I hope they can get something going. BearsWoooo!

Not sure what impact Fehr will have. 3 (very draining) games in 3 nights doesn't bode well for a strong performance no matter how young he is.

Go Bears!! Do us proud!!! Is he the only guy we can send? I realize its against the rules, but how funny/cool would it be to send down Ovie and watch him play AHL?

Repost:

nhcaps,
I agree about Brooksy. On the ice, especially in the last few months, he's been giving 110%. Off the ice, he's always professional and represents the team well in interviews. I'm sure the media likes him as well, for all the good quotes they can get out of him.
leetee1995,
I'm a new fan that hasn't been here long, so I will join you in your praise of the awesome folks on here. It has taken my 21 years to find a team I can really get behind, and these Capitals are really and truly remarkable. My future kids' first word is going to be "Ovechkin!"

I'd love to see Huet here for another year or two, but if his wife really hates it here (how could she?!), then GMGM has no chance of signing him. Maybe we all ought to find a nice French speaking lady to be her friend in DC so she'll want to stay, if the language is the problem. Anybody know anyone? :)
As far as folks running into the players, I think thats the cool thing and one of the draws about DC as a hockey town. We're not Montreal or Toronto, but the guys can walk the streets and live their lives(for now) without being mobbed. It also shows how great our players are that they're not demanding special treatment and will ride the metro or go to Dinky Donuts. I'm so excited about next year!!
Let's go Caps!!

poor fehr, to be eliminated twice in two nights. bleh.

What a great season! Who would have thought we would have been complaining about playoff officials in November? As for Kolzig - I wish him the best. He has been nothing but a "rock" for this franchise and community, especially. Personally I would like to see him retire a Capital and maybe stay involved in the organization... a coach possibly? i would hate see him leave and inevitably end up a 38 year old back-up for Columbus or Ottawa.

We must re-sign Green immediately!!!!

Give'm hell Fehr. Whip some arse tonight!

This is an interesting question.

Are we far off from allowing a coach in hockey to challenge a call, or play like football?

Im not talking 3 times a game, or even in the regular season.

Maybe just in the playoffs having one opportunity to challenge a call and go to review no matter what.

I think every team would say they would like to have that opportunity.

If you reverse the call, you get another challenge later that game...if not...thats it...no more for the game..

Thoughts?

That would certainly be interesting. Only in the playoffs, or in cases where the outcome of the game would decide who made the playoffs. I don't know. I feel like once you opened it to the playoffs, teams that never made it would be crying that they're being treated unfairly. Not sure. It'll be interesting to see if there are any rule changes made at all during the off-season.

Rather than have coaches be able to challenge, I would rather the refs be made available to the media afterwards. There is no accountability.

Lest I be accused of whining, the Caps didn't lose this series because of the refs, they lost it because they were a young team that didn't really adjust the playoff hockey until game 4. I'm still proud of them.

That being said, I still don't understand the second goal not being called back.

from a previous thread (just realized how behind I am!):

Dave:
Right back atcha! BTW, guess what we were listening to on the way to the game last night? Suffice it to say, I had a not too happy camper on my hands when the match was tied up in stoppage time. Oh well ... my guess is that United will be fine, rgardless. At least Old Trafford can still rock the red! :-)

828:
I saw you last night (and the crazies in front of you). I was waiting for the sign ... maybe that would have done the trick?!? I still can't believe it, but am still incredibly proud of our boys. Next season is ours for the taking.

@jmu_caps

They could do it in the regular season if they want...

As long as both teams have the same set of rules for the game it shouldn't matter if a "challenge" rule is not in place.

When games are that important, a team should be able to ask for technology to make sure they dont get completely screwed.(1 chance)

Obviously my mind is on the Morrison/Huet play...but Im sure the Flyers had some they wanted to "challenge" this series as well.

@Sombrero,

Yea, what you said about the refs.

Having said that, we should have been lobbing doughnuts instead of beer at the end of the game...

You caught up boo?

@Sombrero Guy

The point is that every team in every playoff game feels they have gotten rooked on a bad call. There was a high stick call on San Jose last night where Calgary's own player hit another guy, and the ref thought it was a Shark...Maybe it was a tough call to see for the ref...but game 7 getting a bogus high stick? The reply challenge could right that ship...but now there is no way to fix it.

Fehr can only help the Bears. As for the challange question, in terms of last night's games, how does one challange a judgement (non) call? The solution lies in off season lobbying of NHL FO by team GMs and Coaches (the Caps and the Flyers, strange as it may seem, together, in this instance.) Scored or Not Scored Goals is the only proper action to be reviewed.

