But it's not over yet. If somebody thinks it's over, it's not over."
(Ovechkin was gangsta with his quotes all night. "We have opportunity to win the game and we lost and we disappointed," he opened with, "but we're gonna come back here again Game 7. That's our goal."
"If we gonna play same way how we play first two periods we're gonna win this series," he added later.)
Malkin's interview to Russian TV channel NTB Plus from hockeyreview.ru:
Что касается словесной перепалки с игроками на скамейке «Вашингтона», там 21-й номер, Лайк, говорил, что я сыграл локтем против защитника, что он мне ответит, но это так, обычные разговоры.
Translation:
With regards to verbal skirmish with the Caps players on the Washington bench, they have number 21, Brooks Laich, and he said that I elbowed their defenseman and that he would make me pay, but this is just normal, a regular conversation.
Carolina Hurricanes forward Erik Cole skated Sunday with his teammates for the first time since breaking two vertebrae on a crushing hit from behind from Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Brooks Orpik on March 4.
But afterward Cole conceded he is not close to being ready to play or close to forgiving Orpik.
Cole said Orpik tried to reach out to him through Carolina's Mark Recchi, Orpik's former Pittsburgh teammate. But when Recchi asked Cole for permission to give Orpik Cole's phone number, Cole said no.
It was three years ago. And what Orpik is saying today? Ovechkin was intentionally trying to hurt players? Yeah, right. What a hypocritical swine!
The news that there will be no disciplinary action comes as no surprise to the Capitals.
"There shouldn't be," Coach Bruce Boudreau said. "If you've watched any suspension -- the knee is not the first thing that goes out. He's trying to hit him with his shoulder and the rest of your body, you can't leave it somewhere, it's got to follow you and that's what happened. He led with his shoulder. Simple." Ovechkin reiterated his comments about the play from last night saying the knee-on-knee collision was an accident and that he tried to get word to Gonchar that the hit was not intentional.
"I tell a couple guys -- [Bill] Guerin, [Mark] Eaton -- it was accidental," Ovechkin said. "I didn't try hurt him."
He was also asked about comments made by Penguins defenseman Brooks Orpik, who alleged that Ovechkin was intentionally trying to hurt players, specifically Russians.
"I don't care what he say," said Ovechkin, who chuckled when he heard the accusation. "It's a game. It's Russian, Swedish or somebody else it doesn't matter, it's playoffs. If he don't like it, he try to make hit against what Canadian? He's American? So like he try to hit Clarkie?"
"We evaluated him and continue to evaluate him," Bylsma said. "It's more or less how he's going to respond. The swelling has not been significant but it's going to be day-to-day, game-time (decision) for Sergei. He's not doing as bad as we thought and it will be game-time as far as our decisions with our lineup."
Just to make things a little more difficult, the team had to drive on alternate routes due to highway construction. Some of the players even got lost, but they all managed to make it to the plane in a timely fashion.
The plane took off at 11:30 p.m. and landed shortly after midnight in D.C. The team took a bus to the hotel and checked in around 1 a.m. before heading to their rooms for some much deserved rest (although a few guys did get some sleep on the plane and bus).
The Penguins did not hold a morning skate but will be available to the media today at noon, including head coach Dan Bylsma - who will likely update us on the Game 5 status of defenseman Sergei Gonchar.
Look at the response to Craig Custance's article "Penguins are steamed about Ovechkin's hit". I don't see there a single hockey fan (and they all from different teams) who is saying that it was a dirty hit. Even steelerfreak76, who is probably Pens fan, agrees that it was not a dirty hit. Click on the link and check out yourself. I didn't take out a single comment.
25CupCrazy on Sat May 09, 2009 01:37 am I watched it over and over again and read all the posts.The only player that moves is Gonchar!!!
Not that its his fault its just to say OV tried to hurt him you people are high as a kite!! Gonchar has puck and OV is coming in to hit him and Gonchar does a nice play with the puck and just didn't get all of his body out of the way!It would of just been a good shoulder to shoulder or hip to hip check but he tried to move out of the way to go up ice with the puck! I am NOT saying he should man up or what ever else i have read on other posts its just a bad play and knee to knee anybody that has played will tell you that you never know who it will hurt! They will not suspend him it wasn't intent just one player try to make a hit and another trying to make something happen with the puck.
AND you Pens fans call us Flyers fans cryers! Man up and look in the mirror Pens fans that's hockey people get hurt! When you cry for a suspension on that hit come on!!!!!!!!!!!!!
vikesfan#1 on Sat May 09, 2009 03:23 am Just an opinion, I just don't see an intent to hurt Gonchar, rattle his bones yes, but this looked like one of those things that can happen in a split second on the ice. I played the game in HS. and used to be an avid NHL fan, but, now only watch the play-offs.(the North Stars in DALLAS!!!)....
I've watched the replay enough times to say Sh!t happens in sports, and am a fan of neither a fan of the Pens, or the Caps......
ASTARS on Sat May 09, 2009 08:00 am Gonchar is a big part of the powerplay, off. and def. If Pittsburgh thinks Ovie did this intentionally, (whether he did or did't) Ovechkin is going to have a couple of dicey games coming up.
steelerfreak76 on Sat May 09, 2009 08:07 am I agree. Playoff hockey is just so intense. Ovie wasn't trying to hurt him, it just went down that way. I'm huge fan of the pens, but, they look like sissies right now. Don't complain, go out next time and crush Ovechkin!!!
TNCaniac on Sat May 09, 2009 09:18 am As others have stated Ovie leaned his shoulder into him first and the body followed; knee contact was not intentional. Clean hard hit although everyone is unhappy that Gonchar got injured.
I find it laughable coming from Orpik any comment about cheap hits with intent to injure. Ask him about his shot on Eric Cole that almost ended Cole's career.
He is one of the major cheap shot artists in the NHL today.
OltimmaClassof58 on Sat May 09, 2009 09:36 am Either way, The great AO better keep his stick down and his head up this next game.
epar on Sat May 09, 2009 09:59 am The knee clearly wasn't intentional. He went for a hit Gonchar moved out of the way and he didn't get his whole body. I wouldn't have even called a tripping penalty on that. Ovechkin didn't try to hurt him and his knee wasn't even bent when he hit him. An intentional knee the player will bend his own knee to brace the impact so he doesn't blow out his own knee.
edbread on Sat May 09, 2009 10:18 am ...both players moving at mach one, OV had the advantage because of his edge being the inside skate where as Gonchar was riding his outside pin...no way Gonchar could have followed his body with that leg... ...unfortunately he was hurt, make no mistake OV was looking for a collision, its playoff hockey!, but 'intent to injure'?...I guess if your a Pens fan(ie. Fedotenko)...what else do you think he's going to say?... ...you know, that's the nature of the game!...two top skaters fighting for advantage!...
...if anyone is guilty of unfair play it ought to be the reporting media using descriptivism like "injured by Alex Ovechkin's knee-to-knee hit" or headlines such as 'Ovechkins Denial'...those are opinions boys, stirring the pot is one thing, but, allow us to form our own opinions...
jaek on Sat May 09, 2009 10:40 am As a Stars fan who saw more than his fair share of Bryan Marchment cheapshots, I can't say what Ovie did is intentional. Sorry.
team carrier on Sat May 09, 2009 11:38 am IMO it was not intentional,I don't know why all the Pens are crying about it. Get over it and play the game. I'm sure today's game will be interesting to watch and see if one of the Pens goes after him. LETS GO RED WINGS !!!
A key to Mr. Ovechkin's play: he can stay on the ice for two minutes at a time. Most players go off after 45 seconds. As a result, teams must switch their defensemen, giving Mr. Ovechkin a shot at his opponent's weaker line.
Mr. Ovechkin, in a telephone interview Thursday, credited his dramatic increase in endurance over recent seasons to endurance and interval training with former Russian Olympic runner Dmitry Kapitonov, the current Russian record-holder for the half-marathon.
The season after Mr. Ovechkin began working with Mr. Kapitonov, the 2007-08 season, his average shift time jumped to 1:05 from 53 seconds the year earlier, an increase of 22.6%, according to data provided by the league.
Mr. Ovechkin's recovery is so fast that he can run all-out wind sprints on a track and his heart rate will drop down almost immediately, says his personal manager, Konstantin Selinevich. The quick recovery means Mr. Ovechkin can catch his breath between whistles.
"He has a second set of lungs," says Capitals teammate Sergei Fedorov.
It is my belief that the Capitals' Alexander Ovechkin's knee-on-knee hit on hit on Penguins' blueliner Sergei Gonchar has already been reviewed by the NHL. It does not appear that there will be any supplementary discipline in this case.
You always want to leave an out when you discuss possible suspensions because the National Hockey League will likely look at the incident several more times. At the end of the day what the NHL is looking for in a kneeing suspension situation is where does the knee track? Does the knee stay firm in the line that Ovechkin was on? Was he attempting to hit the player with his shoulder or was the knee thrown out at the last second to try and create a hit?
If you look at the video over and over again, what you see is that Ovechkin's knee is out there, but it is not pushed out there. He's got a wide body stance, he's coming in and tries to launch the shoulder, but unfortunately he goes knee on knee. It's definitely a penalty, probably because of the severity of the injury to Gonchar it could have been a five-minute major in the game, but there is no intent to injure with the knee, and that is what the NHL is looking for in the case of a suspension.
Keep in mind the conspiracy theorists will say that Alex Ovechkin during the lockout year in Russia, knocked Gonchar out of action with a concussion due to a head-shot, however Ovechkin himself said after the game that it was an accident. I know the people in Pittsburgh won't be happy but Ovechkin was believable when he said it and I think it's the end of the story.
I hate those knee-on-knee shots because they can be so devastating, but they are often in cases like this, where a player appears to be going for a legitimate check and the angles come up all wrong. My guess is it would be a suspendable offence had it been a lesser, Matt Cooke type player on the offending end, but Ovechkin won't be penalized.
