SaucyJack

Ovechkin improving with age: in April 2014, Bleacher Report had him the 2nd most overrated player in the league. Nearly 10 years later, he has improved, in this poll at least, to 6th in this woeful category.

The Puzzler…is a Pucks Fan! BEFORE: AFTER:

Before: After:

Bluddy effin’ ‘ell mate, um not troostin’ them bleedin’ rag sports writers at the wankin’ Chicago Tribune again, now am I ?!?!? Just watch me! Without stating any corrections from their reports in recent days, they write this TODAY: ”…their road winless streak ballooned to 20 games - within two games of the franchise record.” Unspecified is whether 22 games is also the league record streak for any club.

At -17 at the all-star break, you get one guess who has the worst +/- on the Capitals this season. I’ll make it slightly easier: 2nd and 3rd worst at -12 and -11 are Tom Wilson and Evgeny Kuznetsov.

Correction. The Blackhawk record is now 20 consecutive road losses after losing 1-0 in Calgary last night. A new low for Chicago. OK, apparently 22 consecutive road losses, from the ‘50-‘51 season, is the league record. The ChiTrib article from yesterday cited it but did not say which other Original Six club held that dishonor.

OK, that was then. Now…they are a team on a 19-game road losing streak. The Blackhawk record is a 22-game road losing streak from the Truman Administration. (‘50-‘51 campaign) P.S. If will take some calendar time to break that record. After tonight’s tilt in Calgary, their break starts, after which they enjoy a February with 9 home games and only 1 road game.

WaPo game article said that a fan’s hat hit the ice just a split-second before his third tally crossed the line.

Yup. WaPo fan comment consensus is that Kuznetsov and Carlson must go NOW. Some even say Mantha too despite his recent scoring. And Oshie often mentioned despite his decent play after returning from injury. Too bad the Avs and Stars are next on the Caps’ 4-game ‘Suck so bad Heartland Tour’.

Woo hoo…go wild, Warroad Minnesota! Osher’s got ‘im another Hattie, sixth of his career! (And on Country Music Night no less, where Caps fans received, you guessed it, cowboy hats.)

Darcy Kuemper. Ring any bells? (Oh yeah recently won a Cup in Denver.) Played 2nd string in back to back weekend matinees against the Rangers, behind Charlie Lindgren. You don’t need a weatherman to tell you which way the wind is blowing, as Bob Dylan noted decades ago. Of both Caps shutouts this season, Lindgren earned both… ….until tonight. Kuemper blanks Anaheim 2-0 thanks to an empty netter. Of course, it was the lowly DUCKS. Maybe the wind is swirling juuust a wee bit now though.

“My most memorable playoff overtime goals” - Alexander Mikhailovich Ovechkin“

What I meant to say instead of “in 2024” was “since the Holidays”, or “since Dec 23rd” more precisely: 1 narrow win, 4 regulation losses, 2 OT losses. Bah, humbug! So go figure- while most were watching Week 18 of the National Foosball League, the Caps erased a 3-2 deficit midway in the 3rd to win a Sunday matinee against those nondescript L.A. things. Thereby sweeping the 2-game season series, leading many Caps fans to say, let us play L.A. more often and God bless us, everyone!

A day’s rest, and a home tilt against another squad roughly even in the standings. Outplayed, bad penalties, give up 5 goals (2 EN) in the 3rd. Fans commenting in the WaPo game recap see the End coming. Doom and gloom so far in 2024 other than one narrow win over hardly-top-rate Pittsburgh… …at least the Pen’s top gun of the past fifteen years is still good enough to get picked as an all-star. (Not questioning the Wilson over Ovechkin decision.)

Now there’s a school with a tough travel schedule. I did look it up: with a couple of exceptions, AK-Fairbanks play two games against an opponent when on the road. Conversely, their guests come way up north to play two. Makes sense. Reminds me of the old 21-team NHL’s Smythe Division before the massive Sun Belt expansion. Whenever LA traveled to Winnipeg, and vice-versa, it would be two games, so as to cut the season’s travel burdens between those two squads’ eight contests against each other, in half. Two road trips a year, not four.