The boys are men now. This level of success will not be good enough next year. We need to see:

1) Bigger and stronger Backstrom, Green, Fleischman, Fehr, Shultz and all the young guys. Especially Shultz who better put on 25 pounds.
2) Better clearing of the puck out of our own zone.
3) A heathly Clark, Pothier, and Nylander
4) Prospect Azner being the strong stay at home D man of the future.
5) A fan base that STAYS with it for a long time. A true hockey fan base.
6) A belief that anything less than the Cup is not acceptable.

@SA-Town

I hear ya. Especially in plays that directly result in goals. It kind of stinks that the refs can review kicking motions, playing the puck with a high stick etc but there is no recourse for having a guy get taken out and thrown into the goalie.

Well I am still sad, but cautiously optimistic about next year. We need to get critical guys signed. Anyone else notice how many of the guys stated in their postgame interviews that they hoped the team stayed together? That is good news. The prospect of not having a #1 goalie - not so much. I love Johnson, but do not see him as a playoff team #1. Please let Huet see the potential a few more years here could bring. Maybe we can introduce his wife to Mrs. Nylander. I hear she likes it here.

We have to sign Green, Mo, and Laich. Maybe I am in the minority, but I also think Bradley over Cooke. I really like Cooke, but really love Bradley. Not sure exactly why. There is just some intangible thing about his leadership, fitting into his role, sense of humor about himself, etc. that strikes me as the perfect fit for this group.

I do not know what to think about Olie and the whole nameplate thing. Guess more context is necessary. The timing bothers me. Hey you just lost a gut wrenching game 7 in OT, now let me just kick you all in the stomach a little more... Just does not seem like his style, so I will reserve judgement until more is made known.

Huet was not excellent for us this year. Look at his stats in the playoffs. I would rather go with a rookie next year personally. I do think Huet grew up a bit in the playoffs, but we lost because of soft goals, like the first one last night. Every loss can be attributed to at least one soft goal let in by Huet. Biron outplayed him in every single game. We had to crush the Flyers to win the 3 games we did.

Bob,

I agree with your take on Huet. I think that Huet was being hyped up a bit too much. He was good; but not THAT good.

But then again, what options do we have on goalie for next year? You mentioned getting a "rookie" goalie. But who?

Will it make everyone feel better if I said this was all because Pitt tanked their last game of the season?

Nah, doesn't make me feel better either.

Boo! - I thought maybe you were the one standing next to fat jack when we were heckling the Flyers. Had I known we were going to lose, I would have raised the sign up all game long.

On a good note - Philly has not beat'n Montreal this year... so, I am hoping they sweep them again. As of now, I want MTL coming out of the east.

This is so depressing... I know we have a awesome future ahead of us... but I did not want this season to end.

Did you see BB's comment on nhl.com... he told all the guys that this was the best year of his life!!! That is pretty cool stuff right there.

Now we know why Olie never played a game... I think the Caps new about this earlier, but didn't say anything.

@ BOB

Go back to watching the Redskins. You are a tool.

Hey everyone,just throwing some names out there, what do you all think of trying to sign one of the following Defensemen

Orpik, Brooks
Vandermeer, Jim
Campbell, Brian
Montador, Steve
Stuart, Mark
Conboy, Tim

Just some names to get the ball rolling

Bob,

Neuvirth skips the AHL and comes to the bigs? Do they use international size rinks in the Russian league? Varlamov could use at least a season in the minors over here to get used to the smaller rink and diff style of play and I'm not sure how far along Neuvirth is. Is McCheese capable of playing NHL level?

@ Bob

you still need that goalie to get you through the regular season. look at the Hurricanes for example. When they won the cup all they could talk about is how Ward won them the cup and we was the go to guy now. Everyone forgot that it was the great play of Gerber who got them to the play-offs in the first place. Since getting rid of Gerber, we all know how much success the Canes have had getting back in the play-offs.

I beleive Huet has the best regular season save percentage in the NHL over the last couple seasons. I agree, bring in a younger goalie, but try to keep Huet as your number 1 so keep the ship stable for the regular season. This team can't afford to miss the play-offs next year becasue of not having a reliable goaltender.

The other name i would look at is Ellis if he makes it to July 1. He stood on his head against Detroit and really can't even be faulted for the center ice shot because that bounce was just crazy.

Bob just doesn't like Huet because he is French - when he thought he was Canadian, he was all for him... then found out he was French.

What a joke - Huet was good... Games 2, 3 and 4... not too much support from everyone else... backs against the wall, Caps decided to play.

Why am I still coming to this blog... During our comeback, I forgot that we had idiots that were Caps fans too... the Flyer fans were so prominant... now, they are gone and look who is here.