Still, the hit is going to have major ramifications for this series — and likely for the Penguins' chances in this postseason. Their record with Gonchar in the lineup has been far, far better than without, and prior to Game 4, he was averaging more than 27 minutes a game — six minutes better than any other Pittsburgh defenceman.
You don't replace that sort of ice time, not in the long term, and even if Ovechkin misses one game as a result, Gonchar is likely to miss many more.
This, frankly, is one of those infractions where there's no easy answer when it comes to the wheel of justice. And there's scarce little time to make a ruling, given Game 5 goes on Saturday night.
WASHINGTON, D.C.--The Penguins have recalled defenseman Alex Goligoski from their farm team in Wilkes-Barre, and he is scheduled to be in the lineup for Game 5 of their second-round playoff series against Washington tonight at 7:08 p.m. at the Verizon Center.
He will replace defenseman Sergei Gonchar, whose right knee was injured on a hit by Capitals left winger Alex Ovechkin during the first period of the Penguins' 5-3 victory in Game 4 at Mellon Arena last night. Ovechkin was assessed only a two-minute tripping minor for the hit, and Washington officials said that as of late this morning he had not had a hearing with league officials.
Watching Jonas Hiller falling apart in a game vs Red Wings I kind of felt that it could happen to Varly. He still was not too bad, he let one really bad goal, so did Fleury. But unlike Fleury Simeon was left there hang out to dry for the second consecutive game. What is good about Varly that even after a bad goal he keeps his composure.
There were plenty of other reasons the Capitals lost, and Varlamov mixed in a few athletic, sprawling saves, the kind Washington has come to expect from the 21-year-old whose NHL career now spans all of 16 games. But there was one unforgivable goal, a wrist shot from Ruslan Fedotenko late in the first period, one Varlamov stabbed at with his glove -- and missed.
"The third one's one I know he'd like to have over," Prior said. "He sort of muffed it."
There may have been others Varlamov wanted back; he did not speak to reporters following the game. The first goal, off the stick of Pittsburgh defenseman Sergei Gonchar, slipped between Varlamov's legs, though Prior said Varlamov was screened by one of his own defenders. The final goal, from winger Maxime Talbot, was "a well-located shot," Prior said, over Varlamov's pad but under his blocker.
"I know he'd like to make the save at that point in the game to keep your team alive," Prior said, "but he had just done that previously, with a sort of splendid save in the goal line area."
Today is the Victory's Day celebration in Russia. The second World War vs Nazi's Germany and Imperial Japan took lives of 20 to 50 million people on Russian's side alone. Here's a Wikipedia article about it.
As I posted before, Ovechkin's grandpa came back from the second world war and just recently passed away. There's not a single family in Russia or in any other former Soviet Union's state that was not affected by it.
Here's the article (in Russian) by Sport-Express correspondent Slava Malamud. Slava is a Jewish Russian by ethnicity and he writes for a Russian newspaper though he lives in the United States:
In our country, unfortunately, you can't count too many holidays that bring together all of our promiscuous people. The professional and political dates, of course, are not counted.
What the holidays like the May Day or a new November's holiday, hastily coined by our Duma, mean now? Nobody knows what they mean including their creators. The feminist's 8th of March holiday has it's meaning for just a half of a population.
What about of very actively implanted religious celebrations? They just serve for a purpose of a pronounced segregation.
All we have left in a calendar are only two truly real Russian people's holidays: the New Year's Eve and the Victory Day. The children's happiness and the joy with the notorious tears in your eyes. Well, it's not too bad. And I assume that the Victory Day in Russia is celebrated by everyone, no doubt about it. Even for those residents who are, according to some western media, represent about a half of neo-Nazis around the world. It is hoped that on this day they are at least a little bit embarrassed for the undeserved use our planet's oxygen supply.
Both of my grandfathers had returned from the war, at least one of them died from the effects of shrapnel wounds, eight years later, one year after my mother was born. His military career was not very aggressive, he was a signalman. He pulled the wire, as my grandmother used to say, from Russia to Berlin, the capital of Germany.
Another one was a marine, who succeeded on advice of the political consultant to change his name to Malamutov (such a military trick in the event of capture, as if his face wouldn't give him up), came back from the war healthy and died of natural causes many years later. I've never learned anything about the war from him. Two of my once removed grandfathers (grandmother's brothers) are buried somewhere in the Ukrainian land, and nobody will ever know exactly where.
There is a huge monument to the fallen of the Second World War in Washington. Yes, Americans lost their lives too, and we have no right to belittle their sacrifice. I am working today a couple of kilometers away from this monument. I just hope that I will find the time to call my grandmother, who recently turned 94.
As I said, there shouldn't even be a penalty, the replay shows that Ovie didn't even stick his leg out, but everybody's looking at the results as usual. And the results are that Gonchar is injured. As far as I am concerned, Sergei should blame himself only. If he would take a hit, we wouldn't even be talking about it.
Ovechkin's post game talk to the media: "I try to hit him and he try to move to his left and I don’t have time to realize what is going on. I’m not the kind of player who wants to injure players, especially I know [Gonchar]. Yeah, it was probably knee-on-knee, but I try to hit him with my shoulder. … It was accident."
When asked about potential further action by the league, Ovechkin said, "I don’t know what is going to happen, but what do I say? I didn’t want to him … I mean I wanted to hit him, but I didn’t want to hurt him, especially knee-on-knee. I think that is dirty hit, and it is not my play.”
Ovechkin said he was going after the puck in the corner, but Gonchar poked it away, so he tried to hit him with his shoulder. As he was attempting the hit, Gonchar took a quick step to his left, enough so his right knee lined up with Ovechkin's right knee.
They collided and Gonchar went flailing into the air while Ovechkin's momentum carried him around the goal. He never fell down.
"It was a shoulder check that he missed and I think that's it," Capitals coach Bruce Boudreau said.
As Ovechkin was being escorted to the penalty box, he kept staring at Gonchar with a concerned look on his face.
"It was accident," he stressed.
The image of injuring Gonchar might have affected Ovechkin the rest of the night, because he was, as Boudreau said, "only human."
Vladimir Malkin ran into Alex Ovechkin between locker rooms in the bowels of Mellon Arena last night.
They spoke in Russian, but it was pretty obvious what the topic was -- the Washington Capitals winger's knee-on-knee hit that injured Penguins defenseman Sergei Gonchar, a teammate and close friend of Vladimir's son, Evgeni.
"I was disappointed, too," Ovechkin said. "I didn't want to hurt [Gonchar], but it's a game and some things happen."
Ovechkin, one of the biggest stars in the first two games of the second-round series against the Penguins, had to answer for a lot.
There were questions about whether he might be disciplined by the NHL, possibly a suspension for Game 5 tonight at the Verizon Center, for the hit on Gonchar.
Whether he gets to skate tonight is up to the NHL.
The extent of Gonchar's injury wasn't known. The play happened at 14:55 of the first period and resulted in a tripping penalty on Ovechkin.
This wasn't the first time Ovechkin injured Gonchar. He gave Gonchar a severe concussion with a hit in a Russian Super League game during the NHL lockout year of 2004-05 when Gonchar played for Metallurg Magnitogorsk and Ovechkin played for Dynamo Moscow. The two also have played together for Russia.
There is no animosity, Ovechkin insisted.
"[Gonchar] is a good guy. I tried to play the puck. He moved the puck forward. I tried to hit him. He moved to his left, and I didn't have time to [move out of the way] and hit him with my knee.
"It probably was knee on knee, but I tried to hit him with my shoulder and he just moved left."
Perhaps that's what he explained to Vladimir Malkin.
End of 1st, Caps 1, Pens 3: So many things happened in 20 minutes, as if the whole game was played. Varly let an easy one. It happened before and it didn't affect him. Will it this time? We'll see.
Ovechkin knee hit on Gonchar:
It was unfortunate for Gonchar, but Ovechkin was penalized for nothing. He didn't stick his leg out, it was Gonchar who tried to avoid Ovechkin. Check it in slow motion. Ovie has no attempt to stick out his leg to catch Gonchar. If Gonchar would take a hit instead of avoiding it, there'd be no injury.
Bill Guerin goal was like some beer leagues were playing for Caps. So many mistakes by Caps within 3-4 seconds. Unbelievable. Caps on ice: 21, 26, 28, 52, 91
Ovie's ice time: 07:37 / 00:57 (total / average shift). He had 1 hit and 1 shot on goal, 1 missed, 1 attempt was blocked.
Everything is opposite tonight, Caps are taking short shifts, Pens long ones. Caps are also losing faceoffs unlike before, only 43%.
End of 2nd, Caps 2, Pens 3: Ovie: 16:46/01:11 Backis: 13:49/00:46 Semin: 13:56/00:59 Fedorov: 09:58/00:42
Crosby: 12:41/01:24 Malkin: 13:52/01:04
Caps got an edge in faceoffs 54%. All good signs.
Come on, guys!
Caps 3 - Pens 5.
Maybe it sounds weird, but I see more hope after game 4 than after game 3. Caps had an absolute perfect opportunity to finish Pens after Ovie scored the first goal in game 3. Unfortunately they didn't use it.
It's official, Crosby is a second class citizen. Ok, just kidding, Bruce said "Crosby is the best SECOND player in the world." Malkin might disagree though he won't say.
Ovie. Almost everything has been already quoted all over the hockey world. He mentioned that he watched Detroit - Anaheim yesterday and to him all players looked tired. He thinks though that the game shape (timing, etc.) is more important than the fitness shape and he thinks Caps have advantage since Pens had a long break. We'll see.
Mike Vogel reports from the morning skate, interviews with Bylsma, Clark, Beagle Jay Beagle on callup: "I am the happiest kid in the world right now."
Jay Beagle said he is in the lineup tonight and will play on the fourth line with Boyd Gordon and Tomas Fleischmann.
