So it is now almost 24 hours since the debacle that was game 7 against Pittsburgh on Wednesday night at the Verizon Center and it is time for the Caps players, organization, and their fans to start putting aside the disappointment and begin focusing on the franchise’s now 35 year old unfulfilled quest: The Stanley Cup.

The Caps are now 2-6 in game 7′s, I have been at every one of them, and I can tell you that last night’s was the worst of the eight games. The only good news is that I feel even better about this team than I did last year when they first made the playoffs and were basically robbed by referees Don Koharski and Paul Devorski in game 7 against Philadelphia.

Here are the positives on this season:

The Caps repeated as Southeast Division Champions (108 points, second highest in team history) and won a playoff series before losing to Pittsburgh in 7 games in round two.

Alexander Ovechkin (age 23) followed up a 65 goal, 112 point full season in 2007-08 (82 games) with a 56 goal, 110 point season in just 79 games and showed he is still the best player in the NHL and he is up for the MVP (Hart Trophy) against Evgeni Malkin and Pavel Datsyuk.

Defensemen Mike Green (age 23) continued to improve racking up 31 goals and 42 assists in just 68 games, more than a point a game! He is a finalist for the Norris Trophy, awarded to the NHL’s best defenseman.

Alexander Semin (age 25) showed that he can be one of the best players in the NHL and he led the league in scoring in October. Semin had 34 goals and 45 assists in just 62 games. He is as skilled as anyone in the entire league.

2nd year center Nicklas Backstrom (age 21) followed up a great rookie campaign by showing he is a big time #1 center in the NHL with 22 goals and 66 assists in a full season. He is durable, strong on the boards and his skates, and continues to improve in the face-off dot.

Rookie goalie Simeon Varlamov (age 21) emerged on the scene and promptly helped the team win a first round playoff series and was very good in the second round against Pittsburgh. Varly was 7-6 in the post season with a .918 save percentage, including two shutouts.

In addition to the five top young Caps above, the team also has a number of aged 25 and under players that contributed this season in forwards Brooks Laich (25), Boyd Gordon (25), Tomas Fleischmann (24), Eric Fehr (23), Jay Beagle (23), and Chris Bourque (23); defensemen Karl Alzner (20), Milan Jurcina (25), and Jeff Schultz (23); and rookie goalie Michael Neuvirth (21).

The team started 18-1-1 at home and the Verizon Center is as loud as any building in the league, rivaling Chicago for the top spot in that category. The fan base has exploded in the region (Game 7 received a 3.4 rating on Comcast in Baltimore) and season tickets are sold out for next year. Clearly the “Rock the Red” marketing campaign has been a huge success.

The future is bright but this team has areas it needs to improve on if they are going to achieve their goal of winning a Stanley Cup. This improvement will come from the natural maturation and development process that the current young players typically go through and be enhanced by additional coaching attention. In addition, with several contracts expiring (Sergei Fedorov, Viktor Kozlov, Donald Brashear, Shaone Morrisonn, and Brent Johnson) and at least one that should get dealt with via a buyout (Michael Nylander), GM George McPhee will have some salary cap space, something he didn’t have much of this season, to work with to improve this team. However, he will have to give Backstrom big money after 2009-10 and Semin is up as well after next season and will likely want a large chunk of change so George needs to be smart about a budget that could possibly decrease (due to the economy) from the projected 2009-10 salary cap of $54M to $56M to a lower figure in the outyears.

As for the individual improvements, here are my thoughts on some of the players:

The Great #8: Develop a better backhand shot. I’m convinced that if Ovechkin improved his backhand he could possibly break Wayne Gretzky’s single season goal record of 92. Can you imagine how scared defensemen would be if they had to worry about Ovechkin cutting to his backhand a larger percentage of the time instead of primarily going forehand? Alexander the Great also needs to decrease the number of turnovers he has at the opponents blue line.

Green: The great skating, free wheeling #52 can improve his decision making and positioning. Sometimes it is best to dump the puck in instead of trying to go through several opponents and open yourself up to big hits. Who knows how that hit he took from Chris Pronger back in November impacted the rest of his season and the playoffs? Clearly he was injured in the playoffs and was not himself. Good positioning will likely decrease the number of hits he exposes himself too. A summer of watching Nicklas Lidstrom tapes might be some good homework for Greenie.

Semin: Learn to dump the puck more. #28 had far too many turnovers trying to do too much and there was a stretch in January where he routinely took bad penalties after a miscue. Semin is way stronger on the boards than people give him credit for so if he simplifies in some areas he can be a monster force for an entire season instead of in bursts. Some of this has to do with his decision making and some of this is attitude. I’ve heard from sources inside the game that he is prone to not caring about the game, at times.

Varlamov: The athletic young goalie needs to learn positioning better, improve his English so he can communicate with his team, and also get better at stick handling. A goalie who can play the puck properly is like an extra defensemen and that ability can significantly lessen the number of hits his defensemen take from opposing forwards throughout the year. It remains to be seen if Varly can carry a #1 goaltending load but his insane flexibility should help him avoid injuries. But classic butterfly goalies put a pounding on their bodies so workload will be something the Caps need to watch with their young net minder.

Backstrom: Shoot the puck more. #19 has one of the best shots on the team but he typically looks to pass first. Caps Coach Bruce Boudreau did get the young Swede to shoot more often but he could fire the biscuit even more frequently. Continue to improve from the face-off dot. Backstrom was so much better at this towards the end of the season. Perhaps a phone call or session with the great Dale Hunter (aka Chum) could take him to an elite NHL level in a very important category. I’m sure teammate Dave Steckel could help him as well.