828,

Depressing is right. Plus I'm hung over and my ears hurt from the skreetching wombat that sat behind me at the game.

@Jmu Caps Girl

where did you hear that Huet's wife hates DC?

His wife will like DC if he gets double his current salary.

I think jmu heard it here... prolly from "someone else who knows"...

I am a big Olie fan, but to the various people that say Huet didn't play that good (in regular season and during the Flyers series): what goalie were you watching?? Huet made some crazy saves in the playoff run. I would say he matched Biron.

Ted better do everything he can do to sign Huet, including daily spa treatment and shopping for Huet's wife.

now, moving on....

how do Nylander and Clark fit back into the line-up for next season. Do you put Clark back up with OV and Nick? If so, are you going to take Brooks off the second line and replace him with Kozlov?

look on the bright side of things we finaly have a chance to debate how to fit everyone in the line up, where in past seasons we were concerned if we could find enough NHL'ers to be in the line-up

I keep waiting for the "GMGM sucks" crew to show up. Wonder if the bandwagon ran them over...

bob,

you are a tard

Steve:
Am now ... whew!! (And no, I was not the wombat.)

828:
No, that was not me. But I could see you sitting by the Bud Light sign, and I think I saw your sign on the ground in front of you?!? I knew you were not going to raise it until we were comfortably ahead. I kept hoping it would go up, because that would have meant we were on our way to the second round. :-( Nonetheless, they did us proud, and fans like you surely did them proud, as well.

@Jmu Caps Girl

If it will get us a quality goalie, I'll learn French and move back home.

anyone else think Kozlov stunk it up during the Flyers series?? i am now drawing a blank on why we signed him.

SA-Town,

I agree with you wholeheartedly, but I don't see it ever happening in Bettman's NHL. The league puts its officials on a pedestal - beyond reproach - and always has. It's the same thing in baseball and the lack of accountability is maddening. The worst that they'll probably get is a sternly worded internal memo that'll never see the light of day. We'll never know if Devorski feels remorseful or even realizes that he f*cked up that call, but I hope it haunts him for the rest of his life.

The Caps' inexperience put them in the position they were in, but they did everything that they had to do to climb back and win it. The ref's blew a HUGE game and blew it hard.

No hard feelings towards the Flyers - They played one heck of a series and didn't do anything that I wouldn't expect a playoff caliber team, including the Caps, to do. Best of luck to 'em.

Ya see Boo, I knew the Wombat wasn't you for two reasons:
a) she knew nothing about hockey
b) Lee liked the voicemail you left & she had a voice from hell

Thank you Boo! You did a awesome job supporting them as well and trying to keep everyone sane on this blog.

That was me - right next to the Bud Light sign! and yes, the sign was in front of me on the ground... I wanted to raise it so bad!!! But couldn't... I thought we were going to win before the 3rd period ended...

I feel like I just lost my dog

@bob
please shut the hell up huet was great

Kozlov did fine - everoyone played well... I'm not pissed at any of our Capitals. It just wasn't meant to be, however, we are that much more closer. Think about it, this was 7 more games than 14 other nhl teams got to play... that is experience. It's only going to get better. I think Semin tastes it... that's why he was playing so well; Backstrom is extremely competitive and he will be better next year; Laich - what a leader; Our D has improved and seemed to have figured out BB's system; BB... what is there to say that is bad about him?; and Alex - what can't that guy do?

We will be alright... we will get Vengeance on the rest of the nhl and hold up gay signs that say Vengeance Now... oh, and we can get T-shirts made... that would be so cool.

No matter how you look at it, Huet went 11-2 (we know those 2) down the stretch to get us in the playoffs. He was absolutely excellent for us. And the playoffs were a little disappointing, but the D was nothing to write home about, either. Game 4 on, he was excellent.

I hope no one forgets what he contributed this year.

No matter the outcome I'm glad I was there, and that Ovie and Olie came out to applaud the fans so we could applaud them too. Olie really is the face of the franchise for me because I became a fan in 99. I took an unintended 4-yr hiatus from fandom while I was away at undergrad, so when I came back this season, post-lockout/firesale, Olie was pretty much the only player I recognized.
LaCanfora's article pretty much summed it up for me
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/22/AR2008042203523.html?hpid=topnews

I couldnt disagree more with bob on his statements about Huet. He made some unbelievable saves for the caps not just in the playoffs but the end of the season as well. The question is will the price tag warrant him being back? I personally feel he won't be back because gmgm is not going to want to lock up a bunch of money on a 33 year old goalie when he needs to fill a couple needs. I can also see Fedorov not coming back (again, because of money, nto because they don't want him). I would like to resign Cooke though. Even though he wasn't prominent in the scoring sheet, he plays with lots of grit.

