Rooting Against the Flyers and Sharks
There are plenty of folks out there who don’t need any additional reasons to root against the Philadelphia Flyers in their Eastern Conference semifinal series against Montreal. Here’s another one anyway.
Washington owns Philadelphia’s second round choice in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft. The sooner the Flyers are out, the higher that pick will be. The Capitals also own San Jose’s second-rounder in this year’s draft.
The four teams that wind up as conference finalists in the 2008 Stanley Cup playoffs will draft 27-28-29-30 regardless of their regular season point totals, so it’s better for the Caps if the Flyers and Sharks exit before then.
Just sayin.
The Flyers are down 1-0 in the series after last night’s Game 1. Montreal got a goal that shouldn’t have counted and then benefited from a questionable late penalty on Philly center Mike Richards, taking a 3-2 overtime decision from the Flyers.
Cue John Lennon’s “Instant Karma.”
The Sharks and Stars hook up in Game 1 of their series tonight.
April 25, 2008 at 10:59 am
1) ‘Instant Karma’, ‘What comes around goes around’, ‘The worm has turned’, etc. What a shame for Philly. LOL
April 25, 2008 at 11:12 am
Good to see the proverbial puck bounce the other way to the other red, white and blue team instead of the Flyers. It would be nice for the Flyers to help continue the improvement of the Caps by loosing in this round in order to get a better draft pick.
April 25, 2008 at 11:29 am
vogs, maybe you should stop mentioning phily so that the voice of reason does not come back
April 25, 2008 at 11:33 am
i need definite word on kolzig’s future or im going to freak
April 25, 2008 at 11:48 am
Is it wrong that the way game 1 ended makes me feel so good?
April 25, 2008 at 12:53 pm
Ben: I felt so good at the end of last night’s game that I typed a post in pigeon French, which quite obviously I don’t speak, read or write. Viva le bleu, blanc et rouge!
I don’t speak Spanish either which is why they look at me like I’m an idiot when they ask if I’m enjoying my lunch and I say, “buenos nachos!”
April 25, 2008 at 1:10 pm
Tom, since this is a post about the Flyers you’re cleared hot on Philly voice of Cheese Steak when he shows up…
~Turk
April 25, 2008 at 1:54 pm
Mike-
Shouldn’t that be 4-3 vice 3-2?
And as Soulie pointed out to the Flyer lovers over at Jaspers site:
“You got thrown a bone in Game 7, and last night you got boned. Sweet.”
April 25, 2008 at 1:59 pm
Turk: Oh no, not me. I have sworn that off. I must learn to be a better person or else my list of charges when St. Peter interviews me will be even longer. I might make fun in general of the team’s troubles, but that’s it. By the way I din’t know that about what Mike said about the four conference finalists. I thought it was just the two finalists like in the NFL that draft last. I did know that all the playoff teams draft after all the non-playoff teams, regardless of final points. Actually my picks based on sentiment are Sharks (Ron Wilson), Red Wings (lived there) and Montreal in the East (wish Pitt and NYR could somehow both lose). I still might want the Sharks due also to Joe Thornton being a fine player. The pick we gave up in 2009 will be a great trade if Huet re-signs.
April 25, 2008 at 2:08 pm
i say nobody acknowledge his presence…seriously he ruins this blog and if we ignore he will get bored
April 25, 2008 at 2:16 pm
I can easily root against Philly, although I don’t particularly like Montreal, the Rangers, or Pittsburgh either. There is a bit of karma here in that the Canadiens have won a Stanley Cup in every decade the NHL has been in business, but their last as 1993, so if they’re going to win in the 200*’s better they win now when the Caps are out (and then next year the Caps can dethrone them… ah, wishful thinking…
As for the west, my wife is a Sharks fan (her first NHL game was Caps/Sharks in 2001 and she fell in love with the teal uniforms and with Evgeny Nabokov) so I sort of am rooting for them. It doesn’t hurt that two of my favorire former Caps are there (Mike Grier playing and Rob Zettler is one of Wils’ assistants).
It would also be good karma for the world if Mike Grier would get his name on the Stanley Cup. He busts ass every night and leaves everything he has on the ice. A friend of mine, who is a Sabres fan, was groaning at me when the Caps sent Grier to Buffalo for Klepis and a draft pick. He complained about Grier’s numbers and such, and I told him to get Center Ice and watch the Sabres every night. He became a Grier fan almost immediately. He puts out his effort no matter the situation. Of all the players who left in the fire sale, there were only two I was sad about losing. One was Nylander, who is back, and Grier was the other.
So yeah, it’d be best for the Caps if the Sharks lost, but this is a deep draft, so I’m ok with it if it means seeing Mike Grier lift the Cup over his head.
April 25, 2008 at 2:25 pm
Wait….. what? the Flyers Lost?
HMmm for as much bashing as they did of us and our stance on the games feel free to peruse their message boards (still putting the caps fans down because they got “lucky” gifted Round 1). I would venture to say that they feel probably the way we did watching the 7 games in round one.
http://forums.philadelphiaflyers.com/index.php?showtopic=8013
Enjoy its a good read…
April 25, 2008 at 3:28 pm
You guys still thinking about us? How do we taste in your mouth?
It was Game 1. We still have at least 3 games to play, how many do you have?
April 25, 2008 at 4:07 pm
To the Caps fans only…..There is a word that comes to mind concerning the Flyers Blog…… hypocrites. Some Flyers fans come onto a Caps fans site/blog and insult us and then cry about the same thing that we were discussing, the term hypocrites applies nicely.
Apparently, some of the other teams’ fans still have nothing better to say. BTW, the Flyers only finished 1 point ahead of the Caps in the regular season and 1 point better in Game 7. Flyers only had a total of 3 more goals over the seven game series. Stats were essentially identical. I find it amusing that some Flyers fans can’t concentrate on their current series but insist on coming onto this board to post moot points. Congratulations on winning the first series when you were the benefactors of the same type of circumstances that made you loose Game 1 of the second round.
I rooting for the other red, white and blue team from up north. Looking foreward to a little better draft pick in the process as well. And a Thank you ahead of time, to the Flyers, for the better draft pick.
I got a big laugh reading the complaining on the Flyer forum. I’ll show more class and not crash their boards and start throwing insults that happend during the first round. Good Luck Flyers, you’re going to need it in this round again.