From a team standpoint, Boudreau and assistant coaches Dean Evason and Jay Leach need to help improve its ability to play away from the puck. Too many times in the playoffs Caps players were in the right area to make a play (i.e, they outnumbered the opponent) but didn’t execute and ended up giving up a goal (either in their own zone or due to misplays in the neutral zone that led to odd man rushes). Boudreau and his staff preached dumping the puck and going to the net. The third and fourth line seemed to get this most nights but the skilled guys weren’t always buying in. It seemed that the team learned some of that as the playoffs went on. The Rangers and Pittsburgh were very good at doing this while the Caps were effective only in bursts (like the 3rd period of game 7 against New York).

During the regular season Washington had some stretches of off nights, especially against Western Conference teams, and often would win games on skill rather than working hard for a full 6o minutes. Next year the Caps need to use the regular season to hone their system and be ready when the playoffs start, unlike this year where it took them two games to get going. Who knows how much of that extra work and pounding hurt them as they moved on the Penguins series? The Caps need to develop a killer instinct and dispose of lesser talented teams more easily by ramping up their work ethic.

Going to the net and paying a physical price is something the Caps are still learning. One could argue that other than Brooks Laich they don’t really have a player that can crash the net or score ugly goals like Detroit has in Tomas Holmstrom and Johan Franzen or the Penguins have in Bill Guerin, Chris Kunitz, and even Sidney Crosby who converted several “lay-ups” against Washington in the second round. I will guess that a power forward is on McPhee’s shopping list when free agency starts on July 1.

On the flip side, the Caps don’t do a good job of clearing their own net. John Erskine, Shaone Morrisonn, and Milan Jurcina are the more physical defensemen but only #4 really is a force that other teams might fear. Alzner, who is more of a puck moving and solid positioning d-man, is not going to be that type of player when he comes up next year so McPhee will likely be shopping in this market in free agency as well.

Overall, team chemistry is very good because these guys like playing with each other but to win a Stanley Cup takes learning and commitment.  The Edmonton Oilers teams that were led by Gretzky, Mark Messier, Paul Coffey, and Grant Fuhr had two straight playoff years, 1981 and 1982, where they did not advance past the second round before going to the Stanley Cup Finals in 1983 and then winning their first Stanley Cup in 1984. Each year they continued to learn more and more of what it takes to succeed in the season that matters (the playoffs). If this highly skilled Washington team wants to reach the Stanley Cup Finals next year they need to make a full commitment to a stronger work ethic on and off the ice starting now.

It wasn’t a textbook victory last night for the Orioles (12-17) but they’ll take wins anywhere they can find them. After an evening of soggy weather and a six-inning win on Wednesday night, the Birds came back to Camden Yards and finished the mini-sweep with a 5-4 win over the Twins led by Melvin Mora and unlikely Lou Montanez.

Mora homered in the second and got on base in the eighth before Montanez singled to left to account for the game-winning RBI.

The usual speedy work of Brad Bergesen on the hill picked up the pace of the game, but he was in trouble most of the evening and worked some Houdini magic to avoid big innings. All told, the Twins managed 14 hits off of O’s pitching — including 11 off Bergesen in just six innings — but could never plate runs in bunches.

Reliever Chris Ray struggled in the 7th inning, allowing the Twins to tie the game after inheriting a one-run lead, but Jim Johnson was stellar in the 8th inning to vulture a victory and George Sherrill managed to finish a sweaty 9th to earn fifth save of the year.

Afterward, manager Dave Trembley gave praise liberally, especially to Mora whom he discussed in his pre-game speech.

Prepare the pinstripes: the Yankees (13-15) come to town mired in an early-season funk for three games at Camden Yards this weekend.

Tonight it’s a rematch of the Opening Day starters: C.C. Sabathia (1-3. 4.85) vs. Jeremy Guthrie (2-2, 5.05).

On Saturday, it’ll be Phil Hughes (1-1, 2.70) and Adam Eaton (1-3, 7.18) and Sunday afternoon Joba Chamberlain (1-1, 3.77) will face Koji Uehara (2-3, 4.42).

Well, just when you think you’ve seen it all, right? Tonight Adam Eaton, the former O’s No. 5 starter, went 7 1/3 innings and held even his harshest skeptics spellbound with a dazzling 6-hit, 9-strikeout effort while surrendering just two runs upon his exit in the EIGHTH inning.

Lo and behold, the Orioles have won yet another series, beating the White Sox 6-2 tonight at Camden Yards. Everyone got into the act with some offense. Aubrey Huff, Ty Wigginton and even Felix Pie contributed two hits and Adam Jones, Nick Markakis Luke Scott and Cesar Izturis also got hits.

I think Buck Martinez did himself proud with this profound statement: “I like pitchers but I’m happy to have seen only three of them tonight!” Amen, Buck!

The game was a brisk 2:31 affair. Good pitching. Good hitting. Hasty baseball. There were only about 6,000 there but they were treated to an old-school Orioles effort tonight.

Adam Eaton showed some heart tonight. The offense battled early, stranding runners all over the place. But they proved tough. Next up: Koji Uehara and the Rangers and the Saturday “doubleheader” with purple caps.

Bring on the summer weather!

9:15 p.m. — Adam Eaton just walked off the hill to a standing ovation from about 6,000 faithful at Camden Yards tonight. I’ve been watching in amazement as he looks like Steve Stone in his prime to me. Maybe the Steve Stone appearance on WNST yesterday made me think about his greatness during the 1980 season.

His line against the Chicago White Sox is a gem by any standard: 7 1/3 IP, 6H, 0R, oW, 9 strikeouts.

WOW. I’ve been speechless most of the night. Who knew? Late maturity? A one-night wonder? The beginning of a trend?

