First! The Fedorov, Semin, Ovechkin goal was athing of beauty! Go CAPS!!!!

Tarik,

Here's your feature story AFTER Wings & Pens clinch, although I think the Flyers actually stand a chance at making history, but that's another conversation.

Since (I believe) you're enamored with European players and/or their style of play, you should do a story on the "possibility" of the First European Captain to raise the Stanley Cup.

Only 2 reasons for the Wings to lose, 1 is a meltdown in Goaltending, the other is a European Captain will NOT & CANNOT win a Cup.

It was a beautiful goal. I managed to see that one when I was supposed to be fixing something at work. It was worth it, though. I nearly cheered out loud.

On XM yesterday, Olie told coach Green that he was thinking he would come back next year to play 20/30 games as a back up. He said when no one talked to him in the 6 weeks after the trade deadline, he figured his time in DC was at an end. What a shame! He certainly should have come back as our backup to finish a fine career in DC. He said IF he signes with another team it will only be as a #1, barring that he will retire. I guess everyone with the Caps was just too busy to think about a player that had played for the for 19 years.
Posted by: Bob | May 16, 2008 7:59 AM
Hey Bob,
The reason the Caps front office is quite, Olie exposed gmgm for the LIAR he is! A couple of days after the trade deadline gmgm was on Hockey Night in Canada saying, he did the deal in order to push Olie and he had a conversation with Olie about the (Huet) deal and everything was fine. (Obviously that didn't happen.) During the same time period in the Washington Media, gmgm is saying we didn't try to trade Olie (when they were, but gmgm & crew asked for too much) and the Huet deal fell into his lap. Lies in business happen all the time, but when you lie about the character of other people as a way of protecting your position, that is just pathetic. gmgm and Crew are in damage control now and are hoping the situation dies and goes away. (That is what Liars do!) Olie is just another of the long list of people who have been pushed out the backdoor by gmgm and Dick Patrick's front office experiment. You are right it is a shame! TED and Olie should talk!

The Pathetic SPIN from the fans will be to look at what's in the best interest of the "team" as it relates to making the Post Season.
Funny, how the "BIG PATIENT" picture goes away quickly and conveniently, only for a First round exit.
Then people come around bashing the Pens & Flyers for Mortgaging their future, how stupid and gullable are Caps fans ?

Chief,
Many of those "SPIN DOCTORS" are not Fans. They're on the job!

Hey, aren't we guaranteed to have a Cap win the Championship game?

The finals will be Russia vs the winner of Sweden vs. Canada tonight.

That means 4 Caps in the finals.

Ovie, Feds, Semin vs. Backstrom or Green?

Isn't that right?

How cool would it be to see Backs and
Feds take the opening faceoff or OV to give Backs a big ass check and say "sorry you still going to pass me the puck next year?'...

My last say on Kolzig...

Maybe the upper management was waiting to see how Olie would react to Huet? Not talking to the media, when he was the voice of the locker room for years. We have no idea what transpired. Frankly, it was time for Olie to go. We have Johnson still under contract and for what its worth he played better during the season than did Olie.

Both sides pretty much botched the situation. No one looks clean here.

Nice Russian First line,

Maybe next year we should have:
Ovechkin-Fedorov-Semin
Laich-Nylander-Clark.

@Chief
I don't recall anyone saying Pens have mortgaged their future. They will be good for years to come as will the CAPS. The Flyers are a different story. Conference Finals is pretty good--No Cup Final though. And next year, they (and you) will be lucky to get in.

The Caps line for Russia is just dominant. Beautiful goal.

someone else who knows needs to put away the keyboard, lol.

anyone have a link to it yet?

@hockey amor
No spot on the first two lines for Backstrom? Might want to rethink a little.

Russia-Finland Highlights

http://hksalavat.ru/e107_plugins/mediagallery/browse.php?359

Федоров Сергей. 1-0. is the nice goal

Russia-Finland Highlights
http://watch.tsn.ca/#clip53560

Russia-Finland Highlights
http://watch.tsn.ca/#clip53560

#1 im happy that Mikey Green is playin fantasic for Team Canada but at the same time i also know that Mikey will be asking for the so called "farm" when contract talks pick up... Screw you Dave Lowe!

#2 I hope Federov see's 1more year in a Caps sweater as Team Russia/ his line is doin great as well in the tourney i would love 2c next year the Caps having the leagues best 3 Centers on one team with Feds/Nylander/Backstrom!

#3 Ohh i cant wait for next season... GO CAPS!

Uncle Feds is playing like he's in his twenties - this has so got to be convincing him to stick with his buds and come back next year.

@someone else who knows

Is it not possible that Olie is the one telling lies? gmgm said at the trade deadline that he talked to both of them. Now, months later Olie says he didn't. Perhaps it's convenient memory loss. Perhaps it's a fib to make his position stronger.

All I'm saying is that you cannot logically state that gmgm is the liar without any proof. You didn't offer any. The only one that can offer it, is Huet. If gmgm talked to Huet, and I believe Huet stated back in the time that they did talk, then we know who the "liar" is.

Frankly, I don't care. I think that both of them should be ashamed. gmgm for letting it end this way, and Olie for talking out of school.

#4....J. Erskine

Caps in the Worlds...