April 25, 2008 at 7:51 pm
Checking in while watching the Rangers/Pens. Rangers just scored. 1-0 Rangers! I want the Rangers in round 3 so I can go to a game at the WAC, jump out on the ice and bitch-slap Shawn Avery.
Ok, now that I got that off my chest…
Reading these posts, I seriously don’t get you guys. I try to post objective, poignant messages to the best of my ability. Sure I don’t have the NHL history knowledge of Tom and I’m not a big stats guy, but I do my best and I try to stick to the topic. After all, I thought that was how a blog worked. I read a lot of messages that I don’t agree with, but you don’t hear me tearing in to them.
But then someone feels the need to antagonize me about something I wrote simply becuase I am coming from the other side. That is when I tend to stray off point and get into pissing mathches with certain individuals. That’s not going to happen anymore.
Looking back, I appreciate the fact that Vogs has tolerated me even though he has every right to kick me off of HIS blog for some of the things I’ve said. But he hasn’t and I appreciate that and in return, I will not lose it again here on this blog.
Regarding the “bad calls” in last nights game, in my post-game post, I never said it was a bad call. Wathing it on TV at regular speed, it clearly looked like a knee or leg trip. I certainly see why a ref would have to call it as they are dangerous penalties that can injure. It was only after seeing the slow mo replay that I saw it was the WRONG call. But hey, that’s hockey, no instant replay review. I’m ok with that. Those things tend to even out over the course of a series. As far as the stick above the net call, the puck would have gone in anyway, which is why I didn’t even mention it.
Jeff Carter played a horrible game with 2 mistakes that lead to goals 1 and 2 for the Habs. That is why I’m confident about the rest of this series. I don’t see that happening again.
April 25, 2008 at 8:01 pm
Mike L: The one guy I hated losing during the “great purge” was Grier. I was hoping he’d stay and become captain. He was great short-handed and would always get the puck and take it down for scoring chances. Then he became a free agent after some time in Buffalo and I was hoping they’d pick him back up. He was a very solid if not spectacular player, but just the kind every team must have to hoist the Cup. Do we have a Mike Grier on today’s Caps? The best example is probably Clarkie. I remember after he got hurt they were blaming the bad ice so I certainly hope that gets fixed. I don’t think anyone can doubt that had Clark not been hurt, we’d've been a point or two better in the standings and maybe still playing. It’s not spilled milk, it’s just pointing out that he’s a difference maker.
April 25, 2008 at 8:03 pm
dude, nothing personal, were really more concerned with our off-season moves than your series right now. sure we are watching, and rooting against phily, but you dont need to be hare defending them.
and after that game you should see where we come from especially the more bitter ones. the phily wash series was so close that 2 or 3 calls or bounces (more the bounces) the other way and we are playing pit now. thems the breaks, and im not complaining, but there is no denying that it was that good of a series.
and now you see it from our view.
i broke my rule of ignoring you. it wont happen again.
April 25, 2008 at 8:06 pm
i think the dumbest move of the purge was dumping gonchar. he is still an elite d-man and it wasnt until this year with greenie that we had that scoring presence on the blueline. grier was a tough loss too
April 25, 2008 at 8:09 pm
clarifying:
mo is a warrior so ultimately i am happy retrospectively but when he left i was pissed
April 25, 2008 at 8:22 pm
PVOR, we have had our barbs back and forth, particularly in the early posts. As I had stated in one of the earlier posts and are sticking to more relevant and factual posts. I look foreword to debating you on these points as this is the reason these posts exists. Blogs/boards are great places to debate these facts. As I have also said in another posts, one’s opinion looses validity by insults, particularly when the insults come from another team’s fan. Look at it this way. When someone just starts becoming friends and is invited for dinner or to watch a hockey game, it is improper and very rude to insult the friend/home owner the first time that one is over. This changes over time once people get to know each other and then can start throwing insults/barbs in that fashion with both knowing what angle that they come from. Blogs/boards, I see in the same light. It is okay for fellow fans of the same team to bitterly disagree but any visitor has to earn the right to do so.
Some other Caps fans may not agree with my assessment, but you have been posting valid arguments/points lately and add to the dabate. However, LoLCaps has not done so and proved this point in his first and last post today. We don’t have to like the Flyers since they beat us in a hotly contested first round series.
I see your series with Montreal being similar to the Caps. Montreal, if my memory serves me correctly, is a younger team than the Caps. However, they are fast and seam to score alot of goals. This is also think if Knuble is still out, where the Flyers will have some issues on the power play. Knuble did a great job getting in front of Huet during the first series and was a pain to deal with. However, Montreal has Price, who is a young goaltender. The Flyers will have to score early like they did in the first game but stay on top of him and don’t let up. Don’t want to give Montreal a chance to build confidence particularly when they went 7 games with Boston.
Now with the rational side of me know gone, I still must root for the red, white, and blue from up north.
April 25, 2008 at 8:23 pm
But Jason, this is an open hockey blog. How do you know that no one else cares what I have to say? Isn’t that being a bit factitous and therefore factious? Do you assume that everyone on here or that may drop in cares about everything you wan to talk about only?
April 25, 2008 at 8:28 pm
Well put acap. I get that.
From what I saw last night, Price is no Huet. To me he looked shakey where Huet played outstanding in the 7 games against the Flyers. I thought I heard somewhere that the caps got Huet from Montreal during this past season? If so, that was a mistake by the Canadians.
April 25, 2008 at 8:30 pm
pvor,
Your next objective, poignant message, here or otherwise, will be your first.
April 25, 2008 at 9:15 pm
PVOR,
the notion you think i want everyone to talk about what i want is just wrong. i simply meant that the majority of the discussion on here is not regarding habs/flyers, and the discussion that is here for the most part is very anti flyer. all i said is that you dont need to be here defending them. you certainly welcome to, but do you need to? no.
April 25, 2008 at 9:30 pm
it really looks like the rangers are home tonight with the white out. hate saying but go rangers. ok im out so pvor dont respond to my last post with a monologue i wont see it
April 25, 2008 at 9:32 pm
damn i just jinxed the rangers and who worse to score but crosby…
April 25, 2008 at 10:05 pm
I am not defending the Flyers. I am simply posting my thoughts and feelings about my team and the games they play. I think you are confusing my posts with my defensive rants and attacks on those who attacked me. I already said I was wrong for that and it won’t happen again, I apologize to you and anyone else here I’ve offended in any way.
I guess the real question is if only caps fans should be on this blog.
