January 08, 2007
Random Thoughts on Caps vs. Atlanta
In the OT when the Caps went on the power play when Garnet Exelby got dinged for delay of game, Glen Hanlon sent Alex Ovechkin and Alexander Semin out to play the points. It seemed to me that Ovechkin wasn't entirely comfortable out there, so I asked him about it after the game.
"I felt comfortable. The coach asked and I know what I must do," he said. Right then, Caps GM George McPhee appeared to slap him on the back. In the postgame press conference, I asked Hanlon if we would ever see that combination again. He replied with a very emphatic, "no".
A few days ago at On Frozen Blog, Pucks and Books wrote the following:
This is my morning allegation: Boyd Gordon, the quarterback of last night’s second-period, two-on-one that led to Alexander Semin’s first goal, giving the Caps a 4-1 lead and sending the Hab’s Christobal Huet to an early shower, intentionally banked a soft ’shot’ off of him knowing that its rebound would be easily potted by his sniper teammate flanked on his left. It’s a play I’ve only seen in pickup and college hockey. Never seen it in a Caps’ game, ever. It’s a bold and startling allegation — Gordon was in tight, in prime scoring position — but based exclusively on the footage we saw from the play, I’d challenge my readers today, after considering the evidence I put forth, to point out the fallacy of my thesis.
An interesting theory, so I asked Nate Ewell of the Caps to grab Gordon for me after the game so I could ask him. His answer -- in one word, no. "There was nothing designed there."
I asked Hanlon what was behind the improved play of Steve Eminger the past few weeks. His response: "I don't know and I'm afraid to ask." He then suggested that I put that question to Eminger myself -- something I'll try to do when I'm back at the arena -- and that he suspects Eminger will probably say something about playing with increased confidence.
Then he added something very interesting, saying that too many people expected "instant success" out of young players like Eminger, and that folks would do well to be more patient with his learning curve.
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It's interesting, I was just making the same point about Sutherby - too often we look for instant gratification with our young and talented players. We see only numbers, and when the numbers don't meet our expectations we're demanding the person in question get traded right away instead of waiting for their development to take it's course. I'd like to see the Caps keep the bulk of this young team together for at least another one to two years and give them time to grow - it's already starting to happen, and if we're willing to be patient we could be seeing something really special very soon.
Posted by:
at January 8, 2007 10:14 AM
After looking over the replays, I agree that Gordon purposely set up the shot so Semin could rebound it in. He wasn't getting hacked, and he could have either directly passed it or ripped a shot of his own on net. With that said, his "pass" off Huet was difficult, yet pulled off expertly. The best assist I've seen all year.
Posted by:
at January 8, 2007 06:43 PM
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