When it rains, it pours. I think they should bench Pothier after that giveaway he did last night to St. Louis. Pathetic, and I think it cost the Caps the game. For a guy who makes the money he does, that kind of mistake is unacceptable.

That was an awful play, but I must say, I was impressed with how much better the Caps seemed to move the puck on the PP last night. Less standing around by the players waiting for Ovie to do something.

Also, though he had no business going before other shooters, how great was that seeing Brashear in the shoot out?

Check, please!

Did they classify petti's injury as a "upper body/extremity/below the wrist" related injury?

Is there anyone left in Hershey?

If things keep going at this rate they're going to have their mascot playing first line center and the zamboni parked in front of the net as a makeshift goaltender...

That is, of course, until we call those up.

Tarik, any chance Steckel gets called up to take Gordon's spot on the roser?

Capital Fanatic
http://www.capitalfanatic.com

Does anyoen know a good voodoo priest? I think we need to have the locker room looked over for curses.

i now suspect that the verizon center was built atop an ancient indian burial ground.

my impression was that only Giroux is going to be called up, and that the Caps are going to play with 11 forwards and 7 defensemen.

Tarik,

I could be wrong, but I seem to remember an episode similar to this back in the Ron Wilson days when Capitals were falling left and right due to injuries. If I remember correctly the blame was placed (at least within the organization) on improper conditioning. They put the players on a different workout routine that focused more on flexibility and in the months that followed the problem seemed to subside.

It's a fuzzy memory and I could just be hearing voices in my head, but I'm about 80% sure it happened.

Have you heard Hanlon's take on the rash of injuries this season and/or whether he thinks it has just been bad luck? Is he considering taking any similar steps?

Hey, the injuries are a blessing as it will help them race to the bottom for the good draft picks!

Smitty--I remember something similar and I think they brought in a professional consultant to examine the team's routines to try and solve the injury bug. I wonder if anyone in the organization remembers that? Other than Kolzig, there aren't too many players that could possibly remember it, but GMGM should! It's approaching insanity and Hanlon needs to get as creative as Wilson was to make it through the end of the season.

You can attribute groin pulls and muscle tears to lack of conditioning, but I don't know any strength training that can prevent a slap shot from breaking your thumb. If this team didn't have bad luck it wouldn't have any luck at all. Yet despite that they never gave up last night and still came back to tie it, once again led by the two Alexes.

I am well aware that you can't condition against broken bones any more than you can train to avoid injury when getting shot with a pistol. I was referring to the abundance of strains and sprains and mysterious "upper body injuries" that we are losing people to on top of the normal wear and tear that any hockey team deals with.

THE CURSE OF SCOTT STEVENS STRIKES AGAIN!!!

oneal

Well with Gordo gone, we can watch their face-off win percentage dip into the single digits.

"Petter our 4-6 weeks"= he and Olie can head to the golf course because we won't be seeing them again this year.

I think the criticism of Pothier above and by the loud obnoxious person sitting a few rows above us well overdone. On the play that led to the goal, he did miss a pass that led to the start of the rush that led to the goal. He skated hard, but St. Louis was just way faster. However, after that, there were other players who missed their coverages which made the goal much easier than it should have been.

At times Pothier did look less comfortable than would be ideal and seeing his emotion from 10 feet away after that goal showed me that he is even harder on himself than the crazies who expect flawless performance from every player making above the league minimum. However, other times, he looked absolutely fine and could certainly skate the puck out of the zone as well as or better than most of the other defenseman we have. He does make more money than our AHL or players who just reached the legal drinking age. Like it or not we need some experience even if its not All-Star quality. He is a very good player.

Pothier blew the play, no doubt about it. He made about 4 mistakes on that one play, but the rest of his play wasn't too bad. He felt like ass, and the 'tard in row M who kept screaming "Pothier, you stink!" didn't help anything. Of course, I don't think he had a clue about hockey either.

Smitty, I could be wrong here, but as far as upper body injuries we've had this year, we've had broken thumb, concussion (maybe?), and a few shoulders. Either way, they usually come from contact, rather than lack of contitioning or flexibility.

Agree with the 121a, you can tell he cares about the team and was hard on himself afterwards. Mr. Row M needs to quiet down until he gets on the ice and does better.

Loved seeing Brash on the shoot out. Whole place just lit up.

AMEN, 121K. I saw Pothier's reaction when he got back to the bench too, and I agree with your statements. How many so-called fans are beating him up - I am sure he doesn't do it enough to himself. Give the guy a break!

Great game. A lot of fun to watch. There were a few blown plays, on both ends. A lot of posts as well. It could have gone either way. Petty is done for the year, I'm guessing. However, Gordon out has me more worried. He is a key faceoff/pk guy. Frankly, we just lost our two best PK specialists and that is enough to sink in the standings. I was wondering when Giroux was going to get a call up. He's a big center having a great year in Hershey. He's kind of Beech part II isn't he?

I can't believe that no one on our team is able to score on a break away. Its like a shoot out full of Mike Grier clones. Apparently, the coaches need to work on break aways. You might not be able to replicate game conditions but you sure as hell can come up with some moves. Jesus, Ovie! Why do you keep trying the same move, over and over? It's just painful to watch this team in the shootout.

Pothier was beset by the proximity of Larry Murphy in the house.

Just amazing how murphy's hands of stone with the Caps turned to hands of gold for so many years under the great alchemist Scotty Bowman. It was great hearing the woops when he was anounced on the tel-screen. Though I was sad that Caps mgmt chose to introduce him second and allow that to step on the appreciation for Gusty.

You're right about Murphy. He was miserable with the Caps. Yet, he still got in the Hall of Fame!???!?!?!?
Again, please tell me how Yvon Labre got his jersey hung up in the rafters? Did I miss something all those years ago

ken, i think yvon is in the rafters as an apology for having to suffer through all those losing seasons. seriously though, i remember that he was the most popular player by far over the time he played. he was the last of the original caps when he retired i believe. always willing to drop the mittens. limited talent, lots of heart, never won anything. sounds like the ultimate cap.

One more loss that only brings us one step closer to drafting Alex Cherepanov

At this point in the season, why not let Cassivi get some more time in the net against the NHL-level players? What purpose could it serve for him to ride the bench even if Johnny is standing on his head?

Tarik,
Any word on when we could see Chris Bourque? I guess he would need to outplay Fleischmann and fleishmann is further along?

Thanks!

Larry Murphy was an incredible player - hall of fame all the way. Sometimes fans are too dumb for words, and in his case, they were too dumb for even them.
By the way, kinda sad to see the lack of skill in that shootout the other night. You could really see the skill on the Tampa end of things, but the Caps were as creative as Stevie Wonder with a paintset.

No Cherepanov, Kyle Turris is where its at. Unless Cherepenanov falls to our second pick, and the good defensemen are gone.