April 26, 2008 at 10:22 am
I worked out the numbers so everyone knows where we The Flyers are in terms of cap space for next season. The projected cap for next season is only an estimate. The Toronto Star says it will go up by $3 million at least so I am using that number.
Daniel Briere: 6,500,000
Kimmo Timonen: 6,333,333
Mike Richards: 5,750,000
Simon Gagne: 5,250,000
Scott Hartnell: 4,200,000
Martin Biron: 3,500,000
Derian Hatcher: 3,500,000
Mike Knuble: 2,800,000
Joffrey Lupul: 2,311,667
Braydon Coburn: 1,300,000
Sami Kapanen: 1,250,000
Antero Niittymaki: 1,225,000
Scottie Upshall: 1,225,000
Lasse Kukkonen: 875,000
Ryan Parent: 855,000
Steve Downie: 821,667
Total Committed: $47,696,667
Current Cap: $50,300,000
08-09 Projected Cap: $53,300,000
Amount to spend: $5,603,333
UFA:
Jason Smith
Vaclav Prospal
Jaroslav Modry
Riley Cote
Jim Dowd
Jesse Boulerice
RFA:
Jeff Carter
RJ Umberger
Randy Jones
Patrick Thoresen
Source: NHLSCAP.com
April 26, 2008 at 10:52 am
WOW LOOK AT ALL THE PEOPLE THAT CARE.
File under: unwarranted self importance.
April 26, 2008 at 11:41 am
yeah i agree
has nothing to do with
-the capitals
-the playoffs
-our offseason
that discussion, and how it makes you feel, are better suited for http://forums.philadelphiaflyers.com/
April 26, 2008 at 5:01 pm
Ok, I post there too. I just thought that since the Flyers will be the team to beat in the Eastern Conference for the foreseeable future, you might be interested in where they stand against the salary cap, especially with their UFA’s and RFA’s. They knocked your team out ot the playoffs this year, so if they get better, they’ll probabaly knock you out next year too. If they get worse, maybe you win. Maybe you can take your blinders off to see what the lead dog is doing so you can debat what adjustments your team should make?
That’s why I keep an eye on the Pens, to see who they are in risk of losing because as of today at least, they are “better” than my team.
April 26, 2008 at 6:59 pm
Philly,
It seems as if you’re looking for discussion… I think a more suitable place for you to post, if you indeed want to discuss your team with Caps fans, would be in the Capitals forum. There’s far more traffic there then on this blog. I’d bet that you’d find that most, if not all, the people that you’ve enjoyed chatting with here post over there as well.
~Turk
April 26, 2008 at 7:35 pm
Clearly it would be better, this isn’t a discussion forum, its only meant to comment on Vogels blog. Vogels blog is about the Washington Capitals, basically.
He is still trolling, just because its more coherent, doesn’t change the fact that it is still a troll.
April 26, 2008 at 9:02 pm
Simple solution for those who don’t want me here is to ignore my posts and act like I’m not here. Just skip the comments from Philly Voice of Reason. Very simple. By the way, I can tell that many of the caps “fans” have left this blog anyway and moved on with their life, so I’m sure Vogs appreciates the traffic.
Hey, 2nd intermission, 3-1 Fly Guys. Looking good eh? Gotta love it. Like I said, Price… shakey.
Well time to settle in for the third. Then it’s back to the jungle for 3 and 4.
Salute!
April 26, 2008 at 9:53 pm
Re: Rooting Against the Flyers and Sharks
Game 2 Over. 4-2 Flyers. Home ice advantage?
Sound familiar?
Update on Monday.
April 26, 2008 at 10:58 pm
Jason: I’m not missing Gonchar since they traded him for Morrisonn and I think the draft choice for Green. Schultz (27th pick) and Green (29 th pick) came from the draft choices obtained from Detroit (Robt Lang) and Boston in ‘04, I just don’t know which was which. Gonchar played like the last month for Boston and then lost the final year of his contract due to the missed season. He was a free agent prior to 2005 and signed for roughly $5M a year with Pitt. Caps could’ve re-signed him then, but I doubt they competed.
I like the trades the Caps made this year because the future wasn’t mortgaged. On the other hand, look what Boston gave up in this example and look how Nashville helped rebuild the Flyers by renting Forsberg last spring.
What a first round for the Caps in 2004: Ovechkin, Schultz, Green. And how ’bout 2002? Semin, Eminger, Gordon and Morrisonn thru trade. Steckel was also someone’s first rounder - LA I think from Anson Carter - but don’t know what year. 2006 gave us Backstrom and Varlamov from the Brendan Witt deal. 2003 maybe only Eric Fehr and 2005 was two guys who are beneath the radar - Sasha Pokulok and Joe Finley, a defenseman who just finished college eligibility I think at U of North Dakota. There was a nice write-up on him on the hockey prospects watch, and maybe next year he goes to Hershey. Caps are like the model for rebuilding. It could not have been done hardly any better.
April 27, 2008 at 12:21 am
yea i dont miss gonch…i just did when he was shipped off.
phily, most of you flyers fans have left too. and as far as the flyers being the team to beat in the future and them being bettert than the caps lets get one thing straight…
if anyone is the team to beat in the east its the pens. but phily is not superior to wash, and this is not thru my red glasses. the flyers went up 3-1, barely…could have been 2-2. then they cant close out the series until overtime, with a questionable goal putting us there, of game 7 on the power play. hardly the lead dog. they won and congrats, but they didnt beat us in any fashion that warrants being called the lead dog.
i have not been complaining the whole time and you should know this if you have read my posts. the only point i am trying to make is that the flyers barely beast us after going up 3-1
April 27, 2008 at 4:45 am
Gonchar’s defensive blunders costed us two series… he was probably the ONLY player I was happy to see go (at the time).
April 27, 2008 at 8:24 am
Last years Stanley cup champions got out in the first round, and that has happened I think they said the last couple years. Hell, look at Carolina. Won the Stanley cup and haven’t made the playoffs the next two years. With the salary cap, everyone keeps saying your going to see more and more parity in the NHL.
The caps are lucky enough to be a very young team. Out future is only looking up, once they sign Huet.
April 27, 2008 at 9:07 am
i have heard the rumor that the huet’s are house shopping
April 27, 2008 at 9:34 am
I will say that the caps and their fans have way more class than Montreal. Fans threw beer on Richards for a penalty that turned out not to be a penalty in game one… Kostopolis trying to start a fight after losing game 2…
They can’t believe their not dominating the Flyers and their starting to get frustrated. Flyers have reversed a lot of regular season trends in the playoffs so far and the next to fall is the Habs road record. Hopefully will get up enogh to where we can play Cote to beat Kostopolis’ ass.