That jives with how the Caps were aligned this morning. Granted, it could all be a ruse from Bruce Boudreau, but here is how the forwards looked during the skate/could look tonight:
Ovechkin-Fedorov-Kozlov
Laich-Backstrom-Semin
Clark-Steckel-Bradley (Bradley and Clark could be flipped as well)
Fleischmann-Gordon-Beagle
Alex Ovechkin says his buddy Alexander Semin is going to play tonight. Semin was the only player not on the ice this morning. If Semin does play, it looks like Michael Nylander will be a scratch for the Caps.
Ideally, Game 4 would have been tonight, Game 5 on Sunday in Pittsburgh and Game 6 back here on Tuesday. Instead, Game 6 (if necessary) will be played Monday because the Mellon Arena is booked for a Yanni concert.
(Some have blamed CBC for pushing for a Saturday night game, but network officials say that they are not responsible for the quick turnaround.)
The shoddy ice at the Mellon Arena has become an issue. Ovechkin and Boudreau complained about it following Wednesday's Game 3 and Orpik today said "it's the worst I've ever seen it and it won't be any better after last night's concert."
Comedian Dane Cook was on stage last night and on Tuesday a WWE event helped contribute to the bad ice on Wednesday ...
PITTSBURGH -- Alex Ovechkin watched the video clips of all his shifts from Game 3 against the Pittsburgh Penguins and came away thinking one thing: "Boy, I didn't play well at all."
"The goal when I scored was lucky, but after that I just didn't skate," Ovechkin said. "I don't move my legs. Sometimes they did a good job, but it's not about them; it's all about me. It's my fault. (Fedorov and Kozlov) gave me nice passes to create something but I didn't create because my legs just didn't run. I don't know why. I feel pretty good last game, but I don't know why I didn't skate well."
There has been some speculation that Ovechkin is being bothered by some sort of injury, but Capitals coach Bruce Boudreau tried to put that notion to bed.
"I wish I was as healthy as him," Boudreau said. "As to (his health) bothering him, he still plays 22-23 plus minutes a game and wishes he could play more. I think he's just very focused on what he's doing and there is no such thing as fatigue in his mind."
Other than rehashing a game he clearly would like to forget, Ovechkin was in a jovial mood Friday morning as he addressed a large scrum of media on a set of risers along the wall outside the Washington Capitals dressing room.
He sported his famous gap-tooth smile as he joked that maybe Washington should let Pittsburgh score first in Game 4 because clearly scoring first hasn't mattered in this series at all.
Pittsburgh netted the first goal in Games 1 and 2, but lost. Ovechkin tallied the first just 83 seconds into Game 3, but the Penguins won in overtime, 3-2.
When he was asked if he's surprised that the Penguins own a 114-82 advantage in shots on goal so far in this series, Ovechkin again smiled and said, "No, they're a pretty good team if you know.
"They have to score goals and they have to shoot the puck and they've done that in all three games," he continued. "I hope (Friday night) is going to be different and we'll shoot the puck and score more goals. Two (goals) isn't good enough."
Things got even funnier when one reporter asked Ovechkin if he'll be playing on a line with Fedorov and Kozlov in Game 4. Ovechkin, knowing that Boudreau rarely says anything publicly about the game plan, smiled again before saying, "Come on, seriously, you think I'm going to answer that. Good try."
It should be noted that Ovechkin finished Game 3 skating with Alexander Semin and Nicklas Backstrom, but he did line rushes with Fedorov and Kozlov Friday morning. Than again, Semin did not practice, but Ovechkin said his Russian teammate will play.
"It was sure not my best game. The pucks just went through me, which shouldn’t happen. You can’t have your ‘A’ game every day."
~ Jonas Hiller
ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Jonas Hiller is human after all. For once in this postseason, the Anaheim Ducks' goaltender was just ordinary -- and the Detroit Red Wings chipped away at the wall he built in the net with a convincing 6-3 victory in Game 4 to even the best-of-7 Western Conference Semifinal series at two wins apiece.
"He can't play every time like a god, you know, he can't save the game all the time."
~ Alex Ovechkin about Lundqvist
If Varly will come up with another 'A' game tonight, it would be unbelievable. But no matter what, the team should play as if it is Varly's first game in the league, protect him, block shots, be tight in defense.
Varly already has stole a game or two for Caps, now it's team's turn tonight.
Hockey Night in Canada analyst Mike Milbury wants the former New York Islander [Guerin] to do more, suggesting to viewers that the Penguins run Varlamov over, like Malkin did in Game 3.
Penguins forward Bill Guerin, middle, screened goaltender Simeon Varlamov in Game 3, allowing teammate Evgeni Malkin to score and give Pittsburgh a 2-1 lead. (Jamie Sabau/Getty Images)
Fellow HNIC panelist Kelly Hrudey took a different tact and suggested Pittsburgh players get in the goalie's face more often.
Hey, why nobody suggests it to Fleury? What is it, Caps vs. Crosby's Canada?
Though the video is interesting, why the hell WaPo talks about tomorrow's game? Talk about it when tonight's game is over. Win tonight, and, like Bruce Boudreau said, think about Saturday on Saturday. Seems like too many people who have nothing else to do or not much to report(?) before game 4 tonight.
PITTSBURGH -- George McPhee knows and respects CBC's Hockey Night In Canada and its leading role in broadcasting the sport.
But the Washington Capitals general manager said yesterday that the CBC crew no longer will be welcome inside his team's locker room prior to games.
McPhee and Caps coach Bruce Boudreau were incensed that the Canadian broadcaster aired footage of the coaching staff's six keys to victory for Wednesday's Game 3 of the Eastern Conference semifinal against the Pens.
Making matters worse, in the Caps' opinion, was that CBC froze the shot and had studio analysts Mike Milbury and Kelly Hrudey break down the "keys" point by point.
"They overstepped their bounds," Caps spokesman Nate Ewell said. "They basically game-planned for the Penguins. It was ridiculous."
Hockey Night in Canada executive producer Sherali Najak
HNIC's executive producer, Sherali Najak, acknowledged that the shots never should have made it to air, but that there was no "malicious intent" by the broadcaster. The board appeared behind Caps star Alex Ovechkin in footage shot by a CBC cameraman. U.S. network Versus had access to the feed and also aired it. "I can understand (the Caps) being upset about it. We don't own the room," Najak said yesterday from Toronto. "We shouldn't have put it on air. It was a mistake and we'll move on."
As for the officials, McPhee and Boudreau are exasperated at what they felt was a one-sided display on Wednesday. At one point, the Penguins had six consecutive power plays, a big reason Pittsburgh controlled much of the play through the second and third periods.
"One team gets seven power plays and the other team gets two, it's hard to win," McPhee said. "The supervisor in this series is as good as they come -- Terry Gregson is terrific. But if the referees aren't going to listen to them, what good is it?
"Some penalties you deserve, and some shouldn't be called in an NHL playoff game. This hasn't been our style to whine about this, but at some point you have to say something."
PITTSBURGH -- Hockey Night In Canada is getting an official freeze out by the Washington Capitals.
CBC producers were told this morning that cameras not only won't be welcome in the team's dressing room but the public broadcaster will not be granted between-periods interviews during tonight's Game 4 of the Eastern Conference semi-final between the Caps and Pittsburgh Penguins.
The Caps are still upset that CBC aired footage prior to Wednesday's Game 3 that included strategic information on the team's dressing room "white board."
A team official said the ban is "indefinite" and will preclude CBC reporter Elliotte Friedman from interviewing players during intermissions both tonight and for tomorrow's Game 5 in Washington.
"It was an emotion thing," he said. "I'm always feel safe. It doesn't matter what's going to happen. You never know what's going to happen. Of course I care, but if it happens it happens."
"I understand," he added. "He's a big fan. He just wanted to ...get me a little afraid."
Ovechkin said he was aware of the threat before Game 3.
PITTSBURGH -- Pittsburgh police and the NHL's security office have investigated a death threat made against Washington Capitals star Alex Ovechkin on a Pittsburgh Penguins fan message board.
The post, reportedly written by a teenager from Chambersburg, Penn., said: "I'm killing Ovechkin and I don't care what happens to me."
The Penguins immediately informed local police, as well as the NHL and the Capitals.
"We were notified of the message and immediately turned over all information to the authorities," the Penguins said in a statement.
It is not known if criminal charges are pending, but officials don't believe Ovechkin was ever in any real danger. Ovechkin was aware of the threat, but did not comment when the incident was first reported by a local television station in Pittsburgh. The Capitals star has been escorted by police while in Pittsburgh for the Eastern Conference semifinals series, which Washington leads 2-1.
"We are aware of it. NHL security was contacted and worked with local law enforcement in handling the matter," NHL spokesman Frank Brown said Thursday.
"We became aware of an inappropriate comment on a message board and referred it to appropriate authorities," the Washington Capitals said in a statement. "We appreciate their diligence and have every confidence in our club's safety."
Police told Channel 11's Marc Willis that a 17-year-old in Chambersburg, Pa. posted the threat on an NHL Web site on Wednesday. Chambersburg is located about three hours east of Pittsburgh.
The Pittsburgh Penguins released the following statement just before 4 p.m.: "We were notified of the message and immediately turned over all information to the authorities."
Access to the dressing room was noticeably tighter after the game; at least one reporter -- Vicki Hall of the Calgary Herald -- was held by security guards until her credential could be verified.
Mason, a 19-year-old who has been one of the best goaltenders in the National Hockey League this season, was named one of the game's three stars but was prevented from taking the resulting curtain call.
He then was whisked out of the dressing room by Howson after a brief chat with the media, while center Michael Peca pulled captain Rick Nash out of a media scrum to inform him.
Players were escorted to their vehicles by police officers or security guards after the game, even though Stenzel already was in custody.
"Most fans are great fans," Peca said. "But some people out there take it a little too far.
Capitals Insider, May 7, 2009: George McPhee doesn't usually seek the spotlight. But this afternoon, he didn't hesitate to go in front of the cameras, microphones and tape recorders.
