Opinion

No, Screw It, I’m Not Growing a Beard This Time

On April 29, 2013, In Opinion, By Peter Hassett

Since 2010, RMNB has been keeping track of Caps fans’ playoff beards under the banner #beardpact. It’s been our way of keeping in touch regarding our ill-advised facial-hair enterprises, sending some traffic towards Beard-a-Thon, and having a few laughs.

Maybe that’s been fun for you, but it’s been hell for me.

When I can actually grow a beard, I look really bad. Like Nick Backstrom bad. And my so-called friends have this awful habit of getting married during the playoffs. Like every goddamn year. It’s as if their wives didn’t even care about Bruce Boudreau’s job. And have you ever tried to talk to a smart and sophisticated lady while you have the facial scruff of a pubescent seventh grader?

So, yeah. Not this year, guys. I am not growing a playoff beard.

Tagged with: #beardpact

Why It’s Important to Chant ‘MVP’ For Alex Ovechkin

On April 23, 2013, In Artwork, Opinion, By Ian Oland

Photo credit: Paul Chiasson

Over the next five days, the Capitals will finish the lockout-shortened 2012-13 season with three home games. The Caps’ match-ups with Winnipeg, Ottawa, and Boston will not only determine if Washington wins the Southeast Division and makes the playoffs, they’ll also sort out the trophy races that Alex Ovechkin is involved in. Ovechkin, after not winning any hardware since 2010, is in contention for four awards: the Ted Lindsey trophy for players’ MVP, the Art Ross trophy (for most points), the Maurice Richard trophy (for most goals), and the Hart trophy (for most valuable player).

While The Great Eight and his peers control his destiny with three of these four awards, the esteemed members of the Professional Hockey Writers’ Association will decide the Hart Trophy. This is the same media that in the last three years has literally flogged Ovechkin with a spiked 2 x 4 painted with a red maple leaf and dripping with Tim Horton’s coffee. Because when every great player gets older and his team becomes less aggressive, it’s the media’s moral obligation to antagonize him to casual fans and excoriate him at every turn.

I mean, look at some of this stuff.

Tagged with: Alex Ovechkin • Hart Trophy • Signs

Ovi for Hart, Part II: Because the Capitals Needed Him

On April 22, 2013, In Opinion, By Peter Hassett

Photo credit: Andre Ringuette

Earlier I wrote about how the Hart Trophy was a poorly defined award of limited value. Now I’ll share why I think Alex Ovechkin absolutely must have it. I’m going to share some stats and rebut some excuses, but the whole thing boils down to this: the Capitals needed the best from Ovechkin, and he delivered it.

But first, I’m going to repeat what we talked about before. This is the most valuable player to his team, not just the best all-around player. If we’re talking best player? I’d say it’s Sidney Crosby. Hands down. But most valuable? And to his team? That’s a more interesting conversation. And now, baby, you’ve got a stew going.

Tagged with: Alex Ovechkin • Hart Trophy • John Tavares • Jonathan Toews • Sergei Bobrovsky • Sidney Crosby

Ovi for Hart, Part I: The Hart Trophy is Kind of Stupid

On April 21, 2013, In Opinion, By Peter Hassett

Photo credit: Francois Lacasse

Sidney Crosby, John Tavares, Jonathan Toews, and Alex Ovechkin. Those are the names most seen in the deluge of chatter about this season’s Hart Trophy, the award given each year to the player deemed most valuable to his team. Washington’s own goal-scoring leader Alex Ovechkin seems to be the underdog in those conversations for a variety of reasons, namely that he plays in a bad division and wasn’t exceptional until the middle of March. I think those reasons are suspect, but the Hart conversation is already marred by a whole lot of questionable conventional wisdom.

The Hart Trophy is supposed to be awarded to the player that the Professional Hockey Writers Association deems most valuable to his team. While the actual inscription on the Hart Trophy leaves out the whole “to his team” part, I find that little prepositional phrase to be crucial. The NHL is unlike the MLB, whose MVP award has a simpler definition (“most outstanding player“), the same one used for the Ted Lindsay Award.