April 27, 2008 at 9:39 am
From what I saw on the videoclips they posted after the last game, it seemed that way, both said those non useful things that to me indicated they want to be here. I’d guess thats assuming that the deal can be worked out.
Getting Huet signed soon will to me really help season ticket sales, although I’ve heard they are already doing well. I can see people though being hesitant to get them without huet being signed. Not that I want Olie to go, but it seems to be inevitable. I’m curious to see how Huet does with the starting job for a whole season here, he could really do well.
April 27, 2008 at 4:47 pm
Philly Voice .. you know that your team was lucky to escape the first round domination of the Capitals, right?
April 27, 2008 at 4:48 pm
*domination BY the Capitals, rather.
April 27, 2008 at 4:51 pm
why would you even stir that up?
we outplayed them games 4-7, we didnt dominate or we would have won. they were lucky to survive and could barely seal the deal…but they still won
April 27, 2008 at 6:29 pm
This is what I took out of the Flyers numbers:
Amount to spend: $5,603,333
UFA:
Jason Smith
Vaclav Prospal
Jaroslav Modry
Riley Cote
Jim Dowd
Jesse Boulerice
RFA:
Jeff Carter
RJ Umberger
Randy Jones
Patrick Thoresen
Carter will get a big chunk of that $5.6M. Umberger will get a fair piece. That’s it. There’s nothing left. I can’t believe they have $3.5M committed to a skating stiff like Hatcher. This is major salary cap trouble.
Caps have committed:
Nylander 4.875; Ovechkin 9.5; Kozlov 2.5; Backstrom 2.0 (I’m guessing w/bonus); Semin 4.6; Brash 1.2; Clark 2.65; Steckel .5; Flash .725; Poti 3.5; Pothier 2.5; Jurcina .9; Schultz .65; Ersk .55; Clymer 1.0; Johnny .81. That’s $39M. That leaves $14.3M…………..Holy Moly….let’s say Huet gets $5M??? and Green gets $4.5M….now we’re up to $48.5M…there’s only then $4.8M left. Morrisonn will take at least $1.5M as a RFA and Laich has to get that much, too. Now give Eric Fehr the $800K and Gordon $800K too he gets now and you are left with TWO HUNDRED MEASLEY THOUSAND DOLLARS! Can it be, the Caps will be maxxed out too?
You can’t keep Federov, you can’t keep Cooke and you can’t have Olie there instead of Johnny at like $2M for Olie (if he’d do that). Now put Alzner at $900K and you are over but subtract since you’d trade Jurcina to move room. I didn’t even include Eminger but the cap only charges who is on the active roster (plus guys like Clymer with NHL deals in the minors), so if Emmy is up then maybe Schultz isn’t. You also might subtract Pothier if he retires and they get a medical exemption.
If the Caps want to keep Federov, they might have to trade Nylander???
And anyone wants to check my math, please do. Maybe one of these days the blogmeister can research this and tell us where the team truly stands. And even if you don’t keep Huet, you will need SOME starting goalie and if you want to win the Cup - $5M+ is the going rate.
April 27, 2008 at 7:01 pm
cap trouble like this is what comes from a quick fix like phily did last offseason
April 27, 2008 at 7:03 pm
pothier wont count against cap if injured
and we are probably gonna get rid of some others in order to keep feds and cooke both of which are vital cogs in our caps machine
April 27, 2008 at 7:42 pm
Why would you consider a player that close to retirement a “vital” cog? GMGM seems to think that younger players have a brighter future than players that close to retirement.
Sure, he was nice to have around, and sure, if we can sign him go ahead, but the position Fedorov had belongs to Nylander.
Capitals:
Goalies:
Cristobal Huet
Brent Johnson
Defense:
Mike Green_Shoane Morrisson
Tom Poti_Jeff Schultz
Karl Alzner_?
Steve Eminger
John Erskine
Forwards:
Oveckin _Backstrom_Kozlov
Semin_Nylander_Laich
Clark_Steckel_cooke
Bradley_Gordon_Brashear
Extra Forward:
Fehr
Fleischmann
That would be my team for next year, assuming I can count.
April 27, 2008 at 9:38 pm
Anthony: You can count. Here’s cap value with my guesses on salary. I put a ? after those players not signed byt with my guess:
Huet $5M?; Johnson $825K; Green $4.5M?; Morrisonn $1.5M?; Poti $3.5M; Schultz $650K; Ersk $550K; Alzner $900K?; Eminger $700K?; Ovechkin $9.5M; Backstrom $2M*; Kozzie $2.5M; Semin $4.6M; Nylander $4.875M; Laich $2M?; Clark $2.65M; Steckel $.5M; Cooke $1.25M?; Bradley $1.25M?; Gordon $800K?; Fehr $800K?; Brash $1.2M; Flash $725K.
I’m assuming Huet gets five mil and Cooke and Bradley $1.25M on the open market. The other ? players are RFAs and they either agree or could have offer sheets from other teams. Backstrom has an asterick because he has a bonus based on this year’s perf and I don’t know what the bonus will be. I’m guessing he gets most of it.
I have this at very close to the $53M supposed cap. I didn’t realize until doing all this that McPhee would be so constrained for next year. The good news is that assuming he gets Huet, Green and Laich signed for three years each then the cap will work for all those years, Backstrom making more in the third year but some others coming off.
Anyone (like me) who wants the Caps to sign that big, bruising blueliner - someone would need to come off. This is why I’ve advocated trading Semin for that d-man at times. Semin makes a ton. If he quits the stick fouls and giveaways, he’s worth the money. If not, he’s a liability (see Gilbert Arenas below).
Anyway, McPhee’s job is child’s play compared to Ernie Grunfeld’s. What in the world do you do with the Wizards? Jamison and Arenas are FAs, assuming Arenas opts out. Then you have a ton of cap space taken up by people like Etan Thomas and Songaila.
April 27, 2008 at 9:39 pm
I agree Tom. Carter Umberger must dos’s and I think they should keep Thoresen too. This should eat up space under cap for Flyers. Rest can go. Hatch isn’t playing horribly, just horribly slow since coming off a broken leg and bad knee that hasn’t had time to heal. If they don’t package trade him, hopefully he’ll get some speed back when he is 100% healthy. His experience in the locker room and presence on the ice when teams get chippy is inmeasurable.