Of course, at 102 pitches, Dave Trembley just came to get him and he’ll rest up to go again next week.

It’s 6-0 Birds up in the 8th. Jim Johnson is trying to get the White Sox back into the game with the bases loaded.

The crowd tonight looks so light on TV that they’re having trouble finding packs of people standing together to shoot. I’ve honestly never seen it more empty than the last two nights.

I hope the Ravens giving tickets away actually gets some people to walk in on Saturday night. And the weather is supposed to be crazy good!

Jim Thome has just knocked in two runs. So much for the shutout…

 Orioles Win a Wild One

If you love offense then you loved watching the Orioles game today.  Pitching was not at a premium as the Orioles out slug the Texas Rangers and hold on late as they take the first game of the series 10-9 to move to 5-2 on the year.

The Orioles only scored in three innings today but when they did score-boy did they score.  They started of fast as the jump out early putting 2 runs up in the first.  The offense showed resilience today as they quickly jumped back into the lead in the 4^th inning by scoring 5 runs the inning after the Rangers grabbed the lead for the first and only time in the game.

The offense continued in the 5^th as they scored their final 3 runs of the contest capped by Wigginton’s RBI single to left, his second RBI of the game.  Pie led off the inning with a deep bomb to left, his first of what will hopefully be many homeruns in an Orioles uniform.

Things got exciting in the 6^th again as the Rangers continued to battle back.  After Uehara loaded the bases, Baez entered and got out of the inning after allowing all three of the inherited runners to score. 

Baez got slammed in the 7^th by Jones as he hit a 2 run homer to make the score 10-9.  Walker and Johnson combined for a 1,2,3 eight which took us into the ninth when Sherrill entered and as usual with him came a lot of fireworks and some very good fortune. 

Earlier today I blogged about how the Orioles fundamentals were not where they needed to be especially as it pertains to base running.  Well today the Orioles won this game because of the Rangers, in particular Ian Kinsler’s, terrible base running.  Kinsler lead off in the 9^th with a double to left.  Trouble loomed as Young followed with a blast to deep right field.  Nick Markakis saved the game with an outstanding running catch as he reached over his head snatching the ball as it was about to hit the wall.  This kept the winning runner from getting on base with what would have been at least a double.  But what really preserved the lead was the atrocious decision on the part of Kinsler not to tag.  In fact, as I watched Nick make the catch, I yelled “get it in!”  Then I realized there was no need to rush it in because for some reason Kinsler did not tag. What a break.   Just as I was explaining how lucky we just got, Hamilton hit a ball to medium deep center.  There’s the answer.  If Kinsler would have tagged as he should have, the game would have been tied and we would have been hoping for extra innings.  Instead, thanks to Markakis’ incredible catch and Kinsler’s equally incredible decision not to tag, the Orioles pulled out a magical victory in an offensively explosive game.

It is games like this in which plays seem to fall our way that has me thinking maybe, just maybe, the magic is back at the yard.  Well see how long the magic sticks around but come August I would love to be able to say ’09 Orioles:

Why Not!!!!!!

Washington Capitals rookie goalie Simeon Varlamov stopped 29 of 31 shots, many of them on quality chances including a great one on Ilya Kovalchuk from point blank range in the first period, to lead the Caps to a 4-2 victory in Atlanta and move the Caps within one point of clinching second place in the Eastern Conference. Varlamov, who will not turn 21 until April 27th, is now 4-0-1 on the season with a .918 save percentage. Tonight he allowed an inconsistent Capitals performance to be turned into the team’s first win in Phillips Arena in three tries this season. The Caps won the season series from Altanta, 4-2, and are now 15-7 in Southeast Division contests. Washington’s final two games are in Tampa on Thursday (Caps are 5-0 vs. the Lightning) and in Florida on Saturday (Caps are 3-2 vs. the Panthers). Either one Caps point or one missed Devils point will lock up second place for Washington and mean that they will likely face Montreal or the Rangers in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, which start next week.

With goalie Brent Johnson still out recovering from hip surgery, Varlamov’s performance tonight had to make Caps Coach Bruce Boudreau and GM George McPhee feel pretty confident that the young netminder could come in and handle things in a playoff series, if necessary. But let’s face it, the Caps are going to ride #1 goalie Jose Theodore as much as possible in this post season.

Also very good for the Caps tonight was their penalty killing, which stopped all six Thrasher power plays despite defenseman Tom Poti (sore groin) being out of the lineup. The sore groin explains a good portion of the reason why #3 seems to have been struggling lately. To successfully kill penalties everything starts with your goalie, at least that is what Rod Langway used to tell me, and tonight Varlamov did his part and the shorthanded Cap skaters did a superb job as well clogging the passing lanes, blocking shots, and making decent clears. Last time Washington was in Atlanta the Thrashers scored on their first three power play chances but they would get the donut hole on Tuesday.

Sergei Fedorov had the insurance goal tonight thanks to Alexander Ovechkin (2 assists) crashing the net but he took three penalties, allowed Marty Reasoner to deflect Tobias Enstrom’s point blast by Varlamov in the second period, and was only four and nine on face-offs. #91 still does not look 100% healthy to me.

Tomas Fleischmann’s first goal was the result of a lucky bounce off of the Thrashers but as Boudreau said last Friday night, when you are playing well you make your own breaks. #14 is rounding into form right now with his 19th goal of the season, he also added  an assist, and was +2 for the evening. He is also getting better at killing penalties. Could he be this year’s John Druce?

Eric Fehr, Nicklas Backstrom, Brian Pothier, and John Erskine were all also +2 for the game.