The Caps' GM had a message he wanted to put out there: The officiating has been skewed in favor of the Penguins, who have enjoyed 17 power-play opportunities to the Caps' nine. In the Pens' Game 3 win, they had seven power plays to Washington's two. Here's George McPhee's statement:
I was disappointed with the officiating last night. I agree with Bruce. One team gets seven power plays and the other team gets two; it's hard to win that game. Your defense is tired, your role players are tired from killing penalties all night, and your top players don't get on the ice as much as they'd like to.
The supervisor in this series is as good as they come. Terry Gregson is terrific. But if the referees aren't going to listen to them, what good is it? We asked them to protect our goaltender, and they're not.
Some penalties you deserve, and some of them shouldn't be called in an NHL playoff game.
They just don't protect this goaltender. He got punched in the head in the first series [by Sean Avery] and cross-checked a couple of games ago. Malkin ran over him last night, and [Varlamov] gives them a flick of the stick and we get a penalty. It's not right. Those aren't slashes. Those aren't things you call in NHL playoff games.
Ovie's off-day interview to Mike Vogel, May 7, 2009
Yesterday's video interviews to media:
Ovechkin speaks to the media about the Game 3 loss in overtime.
Ovie: "They only had two penalties. It's kind of a joke, I think."
Ovie's hit on Orpik in game 3.
Ovie also destroyed Kunitz at some point, which was kind of surprise because Kunitz was running around and hitting everyone...until he met Ovechkin. Unfortunately I couldn't find a video of it.
Too many penalties cost the Capitals a chance to take a commanding lead in their second-round series with the Penguins. They gave up just one power-play goal, but having to spend a lot of time killing penalties wore Washington down in a 3-2 overtime loss.
"I think four [penalties] you can get away with and, when we got the fifth one, I thought, 'Now we're playing with fire,' " coach Bruce Boudreau said. "And, when we got the sixth one, I thought, 'OK, now we're in the danger zone.' "
Washington took seven all told, giving up one power-play goal.
"You can't give the opportunities we gave them on the power play," said center David Steckel, who spent more than a third of his 20:42 of ice time killing penalties.
"We need to stay out of the box. We're doing our best to draw them, and they're doing their best. We took some stupid ones tonight."
The Capitals killed one penalty in overtime after defenseman Brian Pothier shot the puck over the glass from his end.
Steckel wasn't complaining of fatigue, but he was victimized in the faceoff circle by Penguins center Sidney Crosby on the winning goal.
The draw came in the circle to the left of Washington goaltender Simeon Varlamov. The Penguins planned a set play they work on often, getting the puck to defenseman Kris Letang at the right point.
Steckel has been matched against Crosby much of the series and had had success against him in faceoffs. He won 13 of his first 20 draws in the game.
Not this time.
"I've been changing up whether I go down quick or whether I don't," Steckel said. "The linesmen for the most part did a great job of making him come in, and I wasn't expecting him to come in and stop.
"I knew they were setting up a play. It was tic-tac-toe. He just got underneath my stick and beat me fair and square, got it to the wall."
Crosby got it to defenseman Mark Eaton, who set up Letang for a winning one-timer.
As a result of 14 minutes of total penalties (compared to just 4 to Pens) Caps really looked tired. DC Sports Bog, May 7, 2009:
"It was tough to control the puck with the way the ice was here tonight, but I thought about halfway through the game you could really, really see, especially their defensemen, were getting really, really tired," Brooks Orpik told me. "We kept chipping it behind them, and I don't know what the hits stat was, but we really, really did a number on their defensemen going back for the puck. And you could tell, especially in the third period, they were really, really tired."
The hits stat, for the record, was 44-31, in favor of the Pens. It's harder to quantify the hands-on-hips moments. Both teams were doing it, and maybe you just notice it more when a team seems back on its heels, but from the second period on there were moments--before faceoffs, leaving the ice for intermissions--when the body language clearly seemed to favor the Penguins.
"It's a recurring theme now," said Capitals center David Steckel, who's spent a lot of time in this series killing off those penalties. "We just have to stay out of the box. When you have a potent power play like they do it's just bound to not end well for us. We obviously took some stupid ones."
Killing penalties as often as Washington has been has a cumulative effect on the team and the game plan. Washington used seven forwards on the penalty kill Monday, but four defensemen got the majority of the workload on the back end.
Tom Poti, who is already fighting sore groins, played a series-high 8:08 on the penalty kill. Milan Jurcina was on the PK for 5:16, Morrisonn for 5:08 and Mike Green for 4:45. Steckel also played 7:11, the most any forward has played so far in this series.
"It's more on the defensemen and the work they have to do," coach Bruce Boudreau said. "On penalties, you don't have the chance to be aggressive as a defenseman or as a team offensively."
There's the other problem for the Caps. They played well in the first 10-15 minutes of Wednesday's game, but they hadn't yet committed a penalty.
Once they did, the Penguins' offensive onslaught began.
Jurcina started the second period in the box after being called for delay of game, an indisputable penalty, at 19:34 of the first period. Green was called for slashing Jordan Staal at 10:02 and goaltender Simeon Varlamov was whistled for slashing Malkin at 19:16.
In total, the Caps had to kill nearly 4 1/2 minutes of penalties in the second period. When a team has to spend that much time killing penalties, it kills their offensive flow.
In the second period, the Capitals were outshot 15-4 and outscored 1-0.
"We have to step up a little bit more, skate a little bit more and move our legs a little bit more because we can't take this many penalties against a good team like Pittsburgh," Nicklas Backstrom said.
It was more of the same in the third as Alex Ovechkin went off for interfering with Sidney Crosby 4:54 into the period and Alexander Semin was in the box when Malkin scored his goal after he was called for hooking Malkin at 14:10.
Brian Pothier shot the puck over the glass 2:15 into the overtime to put the Caps on the penalty kill in the extra session.
The Capitals bristled when the word "undisciplined" came up. They didn't think they earned all of their penalties in Game 3 and that made for some raised eyebrows, including two from Ovechkin, who called the fact that the Capitals were called for seven penalties while Pittsburgh was whistled for only two "a joke."
Left winger Chris Kunitz was surprised when the NHL fined him for cross-checking Washington goalie Simeon Varlamov in the head during the final minute of Game 2 in the Penguins' second-round playoff series.
Not because he didn't expect punishment, but because he expected it to be more severe.
Kunitz said yesterday that while he has no real recollection of the incident, he suspected after watching a tape of it that he might be forced to sit out a game.
"It looks bad [on video]," he said. "I'm very fortunate, probably, that I didn't get a game suspension [because of a league crackdown on hits to the head]."
What would Crosby say? "Like it or lump it, that's what he does," Crosby said. "Some people like it, some people don't. Personally, I don't like it."
Nah, he said that about Ovechkin. :-)
Pittsburgh Penguins' Evgeni Malkin, of Russia, jumps against the boards after scoring in the third period against the Washington Capitals in Game 3 of an NHL hockey second-round playoff series in Pittsburgh on Wednesday, May 6, 2009.
Three of the biggest stars in the NHL took the podium one after another this evening to address the Penguins' 3-2 overtime win. All three agreed that Pittsburgh deserved to win this one, though Alex Ovechkin wasn't particularly in the mood to discuss it. He was asked about Simeon Varlamov.
"I don't want to talk about Varlamov," he said. "Sorry."
He was asked about penalties.
"I don't want to talk about referee too," Ovechkin said.
He was asked about the team's discipline in logging seven penalties.
"I don't want to talk about it," he said. "Seriously. They have only two penalties. It's kind of a joke, I think."
More generally, here were Ovechkin's thoughts: "We just didn't play our game tonight," he said. "I think we have lucky goal when we score first goal, it was bad bounce, and after that we still have great chances to score goal but after this we just stopped playing. I don't know what's happening, but we can't play like that, especially away against Pittsburgh. It was lucky we tied the game, and in overtime they score goal. It's nothing right now. We lost game and I don't want to talk about it."
Gotcha. So it's on to Crosby.
Crosby raved about Evgeni Malkin, who had been criticized for being scoreless in two games while his fellow stars shined. Malkin scored in Game 3 and was everywhere in the offensive zone, launching nine shots while playing nearly 30 minutes.
"I think our last few days he's taken a bit of heat and he's played well, and unfortunately the puck didn't go in," Crosby said. "And today, I think he raised his game even more still, did a lot of great things....It was a big game and he definitely came to play and raised his game."
A final note, concerning the ice. Several players, on both teams, said it was atrocious.
"The ice was really bad," Orpik said, "and something we talked about going into the overtime was just put pucks on net, you never know."
"In overtime ice was just a mess, pucks just bouncing and stuff," Ovechkin said, discussing in particular one rush in which he lost control of the puck. "We have 3 on 2, [Hal] Gill goes down and I have probably 100 percent chance to score goals but puck just stopped moving."
Anyhow, here's Ovechkin summing up all the other quotes you'll read about this game.
"I think they deserved today to win," he said. "They played better than us. I think everybody see it."
The Washington Capitals have drawn more than their share of celebrity fans during their playoff run — Martina Navratilova, Donald Rumsfeld, David Gregory, to name three — and now they can add another, long-distance supporter: K.H.L. President and Gazprom export C.E.O. Alexander Medvedev.
“We support Washington, obviously,” said Medvedev on Wednesday, laughing, when asked which team he was supporting in the Capitals-Penguins series. “It’s the capital city.”
Medvedev was speaking by phone from Bern, Switzerland, where he was attending the Russia-Belarus quarterfinal at the I.I.H.F. World Championship.
“I’m enjoying the quality of the hockey in the Washington-Pittsburgh series,” he said. “The Russians are making the show.”
Medvedev said he was hoping to get to Washington, his schedule permitting, for a game near the end of the series.
But if not, “Please express my support to Ovechkin,” he said.
What am I, chopped liver? the Penguins’ Evgeni Malkin and Sergei Gonchar must be asking themselves. They can continue to ask themselves that when the series returns to D.C., which it will definitely do after the Pens won Game 3 in overtime, 2-1, on Wednesday night.
End of 1st, Caps 1, Pens 0: After Ovie scored, they showed Dan Bylsma, and he looked like he just got a death sentence. It took almost entire 1st period for Pens to recover.