April 27, 2008 at 9:55 pm
Cooke, while fun to watch the last few months, was a rental to fill Clark’s roll. Had the Caps had a healthy captain going into the Playoffs that deal doesn’t get done. If it does, it would have been to move Petty for a draft pick or help for Hershey.
As least that’s what I think.
~Turk
April 27, 2008 at 10:06 pm
I think that if we can keep Semin from the playoffs, we are all set, if not, then I have agreed with you at times. My like of Semin is usually minute by minute during a game.
I agree Turk, but if you take cooke off, who do you want as that forward? Fedorov? I’m not anti-fedorov, I just don’t think he would be happy down there. Maybe Lang? I just see them sticking with cooke since he is younger.
I really don’t see the caps making that make UFA signings, if any. I dont’ see GMGM signing a stay at home D , due to Alzner. I bet in his mind, he has that D, we just need to wait for him to be ready, which I think will be next year.
Flash is i think likely to be up for trade bait at the deadline next year, unless he has a green like year next year. I see him going away if he doesn’t come back a different capital next year.
April 27, 2008 at 10:09 pm
I just realized I forgot Jurcina, up there. That wasn’t intentional.
April 28, 2008 at 12:16 am
Feds is a center… Cooke’s spot belongs to Clark, Bradley, and Flash/Fehr. I think…
Add Bourque to the mix and there’s just not room. Bradley’s as well and Cooke’s contracts are up this year so that makes then even more comparable. Everyone seems to think Brads will be cheaper…
We’ve seen that GMGM is loyal almost to a fault. I mean look how long he hung on to Hanlon. I think Brads comes back, and he’s shown us in the Playoffs that he can play the same game as Cooke. I also seem to remember hearing Bradley is one hell of a locker room guy. That’s an invaluable asset. When things start getting tough it’s these type of people that teammates gravitate towards. At least that’s been my experience in the military in a “high speed, low drag” unit. I’d imagine professional hockey closely resembles that atmosphere.
~Turk
April 28, 2008 at 5:19 am
I know Feds is a center, thats what I’m saying, I just don’t see room. If you didn’t sign cooke, it would open a little more space for guys from hershey to get playing time, and would ease up the books a little bit.
#1 is Huet.
I’d rather have huet and no cooke, than the other way around. Or virtually any way at all, we need Huet.
April 28, 2008 at 5:26 am
Also of note is that in my original chart up there I forgot Jurcina, so you’d have to have Alzner in Hershey for the year, or have another D and one less forward, which you could do and keep all of those D. If Eminger stays in town, which I’m a fan of, but I can obviously understand why he may want to leave. To be honest, if we could keep Eminger and get rid of Erskine, I’d rather do that.
April 28, 2008 at 7:08 am
Anthony: The good thing about Erskine is his cap value. He gives you the same game as Jurcina for $350K less. Maybe leaving out Jurcina was a Freudian slip. We’ve also left out Pothier so if he comes back ($2.5M) that tangles things a bit.
I am thinking it really might come down to Bradley or Cooke, one or the other. Cooke doesn’t offer the same offensive skill as Clark. You also need to get Fehr in the mix as a regular player. He, Clark and Laich are the net crashers on the team. You see the way Philly beat us and you see when we crashed the net a bit we were better. That’s why I put Laich at $2M because he rreally turned it up a notch over the last month. Kozzie is not a long-term answer so Laich could end up battling with Fehr in 2009 for 1st line RW.
The average cap salary ($53.3M divided by 18 skaters, two goalies and two scratches) is $2.42M per player. Ovechkin gets $9.5M so as a for instance 4 other guys need to total $2.6M to make those five hit the average. This says you can’t compete and win with too many 4th line guys at $1M. Erskine, Steckel, Gordon and Fehr must make the team at their salaries and must be integral parts or you can’t win, because Ovechkin’s salary must be averaged out. Just like Green, Morrisonn and Eminger together will average out. Kozzie and Pothier at $2.5M each start to look overpaid as they are above the average. Are they better than average?
It’s almost like you need to rate each player relative to the average salary and then tell yourself as a GM that you can’t overpay. And for every dollar of value you get from a guy like Steckel you’ve got a few chips saved up for an injury or a trade deadline acquisition.
April 28, 2008 at 7:13 am
This is also why you see guys like Lepisto up and down and up and down. They only hit the cap when they’re on the roster, so you can’t afford to waste cap dollars throughout the year by having guys in the pressbox. This is yet another reason why having two-way contracts on the roster helps because you can send them down for a few days when there aren’t any injuries.
April 28, 2008 at 8:43 am
forgeting jurcina should have been intention he cost us games in the playoffs.
April 28, 2008 at 9:16 am
Jurcina next year might be playing the same role Emminger did this year……healthy scratch
April 28, 2008 at 10:25 am
Based on our play (or lack thereof) during the PK in the playoffs, I can’t help but wonder how things might have went if we’d had Laing in there for a few of those PKs. Regarding the discussion of Semin, I agree that it’s often a love/hate thing with him, but I did notice that once Fedorov arrived, Semin’s play seemed to improve and his sloppiness declined a bit; I think Fedorov (if we keep him) would lead to an overall greatly improved Semin. Jurcina should go, and maybe Schultz too. And I would prefer Eminger over Erskine as well.
April 28, 2008 at 11:23 am
The Caps had a boatload of cap room (about $8M) going into 2007-08. There will likely be a $3M bump in the cap, and they are going to have a couple players free up Cap room (definitely Olie Kolzig, who will be making less whether he stays in DC or retires.. I don’t see him signing anywhere else). If it turns out that Pothier can’t play again, then his salary will be released from the Cap (he’ll get his money from his long-term disability insurance that all the players have).