The Thrashers first goal was a colossal defensive breakdown as Milan Jurcina fumbled the puck in his skates while the rest of the Caps vacated the center of the ice leaving Varlamov to try and fend off Ron Hainsey and Rich Peverley on his own (Peverley scored on a nice backhand fake but he had all day to make the move). These type of breakdowns must be eliminated when the post season begins.

I’m not sure who picked the stars in Atlanta tonight but I don’t know what game he or she was watching, Varlamov was the clear #1 star in my book.

Evgeni Malkin of the Penguins, who had two assists in Pittsburgh’s 6-4 win over Tampa tonight, still leads #8 by two points with two games to go in the scoring race. A tie between the two at the end of the year would result in the Art Ross Trophy for the Great #8 since he has more goals (55 to 34). Ovechkin will get the Rocket Richard Trophy for most goals and also should win the Hart Trophy (NHL MVP) but Alex would trade all of these trophies for the Stanley Cup.

The Caps are only one point away from clinching second place because Martin Brodeur turned in another subpar performance on Tuesday giving up four goals on 18 shots while Martin Gerber (who was also great against the Caps this season) stopped 47 of 48 shots to lead the Leafs to a 4-1 victory at The Rock. Brodeur, since setting the record for most wins by an NHL goalie a couple of weeks back, has really struggled lately. For once I say let the Leafs fans party on Yonge Street after this one as they did Washington a huge favor.

Up I-95 in Philadelphia on Tuesday night the Flyers dealt the Florida Panthers a major blow to their playoff chances with a 2-1 victory. Anyone who saw the highlights of this one knows that Florida goalie Tomas Vokoun, who made some very good saves in the contest, gave up a bad goal to Jeff Carter to cost his team the game. The Panthers are two points behind the Rangers and three points behind the Canadiens with two games to go. Florida is at Atlanta on Thursday and then host Washington on Saturday. Montreal is at Boston on Thursday and then host the Penguins on Saturday while the Rangers host the Flyers on Thursday and then go to Philly on Sunday. I don’t see Florida getting in the post season and GM Jacques Martin’s decision to not move impending free agent defenseman Jay Bouwmeester looks even worse now.

The Flyers have clinched a playoff berth but likely can’t win the Atlantic Division (Devils need one point to clinch) so they have to be focused on trying to beat out the Penguins and the streaking Hurricanes for fourth place in the Eastern Conference. Carolina won their ninth game in a row (thumped the Islanders 9-0) but only have two games left while the Flyers have three (they have the Islanders on Saturday to go with the two Ranger games).

That is it for now as I’m off to watch Calgary and Vancouver. A Flames win in regulation clinches the Northwest Division title for them and the #3 seed in the Western Conference playoffs. The Canucks lead 1-0 midway through the 2nd period.

Caps Beard-a-thon

With April comes the Stanley Cup Playoffs in the NHL and the famed “Playoff Beard.” The playoff beard is one of the most popular superstitions in all of sports. The player stops shaving his beard when his team enters the playoffs and does not shave until his team is eliminated or wins the Stanley Cup. It is believed that the tradition was started in the 1980s by the four-time Stanley Cup champion New York Islanders, whose team members refrained from shaving during postseason play. This was done so that the team’s luck would not be disrupted during a series. In recent years other sports and other players have claimed the playoff beard tradition, but it is and always will be a hockey tradition.

In honor of this the Washington Capitals are staging a Beard-a-thon to raise money for charity and are encouraging fans to participate in one of hockey’s most visible traditions — the playoff beard. Fans may elect to grow a beard themselves or make a financial donation in support of a Capitals player or a fan who has elected to grow a playoff beard. All proceeds will benefit Washington Capitals Charities.

Participants in the Capitals’ Beard-a-thon can invite family members, friends and business associates to pledge money for their playoff beard. Some of the participants in the Beard-a-thon are Comcast SportsNet anchors Brent Harris, Chick Hernandez, Michael Jenkins, Chris Miller and Russ Thaler. WJFK 106.7 FM’s John “Cakes” Auville from the Junkies, Chad Dukes from the Big O and Dukes Show and nationally syndicated personality Mike O’Meara from the Mike O’Meara Show will also participate in the Beard-a-thon. Money will be donated to Washington Capitals Charities for everyday that a fan maintains his beard. Fans who do not wish to or are unable to grow a playoff beard can participate by pledging a donation to your favorite Caps player. For more information or to enroll in the Capitals’ Beard-a-thon, log onto www.beardathon.com/capitals.

The fan who raises the most money will win an authentic lettered jersey signed by the player of their choice and will be recognized at a Washington Capitals home game during the 2009-10 season, second place will win a team-signed stick, while third place will win an Alex Ovechkin signed puck. All donations for the Capitals’ Beard-a-thon are tax deductible.

Caps News

Rookie goalie Simeon Varlamov, who is 3-0-1 with a .914 save percentage will be in net in Atlanta when the Caps take on the Thrashers on Tuesday night. This move makes sense because #1 goalie Jose Theodore has had two bad outings in Phillips Arena this season (and the team wasn’t very good in front of him either) plus Caps Coach Bruce Boudreau wants to get Varlamov another game before next week’s playoffs as it looks like #40 will be the back-up goalie in the first round of the playoffs (although Brent Johnson is skating and improving from his hip surgery).

The Caps are 0-2 in Atlanta this year and with the New Jersey Devils home against Toronto on Tuesday night Washington likely needs to win to maintain its two point lead over the Devils for second place in the Eastern Conference. If Washington plays like it did in the first 40 minutes of Sunday’s game at the Verizon Center it will lose and if they put forth an effort like they did in the final 20 minutes they will blow Atlanta out.