Now the storm is coming from Pens, one period late, but it is coming. Pens are in position, almost in position, of losing the series if they'll lose this game. 2nd period will start with Pens on PP. Hang in there!
Caps need to play D and Counter, D and C, that's the key to success.
Go, Caps!
Ovie: 1 goal, +1, total ice time 06:43, average 01:07, 1 shot on goal, 1 attempt was blocked, 2 hits.
Semin: TOT 05:52 / AVG 00:44
Backstrom: 06:39 / 00:49
Malkin: 07:21 / 00:44
Crosby: 08:06 / 00:54. Crosby is second to Gonchar only (08:18) for both teams in ice time.
End of 2nd, Caps 1, Pens 1: Ovie: 13:20 / 01:06, 2 shots, 3 hits
Backstrom: 12:40 / 00:47
Semin: 09:56 / 00:45
Fedorov: 08:34 / 00:39, he was nursing a rib. Feds had a history of broken ribs in playoffs before.
AP photo
Crosby: 15:33 / 00:58
Malkin: 16:30 / 00:58
As in two games before, everything will be decided in 3rd. It's good that Ovie didn't play as much as usual, Caps will need him in the 3rd.
End of 3rd, Caps 2, Pens 2. What a game! When Malkin scored I thought it was over. But Backis didn't let us down. Ovie got an assist.
Who will win? Pens need it more, but Caps want to go for a 3rd victory.
Caps players looked tired at the end, but it should be Pens who should be worried. Pens were pushing relentlessly, and Caps now should have more energy.
Ovie didn't play much, only 20:27!!! Semin, only 17 minutes! That's good for Caps. Malkin (24:24) looks exhausted, Crosby (23:46) disappeared.
I am waiting on Semin now, it is his turn!
The will against the will. Go, Caps!
Caps 2, Pens 3.
Varly was unbelievable, but Pens were unrelentless.
Looks like Bylsma played Malkin and Crosby all the time, a desperate move, but it worked. Boudreau, on the other hand, didn't play Ovechkin as usual, Semin played very little either. Actually I take it back, I looked at the penalty minutes, Caps had 14 (!) minutes, Pens had 4 minutes only. That explains a lot. No matter how you explain it, but refs definitely had their influence on the game. Take that penalty on Varly... very questionable... while Pens were crushing Varly in the net all the time and there were no penalties.
When Crosby whines, it's a normal thing, like sunrise and birds chirping in the morning. When the whole Pens team starts whining: Fleury (click here), Cooke (click here), Pittsburgh media (here), it is a good sign.
Ovie's post practice interview, game day, starts at 02:00. About accusations of illegal stick blade: "What can I say? Nothing." (smiles)
Why won't the Penguins put some sort of a shadow on Alex Ovechkin? Back in the early 1990s, it was routine, especially in the playoffs, to shadow the top players on opposing teams. Mario Lemieux used to have a shadow on him constantly (anyone remember Esa Tikkanen?). I can't see how the Pens can allow Ovechkin to take 10-plus shots on goal and still think they have a chance in the series. MOLINARI: There was, indeed, a time when assigning a player to shadow the opposition's top offensive player was a standard tactic in the NHL. A decade or so ago, however, the emphasis began to shift more toward getting a particular defensive pairing, as opposed to an individual forward or specific line, on the ice against the targeted opponent.
Shadowing really isn't practical anymore because of the strict enforcement of obstruction-related rules that has been in effect (or, at least, is supposed to be) since the labor dispute that wiped out the 2004-05 season. Part of the reason shadows were effective was that there were able to impede the guy they were checking just about every way imaginable shy of slapping a set of handcuffs on him. That kind of stuff wouldn't be tolerated in today's game. What's more, Ovechkin's quickness, speed and shiftiness would make it almost impossible for a checker to stay with him.
The most practical strategy for the Penguins probably is to try to hold down Ovechkin's opportunities by denying him the puck as much as possible, not giving his teammates the time and space needed to get it to him. The catch, of course, is that Ovechkin has some skilled linemates who cause problems for the other team themselves, so planning to keep the puck away from Ovechkin and actually making it happen aren't necessarily synonymous.
Where has the physical play from our defense gone? If Ovechkin is going to step up and make some big hits, why are our guys not putting a big hit back on him? Maybe if we didn't make it so easy for him to come into our zone, he wouldn't light us up for three goals. MOLINARI: Does anyone really believe that the Penguins are making a conscious effort to not hit Ovechkin? Playing the body on any opponent never is a bad idea, especially when it's a guy who can alter the course of a game, even a series, in a couple of seconds.
Trouble is, Ovechkin isn't in the habit of making himself a convenient target. The speed and shiftiness mentioned previously come into play here, too, and if someone does manage to line him up, Ovechkin is solid enough that he probably could absorb most hits without suffering any significant damage.
That doesn't detract from the importance of checking him whenever the opportunity presents itself, of course, but the last thing the Penguins need is to have guys straying out of position in an effort to hit him, because Ovechkin clearly is one of those players who is more than willing to take a hit to make a play.
Penguins defenseman Kris Letang, who appeared to injure his left shoulder or collarbone when he absorbed a hit from Green late in Game 2, apparently is not hurt as badly as he looked to be initially.
"He's much better than we initially thought," Bylsma said.
Letang is described as "questionable" for Game 3, although his condition still was being evaluated when the Penguins convened for a meeting and optional practice at Southpointe yesterday.
"It's a strength issue," Bylsma said. "It's not an issue further than that."
If Letang does not play, Philippe Boucher is the logical candidate to replace him. He took Letang's spot for Game 5 of the opening round against Philadelphia.
...Well, if he missed the first two games of the Eastern Conference semi-final, Ovechkin's Washington Capitals against Crosby's Pittsburgh Penguins, he may have missed the finest hockey exhibition that the so-called new NHL has seen.
Canada's Best Player against Canada's Favourite Player.
Make that the World's Favourite Player — at least in the world of imagination that is inhabited by the very young.
They could make a sweeter ad right in Ovechkin's very own neighbourhood in Arlington, Va., where the Washington Capitals star lives. A year ago during the playoffs, children from a nearby elementary school began leaving handwritten notes, and the odd Teddy bear, on his doorstep to wish him luck.
Children can be harsh critics, as well.
After one 7-1 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers this season, Ovechkin stepped out to find someone had left an egg but no note — no note required to say he had just laid one himself.
Ovechkin's popularity among children seems sure to rival that of past idols such as Wayne Gretzky and the Maurice (Rocket) Richard of Roch Carrier's The Hockey Sweater.
This is not a knock against Crosby's phenomenal skills, not in the least — he matched Ovechkin goal-for-goal Monday night as each scored a brilliant hat trick and Ovechkin's team won 4-3, giving Washington a 2-0 series lead — but it is a recognition that Ovechkin touches something that is denied most stars.
Score like Ovechkin, celebrate like Ovechkin
Children love his absolute joy of playing. They love the leap into the boards after every goal. They love the new Hip Bump with which 23-year-old Ovechkin and young 21-year-old Nicklas Backstrom celebrate victories. They loved Ovechkin's clown getup for the shooting competition at the all-star game. And they loved his stick-on-fire routine following his 50th goal of the season.
Don Cherry attacked Ovechkin for this on Coach's Corner, and the support for Ovechkin's bringing a little delight to the game was so overwhelming that, in subsequent weeks, Cherry backed off and even began praising the Russian star.
Ovechkin is not only good for the game, he is becoming the game, just as only Gretzky has done previously.
So great has been his impact on the Capitals that his 13-year, $124-million (U.S.) contract now seems a bargain. But his impact is far beyond that, heard in every road hockey and ministicks game in the world. Kids simply take to him. Perhaps it is because his Stone Age features give him the look of an action figure — one whose every stride and shot is so instantly recognizable he no longer needs that number, 8, to be identified. Perhaps because he is Captain Underpants to Crosby's Curious George, somehow more modern, more mischievous, more alluring to them.
Crosby is huge in Pittsburgh — he's nearly five storeys high on a banner hanging from the new rink going up at the corner of Washington Place and Fifth Avenue — and huge in Canada, where it is hoped he will bring back Olympic gold; but his demeanour at the rink is as though he has come to a board meeting of the Toronto-Dominion Bank. Ovechkin, on the other hand, always looks like recess has just been let out.
It is hard to believe that a generation ago Russian players — then known as Soviet Union players — were routinely dismissed as "robots."
It was a knock that began in the 1972 Summit Series and lasted through to Glasnost. Writing in 1987, columnist John Robertson reflected the thoughts of many when he complained he was sick of hearing that "the red robots from the Soviet Union" were giving lessons "on how our game should be played.
"In a pig's ear," Robertson railed. "The so-called Soviet system so many of our hockey geniuses see fit to applaud and envy, is inseparable from the abysmal depths of human degradation inflicted upon all Soviet citizens by the intrinsically evil rulers in the Kremlin."
It was said then that what would always separate Canadian hockey players from Russian players was "heart." The sort of passion Bobby Clarke showed in 1972 when he deliberately broke Valeri Kharlamov's ankle to help his team win.
Some Soviet players even acknowledged this critical difference; one player, Slava Fetisov, even called himself and his teammates "robots on ice."
But then everything changed.
The wall fell and Fetisov and many of his teammates came to play in the NHL. No one ever again questioned Russian "heart" after the Russian Five — Fetisov, Igor Larionov, Slava Kozlov, Sergei Fedorov and Vladimir Konstantinov, who later lost his hockey career to a car accident — were so pivotal in bringing the Stanley Cup to the Detroit Red Wings in 1997.
Today, a dozen years later, the three finalists for hockey's main individual trophy, the Hart, are all Russian: Ovechkin, Pittsburgh's Evgeni Malkin and Pavel Datsyuk of the Red Wings. Ovechkin already won the Rocket Richard Trophy as leading goal scorer and Malkin took the Art Ross Trophy as the leading point getter. Datsyuk is also up for the Selke Trophy as the league's best checker and the Lady Byng as the league's most-gentlemanly player. Most astonishing of all, however, may be that Russian Alex Kovalev of the Montreal Canadiens is one of the three finalists for the league award that goes to the most community-minded player.