The Lindsay is the NHL’s real MVP award: voted on by the players and without consideration for team quality or any of the other logical convolutions that make the Hart the cause of ulcers for everyone silly enough to care about it.

Tagged with: Alex Ovechkin • Hart Trophy • Jose Theodore • Sidney Crosby • Steven Stamkos

Martin Erat and the Case Against the “Upper Body Injury”

On April 10, 2013, In Injury, Opinion, Translations, By Igor Kleyner

Photo credit: J Pat Carter

Less than twenty minutes into the contest between the Washington Capitals and the Florida Panthers, the Caps’ big trade deadline acquisition, veteran winger Martin Erat, went awkwardly into the boards courtesy of a reckless shove by hulking young defenseman Eric Gudbranson. A few anxious seconds later, Caps fans were holding their breath as Marty was helped off the ice by his teammates, clearly favoring his right leg. Later on, the team referred to it as a “lower body injury.” Nothing to be happy about, of course, but it could have been so much worse, especially given Erat’s extensive concussion history.

“Wait! What concussion history?,” you may ask, and rightfully so. After all, Marty has been an NHLer for over a decade, and in all that time the Nashville Predators (his team since his debut in 2003) released exactly zero statements mentioning Martin Erat having a concussion. The ubiquitous “upper body injury” appears numerous times, but never a concussion. In fact, a Google search for “Martin Erat concussion” yields references to just one suspected case – an injury Erat suffered during the last World Championship. So, no worries then, right?

But what if someone actually asked Marty? Because someone did.

Tagged with: Concussion • Joffrey Lupul • Martin Erat

Caps Fans Work Through Their Feelings Using Filip Forsberg’s Wikipedia Page

On April 3, 2013, In Opinion, Photos, By Ian Oland

Photo via @SteeChain

When I got home from work tonight, I ate my feelings in homemade Hawaiian pizza (thanks, Ashley). I’m bummed about the Erat/Forsberg trade. As much as I love this team, I worry they are just not that great, getting older, and not actually improving along with their win-loss record. I hoped the Caps would flip some guys in the final years of their contracts for picks and prospects, but instead George McPhee did the opposite: trading part of the Caps’ future, Filip Forsberg, for Martin Erat, a 31-year-old left wing who is 249th in goal scoring and has a cap hit of $4.5 million. The team is better now, but I don’t know about their future.

It’s nice to know that I’m not the only one who is ambivalent. A few minutes after the trade was announced, Forsberg’s Wikipedia page was defaced. Like five times.

Tagged with: Filip Forsberg • Martin Erat

How I Learned To Stop Crunching Numbers and Love the Game

On April 1, 2013, In Opinion, By Neil Greenberg

[Ed. note: RMNB alum Neil Greenberg now writes for The Washington Post and ESPN Insider. He offers this special contribution.]

Baseball was my first love. I grew up as a Mets fan. I could hop on the subway and be at Shea Stadium in minutes. I’d watch every game in my bedroom on a small color TV with tinfoil on the antennae for better reception. At the stadium I would chant, “Give it a ride, Darryl! Give it a ride!” while the organ played, and I consumed my weight in pretzels before the fifth inning. I still can’t watch replays of Game 6 without tearing up when the ball gets by Buckner.

I joined a few fantasy baseball leagues. One of them had 16 teams and a $2,500 entry fee. Big money and lots of fun.

Then I found the 1987 Bill James Baseball Abstract at the bookstore and my life changed.

I learned that numbers could see the future. I learned about “new” statistics like baserunner errors, quality starts, total average, on base + slugging, and runs created. Then, in the 1988 version, James cited workload-related burnout as the reason the Abstract would stop. Yes, stop. No mas. So I went on a quest, searching on my bike every used bookstore I could find to buy the Abstracts from 1977-1986. Eventually, I had them all. Every Bill James Baseball Abstract was mine. And I truly knew baseball.