Caps and hockey fans should check out the TSN end of season NHL awards preview at http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=273944. The panel likes Ovechkin to repeat as Hart Trophy winner (NHL MVP) and Mike Green to win the Norris Trophy (NHL’s best defensemen). I thought this piece was interesting but this part by former Cap Keith Jones really drew my attention:

————–

Jones: The only defenceman for the Washington Capitals is Green and and he should win the Norris because he has no help on the blueline. Milan Jurcina is the second highest scoring defenceman on the Capitals with 14 points and the Bruins gave him away. Tom Poti is the third highest scoring defenceman with 13 points. Green is +24 on a team without a goaltender.

————–

I’m not sure how many Caps games Jones has watched this season but the “team without a goaltender” line is not accurate. Jose Theodore has been among the top goaltenders in the league since December 23rd (as long as he doesn’t try to shoot for any open nets!). While I think the Caps defense is likely their weak spot, Scott Cullen of TSN ranks the crew 7th overall in the NHL (http://www.tsn.ca/columnists/scott_cullen/?id=273658). Jonesy’s statements disappointed me but then again this is the guy who was called up to be an extra skater in the playoffs and sat behind me on the plane on the way back from Pittsburgh in 1992, yet years later in his book we find out he was rooting against the Caps because he didn’t want to have to keep skating hard in practice each day. The Caps blew a 3-1 series lead that year and the hockey gods paid Jonesy back big time by putting him on teams that lost three 3-1 playoff series leads in his career.

NHL Tidbits

Bad game by the Montreal Canadiens tonight as they blew a 2-1 lead and were beaten by the Ottawa Senators, 3-2, at the Bell Centre in Montreal. The 7th place Canadiens had a chance to move up in the Eastern Conference standings but remain at 92 points with just three games to go. The Florida Panthers and New York Rangers both have 89 points and have three games remaining as well. The Habs are at New York, at Boston, and then home against Pittsburgh and if they don’t watch it could find themselves on the golf course next week. Oh by the way, the Montreal Gazette has already picked the Caps as the team they want their beloved Habs to face in the playoffs as evidenced by the following post:

“The ideal matchup [for Montreal] would be against the Washington Capitals and that’s the team the Canadiens would have played if the season ended after last night’s game.

The Caps have a potent 1-2-3 punch with forwards Alexander (The Great) Ovechkin and Alexander Semin and defenceman Mike Green. But this is the time of year when defence comes to the fore and the Caps have suspect goaltending in the person of former Canadien José Theodore and a shaky defence corps.”

Comment: I would gladly take a Washington-Montreal series although there is one thing I would not like about it – we’d have to put up with the Montreal media in the press box in DC. If a Habs-Caps series does come to fruition you can bet that these quotes will be up on the Washington locker room wall.

Big game in Vancouver on Tuesday night as the Canucks take on the Flames in a matchup that could decide the Northwest Division title. Calgary is battling the Kings at home Monday night (currently winning, 3-1, early in the 3rd period thanks to a blast by Jarome Iginla) and should they win they will be two points ahead with three games to go. The Flames are 2-1-2 against Vancouver this season. Both clubs have already clinched playoff spots but the division winner will be the third seed behind San Jose and Detroit. The loser likely gets the fourth seeded Chicago Blackhawks in the first round.

Speaking of the Red Wings, forward Marian Hossa has been a team killer the last two days. He all but ended the playoff hopes of the Minnesota Wild on Sunday with his 38th goal of the season with just 51 seconds left on NBC on Sunday (nice pass by Tomas Holmstrom and bad coverage by Wild defenseman Marek Zidlicky that allowed the two on one break) and then he added two more tallies to hit the 40 goal mark in a 4-1 win over Buffalo that have crippled the Sabres playoff hopes.

The Nashville Predators and St. Louis Blues are battling it out to make the Western Conference playoffs. They both have 86 points but the Blues have the schedule advantage playing at Phoenix, Columbus, and then at Colorado while the Predators host Chicago, then play back to back in Detroit and Minnesota. If the Preds make the playoffs this will be the fifth straight time that GM David Poile and Coach Barry Trotz will have made the post season. What is more impressive about that would be the fact that they had to gut their team after the 2007-08 season due to ownership issues. Poile has always been a shrewd GM and Trotz a superb coach (in fact, he is the only Nashville coach in team history and is second in NHL head coaching tenure behind Lindy Ruff of the Sabres). Both teams could get in if Anaheim falters but that is not likely since the Ducks are home to Dallas and then the Coyotes plus they are up two points on both teams.

One final tidbit, if you are interested in a different kind of Caps playoff gear please check out Rob Yunich’s Storming the Crease website (www.stormingthecrease.com). Rob has some neat tee shirts available including some that are sure to get under the skin of Penguins fans.

There are two types of Orioles fans left in the Baltimore area and they are distinct groups:

Those who drink the Kool Aid…

And those, like me, who have examined the big picture of what’s happened to this franchise over the past 13 years and are pretty angry about its impact on our fun, our lives and the community.

With Opening Day looming, everyone who has EVER loved baseball perks up and pay attention. Even if it’s only to notice: “Hey, its’ Opening Day!” Most people in Baltimore realize this team won’t contend but if you love baseball you’ll at least open one eye on Monday afternoon to catch the score. I’d venture to say that 75% of the city will wake up Tuesday morning at the office and know whether the Orioles won. (That number used to be more like 98% in 1998!)

Those who unconditionally still drink the orange Kool Air or “want” to drink the Kool Aid probably went down to Fan Fast today at Camden Yards. I opted to not give Mr. Angelos any more money that he won’t spend to get the team a quality spring training facility.