Robots no more.
In fact, if you had to look for a comparison for the obvious passion that Ovechkin is showing these playoffs, you could do no better than … Clarke.
Ovechkin is a beast. He explodes, like a tornado. Ovechkin is scary. His shot is scary. There's an aggression about him, a barely controlled fury that Crosby, great as he is, doesn't have. Nobody else has it. Watching Ovechkin on Monday night reminded me of watching Bobby Hull play for the Chicago Blackhawks when I was a kid.
He's the fastest, toughest guy with the biggest shot, the fewest teeth.
Every great player wants to win. Ovechkin wants to beat you down.
Bruce Boudreau, Ovechkin's coach, is a connoisseur of sports. He watches them all, savors them all and is appreciative of greatness.
"All the great players, whether we're talking about Michael Jordan or John Elway or Brett Favre, all of them have this one quality, a 'to hell with you' attitude, one that says: 'I'm going through you or around you. It doesn't matter,' ' Boudreau said. "And Alex has loads of it. He occasionally will come back to the bench after scoring a goal and he'll give you that Hulk pose, like he's Hulking up. He's so into it. It's a mode that all the great ones get into."
Pittsburgh forward Chris Kunitz has been fined the maximum amount under the collective bargaining agreement, $2,500, for cross-checking Washington netminder Simeon Varlamov late in Game 2 on Monday night, ESPN.com has learned.
Pittsburgh Penguins' coach Dan Bylsma said Tuesday he didn't think concerns over the play were justified.
"He was going to the net, trying to create a loose puck and trying to jam home a rebound," Bylsma said. "He had no intention of doing anything but that and trying to get back in the game. For me, it was a battle, he was in there tight, was making contact with the goalie -- I don't think there was intention to do anything other than create a loose puck."
What did you do to celebrate? Nothing. What is to celebrate?
"After the game I had 25 messages [from friends in Moscow], so it was pretty cool."
"Right now it's nothing. It's 0-0. We don't think that we have a lead 2-0 going to Pittsburgh and we can still lose two games. It can't be like that. We have to win every game."
"We won two games and we have to win two more to more to move forward. We can't stop playing our game and we can't stop believing in each other."
"We didn't play our best, but if we're going to play our best you don't know what is going to happen. It is history now and we have to move to the next game."
"The fans want to see great players play against each other and they're seeing it. It's a war and it's a pretty cool war. Everybody enjoys it and everybody loves it. It's pretty cool."
Boudreau's post practice:
Look at Tarik's getting plastered to the board. :-) The whole interview looks like a scrum behind the net.
Варламов: «В нужный момент нужно просто забивать нужные голы. Что и сделал сегодня Саня Овечкин. Я думаю, он изумляет не только меня, но и всех окружающих. Саня – лучший игрок в мире, думаю, с этим многие согласятся.
Главное не раскисать после пропущенных шайб. Моя работа – стараться отбить все, но это не всегда получается. Нам нужно было справиться с нападением «Питтсбурга» и выждать момент, когда один из наших лидеров проснется сегодня.
В первом периоде мы играли 3 на 5. Это был один из ключевых моментов встречи, если бы мы пропустили, то уже уступали бы со счетом 0:2. «Питтсбург» мог тогда уйти в оборону и больше не раскрываться вообще. Было бы тяжелее вытащить матч, я это понимал».
Translation:
Varlamov: We just needed to score the necessary goals at the right time. And this is what Sanja (tj-Sanja is another nickname for Alexander) Ovechkin did today. I think it amazes not only me, but everybody. Sanja is best player in the world and I think many would agree with that.
The main thing is not to fall apart after the goals scored on you. My job is to try to stop the puck, but it's not always happens. We needed to cope with the Pittsburgh offense and wait for a moment when one of our leaders would wake up today.
In the first period we were playing 3 on 5. It was one of the key moments of the meeting, if we had let the goal, we would have ceded to the score 0:2. Pittsburgh could then go to the defense and no longer would open up. It would be harder to pull out the game and I understood that.
Caps coach Bruce Boudreau wasn't happy with the shot Kunitz landed on Varlamov in the scrum around the Washington net just before Crosby's third goal. Boudreau said Kunitz shoved his stick under Varlamov's mask before the puck was on its way to the net.
"It's a direct cross-check to his throat just before Crosby scored," said Boudreau, who said he saw a replay of the incident after the game. "There's no puck there - nothing. We hope the league takes a long look at that."
Just in case you're curious, "Kunitz" is a slavic last name and it means "Marten".
ARLINGTON, Va. -- Alex Ovechkin was hoping for more, but Pittsburgh Penguins wing Chris Kunitz will not be suspended by the NHL for his late-game hit to the neck area of Capitals goalie Simeon Varlamov seconds before Sidney Crosby scored his third goal of Game 2 with 30.4 seconds left in the third period.
League officials confirmed that the tape has been reviewed.
Tuesday morning Ovechkin called the play "dirty" and said, "I think the League has to do something about it. It's a cheap shot and it's not good for hockey."
"Can you imagine if he gave (Varlamov) an injury, what are we going to do?" Ovechkin said. "If it's not going to be called it's going to be a terrible decision and I'm going to be (mad) about it."
Penguins left winger Chris Kunitz will be fined, but not suspended, for a cross-check to the head of Washington goalie Simeon Varlamov late in the Capitals' 4-3 victory in Game 2 of their second-round playoff series at the Verizon Center last night.
Kunitz had a telephone hearing with Colin Campbell, the NHL's director of hockey operations, today.
The amount of his fine was not immediately known.
Capitals coach Bruce Boudreau described Kunitz' cross-check as "pretty vicious" after Game 2, and left winger Alex Ovechkin labeled it a "cheap shot" following Washington's practice today.
More details in tomorrow's Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. First published on May 5, 2009 at 3:55 pm
more goal #3. And down below, outside of picture frame you can hear Crosby whining... From my yesterday's post:
Crosby was asked why he was whining to referee after Ovechkin's hat-trick. He answered that he felt the Caps fans were throwing hats for too long and he wanted the public announcer to stop it.
Photo By Cheryl Nichols - Capitals News Network
Photo: Pablo Martinez Monsivais/Associated Press
What a miserable individual. Alright, enough of Crosby.
Ovechkin: 3 goals, +2, total ice time 23:32, average shift 01:01 (almost perfect), 12 shots, 5 shots were blocked, 2 shots were missed, 4 hits, 3 giveaways, 1 takeaway, 1 out of 1 face off win, 100%. Ovie has never lost a faceoff in these playoffs. :-) Nick Backstrom: -1, 1 assist, 20:19/00:53, 2 shots on goal. Alex Semin: -1, 19:51/00:54, 3 shots on goal.
Crosby was asked why he was whining to referee after Ovechkin's hat-trick. He answered that he felt the Caps fans were throwing hats for too long and he wanted the public announcer to stop it.
Ovie:
Yes, we started bad. We talked after first and reminded that Erskine was taking a punch from Avery and Caps getting PP.
About hat-trick: I don't care about my personal stuff. It's all about team winning.
As it was announced by the general manager of Chekhov club Alexei Zhamnov yesterday Donald Brashear and his agent plan to fly to Russia to sign the contract with Vityaz Checkov. 37-year-old Brashear had played more than 1000 games in the NHL, earning nearly 2700 penalty minutes.
ESPN photo
One of the best fighters in the NHL history Brashear has already agreed in principle to continue his career in the KHL.
Chekhov got another famous tough guy Chris Simon last summer, recalls "SE" correspondent Alexander Shapiro.
There was a report in the Russian newspaper Sport-Express this morning that Donald Brashear will fly to Russia next week and sign a contract with the KHL club Chekov.
"That's news to me," said Boudreau. "To me, that's a total fallacy because I haven't heard anything about it."
The report that a Russian team in the KHL is interested in signing Brashear is accurate, from what I know.
Deep down, I don't think Donald wants to go and wishes George McPhee would sign him for another year. But with all the people the Caps have to pay he might be taking a paycut of almost 50 percent to stay aboard.
And if that's case -- and you know you've got maybe a few years left to earn money in your profession -- maybe going somewhere for a few million dollars and a guaranteed deal of two or more years makes sense financially. Especially if you're trying to ensure your two young boys don't have to worry about their education.
Personally, I hope the Caps ante up in some way, because I know Ovechkin would hate to lose him. Even at 37, he considers him a real deterrent for the roughhouse guys who want to take a run at many of the team's skill players. And while Erskine is starting to fill that role, Tarik El-Bashir tells me he has a problem with concussions.
So, really, who knows? I think much of it depends of how far the Caps go and whether Brash comes back to play in this series or the next series. If not, I wouldn't be surprised if he weren't resigned.
Earlier today, Russian newspaper Sport-Express reported that suspended Caps enforcer Donald Brashear was flying out to Russia to sign with the KHL's Vityaz Checkov.
Coach Bruce Boudreau responded to the rumor at practice, saying: "To me, it's a total fallacy because I haven't anything about it."
And now please excuse this journalistic game of telephone, but Brashear sent a text message to Mike Wise and said the report is completely false. Wise then sent a text message to Tarik, who called me to put it on the blog. So there you have it, straight from the source. Kind of.
Varlamov's emergence is more logical than one would think, though. He was a late first-round pick in 2006 thanks in part to a surfeit of athletic ability, light-switch reflexes, and accompanying potential. Capitals general manager George McPhee has told the story of how Varlamov completed the VO2 max test at the draft combine - a torture test of fitness on an exercise bike - and was told the results failed to register. So he jumped on the bike, and did it again.
"VO2 is usually one of the things that will completely waste you for the rest of the day," says Clark. "If he did that twice, it's amazing. You want to see the bike, get off the bike and run the other way."
The name is derived from V - volume per time, O2 - oxygen, max - maximum.