Last night’s home loss to NJ was a very bad sign for the Washington Capitals Hockey Club. To me, a very bad harbinger of things to come. I watched about the last half of the contest. Saw the Caps tie it 3-3 only to let the visitors score 3 unanswered from that point. The Caps are missing a D-Man and a goalie (but having three total) but they’re pretty much full strength. Even Ovie is beginning to adjust to getting a few goals with the wrister instead of his now-ineffective slapper. ==> But it is the same ‘ol same ‘ol…no matter their energy (good last night) they lack sufficient level of “deke ‘em out” fancy-move offensive skills. Not enough of their high quality chances end up in the netting. Their shootout attempts often look pathetic, as if they’d never played pond hockey when they lived as kids in Canada. The only way they make the Cut in April is if they wear themselves out winning a sufficient % of games through too-high-for-regular-season effort. Then they’ll get gassed 1st round. And this is the most optimistic scenario. Not enough to shed away Backstrom, Oshie, Ovie, Carlson…any young’uns in their place need well-honed dipsey-doo fake-em-out skating (and sniping) prowess. Need the Skill Average of the team to rise, apart and distinct from effort.

Ah. If not for the Treaty of 1818, Minot would still have been British and by extension, Canadian today. But both sides decided they didn’t like natural curvy borders in favor of artificial straight lines that ignored geography. Oh well…

Didn’t see last night’s loss at MSG, but read that Santa took the coal back: Miro played 12:52, had one great chance stymied, and briefly played an all-Russkie shift late with Kuzy and Ovie.

Christmas Break being over, Metro NYC marked the return of play in what might be called (Very Different) Tales of Three Cities (?!), with all three clubs on home ice: Islanders clobbered 7-0 (vs Pens) Rangers clobbering 5-1 (vs Caps) Devils eke-ing in OT 4-3 (vs Jackets) Quite the varying experiences tonight up in Big Apple Area…hot apples, cold apples, and room temperature apples…

It is wrong that Gretzky’s 46 WHA goals (putting him at 940) do not count. Hell, 43 of those came as an Edmonton Oiler of the WHA. It is fairly odd that Gretzky’s first 3 professional goals were for a team in a state (Indiana) known for basketball and without much of any grassroots hockey play or development (peewee, high school etc. Notre Dame at collegiate level, true, but that’s Cultural Michigan. “Michiana” as they call it up there.) Oh to have attended one of the few (8) Indianapolis Racers game in 1978 before The Future Great One went on to Alberta, saved a game program, maybe got the Phenom to sign it. Priceless that would have been as time went on.

I read this morning that, after last night’s shootout loss to Tampa Bay, the Capitals put coal in Miroshnichenko’s and Lapierre’s stockings…along with rides back to Hershey PA.

If WaPo reader comments had more weight than coaches’ decisions, Anthony Mantha would have been playing in Hershey this season. So many had nothing but bad to say about him. Now look: Mantha is 6th in points, 3rd in goals, and 1st in +/- on the squad. Someone out there must coin a nickname that captures this style of play. Hmmm…”Crazy 8” been around forever, including as a kid’s card game. ”Lazy Eight”. (Yeah, that’s the ticket.)

Guess who broke a drought and scored an OT 4-on-3 PP game-winning goal tonight? He decided to change things up. Still in his office on the left circle, he TWO-timed it, took his time, and wristed ‘er into the netting for the Caps’ second OT win in 2 nights.

10:14 last night and 9:46 tonight. I only saw chunks of the 3rd periods and without sound, so I don’t have a good grasp on how involved he got in play. I need to watch extended highlights with sound.

They’ve paired him with Kuznetsov since his English still isn’t so great, and Kuzy is apparently sufficient in English (and Russian of course.) But what I am hoping is that this line pairing acts also as a “reverse improvement” too. I.e., let’s hope Miroshnichenko displays a good work ethic that rubs off on Kuznetsov!