Instead, I’m sitting here watching the Fan Fest festivities on MASN HD television and getting some of my WNST “CEO work” done and thinking about baseball season and how it’s going to go for the Orioles and Matt Wieters and these young players and what inevitable drama will unfold.

The only real “punishment” I’m getting for not having a press pass is being “banned” from knowing the Orioles players, which is almost ludicrous because as you saw last week, Jeremy Guthrie and Brian Roberts were happy to chat with me at the World Baseball Classic at Dodger Stadium. Charley Eckman would’ve called them “right guys” and they are decent, solid dudes. (As an aside, I also exchanged pleasantries with Davey Johnson, which is always fun.)

As a media member – well, at least I was for about 23 years until I was banned – I got to know so many of the players and what kinda guys they are. So I guess that’s my “price to pay” — I don’t get to report to you what good people the Orioles have on their team this year. Or not…

While it looked a tad bit chilly and windy at Camden Yards, the event was a “made for TV” informercial/season preview with interviews between co-workers Jim Hunter, Jim Palmer and the like of Andy McPhail, Aubrey Huff, Adam Jones, Dennis Sarfate and Ryan Freel.

They did a nice job with “get to know you” chats with these players and  I especially like that I can see Jim Palmer in high def. For a well-compensated network to finally “discover” HD in 2009 tells you all you need to know about the vision people at MASN.

But I digress…

Here are a few observations, because my seat is the same as yours at this point, which is its own unique point of view watching Jim Hunter and Amber Theoharis and others interview their co-workers in black hats that say “O’s”.

I honestly didn’t know what Ty Wigginton or Koji Uehara looked like until today. Ditto Freel, who really seemed to be a pleasant “aw, shucks” kinda guy. He reminded me of Bob Backlund back in the late 1970’s when he was a baby face.

Freel freely thanked the fans several times and seemed genuine. (As an aside, why doesn’t the owner of the team ever do that? Just come on the TV and say “thanks” on his own network that he’s making over $100 million this year on?)

Andy McPhail did a stand up with Jim Hunter and said all of the right things. He made it clear he expected a big improvement in Adam Jones. He also talked a lot about character and what kind of players — “gamers, blue collars guys, character guys” — he wants on the team. Fair enough.

I like hearing that the Orioles want good people in their organization. From what I know of the 2009 Orioles, they’re pretty good guys and they clearly dislike Angelos’ management and ownership style as much as the rest of us. (Again, this is one of the reasons the Orioles banning legitimate media isn’t a good thing for the fans. The fans never get to know the truth unless, like yesterday in The Sun, they speak out.)

I’ve known Gregg Zaun for 17 years. I’ve cheered – VERY hard – for Zaun for 17 years through his days in Kansas City, Florida, Toronto and Houston. He’s a great person and loves Baltimore and the Orioles. That’s an upgrade there no matter how you look at it and he’ll keep the seat plenty warm for Matt Wieters, whenever the Orioles decide to promote him to the bigs.

Even today on TV, a couple of the young players talked about what a cool guy Zaun is for them to be around and how he tells great stories (which he does!)

I must say that I didn’t envy Buck Martinez’s press pass today, interviewing his co-worker, Japanese pitcher Koji Uehara, whose only word in English was “Thank you!”

Uehara had an interpreter and the answer to the first question regarding Camden Yards was this: “Right field is pretty shallow.” That was the first of several laughs.

Honestly, it was like I needed an interpreter for his interpreter. It was borderline hilarious. It reminded me of my four days in Tokyo where communication was definitely at a premium.

I don’t care how much Uehara speaks. The Orioles need him to be a rock star if they’re going to win 75 games. But he seemed pleasant enough and thrilled to be at Camden Yards in a big-league uniform. Good enough for me.

If the only “communication” I’m going to have with the players is to see their co-workers ask them questions I might as well think they’re nice guys. Even if they’re complete turds, at least this won’t spoil it for me.

I’m ready for Opening Day. I’m ready to get to Hooters and have a Bud Light. I’m ready for baseball.

It’s been a chilly trip all the way around. It’s cold in California this week. It was freezing at Dodger Stadium last night and Laguna Beach is no better.

I’m spending the next three days here in Dana Point at the NFL Owners Meetings, chatting with coaches, executives and owners from around the league. Most of the media has commented that it’s “quiet” here this week, with no major rules changes or negotiations to be held. The only potential “landmark” concept is the notion of making the regular season a 17 or 18-game affair, with the elimination of those dreadful preseason games. It appears that changes to overtime possession aren’t coming right now. There’s too much support to keep the current (yet flawed) system.

But it’s truly the calm before the potential financial storm as the NFL Players Association has named its new leader in DeMaurice Smith last week.

Commisioner Roger Goodell is addressing the entire contingent this morning with a “State of The NFL” speech, which no doubt will be addressing the sagging economy and the paramount issue of a new collective bargaining agreement with the players, which could be a dog fight over the next 18 months as both sides are preparing for a tremendous battle that could go either way.

Lockouts, strikes, posturing – it’s all on the table as both sides look to divvy up the riches and spoils of a league that has basically had 25 years of labor peace and prosperity. Right now, the players get 59.5% of the total revenue pool. The owners want to make it less; the players, of course, want more. We’ll be following this story for the next two years but this is the beginning of a long race that will decide the fate of the league for the next decade.

I spent the evening last night up in Los Angeles (about an hour north of here) at Dodger Stadium at the World Baseball Classic semifinal between Team USA and Japan. Obviously, it wasn’t the greatest night for Brian Roberts in field but he did begin the game with a grand home run off of Dice K. I caught up with Brian Roberts, Davey Johnson and Jeremy Guthrie prior to the game and saw more celebrities than I can name. The videos are just to the right of here in the wnsTV video vault.

