SaucyJack

Tom Wilson with a Hat Trick in DisneyTown, in his 700th career game. We know You love him. Rejoice, Forum!

Who had the Caps going 1-1 to start their 5-game road trip, but by losing at San Jose yet winning in L.A. ? Glad I didn’t wager… Won’t you get hip…to this timely tip, When the Caps take their Calee-forn-ee-a trip: Don’t make picks, on Route, Sixty-six. P.S. Caps TV caught a good 2-second look at Pat Sajak in the crowd last night. I wasn’t using the phone so didn’t get a frame capture to share. Dang. Well, he looked slightly unkempt…imagine a cross of him and Steve Bannon.

…and of course I am confused, as is the usual case. Meant to say Tuesday, then Wednesday.

Caps lose at lowly San Jose last night. (Egads, on the heels of the Oiler drubbing.) Apparently the Washington Post decided it was not worth waiting for the dismal final result to become official, so published their final Monday edition without the result or a story. LOL…I guess the pain will be less when it is chronicled in the Tuesday paper.

I realize that Edmonton is not having the season they expected, what with players like Draisaitl and Mick Jesus. So I gather that they’ve recognized the need to diversify, raise revenue, whatever, so as to overcome their slow start. ==> Apparently there is money in timepiece hygiene. So…in a get out of Dodge Black Friday Washington DC matinee (Oilers finishing 7 of 9 on the road, Capitals finishing 9 of 11 at home) Edmonton personnel put their newfound skills to good use and cleaned Washington’s clocks during their 5-0 drubbing.

Wow, probably nobody had Washington at 8-4-2 at this point. But hard to know if they are a real contender. Two road wins (NJD, NYI); then beating Vegas. But VGK missed on 4 breakaways (one short-handed on a major) and 1 open slot shot after a 3rd period turnover. Any conversion of thise 5 “Golden” chances would have made it 1-1. Charlie Lindgren won that game for the Caps; the defense is suspect and the PP is amongst the worst in the league early in the season. But Strome had a good snipe, and the team is faster without Backstrom. Even Ovie has been sighted passing a puck. Jury’s out, let the young’uns keep playing.

At least a pro league overcomes the North American two-team world dominance problem that usually renders national competitions boring until the inevitable CAN-USA women’s’ final. (I’m presuming all six teams would have a mix of ladies from Canada, USA, and various European countries. Surely.) At least there is a chance for better drama. But like someone said earlier, I too stopped watching WNBA after giving it some chance years back. The same would likely happen with hockey. Ladies - your best bet remains the tennis racket !

I suppose. Now, my frame capture wasn’t from live play, it was a celebration replay before going to commercial for the 2nd intermission. What are the possibilities? Some might guess that the Capitals producers at Monumental Sports Network hadn’t noticed the, um, passion of the two front row Devil’s fans… …but I hope and prefer the other possibility, that the producers were aware and were of a schoolboy naughty disposition at the time and thought it great fun to show the full festive air after a Caps goal.

Well this has to thrill the old-timer Oilers fans, seeing as the 80’s with Edmonton was his heyday…3-time Norris winner, 3 Cups with Gretzky/Kurri/Messier et al. Paul Coffey would be the highest-scoring D-man in League history were it not for the Bruins’ Ray Bourque.

I don’t know that the sport today is all that different from the 80’s and 90’s when Gretzky ran wild and earned what I think is his G.O.A.T. honor. Now the game is very different from the days I first watched as a kid, roughly 1968 to 1972. Teams mostly played 4 D and 3 lines. An extra forward might come on mostly to penalty kill. Defenseman always skated backwards in their own zone. It seemed like a rush was nearly always 3-on-2 as forwards didn’t seem to back-check quickly. Bottom line: if someone went to YouTube and watched numerous game clips from, say, 1970 & 1984 & 2022, I’ll wager that play from 1984 resembles that of 2022 (38 years later) far more than it does to 1970 (14 years prior).

Never under-estimate our collective influence on the NHL Zeitgeist (say wha bruh-meister?!) I miss cool line names. When’s the last time? I was calling Nicklas Backstrom’s the Slow Line (Slow Lane?) but now he’s LTIR and maybe never to play again for Caps or anyone else other than the Swedish Senior Squad. So…’The Jimi Hendrix Experience’ was his band’s name. We can call our Blackhawk phenom’s line ‘The Connor Bedard Experience’. Who’s with me?