Tagged with: #fancystats • Neil Greenberg

Finding Out Who Trash-Talked Ovi on Evgeny Kuznetsov’s Wiki Page: Total Waste Of Half an Hour

On March 26, 2013, In Opinion, By Peter Hassett

Photo credit: Vladimir Fedorenko

We get questions about Evgeny Kuznetsov on a pretty much daily basis. (Quick: Don’t expect him in DC until after 2014 Sochi Olympics.) The frequency of the questions was a bit bewildering considering how much we’ve covered the guy, but a tweet from RMNB reader and known sportsyapper @dylanwheatley83 tipped me off to something.

@peterhassett @ianoland you guys know anything about this unsourced quote on kuzya’s wiki page that he wont play for wsh while ovi is there

— dylan wheatley (@dylanwheatley83) March 25, 2013

I checked out Kuznetsov’s wiki page, where I found this passage:

He has publically stated that he will never dawnd a Washington Capitals jersey as long as Alex Ovechkin is there. His reasons are based that Ovechkin’s work ethic may rub off on him as a bad influence.

Uhh. What?

Tagged with: Alex Ovechkin • Evgeny Kuznetsov • nerdery • wikipedia

CBC Analyst Craig Simpson: The Caps “Need to Clean House,” “Toxic” Alex Ovechkin Should Be Bought Out

On March 13, 2013, In Opinion, By Ian Oland

Photo credit: Rob Carr

After their loss to division-leading Carolina on Tuesday, Washington finds themselves 10 points out of first place in the Southeast and seven points out of the eighth and final playoff spot in the East with 23 games to go. Despite a stretch of good play before their three-game losing streak, the club is further out of the playoff race than they were before.

With that said, is this the point where the franchise considers becoming “sellers” and completely rebuilds? CBC analyst Craig Simpson says yes.

Tagged with: Alex Ovechkin • Craig Simpson • Washington Capitals

Aaron Volpatti and Fighting: Why the New Forward’s Acquisition is Puzzling

On March 6, 2013, In Opinion, By Chris Gordon

Photo credit: Jonathan Kozub

The Washington Capitals have the third worst record in the National Hockey League. They’re lacking in top-six talent and defensive depth. It struck me, then, that their last two transactions have not gone towards solving their problems, but rather have compounded them — at least in my mind.

In the past week the Caps claimed Aaron Volpatti (who had 28 penalty minutes in 16 games with the Vancouver Canucks) off waivers and signed Hershey Bears D-man Steve Oleksy (with 151 PIMs to his name in 55 games) to a three year contract. I’m not suggesting the Caps should try to fix all their woes with a call-up or waiver pick up — they can’t. I would, however, prefer if they didn’t exacerbate the team’s issues. The Caps don’t have a problem with toughness, they have a problem with talent.

Tagged with: Aaron Volpatti • Adam Oates • George McPhee • Steve Oleksy

Russian Machine Never Breaks

No, Screw It, I’m Not Growing a Beard This Time

Why It’s Important to Chant ‘MVP’ For Alex Ovechkin

Ovi for Hart, Part II: Because the Capitals Needed Him

Ovi for Hart, Part I: The Hart Trophy is Kind of Stupid

Martin Erat and the Case Against the “Upper Body Injury”

Caps Fans Work Through Their Feelings Using Filip Forsberg’s Wikipedia Page

How I Learned To Stop Crunching Numbers and Love the Game

Finding Out Who Trash-Talked Ovi on Evgeny Kuznetsov’s Wiki Page: Total Waste Of Half an Hour

CBC Analyst Craig Simpson: The Caps “Need to Clean House,” “Toxic” Alex Ovechkin Should Be Bought Out

Aaron Volpatti and Fighting: Why the New Forward’s Acquisition is Puzzling

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