Because of the “Angelos ban” I never had the chance to meet of chat with Guthrie. He was a super good guy and was truly excited about wearing a USA jersey. My five minutes with him made it very easy to pull for him when he takes the ball at Camden Yards in two weeks.

(And for the record, I had no idea Kelsey Grammar was such a nice guy. I did, however, fully confirm that Alyssa Milano is smoking hot!)

Dodger Stadium is still a religious experience for any baseball fan and it’s nights like last night that really make me love my job and my career in sports. As I’ve been posting my baseball book about my Pop and his love of the game, it’s nights like last night that remind me about why I chose to do this for a living 25 years ago.

I also ran into some very old and dear friends from the “early days” with the Orioles. Dr. Charles Steinberg and Evelyn Ehlers – both “lifer” Orioles fans and Baltimoreans are working in the Dodgers’ front office. Former Ravens V.P. Dennis Mannion is now the president of the Dodgers. And Baltimorean Jamie McCourt (nee Luskin, as in Jack Luskin, the “cheapest guy in the town”) is the C.E.O. of the team, owner by her and husband Frank McCourt.

It’s almost like the Dodgers are Baltimore’s West Coast connection.

I’ll be shooting videos here on WNST.net, blogging and potentially grabbing some guests for Drew Forrester, Bob Haynie and Ray Bachman, who will be filling in for me all week from 2 til 6 p.m.

I’ve already chatted with virtually every NFL coach that has a Baltimore connection and John Harbaugh told me that his brother – former Ravens QB and current Stanford head coach Jim – and his dad will be here this afternoon. We’ll be doing a little wnsTV of that in the next 24 hours.

It’s also the first NFL Owners Meetings for longtime WNST supporters, Rex Ryan and Jim Schwartz, who will both make some time for Baltimore.

Stay tuned…I’ll be working hard here in California.

Did I mention the weather kinda sucks?

Alexander Ovechkin scored his 50th goal of the season and added two assists as the Caps exploded for three goals in the third period to break a 2-2 tie and beat the Tampa Bay Lightning, 5-2, on Thursday night in Tampa. Defenseman Mike Green had a big game as well scoring his 26th and 27th goals of the season and now is ahead of Sheldon Souray of Edmonton by seven goals to lead all NHL defensmen. The bad news is that late in the game #52 was pulled to the ice awkwardly by Lightning rookie Steven Stamkos and Green struggled to get to the bench, dangling his left arm. Green then left for the locker room with just over a minute to go in a scene that has to make Caps fans very nervous because any type of serious injury to #52 would likely end the Caps chances of winning a Stanley Cup for the first time in franchise history. Washington is only 7-7 when Green has been out of the lineup this season. According to NHL “On the Fly” tonight, Green told reporters that he just had the wind knocked out of him but it looked worse and we’ll find out how serious it is over the next several days (the Caps are in Carolina on Saturday night).

Rookie goalie Simeon Varlamov continued to play well and he pushed his NHL record to 3-0 stopping 26 of 28 Tampa shots. Varlamov was very aggressive in goal continually challenging opponents by coming out of his cage to cut off the shooting angles. The two goals he gave up were on rebounds. The Caps are now 4-0 against Tampa Bay this season and have out scored them 21-9. Caps Coach Bruce Boudreau, who said afterwards “that we weren’t very good in the first two periods tonight,” is now 9-0 against the Lightning.

Here are some other thoughts and notes on the game tonight:

TO in the house:  I did not like Ovechkin’s post 50 goal celebration. It looked staged and immediately reminded me of something Terrell Owens or Chad Johnson would do in the NFL. This was Ovechkin’s third 50 goal season and I know the Great #8 gets very excited when he or any other Cap scores but sometimes it is just best to pull an Emmitt Smith or Jamal Lewis and act like you’ve done this before. I’m sure Don Cherry will have a field day with this stunt, and deservedly so. Ovechkin did go +2 on the evening and is +3 in his last two games after a stretch of 12 contests where he was -8 overall.

Laing recalled: Forward Quintin Laing was recalled from Hershey today to replace forward Boyd Gordon, who fractured a finger and will be out two to three weeks. Gordon is a very good penalty killer but so is Laing, who specializes in blocking shots. Laing had a super solid game tonight drawing a penalty on Stamkos that led to the fourth Washington goal, was +1, had two hits, and blocked one shot in 10:19 of ice time.

Kozlov shines again: Viktor Kozlov, after a very strong game in Florida on Tuesday, was very good again on Thursday notching three assists and his play to set up Michael Nylander for the Caps fourth goal showed how strong he can be on the puck. If #25 can consistently play at this level the Caps become tougher to defend

Storming the Crease: While I didn’t think Lightning goalie Mike McKenna played very well (I’m not sure he is an NHL’er), the Caps did a good job of going to the net and it was nice to see Matt Bradley get rewarded for his hard work scoring Washington’s fifth goal with seven and a half minutes left to all but end this contest. Eric Fehr and Brooks Laich are two guys you can count on to go hard to the net of the opposition and even Nylander’s tally was the result of him going into the crease area. Green’s game winner happened because the Caps crashed the cage with Ovechkin storming the front of the net and the Lightning defenders collapsed on him allowing #52 to be wide open in the slot and fire it top shelf past McKenna.

