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.

Last June, Russian sports portal sports.ru published an exclusive interview with Martin Erat. When reporter Maria Mikhalenko mentions this nasty late hit on Marty by a known cheap-shot artist Jarko Ruutu in the first round of 2011 Stanley Cup playoffs, the conversation takes an interesting turn:

Maria Mikhalenko: Did Ruutu’s hit make an impact?

Martin Erat: I felt alright after a while. It happened during last year playoffs.  It wasn’t a dirty hit. But he hit me directly in the head, and I got a concussion.

Mikhalenko: How many concussions have you had during your career?

Erat: Possibly four or five. Probably, the worst one was the one that happened last year, because I had had another concussion not long before. So when Ruutu hit me, that was the second one. I had headaches for a long time afterwards.  But I played through the playoffs, and then returned [to Nashville] during summer for the recovery. We have good doctors in Nashville. They always know what to do with me.

Four or five concussions, and just one known to have happened outside the NHL.

And the concussion Marty refers to as “probably the worst?” That one happened about a month after the NHL proudly announced its official, new and improved, Protocol for Concussion Evaluation and Management. Erat missed just two games before returning to the Preds lineup for their second round series against the Canucks. The Predators conveniently labelled that one an “upper body injury” – maybe just to be consistent with the “upper body injury” Erat suffered two weeks earlier– the one Erat said caused him to miss the last two games of the regular season.

A long list of Erat’s upper body frailties can be found on the Hockey News site under the Transactions tab.

I don’t meant to single out Nashville. Unfortunately, hiding behind the fig leaf of “upper body injury” is a norm throughout the NHL. Just a few days ago, Maple Leafs’ head coach Randy Carlyle shared his personal theory about concussions: the biggest problem with concussions is calling them concussions, which is a “bad word.” This sad comedy act came right after star forward Joffrey Lupul had to be helped off the ice in the game against the Flyers. Lupul appeared unsteady on his skates and disoriented as he left the ice surface – but hey, as long as we don’t call it a concussion, he should be fine, right?

Take a quick look at the NHL players currently listed as out with an upper body injury– 19 players. (The Predators and the Blue Jackets lead the pack with three guys each.) Are all of these 19 guys concussed? No. But as long as teams are allowed to hide behind such an ambiguity, all the NHL’s efforts to combat the concussion epidemic will just be lip service. The league and its players need transparency.

Not Alex Ovechkin. (Pic via capitals.com)

For those of you who like the All-Star Game, good news: this game was just as loose and ridiculous as you could have possibly dreamed. For those of you who dislike the All-Star Game, good news: it’s over.

We return to real hockey on Tuesday and thank goodness for that, but it was a nice weekend of rest for most of our team, and a nice weekend of dumb, mindless spectacle for hockey fans. I expect to see the rest of the Caps come back with suntans, and Dennis Wideman to come back with a smile on his face. As silly as most of the actual events of the weekend are, recognition is and always will be one of the best feelings in the world, especially for a guy like Wideman that rarely gets what he deserves.

It’s still official Dennis Wideman Day for the rest of Sunday, and then after that you can go back to your regularly scheduled Caps fandom.