Tests measuring VO2 max can be dangerous, as any problems with the respiratory and cardiovascular systems will be greatly exacerbated. Indeed many organised VO2 max tests require a medic to be present.
The test must be of sufficient duration to maximize cardiovascular responses. The length of suffering is usually 6-15 min. Finally, a highly motivated individual must perform the test. (The more pain and suffering during the test, the better the data).
VO2 max, or maximal oxygen uptake, is one factor that can determine an athlete's capacity to perform sustained exercise and is linked to aerobic endurance. VO2 max refers to the maximum amount of oxygen that an individual can utilize during intense or maximal exercise. It is measured as "milliliters of oxygen used in one minute per kilogram of body weight."
It's a painful point in VO2 max testing where the athlete moves from aerobic metabolism to anaerobic metabolism. From here, it's not long before muscle fatigue forces the athlete to stop exercising. The test usually takes between 10 and 15 minutes and requires an athlete to be completely rested and motivated to endure the pain long enough to find the true VO2 max.
Down a level, the South Carolina Stingrays had a busy weekend of hockey at North Charleston Arena. After splitting the first two games of their best-of-seven series with the Florida Everblades in Florida, the Rays headed home from three games in three nights starting on Friday. South Carolina rolled out to a 4-1 lead before holding on for a 4-3 win and a 2-1 lead in the series.
The all-important Game 4 was Saturday night. Regulation time did not produce a winner; nor did the first overtime. Finally, at 12:19 of the second extra session, the Stingrays fell on a Florida power play goal. Instead of being up 3-1, the Rays were even 2-2 and had to face the Blades again on Sunday, doing so on short rest.
As you might expect, the Everblades came out strong and opened up a 3-0 lead midway through the second period. Thirty minutes from heading back to Florida and needing two wins down there to stay alive, the Stingrays staged a rally. They scored twice in the second and twice more in the third to win 4-3 and take a 3-2 series lead as the set goes back to Florida for Game 6 on Tuesday. Game 7, if necessary, would be Wednesday.
Nikita Kashirsky, whose delay of game penalty resulted in the power play on which the Blades scored Saturday's double-overtime game-winner, set up Maxime Lacroix's tying goal for South Carolina with just 3:14 remaining in regulation. Kashirsky then netted the game-winner himself with just 36 seconds left on the clock.
“We grew up together,” Kashirsky said [about Ovechkin]. “We played in Dynamo since we were 8 years old. We've been friends since then, I guess. We became really good friends around the age of 14 or 15. Since then we've always been really close. We come to each other's house, spend the weekends and stuff. We've been like brothers since that time.”
Kashirsky moved to this area from Russia when he was 17 to be a student and hockey player at Georgetown Prep. He credits his parents for keeping education as a top priority - something that doesn't always happen for athletes in his native country.
After spending two years at Georgetown Prep, he moved on to Norwich University to continue his hockey career during Ovechkin's rookie season with the Caps.
At 6-foot and 191 pounds, Kashirsky has had a successful collegiate career. As a junior last season, Kashirsky had 20 goals for the Cadets, who lost in the semifinals of the Division III playoffs.
He is at the Caps' camp this week trying to leave an impression that could help him pursue a professional career after his senior year at Norwich. Kashirsky is also house-sitting for Ovechkin while at the camp.
“I've been there a bunch of times and he trusts me enough to stay there,” Kashirsky said. “As soon as I got invited [to the camp] he offered for me to stay at his house. He's a great friend, and I am taking care of his house - trying to keep it clean.”
ESPN during their Sports Center show this morning did a feature on Vladimir Konstantinov. The video below is not as in-depth as the one that appeared on the show this morning but still gives us a look at Vladdy today.
Here's my post about Vladdie back in February...
Some news about one of the Russian 5, Konstantinov and his family. Fedorov was very close to him in Detroit. Very good read, Kamensky talks about Joe Sakic, Messier, Mark Crawford, Avs, Devils, but I've just translated a part about Konstantinov. When Fedorov beat Caps 5:0, Konstantinov probably had 5 assists back then.
Do you see Vladimir Konstantinov? You were friends before. And we communicate now too. Vovka [tj note: short for Vladimir] is in Detroit, but his wife frequently flies with him to Florida. There our houses are in the same neighborhood. Until Konstantinovs didn't buy the house in Florida they lived in mine.
The newspapers wrote that his wife left Konstantinov. Nonsense. She is constantly with him. And she takes him to hockey games in a wheelchair. His daughter goes to college. Unfortunately, there are no improvements for Volodya. [tj note: short for Vladmir]. Hard to see him in this condition, very hard.
Did he gain a lot of weight? No wonder. When a person is without a motion, the weight is rapidly creeping up.
What are you talking about? We remember the old days, our games for CSKA, the national team. I try to remind him something, he nods. Volodya gets tired very quickly. Yes, and he has memory problems. But he recognizes me immediately.
What do we know about Samara, Simeon Varlamov's home town?
In Russia his town has been most known to Russian people from a folk song "Ah Samara, little town!"
Here's a typical Russian party, drinking vodka and singing Ah, Samara Gorodok, bespokojnaja ja, bespokojnaja ja, uspokojte menja..."
Translation: Ah Samara, little town, I am restless, please calm me down. :-)
Hard to translate the lyrics. It's a teenage girl's song about falling in love.
Here are Russian teenage girls folk dancing and singing karaoke.
Платок тонет и не тонет, Потихонечку плывет. Милый любит и не любит, Только времечко идёт.
Ах, Самара-городок, Беспокойная я, Беспокойная я, Да успокой ты меня, ох.
Я росла и расцветала До семнадцати годов, А с семнадцати годов Кружит девушку любовь.
Wikipedia, on the other hand, tells us that it is one of the largest cities in Russia. One can guess it was a small town when the song was written.
"Samara is a leading industrial center in the Volga Area, and is among the top ten Russian cities in terms of national income and industrial volume.
Samara is known for the production of aerospace launch vehicles, satellites and various space services, engines and cables, aircraft and rolled aluminum, block-module power stations; refining, chemical and cryogenic products; gas-pumping units; bearings of different sizes, drilling bits; automated electrical equipment; airfield equipment; truck-mounted cranes; construction materials; chocolates made by the Russia Chocolate Factory; Rodnik vodka; Zhiguli beer; food processing and light industrial products."
...hmmm... Chocolate factory?
"During the Second World War, Samara was chosen to be the capital of the USSR should Moscow fall to the invading Germans."
Is this where Dick Cheney stayed at an "undisclosed location"?
Sister Cities:
"St. Louis, Missouri, United States."
Where's Hershey, PA?
AP photo
Here's a new name for Varlamov from the Pens Blog: Varlamade.
After a decade of covering Washington and almost five months as host of NBC’s “Meet the Press,” David Gregory knows his way around the capital. But more recently, with the help of his son, Max, Gregory is getting to know the Washington Capitals, who are in the N.H.L.’s Eastern Conference semifinals against the Pittsburgh Penguins. It is a pleasant distraction, he said, from the daily talk of bailouts, lobbyists and Supreme Court justices.
How did you come to be a Capitals fan? I’m from Los Angeles, what do I know about hockey? But I have a 6-year-old boy who has become a fanatic. I mean, the Caps have been great the last couple of years and it’s been so fun to watch, but he has really led me into this.
What do you do to keep up with your son? I watch, I go, I try to learn. I have a couple of buddies that I go with who know a lot more about it than I do. And I’ve picked it up. I have to say, seeing hockey in person is awesome.
There’s never been a better time to be a hockey fan in D.C., right? No better time. When you’ve got a guy like Ovechkin. There’s a lot of upfront stars between Semin and Green, it’s a great group. But Ovechkin, even to somebody like me who doesn’t know the sport very well, it doesn’t take long to appreciate his skill and his artistry on the ice.
If hockey is a new passion for you, what did you watch before? I’m a big baseball fan. I grew up in L.A. as a big Dodger fan — still a big a Dodger fan. I love my Nationals as well and we have seats. We go out there all the time. Baseball has always been my thing.
Do you ever think how life might be different if Sunday mornings you were hosting “Meet the N.H.L.?” Life would be very different. I don’t think I’d be qualified for that. You know, it is fun, and I’ve had a little more occasion to talk analytically about sports. And it’s great, I don’t have to worry about being down the middle about that. I can be a fan, I can be totally partisan about sports and nobody’s going to say a thing. It’s very, very liberating. In a time when there’s so much going on in the country and there are such big problems, it’s great to worry about sports.
Do you see any parallels between the sports you follow and the politics you cover? You know, in politics and in sports, we tend to be drawn to personalities, drawn to the people. That’s what we find most animating. And you have these outsize personalities that sort of transcend the teams.
I think Capitals got an invaluable lesson from Henrik Lundqvist. The guy was imposible to beat shooting from a long range, even short range, neither Ovechkin, or Green, or Semin could really solve him. And Capitals won a lot of games before just shooting the puck, shooting it until it goes in. With Henrik, Capitals were clearly out of their comfort zone, they had to do something different. As a result we saw different Capitals in the last three games of the round 1.
It carried to the round 2 with Penguins. Instead of shooting the puck straight, Caps players used rebounds a lot more, sent puck East-West and it is a lot harder to stop them now.
I was really impressed with Semin on his primary assist to Ovechkin. He faked it perfect, even on replay to the very last moment you would believe that he was shooting the puck. But Semin remembers that you can't score a goal like that on Henrik. And against Fleury he does what Caps were doing against Henrik, he sends the puck to Ovechkin on the right who gets an empty net with Fleury sold on Semin's fake. "I thought (Semin) was going to take the one-timer from up top," said Fleury.
Ovechkin also goes more to the net and parks there. Again, Henrik forced him to do that because shooting the puck as usual didn't work for Alex.
I'd say Capitals offense looks much more potent now and uses more weapons than ever before. And thanks to Henrik Lundqvist for that.