G:
1) Huet - Should resign
2) Johnson - Signed for one more year
D:
1) Poti (signed for 3 more years)/Alzner (gets std. rookie deal for 3 years)
2) Green(should be signed before July 1)/Morrisonn (will be resigned for 2-3 years)
3) Schultz/Eminger
Extras: Erskine
F:
1) Ovechkin/Fedorov (I figure he’ll play in DC or retire)/Kozlov
2) Laich (due for a big raise)/Backstrom/Semin
3) Clark/Nylander/Fleischmann
4) Brashear/Gordon/Steckel
Extras: Bradley (I think he can be got for a “hometown discount”), Laing
I have a feeling that we’ve seen the last of Jurcina, Cooke and Olie in Caps uniforms, and that Pothier is going to have to retire, or take even more time off. I hope that Pothier can return, but the longer he is unable to play, the less likely he will be able to. Sami Lepisto would be playing in the NHL in most organizations as well, but there are only so-many spots for players…
At least, for a change, the Caps are in a position of strength in that they have a lot of talent in a lot of places. It’s much better than in the fall of 2005 when they were scrambling to find players to fill out the line up (Ben Clymer, Andrew Cassels, Matthew Biron, etc.)
April 28, 2008 at 11:54 am
i would like to see flash out and cooke in. also shultz needs to toughen up or leave. he is huge but never throws his body around. he could easily be that big bruising blueliner.
April 28, 2008 at 1:11 pm
Some might have re-signed. I like Brad Stuart, defenseman, age 27, Detroit.
Centers - Potential 2008 NHL Unrestricted Free Agents
Player Age Team 07-08 Salary Contract Notes
Joe Sakic 37 COL $6,750,000
Sergei Fedorov 37 CLB $6,080,000
Mats Sundin 36 TOR $5,500,000
Bobby Holik 36 ATL $4,250,000
Alexei Zhamnov 36 BOS $4,100,000
Doug Weight 36 STL $3,500,000
Martin Straka 34 NYR $3,300,000
Brendan Morrison 31 VAN $3,200,000
Craig Conroy 35 CGY $2,850,000
Daymond Langkow 30 CGY $2,442,000
Steve Rucchin 35 ATL $2,400,000
Bryan Smolinski 35 MTL $2,000,000
Sean Avery 27 NYR $1,900,000
Vaclav Prospal 32 PHI $1,900,000
Jason Williams 26 CHI $1,600,000
Yanic Perreault 36 CHI $1,500,000
Chris Gratton 31 TBL $1,500,000
Mike Peca 33 CLB $1,300,000
Chris Kelly 26 OTT $1,262,000
Stephane Yelle 33 CGY $1,250,000
Mike York 29 PHX $1,000,000
Marty Reasoner 30 EDM $950,000
Stu Barnes 36 DAL $900,000
Niko Kapanen 29 PHX $900,000
Ryan Johnson 31 STL $800,000
Josef Vasicek 26 NYI $750,000
Dominic Moore 26 TOR $700,000
Curtis Brown 31 SJS $700,000
Byron Ritchie 30 VAN $675,000
Kevyn Adams 32 CHI $650,000
Randy Robitaille 31 OTT $625,000
Jaroslav Hlinka 30 COL $600,000
Trevor Linden 37 VAN $600,000
Patrick Rissmiller 28 SJS $595,000
Kris Beech 26 PIT $585,000
Mark Hartigan 29 DET $550,000
Jason Krog 31 ATL $500,000
Glen Metropolit 33 BOS $500,000
Zenon Konopka 26 CLB $500,000
Wyatt Smith 30 COL $500,000
Jim Dowd 38 PHI $500,000
Jeremy Roenick 37 SJS $500,000
Andreas Karlsson 31 TBL $500,000
Craig MacDonald 30 TBL $500,000
Tim Taylor 38 TBL $500,000 Retiring
Mike Glumac 27 STL $495,000
Mark Smith 29 CGY $488,000
Michael Ryan 27 BUF $475,000
Krys Barch 27 DAL $475,000
Brad Winchester 26 DAL $475,000
John Pohl 28 TOR $475,000
Top
Defenseman - Potential 2008 NHL Unrestricted Free Agents
Player Age Team 07-08 Salary Contract Notes
Wade Redden 30 OTT $6,500,000
Rob Blake 37 LAK $6,000,000
Adam Foote 35 COL $4,600,000
Mattias Norstrom 35 DAL $4,250,000
Brad Stuart 27 DET $3,500,000
Darius Kasparaitis 34 NYR $3,116,000
Paul Mara 27 NYR $3,000,000
Aaron Ward 34 BOS $2,750,000
Teppo Numminen 38 BUF $2,600,000
Oleg Tverdovsky 31 LAK $2,500,000
Marek Malik 32 NYR $2,500,000
Bret Hedican 36 CAR $2,432,000
Michal Rozsival 28 NYR $2,300,000
Dmitri Kalinin 26 BUF $2,250,000
Keith Carney 37 MIN $2,100,000
Dick Tarnstrom 32 CLB $2,000,000
Jason Smith 33 PHI $1,976,000
Brian Campbell 28 SJS $1,750,000
Mark Eaton 30 PIT $1,600,000
Bryce Salvador 31 NJD $1,500,000
Aaron Miller 35 VAN $1,500,000
Andrei Zyuzin 29 CHI $1,475,000
Glen Wesley 38 CAR $1,400,000
John-Michael Liles 26 COL $1,400,000
Karel Rachunek 27 NJD $1,400,000
Richard Matvichuk 34 NJD $1,368,000
Mike Commodore 27 OTT $1,300,000
Jim Vandermeer 27 CAL $1,225,000
Nolan Baumgartner 31 DAL $1,200,000
Jaroslav Modry 36 PHI $1,200,000
Petteri Nummelin 34 MIN $1,200,000
Jan Hejda 29 CLB $1,000,000
Andreas Lilja 31 DET $1,000,000
Ron Hainsey 26 CLB $900,000
Chris Chelios 45 DET $850,000
Branislav Mezei 26 FLA $850,000
Steve Montador 27 FLA $800,000
Steve McCarthy 26 ATL $725,000
Bryan Berard 30 NYI $725,000
Kurt Sauer 26 COL $719,000
Joe DiPenta 28 ANA $700,000
Magnus Johansson 33 FLA $700,000
Patrice Brisebois 36 MTL $700,000