AO - 7G 3A +9
Backstrom - 3G 4A +2
Green - 4G 7A +1
Semin - 4G 6A +9
Lepisto - 1G 1A +2
Fleischmann - 2G 3A +6

Could be Caps
Feds - 5G 5A +10
Huet - 2W 3L .911sv% 3.60GAA

Erskine is a bull dog - I like that! He is not and will never be the greatest D man, but he adds grit that we sometimes need. As long as he is not making stupid mistakes (which he has been known to do), and is not expected to be an offensive player (he can't skate fast enough to make it near the net, and is not known for being a sniper), he can make a difference in front of our net. I love the fact that he backs his team members and stands strong in front of our keeper. Again, he'll never be our best guy, but I think there is a place for him and what he brings to the team.

We talk a lot about signing Fedorov and Huet.

What about the restrict free agents? Any word on signing Green and Laich?

Danny:
I have not heard anything about Green and Laich, but I am guessing that they will both be back. Speaking of Huet and Fed, I would like to see Cooke return, as well.

Erskine should be #7 on the depth chart. He's big and mean, and that's great, and he's generally a selfless stay at home guy, all things I like in defensemen. But, he's entirely too slow to play in the new NHL. Even playing conservatively, I think of a number of times where a speedy winger just went flying around him like a pylon. Keep him for the toughness, but play someone else over him whenever possible. Play him against the Flyers.

Greetings and salutations! Since Chief is such a troll, I'm sure we can find a place for him in our new movie production of "The Hobbit". We've begun shooting, so, please, Chief, get in touch! We can get your parts done before July 1st so you can be back in time to criticize GMGM at the onset of the free agency sweepstakes. We await your call sir! Now, where did I put that confounded Ring...?

Any chance the Caps can trade Nylander and keep Fedorov??

Pivo, there's a chance the Caps will keep both Nylander and Fedorov... now *that* is depth at center!

more than a chance, that should be the goal(and i think it is)

why couldnt any of this have been on tv, either locally or nationally. its good tv and worth it just for canadians and russian expats in this country...not the mention the fans of players from these countries (CAPS FANS). seeing greenie jump into the play and OVIE and semin beating the d for a 2 on 1 would be priceless tv for me and i hope many of you. any hockey game is more exciting and certainly more of a sport than 90 seconds of men riding horses near baltimore which received probably 8 hours of coverage on ESPN. im tired of mini camps, the "triple crown" and spygate. i wanted to see this tournament on my tv. i think it would have found an audience and i hope next time around espn or FSN or god forbid VS. figures that out and televises at least the last 8 games of the tournament

What is the link (links?) to watch the live stream of the game today?
thanks in advance...

Boo!, oldtime,

I agree about Erskine totally. At times he can be a nylon pylon, but can also play the 19 plus minutes he got in game 6. Brash and Erskey were itchin' to throw down during playoffs but BB's game plan was to work the PP.

OK, maybe abit of on-the-job training for Gabby but game 7 was a coin toss and this discussion could have different relevance all together.

I say keep #4, let him improve like he has been doing, and play him the 10 mins a game like we need.

Go Canada !!!

BernieWolfeFan:
Yes, I was impressed by how well both Brash and Erskine controlled themselves. You could see the fire in their eyes - you knew how much they wanted to go at it (and how much opponents were trying to get them to do it), but they kept it together, they kept control, they kept their cool. Of course, that was after Brash took the ultimate fighting penalty at the end of the season and cost us a game ... I think he learned a valuable lesson in that one.

BernieWolfeFan:
I said ultimate fighting penalty - I can't rememeber what the actual penalty was - I just remember him popping that guy. I can't remember what the actual penalty was, I just remember that it was stupid and senseless.

Boo,
It was against Boston. Double minor for high sticking and 2 minutes for roughing. 6 minutes total.

Steve:
That's right - thanks for reminding me ... that one left a mark.

Love to see Ovie decking people out there along with scoring goals! Best all around player I've ever seen.

Watch the game live:

http://web.wcsn.com/index.jsp

Watch Feds' goal:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=F-Bxtbf2CVc

haha they just had huet on the kiss cam during the secong intermission. he got quite an applause. he must be watching his next years teammates, naaaamean.

Information on the RFA (Restricted Free Agents) including dates. RFA's are Group II FA's.

http://www.thehockeynews.com/articles/16048-Rand-Simons-Blog-Explaining-qualifying-offers-and-arbitration-rights.html

There must be a qualifying offer by June 25, or else they become a Group III FA or UFA.

If a qualifying offer is made, the team's rights to the player are intact. They can wait until offer sheets come in for the players, and the team can match the highest offer.

The first date that a RFA can sign is 7/1, but I think that an offer can be made and accepted prior to 6/25. Once 6/25 rolls around, a qualifying offer has to be made.

Russia wins gold, 5-4. Semin with 2 goals, Kovalchuk with the game-winner in OT on the power play (Rick Nash, delay of game).

Anyone have a score on the game????

See above.

Also, Ovie and Greenie are named to the "all-star team" of the championship. Heatley wins MVP despite the silver medal.

Watch the game live:

http://web.wcsn.com/index.jsp

Watch Feds' goal:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=F-Bxtbf2CVc

Posted by: Scott in Shaw | May 18, 2008 1:03 PM

--------
Scott you should work for the Washington Post, we need this kind of information which apparently is too difficult for the local reporters to find.

@Boo.
A late thanks for the iihf link you provide me some days ago.

@Tarik.
COME ON...