Standings: The Caps are now 45-22-6 for 96 points and trail the Boston Bruins by only four points with nine games to go (Boston has a game in hand) for first place in the Eastern Conference. However, the New Jersey Devils are sitting on 95 points in third and have three games in hand on the Caps. The Caps will finish at least third and that will help them likely avoid the Flyers and Penguins in the first round, who could face each other and hopefully wear themselves out. I’m projecting Washington will face either Montreal or the Rangers in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. The Caps have a 15 point lead again in the Southeast Division, although the Hurricanes have a game in hand while Florida has two games in hand (but trail by 16 points).

Lineup Notes: John Erskine was the healthy scratch on defense tonight as Brian Pothier played his second game of the season, logging 18:43 of ice time. If Green is indeed hurt for Saturday’s game Washington could opt to call up defenseman Karl Alzner, who could play the rest of the games this regular season and only finish with 39 total. From a business side keeping Alzner under 40 games helps them long term as it delays unrestricted free agency for #27 by a year. In addition, due to salary cap constraints he could not have played at the NHL level all season. However, the Caps likely have enough room to bring him up now and there is no salary cap in the playoffs.

Washington won the face-off battle tonight, 32-24.

The Washington Capitals have recalled defenseman Brian Pothier and goaltender Simeon Varlamov from the Hershey Bears of the American Hockey League (AHL) and assigned goaltender Michal Neuvirth to Hershey, vice president and general manager George McPhee announced today.

Pothier, 31, is a third-year Capital who suffered a concussion Jan. 3, 2008, at Boston and missed the remainder of the season and has not played in the NHL this season. He recently completed a four-game conditioning stint with the Bears and is available to make his season debut with the Capitals tomorrow night in Atlanta, the same city where he made his NHL debut nearly eight years ago (April 3, 2001, as a Thrasher).

The 6’0”, 200-pound native of New Bedford, Mass., is a veteran of seven NHL seasons and has compiled 100 points (20 goals, 80 assists) in 292 career games. In his only full season with the Capitals, 2006-07, he led all club defensemen in points (28) and assists (25) and led the team in ice time (23:59 per game) while appearing in 72 games.

Varlamov, 20, is a first-year pro who stands 6’1”, 201 pounds. He has compiled an 18-6-1 record in Hershey this season and has two shutouts, a .910 save percentage and a 2.47 goals-against average (GAA). Varlamov is 2-0-0 with the Capitals this year. He made his NHL debut in Montreal on Dec. 13 and beat the Canadiens, 2-1, to become the youngest Russian-born goaltender to make an NHL start and the first NHL goalie in more than 30 years to win his debut at Montreal (since Hardy Astrom, New York Rangers, on Feb. 25, 1978). He made 32 saves in Montreal and 29 saves in a 4-2 win against St. Louis on Dec. 18.

The Samara, Russia, native was the Capitals’ first-round choice, 23rd overall, in the 2006 NHL Entry Draft. He played in 44 games for Yaroslavl in the Russian Super League last year, posting three shutouts and a 2.45 GAA. Varlamov was selected to Russia’s 2008 World Championship team but missed the competition because of an injury.

Neuvirth is a first-year pro who stands 6’1”, 199 pounds. He returns to Hershey after dressing 19 games for Washington. The 20-year-old saw action in five games and has a 2-1-0 NHL record. He made his NHL debut on Feb. 14 in Tampa Bay and defeated the Lightning, 5-1. The Usi Labem, Czech Republic, native was the Capitals’ second-round choice, 34th overall, in the 2006 NHL Entry Draft.

Comments and Thoughts: This is good news for the Caps as Pothier appears to have come through his conditioning stint okay, so far. Pothier will count a pro-rated $2.5M against the salary cap making things tight again for the team money wise. The Caps will now have 7 defensemen up for their upcoming 4 game road trip, all against the Southeast Division, that starts on Monday in Atlanta. From Atlanta they go to Florida on Tuesday to face a desperate Panthers hockey team that currently sits in 9th place in the Eastern Conference standings, just a point behind 8th place Carolina, who has played two more games than Florida.

As for Varlamov, he is now recoverd from a knee injury and seeing that he is the better of the two goaltending prospects (he was drafted in the first round of 2006 while Neuvirth went in the second round) it makes sense that he will be with the team until backup goalie Brent Johnson is recovered from hip surgery. With the Caps playing back to back games starting tomorrow you can expect him to play one of the two games. My guess is the first game in Atlanta.

Speaking of the Thrashers, they may be without their top player, Ilya Kovalchuk, who missed Saturday’s game against Buffalo due to an upper body injury. Thrashers GM Don Waddell was quoted as saying that since Atlanta is out of the playoff picture they were going to be extra careful with Kovalchuk’s injury so Washington may be lucky and not have to face #17, who generally plays very well against the Caps. Kovalchuk has one more season on his contract at just under $6.4M so this off-season will be a key one for Waddell and the Thrashers to put some players around the talented Russian. If they can’t get the former number one overall NHL draft pick to re-sign, and they were unable to convince Marian Hossa to commit long term to Atlanta last year and that is why they traded him to Pittsburgh, then the owners in Atlanta might as well pack up that franchise and go home.

The Thrashers under first year Coach John Anderson have been playing much better lately and rallied from a 3-1 third period deficit on Saturday to beat Buffalo in the shootout, 4-3. That was Atlanta’s fifth straight win and goalie Kari Lehtonen is playing outstanding in goal. The Thrashers are 9-3-1 in their last 12 games so Washington is getting a hot team that can play loose since they have no pressure on them. On the flip side, Washington is in good shape overall with the Southeast Division all but decided, however, their focus needs to be on playing more responsively in regards to their own end of the rink like they did in two road wins last week. They can’t go out and play pond hockey like they did in the second period against the Hurricanes on Saturday otherwise the Caps could end up with a loss in Atlanta like they suffered on opening night (a 7-4 defeat in a crazy, wide open game).