@HolyOlie

They just need to understand that that the refs arent perfect, but the game needs to be. We should do whatever we can to make sure that no one feels "screwed" at the end of the game.

Some calls come and go, good and bad...the game goes on....but a big call in a big game has got to give the power back to the coach. I think the refs will feel less pressure, and possibly perform better as well.

Bob = Suzanne = Huet hater

Stop b!tching, Suzanne...

To everyone: Have a good summer, I wish you the best you deserve to be happy and I wish you all the best

I am sorry to have put some stupid comments sometimes

See you in november.

p.s you have a good hockey team

See, that is what everyone forgets...

The refs are there to keep the players safe and to keep the integrity of the game intact

Last night, it just seemed like they were picking their calls. I don't care if they call penalties - call none of them or call them all. Last night, we should have had 10+ PPs... I think we only had 3.

so sad.

No worries THE MAN... the Flyers have yet to beat the Canadians this year... good luck with that. We will all be rooting for MTL because of Flyer fans like you. Gone in 4 games! The Caps would have gone farther.

There is an upside to losing this series.

Maybe I can get my drinking under control.

During that series...forget it...wasted for every game.

They serve beer at the Nats game though dont they? GO NATS!!!

My beef with the refs is the same as many, Where is the accountability? The second goal situation has been called differently in at least four games this season (two in critical times for us unfortunately but also once in Pens vs Devils and I think there was also one in a Nashville game). That needs to be fixed in the off season. I personally think the Erskine no trip call and the Poti call were both penalties. My beef is that you need to call both or not one. These make up calls just confuse the players and make people mad. Just when you figure out how they are going to call games, then they do something different in the next period or on the next play.

Did the refs lose this game for us? I do not think so. However, seems like every game I watched this season (and I watched a lot of other teams on Cap's nights off) there was at least one stupid call by the officials. The officials are human, but if we keep having seasons of bad officiating like this season something needs to be done. Plain and simple.

So, I am not in the camp that we lost because of the officials. However, I am definitely in the camp that officiating in the NHL this season was questionable. Too questionable in a national level professional organization.

@The MAN

Thanks for not gloating, I promise I won't gloat when Habs will evaporate your lowly Flyers. Enjoy while it lasts.

hehehe

Lots of news on new thread

where did you hear that Huet's wife hates DC?

Bob Suzanne made it up. Nobody ever interviewed Huet's wife, in fact, we don't even know if she was in D.C.

Kozlov's family is in Florida.

new thread... its a GOOD one

Losing really stung, but we definitely have a lot to look forward to with this team for the next 5+ years.

Semin-Backstrom-Laich
That line is KILLER. They played tremendously together. That line is just as good, if not better than most teams' first lines. Backstrom and OV have good chemistry, but OV should be able to score plenty with Nylander back 100% next year. If I were Boudreau I'd keep that second line in tact.

I think despite losing the series, this playoff experience will prove invaluable for the young players on the team. A fire was lit under Semin and he showed physicality and toughness that he used to lack. Backstrom became more than just a passer, and I think if he can carry that into next season, he will be a player opposing defenses will really have to watch out for. Oh and Brooks Laich deserves to wear an 'A' on his jersey next year.

I really want to see Clarke and Pothier healthy, but Tarik's updates of late have really made it sound like their injuries could well be career-ending (I hope a few months away from hockey altogether will remedy them).

If Olie's (God bless him) really leaving/retiring, I just can't see them not signing Huet for at least a couple of years. It doesn't seem like Boudreau has any confidence in Johnson (though he's at least signed). It doesn't sound like the minor league goaltenders are nearly ready for prime time yet.

My best friend lives up in Boston, and we were both so hoping the Caps and Bruins would each rally from 3-1 and maybe face each other late in. Here's to next year. :)

Fehr got an assist in tonights bears game and the bears actually won a game 3-2 in OT. Everyone in bears country hopes for a new head coach in hershey next year.

@ KIM

Was fortunate to be at game 7 and then watch it again last night on Comcast replay. Interesting note about the officiating from Lochlin - when the trip call on Poti was made, he stated that if the Caps could kill off the penalty, you could expect a make-up call coming against the Flyers to "even things out".

Not exactly a fair minded system if that really is the way it's done. I agree there needs to be alot of tweeking the system in order to make it fair for the sport, players and fans.

Inquiring minds want to know - FOR SURE, and go home satisfied that the game was NOT decided by the refs, but by the players.