We just don’t acknowledge enough, how warm-spirited NHL fans are. I’m enjoying the 3-0 road lead the Caps have after two periods tonight…especially given the good sportsmanship exhibited by the surely disappointed Devils crowd. It warms the cockles of one’s heart , it does…

Scoring twice last night in a road victory over a recent powerhouse, ChiTown promoters are now calling it the Connor Bedard Experience..

On the road to Metro NYC for two, before 4 more at home to complete the 9 of 11. How they doin’ home-wise so far in these first five games? So-so. If grownups ran things, they’d have snared 9 of the max 15 points with a 2-1-1-1 record. Sounds decent…But all the wins were close and far from home-dominating. And generally the Caps look poor in their ability to convert quality chances: 1) OT win over Minn was a “squirrely” game according to John Carlson. Dominated possession mostly but easily could have lost since they cannot bury a puck often. 2) Narrow victory over un-mighty San Jose per lucky late ‘own goal’. 3) Columbus game similar to Minn contest; dominated play at times but only scored twice and won by one; and only because Charlie Lindgren stood on his head. I’ll bet analysis revealed them lucky to win. Again, burying pucks a low % proposition for them. 4) Drubbing from the Island Men. Caps had no answer against their formidable outrigger canoes. 5) Even-Steven game vs The Cats for the parts I saw but lose in the OT. At least they are holding their own in close games; part of the Caps Mission and Process to playing their way into a quality squad. And with the forgiving standings rules, have a chance to eke into the top half after six months, so who knows. Unlikely, but young’uns like Strome, Milano, and McMichael do have their moments. I haven’t seen Phillips do much since shining against his old Calgary mates. I wonder if they’ll take the train to NJ and The Island. If so, a looong time for an NHL team not to get on a plane.

Where’s the love today?

The moment and potential win that got away from the Sharks. Puck bounces off of Kyle Burroughs (twice it seems) and into the net, breaking a 1-1 deadlock with 4:45 remaining in the third period, back on October 29th (a week ago). Because this isn’t international football, it gets scored to a Capital instead of credited as an ‘own goal’ on the defending Sharks. Of course they then show some Caps fans going nutzo, like they’d, I dunno, just won a playoff series? Hopefully San Jose gets into a similar late game situation soon with better luck.

I just learned from the AP article on all of this that the Capitals’ TJ Oshie runs his hometown company Warroad Hockey, had received more than 100 messages about the cut-protection gear they offer, and sold out of them “within hours”.

Brilliant! Get on the show, a little bit of Shark on Shark action, ask “Mr Wonderful” for the miracle solution needed! (And Cuban can offer pro franchise ownership guidance. Or buy them.)

Nicolas Backstrom said his hip was 100% entering this season. Eight games, one assist, and zero goals later, he says uh uhn to that and has decided to take a break from the world’s fastest sport. (Of which he’s never been overly so.) At 35, one wonders if this is it, despite his contract that runs until 2025. The tone of the WaPo article and teammate comments lead one to believe that the progression from IR to LTIR might not stop there. Backstrom has assisted on just over 1/3 of Ovie’s career goals. Remember the commercial he did a couple years ago, watching TV at Ovie’s place all the time and Ovie’s wife asking why he’s always hanging around there? Well many perhaps knew, I did not until today…they are nearby walk-down-the-street neighbors for real.

But for a bad bounce off of a Shark’s fin with five minutes remaining for the unlucky own-goal giving Washington a sketchy 2-1 lead, San Jose would have likely gone to OT with a fair shot at victory. So yeah, Sharks in it until the last minute empty netter. A lot of BS talk from Caps in the WaPo article this morning about how ‘a win is a win’ so OK let’s see how ya do against tougher foes.

Big ol’ CFL stadiums…

And as you said also, never the playmaker Gretzky (or Lemieux) were. It’s one reason I do not want Gretzky’s record broken; it would further overrate Ovechkin. I don’t hate Ovie; more like disappointed in his overall game through the years, his usual inability to play 2-way (despite his hard-checking prowess), and inability to raise his game and team in playoffs. ————- Anybody remember basketball’s “Pistol Pete” Maravich? LSU then New Orleans Jazz? Biggest shot hog in history of sport. Scored a ton but so many turnovers and never passed the ball. Hard to be quite like that in hockey but maybe Ovie is the closest that comes to mind like this?

“Who are they now?” I will tell you. Right *now* they are the first team to hand the champ Golden Knights a loss. And in Vegas no less. Now, don’t celebrate too hard boys, best to just get on that plane and avoid the sportsbooks.

Do this again in yer Land O’ Lakes later on and split the points of the 3 games - we’ll take it.

Yes, you might call the end of that period a major 5-on-5 Caps power play