Alexei Semenov 26 SJS $650,000
Sandis Ozolinsh 34 SJS $625,000
Joel Kwiatkowski 30 ATL $600,000
Mark Streit 29 MTL $600,000
Matt Walker 27 STL $600,000
Mike Weaver 29 VAN $600,000
David Hale 26 CGY $590,000
Nolan Pratt 31 BUF $550,000
Rory Fitzpatrick 32 PHI $550,000
Jassen Cullimore 34 FLA $535,000
Alain Nasreddine 31 PIT $535,000
Freddy Meyer 26 NYI $525,000
Rob Davison 27 SJS $525,000
Bobby Allen 28 BOS $500,000
Dan Jancevski 26 DAL $500,000
Jeff Jillson 26 COL $500,000
Wade Brookbank 29 CAR $500,000
Sheldon Brookbank 26 NJD $500,000
Andrew Hutchinson 27 NYR $500,000
Jason Strudwick 31 NYR $500,000
Luke Richardson 38 OTT $500,000
Micki DuPont 27 STL $500,000
Garrett Stafford 27 DET $500,000
Andy Wozniewski 27 TOR $500,000
Kevin Dallman 26 LAK $490,000
Jeff Finger 27 COL $475,000
Allan Rourke 27 EDM $475,000
Sean Hill 37 MIN $475,000
Mike Mottau 29 NJD $475,000
Matt Carkner 26 OTT $475,000
Ryan Caldwell 26 PHX $475,000
Brad Norton 32 SJS $475,000
Doug Janik 27 TBL $475,000
Bruno St. Jacques 26 ANA $475,000
Top
Goaltenders - Potential 2008 NHL Unrestricted Free Agents
Player Age Team 07-08 Salary Contract Notes
Jose Theodore 30 COL $6,000,000
Olaf Kolzig 37 WAS $5,450,000
Cristobal Huet 31 WAS $2,750,000
Dominik Hasek 42 DET $2,050,000
John Grahame 31 CAR $1,400,000
Johan Hedberg 34 ATL $1,150,000
Johan Holmqvist 29 DAL $1,000,000
Patrick Lalime 32 CHI $950,000
Jocelyn Thibault 32 BUF $760,000
Stephen Valiquette 29 NYR $635,000
David Aebischer 29 PHX $600,000
Alex Auld 26 BOS $600,000
Curtis Sanford 27 VAN $600,000
Michael Leighton 26 CAR $550,000
Jean-Sebastien Aubin 29 ANA $525,000
Mike Morrison 27 NJD $525,000
Fred Brathwaite 34 ATL $500,000
Frederic Cassivi 32 WAS $500,000
Scott Clemmensen 29 TOR $500,000
Ty Conklin 31 PIT $500,000
Dan Ellis 27 NAS $500,000
Jordan Sigalet 26 BOS $500,000
Wade Dubielewicz 28 NYI $500,000
Top
Left Wingers - Potential 2008 NHL Unrestricted Free Agents
Player Age Team 07-08 Salary Contract Notes
Markus Naslund 33 VAN $6,000,000
Ladislav Nagy 28 LAK $3,750,000
Martin Rucinsky 36 STL $3,000,000
Ruslan Fedotenko 28 NYI $2,900,000
Brendan Shanahan 38 NYR $2,500,000
Gary Roberts 41 PIT $2,500,000
Petr Cajanek 31 STL $2,000,000
Cory Stillman 33 OTT $1,750,000
Andrew Brunette 33 COL $1,600,000
Matt Cooke 28 WAS $1,525,000
Geoff Sanderson 35 EDM $1,500,000
Scott Thornton 36 LAK $1,500,000
Ryan Malone 27 PIT $1,450,000
Kristian Huselius 28 CGY $1,400,000
Martin Gelinas 37 NAS $1,250,000
Jarkko Ruutu 31 PIT $1,150,000
Jason Chimera 28 CLB $1,000,000
Antti Miettinen 26 DAL $885,000
Pascal Dupuis 28 PIT $880,000
Todd Fedoruk 28 MIN $875,000
Jay Pandolfo 32 NJD $836,000
Jan Hlavac 30 NAS $700,000
Niklas Hagman 27 DAL $675,000
Jody Shelley 31 SJS $650,000
Eric Boulton 30 ATL $525,000
David Koci 26 CHI $525,000
Brad Isbister 30 VAN $525,000
Darcy Hordichuk 26 NAS $517,000
Kip Brennan 26 NYI $500,000
Steve Kelly 30 MIN $500,000
Matt Murley 27 PHO $500,000
Jeff Taffe 26 PIT $500,000
Ryan Bayda 26 CAR $475,000
Raitis Ivanans 28 LAK $475,000
Chris Simon 35 MIN $475,000
Mathias Tjarnqvist 28 PHX $475,000
Mathieu Darche 30 TBL $475,000
Noah Clarke 28 NJD $475,000
Jeff Giuliano 28 LAK $475,000
Top
Right Wingers - Potential 2008 NHL Unrestricted Free Agents
Player Age Team 07-08 Salary Contract Notes
Marian Hossa 28 PIT $7,000,000
Pavol Demitra 32 MIN $4,500,000
Miroslav Satan 32 NYI $4,500,000
Michael Ryder 27 MTL $2,950,000
Brian Rolston 34 MIN $2,432,000
Martin Lapointe 33 OTT $2,400,000
David Vyborny 32 CLB $2,200,000
Owen Nolan 35 CGY $1,750,000
Mark Recchi 39 ATL $1,750,000
Teemu Selanne 37 ANA $1,500,000
Georges Laraque 30 PIT $1,300,000
Radim Vrbata 26 PHX $1,225,000
Andre Roy 32 TBL $1,000,000
Shean Donovan 32 OTT $925,000
Brian Willsie 29 LAK $900,000
Trevor Letowski 30 CAR $800,000
Mike Johnson 32 STL $750,000
Arron Asham 29 NJD $700,000
Matt Bradley 29 WAS $700,000
Branko Radivojevic 26 MIN $680,000
Wade Belak 30 FLA $625,000
Niko Dimitrakos 28 OTT $575,000
Dallas Drake 38 DET $550,000
Darren McCarty 35 DET $535,000
Aaron Downey 32 DET $525,000
Adam Hall 26 PIT $525,000
Josh Langfeld 29 NAS $500,000
Junior Lessard 27 TBL $500,000
Jeff Hoggan 29 BOS $495,000
Mark Mowers 33 ANA $475,000
Darren Haydar 27 ATL $475,000
Keith Aucoin 28 CAR $475,000
Eric Godard 27 CGY $475,000
Scott Parker 29 COL $475,000
Jesse Boulerice 28 PHI $475,000
Kyle Wanvig 26 TB $475,000
Craig Weller 26 PHX $475,000
Top
NFL News | NBA News | NHL News
April 28, 2008 at 3:16 pm
Do you guys really honestly believe with potential cap space issues, that GMGM will shell out the money for a defensemen, given Alzner coming up in the wings?