Here are some other things the Caps' newest superstar had to share:
On the save:
"To be honest, there was no other option left to me except to play it with the stick. I was totally out of position and, I guess, I got lucky there. If he were to put it anywhere else, it would've gone in... I thought [Kunitz] was going to shoot and I skated out a bit too far. All that was left for me to do was to put the stick on the line... Actually, I thought they would go watch the replay. I wasn't sure that the puck didn't cross the line first."
On being a 21-year-old goalie who didn't get rattled by the first goal:
"The first goal could rattle a 21-year-old goalie but the second one could kill a 21-year-old goale. But this is the playoffs, you just have to forget your mistakes and play on...
You cannot allow yourself to be upset in games like that, even after you allow a softie (Varlamov here used the Russian term babochka, which literally translates as "a butterfly"). There just isn't any time to get upset."
On the pressure of playing in the marquee series:
"The media, of course, have been hyping this up pretty good. The first day off I was watching TV and found out so much about this series... So in the next two days I tried not to watch anything and to tune everything out."
On whether Crosby is the best forward he has ever faced:
"I wouldn't want to offend the other guys I've played against, like Kovalchuk. But today, as I got out on the ice and saw Malkin and Crosby standing there... Of course, I was very pleased [to be there as well]. I was afraid of them more than of anyone else."
On whether Malkin was very noticeable:
"[Shaking his head] Not very. But I don't want to tease Zhenya!"
On what to expect in Game 2:
"I think, the first period will be key. Pittsburgh will be putting up even more pressure and things will be even more difficult for us."
Bradley, the unsung hero, did it again! He shot the puck from a bad angle, Fleury gave a huge rebound and Steckel finished.
End of 1st. Pens 1, Caps 2
AP photo
Ovie scores on PP. Ovechkin's ice time was 07:48 with average shift of 01:18, 2 shots on goal, 2 shots by Ovie were blocked, 1 missed shot (Ovie hit the post!), 1 very good hit on Cooke, 1 giveaway, 1 takeaway and 1 shot Ovie blocked. Ovie also draw a penalty.
Backstrom played 08:14 and Semin was on ice for 08:13. Seems like Boudreau didn't run all four lines even, Clark and Fehr had just over 2 minutes. No wonder, Caps were behind.
Crosby had 9 shifts (06:09 total ice) while Ovechkin and Malkin (04:21 total ice) had 6. Crosby's and Malkin's average shifts are just over 40 seconds. Very smart, way to keep them fresh.
End of 2nd. Pens 2, Caps 2. Ovie hit the post again!
Ovechkin's ice time was 14:41 with average shift of 01:13, 7 shots on goal, 4 shots were blocked, 3 missed shots, 2 hits, 1 giveaway, 1 takeaway.
Varly is clearly nervous, I'd say very, very nervous. Haven't seen him like that before. It's all on him, if he'll overcome it, he'll be better. He gave in an easy goal, but made incredible save on Crosby. He is also afraid to play puck behind the net. If I were Jose, I'd be prepared.
Clark had a second penalty, clearly hard to get back to game after missing so much.
Crosby and Malkin have 49 and 50 seconds of average shift. That will help them in the third.
End of 3rd. Pens 2, Caps 3. The game is over! Ovie finished with 1 goal, -1, Ovechkin's ice time was 21:13 with average shift of 01:00. Crosby finished with 24:12 and 00:58, Malkin with 20:49/01:02.
Ovie had 9 shots on goal, 5 was blocked, 3 missed (hit the post twice), 2 hits, 2 giveaways, 1 takeaway. And he beat Malkin twice on faceoffs!!!
Toronto media considers Varly's save the best save of entire playoffs. Varly made just two mistakes so far in entire series. Like Mike Green said, "If Varly will let just one bad goal, we can handle it."
AP photo
WASHINGTON - MAY 02: Owner Ted Leonsis of the Washington Capitals poses with fans prior to the start of a NHL game against the Pittsburgh Penguins in Game One of the Eastern Conference Semifinal Round of the 2009 Stanley Cup Playoffs on May 2, 2009 at the Verizon Center in Washington, DC. (Photo by Len Redkoles/Getty Images)
Superstar vs. Superstar and Superstar with a whole bunch of other stars throw in for good measure. That’s Capitals-Penguins. Let the circus begin!
tj of Alex Ovetjkin:
Who was the biggest hero of the Caps’ first-round victory? It was a team effort, but I’d name Bradley, the unsung hero of Game 5 who changed the momentum of the series; Fedorov for scoring the winner in Game 7; Varlamov and Ovechkin, who made the victory possible.
What was the funniest thing that happened in that series? 1) Torts getting into a fight with fans; 2) Ovie getting booted from Rangers practice; 3) Dubinsky getting a tetanus shot for nothing because nobody ever bit him.
Now to this series — who’ll win, and why? Capitals, 4-2. Caps are on the rise after being behind in the first round. Varly has last year’s K.H.L. playoff final experience; he can easily steal a game or two. Did I mention that Ovechkin > Crosby?
Any history between the Capitals and Penguins? Capitals lost to Penguins in the playoffs six times out of seven, but it’s a new page this Saturday. Never before have Ovechkin’s Capitals and Crosby’s Penguins met in the playoffs, and no Capitals were on the teams that played back then. Whatever was before is irrelevant now.
Do Capitals fans have an opinion about Penguins fans or Pissburgh, and if so, what is it? Pittsburgh is a great city with a lot of blue-collar folks who work hard — especially when it comes to N.H.L. All-Star voting. Pens fans love Pittsburgh, but for some reason a lot of them end up moving to D.C.
I'm sure you all remember when Ovechkin recently met LeBron James, and Ovechkin gave LeBron a jersey, but LeBron didn't have one for Alex, right? Well, LeBron made good on his debt today.
Team owner Ted Leonsis came into the dressing room looking for Ovechkin with a bag in his hand. In the bag was an autographed Cavs jersey from LeBron, who signed it, "To Alex the Great: keep up the good work, King James."
Wonder how big a deal this series is? Or at least how important television and newspaper assignment editors consider it to be? The media contingent out here at KCI swelled to ridiculous proportions this morning. I've never seen anything like it for a second-round matchup. All the locals have been joined by two Toronto newspapers, ESPN.com, the Canadian Press, TSN, Sportsnet, CBC-Hockey Night in Canada, among a dozen other folks I didn't recognize.
As Boudreau properly predicted, the "circus" has officially rolled into town.
Quote of the Day: "We have more physical guys than Pittsburgh, but we have to use this," Ovechkin said. "We're bigger, we're stronger and they have a pretty good checking line. But doesn't matter who gets more hits, it's who gets more goals."
Boudreau on the Media Crush: "It's pretty hard to be prepared," he said. "A lot of those guys have been through more than I have -- the guys [reporters] all talk to. I don't think there are a lot of [reporters] running over to Dave Steckel. So I'm not saying, 'Dave, be prepared for everybody'. The guys who have been through this can handle this."
The Penguins are practicing in Pittsburgh and are scheduled to arrive in Washington later today.
It doesn't matter who gets more assists, it's who gets more goals. (wink, wink)
We're not sold on Varlamov. Yet. We want to see him against a team with a legit offense. He faced 15 shots from the Rangers in Game 7 of their first round series. And New York could only muster only one in the third period. One. All due respect to the Capitals' defense, but they're never going to be confused with 1994-95 Devils. The Rangers' offensive problems were created mostly out of their own malfunctions.
Varlamov is still a big question mark to us. If he can outplay Marc-Andre Fleury, the Capitals will win. But we have a hard time imagining him continuing his run against an offense like the one Penguins will throw at him.
So it is all about Varly now? So far he was very calm and relaxed in the net, basically all that is required for him in second round is not to fall apart when Pens would score some goals on him. If he can steal a couple of games, and he can, that would be even more than expected. I can put my money on Varly, but don't forget that Caps have Jose Theodore, a goalie who was #1 all year long, who showed some excellent plays during the season. He is fresh and ready and this time he shouldn't feel any pressure. That's why I'd put an edge in the net for Caps. And EN doesn't even mention Jose. Our backup is better than your backup. :-)
Now how to handle Malkin? I think Jurcina knows a bit how to do that. And Juice has been playing awesome physically, especially after Avery hit him in the face with the butt of his stick. If you play physical against Malkin he basically disappears, and this is what Caps need to do. Juice just needs to imagine that Malkin is Avery. :-)
Crosby? The more he whines, the worse he plays. Let him just do that, check him hard and that's also a key to play against him.
How does it feel to have made it past that first round? "They say in Russia that a mountain falls off your shoulders. ... But I can say that one mountain's fallen off and an even bigger one has fallen on them."
But surely there must be a sense of accomplishment? "I don't feel that I've accomplished anything because I'm in the same situation as the rest of the guys. We're only past the first opponent in the playoffs. I don't feel any particular pressure. I'm just going to prepare the same way I did before."
Asked to pick one area the Penguins need to dominate to win the series, Malkin offered: "We need to play better [penalty killing] because Washington has a good power play. Three guys shoot [the] puck -- Semin, Ovechkin and Green, and they shoot right[-handed]. If we play PK better, we win."
Although the throngs at Wachovia Center seemed to target primarily Penguins center Sidney Crosby, Malkin got dumped on, too. Literally.
"I think Philadelphia fans, its not good fans because we sit [on the] bench and every time it's popcorn [on] my head," he said. "It's not good. But maybe Washington fans [will] be better."
Penguins defenseman Sergei Gonchar, who spent his first nine NHL seasons with Washington, said this is a new, more dynamic breed of Capitals fans who show up in larger and louder numbers.
"The organization worked on it," he said, starting with bringing in former Penguins winger Jaromir Jagr.
"And then, obviously, Alex [Ovechkin]. He's a great thing for the city, as a player and as a person. He brought a lot of attention to himself, and that's why hockey is getting bigger and bigger there."
Gonchar can remember when Penguins fans traveled in large numbers for road games against the Capitals.
"I remember playing at home, but it wasn't feeling quite like a home game," he said.
By Don Brennan, Ottawa Sun, May 26, 2009:
