Thursday, October 8, 2009

Peepin' Foes: Washington Capitals

The Rangers are heading to DC to take on the Caps tonight at 7 on the Phone Booth ice.

Where We Are: A totally different team than the one that choked in the playoffs last year. Sure, the main reason we lost is still behind the bench, but he has a whole new set of horses in front of him. The Rangers have won two games in a row but both victories were over teams that can't carry the Caps' jocks. Still no Sean Avery, so the chemistry will stay the same - a good thing for the BMV and fourth liners, but certainly doesn't help Arty out at all.

Where They Are: Washington is coming off of a spectacular see-saw battle with the Flyers that went to overtime before Philly prevailed. The Caps are now 2-0-1 and have averaged five goals per game. That's scary - especially considering the Rangers defense ...

Who To Watch For: Alex Ovechkin surely won't end up with 240+ points but he has been scary hot so far, with five goals and four assists in three games. Poor Nick Backstrom doesn't have a single goal but he has collected eight assists. Yea, poor Nick. That kid is becoming the Adam Oates to Ovie's Hull. Alex Semin still has scary skills (seven points) while unheralded Brooks Laich has certainly continued his growth into a legit scoring threat. Perhaps the scariest thing is that Mike Green has just two assists and Mike Knuble has one goal as both are surely going to rack up some points soon.

What To Watch For: An ambulance heading to my office because the end to end action will finally send me into cardiac arrest. This game will not be for the faint of heart. Both teams love to turn up the offense and the Caps have suck scary skill ... ugh, I can feel my blood pressure rising already. Washington was able to find that hole in Hank's armour (high glove) in the playoffs, see if he can close it up in the face of intense pressure and a deluge of shots.

What We'll (Hopefully) See: A better start for the Blueshirts than they had in Jersey. Hobey Gilroy and MDZ to continue their hot start and outshine Mike Green. Tom Poti to be Tom Poti and suuuuuuck - check out this quote from his coach after the Flyer loss, how much do you wanna bet Peanut Butter Jelly Time was the one in denial? Jose Three-or-More or Semyon "Don't call me Simeon" Varlamov to fall apart as they did against the Flyers. Hank to put out Ovie's hot stick - that sounds vaguely wrong, but you know what I mean.

Also Check Out: The Caps have arguably the best blogbase around the league in terms of skill, info and access - if because owner Ted Leonsis (who has his own well-maintained page) believes in the power of cheese the interweb. The absolute best of the bunch and one of my fav blogs around is Japer's Rink but On Frozen Blog and the diverse DC sports blog Off Wing Opinion are also good readin'.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Guess the main reason we lost to the devils on monday was because of torts too huh?

oh wait we didnt because he's a good coach and coaches don't lose entire series on their own

your a jerkoff and everyone thinks so

Anonymous said...

nice blog, got the link from Japers.... better keep some bayer on hand for when the care bear line unleashes the rainbow on the rangers..... if you though semin's goal against philthadelphia was smooth, just wait for his curl and drag --> curl and drag --> glove side tonight.

DMG said...

oh wait we didnt because he's a good coach and coaches don't lose entire series on their own

When it's a seven game series losing one game can mean losing the series.

your a jerkoff and everyone thinks so

Pot, Kettle, Black.

Anonymous said...

I am confused, this is a Rangers blog, where are the ridiculous conspiracy theories, the ranting of lunatics, and praise for Sean Avery. Well done.

Topher0820 said...

Seriously? you just threatened us with something called the CARE BEAR LINE unleashing the rainbow on us? Rangers better make sure their pants are hitched up real good tonight...

Anonymous said...

Torts lost one game that series. I don't recall him being on the ice for the goal where OV blew past three Rangers, or the clincher where Redden screened the shit out of Hank and didn't even move. Or the countless other bad goals.

There's no possible way to blame that WHOLE series on Torts.

Anonymous said...

oh yes! the carebear line, fear it! i could be mistaken but does it have the top 3 point producers in the nhl? CARE BEAR STARE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Pete said...

Why are they calling it the care bear line? Is it because Ovie hugged the hell out of someone last week?

I wouldn't necessarily argue about Torts losing that series for us, but, I might also say that Tom Renney wasn't bringing that team to the playoffs at all. So, is it better to be the guy at the dance that has a blast, then gets drunk and pukes on the hot chick, or the guy that's on the outside wishing he was invited in? Trick question. It sucks either way.

I have a feeling that tonight is going to be a horror of epic proportions. But I also pegged the Pens to handily beat Phoenix last night, and they gut shut-out spanked. Which reminds me: Peter Prucha scored a goal. Pruuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!

Simbrero Guy said...

Christopher - The joke appears to have been lost on you...the Care Bear Line is a joking term Caps fans use for Ovechkin/Backstrom/Semin because they tend to play too cute by forcing needle threading passes, getting too fancy etc. Clearly Care Bear Line is something tongue in cheek.

Scotty Hockey said...

Pete, brilliance: "So, is it better to be the guy at the dance that has a blast, then gets drunk and pukes on the hot chick, or the guy that's on the outside wishing he was invited in? Trick question. It sucks either way."

And you Caps fans thought that the Care Bears were cute? I thought they were creepy.

Pete said...

The joke was lost on me...the bad ones always are. I'll tell you what DOES have me laughing...no points for Ovie tonight. He may need a care bear hug.