April 28, 2008 at 3:54 pm
Anthony,
Not at all… I think we actually agree that Huet is the key FA signing this year. Anything after that and it will have to involve a trade. Personally, I’d like to see Eminger stay and if that entails Jurcina, Schultz, or Erskine being the odd man out then so be it.
~Turk
April 28, 2008 at 4:36 pm
I agree, any of the three of them leaving would be fine with me. Personally I think Schultz needs to figure out who he wants to be in the NHL. He doesn’t have to be a big body defenseman if he is a better puck moving d-man.
I’m not worried per-se about signing Huet, but I’ll feel a lot better when its done. I may even shell out the money for a Huet sweater.
April 28, 2008 at 5:12 pm
Marian Hossa 28 PIT $7,000,000
Are you kidding me? Holy pay-cut next year…
April 28, 2008 at 8:07 pm
Hey, I wanted a big, bruising d-man until I crunched the numbers. I still think we might be able to wangle Brad Stuart, depending on who stays, trades and the cap figure. The Caps also have the option if Huet leaves to “go cheap” in goal with Johnny and maybe Cassivi (or Varlamov) and then pick up someone at the deadline. You can pick up a $5M goalie at the deadline and he essentially only costs $1.25M in total cap hit.
The one goalie I found interesting as a FA was Conklin at like $500K this past year. You know the Pens will not be able to pay a going rate for him going forward.
I do numbers all day in my job (.1 = $100K) so all this cap stuff is as interesting almost as the games themselves. Most times the GM who wins the cap game wins the real game.
Erskine is too valuable at $550K not to be in the mix. You also sign Quintin Laing at $500K to be the spare forward. He gives the body so much he nees to sit out 1 of 3 games just so he doesn’t die. I would sat=y good-bye to Cookie ‘cuz Calrk and Brads (if you sign him) cover what Cookie does. Somehow I want to get Federov back in the mix. To do so, and fit in the cap, I would CONSIDER trading Nylander to Edmonton since they wanted him. OK, so next year you have Backstrom, Federov, Steckel and Gordon as pivots. That worked down the stretch this year, and it would work next year. And if Federov plays for $3M, then you save $2M on the cap.
Schultz is really tall but he’s like a freakin spider out there with his limbs all akimbo. He’s like 6′6″ but built like all my bony German ancestors. He needs to eat 18,000 t-bone steaks and lift a million pounds in the weight room and then maybe he’d be a serviceable NHL defenseman. Meanwhile, Erskine is hell on wheels but just not always pointed in the right direction.
Which is why we have coaches.
Here’s my grades for the Cap’s organization for 07-08:
Owner: A
General Manager: A
Coach: A
Team Skill: B -
Team Heart: A
Future Prognosis: A
Some time after the end of game 7, maybe the next day, we were talking about it all here in our Orlando homestead (to which I’ve invited you all next year when they play the Lightning) and I told the wife that the finest compliment the Caps received was when an “unnamed” GM of another team said that Ovechkin was “as Canadian as Gordie Howe.” Now, as someone who used to fall asleep nights listening to the radio as a little kid in Detroit while Howe played - that is the finest compliment any player could get in hockey. It’s as fine a compliment as any player could get in any North American team sports. It’s like he’s as good a fielder and as nice a guy as Brooks Robinson. This team has only one way to go and that direction is up.
April 28, 2008 at 8:36 pm
One more note on this salary cap thing, now that the Caps are apparently up against it:
This is like when your wife says you can only spend $40 a week on alcoholic beverages.
To those of you who don’t drink: As Frank Sinatra said, I’m sorry but that means when you wake up in the morning it’s as good as you’re going to feel all day.
To the rest of you: you only have $40. Five mixed drinks out at $8 each and you are done! And it’s only Monday! You can drink once a week at $40 or every night at $5.71 per. You must set your priorities - quantity and quality. Sometimes I just want one Heineken. Other times at the beach you want quantity so I take a 12 of Old Milwaukee. You might want zinfandel with lamb chops or sauvignon blanc with pork tenderloin and sage seasoning or maybe like now I squeezed oranges from the tree and I have mixed in some Cuervo.
The bottom line is you need a mix of things at varying prices and in the end they must work within the budget and provide you MAXIMUM VALUE to achieve your objectives.
If you understand what I’ve said you all get 1 credit from Tom in Florida’s Economics 101, “The Economics of Hockey and Beer.”
All of you are expected to do some light drinking and light hockey watching prior to the next class. You are reminded of the words of Henny Youngmann:
“I read about the evils of drinking once and I immediately gave up reading.”
They should carve out a spot on Mt. Rushmore for that man.
April 28, 2008 at 8:38 pm
Your not paying much attention then Tom to the rumor/idea that we never really saw the “real” Nylander this year?
I think his plus/minus was directly related to his shoulder injury.
April 29, 2008 at 5:28 am
The caps message boards had a french article that someone had translated about Huet (obviously), which was a basically positive article. It indicated he wanted to stay.
http://www.rds.ca/hockey/chroniques/250782.html
April 29, 2008 at 7:57 am
Anthony: Nylander was supposedly fine until the injury, which occurred as reported in late November against the Panthers. He is a good player, I remember him with NYR the year before, like 85 points. Good numbers. He’s not a bruiser, though. I would love him on the team as #2 center if Federov doesn’t return. If Federov comes back, though, you have cap troubles (see all the calculations above). The way I figure it, depending on how much the cap goes up, you maybe can’t keep both. Or, if you want them to sign/obtain a guy like Brad Stuart, you’d beed to move at least one d-man due to too many players there and you’d also need to move salary. I really didn’t realize this situation existed until PVOR posted the Flyers cap situation and I decided to check on the Caps. If it turns out we bring back Huet, Federov and Bradley, and that’s it, keep the same defense plus Alzner, that’s fine. The Caps can always leave one shortage to be addressed next year at the trade deadline. It’s good to know that from here on out we are BUYERS at deadline time. You get a guy at the deadline, and his cap charge is only 1/4th what it would have been had you had him all year. We could even let Federov sit out and come back next year around February, like the Ducks did this year with Niedermayer and Selanne, but then again the Ducks lost.
April 29, 2008 at 9:58 am
Tom: I believe it was Dean Martin who said that, not Frank.
P.S. - - Anyone else feel like Kozlov never actually showed up for the playoffs? What was up with that. Just adds to my previously-stated “If only we’d had Laing for the PK” lament.