Best Moments

• Remember that time that Henrik Lundqvist said that Marian Gaborik couldn’t score on him? Gaborik should have made him bet on it. He had two goals against his teammate, and on the first one he went down into Artem Anisimov’s “shotgun” goal celebration. Luckily John Tortorella appeared to think this was very funny. Either that, or that was his crazy laugh.
• Dennis Wideman was paired with Dion Phaneuf today…in a game where players don’t hit, which basically negates any value that being paired with Dion Phaneuf could have had. Sorry, Dennis.
• A good moment to ask Alfredsson for an in-depth retrospective on his career is definitely when he is on the ice in the middle of a hockey game.
• Due to overwhelming demand, Drake performed at intermission. We were in tears. He is truly this generation’s Shakespeare.
• Tim Peel was a referee for the game, and had to be told several times to stop trying to call diving on Alex Semin.
• Gaborik scored three goals for a hat trick, but no hats were forthcoming. One guy tried to throw a hat on the ice–a referee threw it back. Buzzkill.
• Hartnell after he scored: “Woo! The Sedin triplets!”
• The Kessel-Lupul line scored twice. The Ottawa crowd was quick to celebrate their careers and accomplishments in a game that crosses all team lines. Also tonight in almost-irony: Tyler Seguin was the other player on their line.
• Hometown hero Daniel Alfredsson scored twice in the second period, and the crowd tried to blow the speakers out with the “Alfie” chants. Great moment.
• Scott Hartnell kept tempting us with baby checks–the broadcast team classified them as “bumps”. We just want somebody to flat-out check somebody else. Just one time. Ryan Suter on this: “Someone’s going to have to settle him down. He’s running around there hitting guys.” The horror!
• Steven Stamkos stopped a puck with his stick from the bench so that Dan Girardi didn’t have to chase it down for icing. That’s so illeg–ahhhh, it’s the All-Star Game.
• Awkward Kessel of the night. “Phil, you look good out there, your legs look like they’re moving better than last night!” “Oh, I don’t know about that. I feel awful.”
• The broadcast team recklessly encouraged Claude Giroux to trip Scott Hartnell, who not only immediately took their suggestion but also tried to get other players in on it as well. #pushHartnelldown

Priceisms

Pic: Fred Chartrand

• “Carey, did you get a piece of that?” “Nope. I’ll say I did though.”
• To the ref, when he covered the puck: “Don’t blow that whistle, I want this thing to run out here!”
• On his goalposts stopping pucks: “These guys are awesome tonight. They’ve been excellent all year.” “Did you kiss your posts like Patrick Roy?” “No but I gave them a pretty good love tap here. They were awesome in that sequence.”
• On his teammates: “These guys are playing hard for me right now! I might have to buy them a dinner afterward!” This is apparently very new for Carey Price.
• “Oh, here we go,” I have deciphered, is Price-speak for “please shut up real quick, people are trying to score on me.”

Results

• Winner: Team Chara, 12-9. I can see why the NHL wants higher-scoring games. This was so thrilling and suspenseful.
• Goal Scorers: Gaborik (3), Malkin, Spezza, H. Sedin, Tavares, Lupul (2), Pominville, Alfredsson (2), Kane, Kessel, Iginla, Giroux, Hossa, Chara, Perry, D. Sedin.
• Game MVP: Marian Gaborik
• Wideman ended the night with 20:27 of ice time, a -2, and one assist.
• If you are looking for an extensive gallery of artistic crotch shots, Getty Images has got you covered. This is what the spirit of the All-Star Game is really all about.

And we’ll leave you with this. (Pic: Gregory Shamus)

The Pre-Game: Oh Lordy, we hate being right. Especially if it involves Canada. Not as in: their single-payer health care system is far more efficient than our insurance company-laden poop pie. More like: there’s no more dangerous team than an underestimated one with shelves of talent and an insane fan base. (Either way, it’s a poop pie, frankly.)

So here we are, game 3 of 3 of the road trip, landing us square in Squaresville: Toronto. (Wagging finger in old maid mode:) We warned you about those teams! We cautioned against squads whose numbers didn’t quite look right, yet had piles of skill ready to dump on the ice! What, you didn’t listen? You think you know better? Are you listening to me?

Uh, no, chances are, you’re not. At least not based on the last few Caps’ book in Vegas. We think that changes Saturday.

The Puck Drop

Rumor was, long ago, there was a rainbow in Toronto, and a pot of gold at Yonge Street. Of course, that’s before the city ripped it all up, replacing the record stores and adult theaters with Benettons and Timmy Hos. Progress.

Brian Burke

But they still have maple donuts, the CN Tower, and the Maple Leafs, led by none other than Brian Burke. Dare: go look up “truculence” online right now, and tell me that you don’t get a reference to Brian Burke. Look, we love coach Juggles; but head-t0-head against Brian Burke? We know how that comes out, and it’s got the bacony-stink of Canada all over it.

For years the Make Beliefs were a joke just somewhat above the Senators. Or below, depending on the season. But welcome to 2011, where the Toronto Maple Leafs are among the best teams in the league (10-6). Other than the furrowed brow of Burke, what brought the Leafs to this point?

What Makes Them Hot

Phil Kessel

1: What We Expected: Phil Kessel. We’ve been dealing with this gnat for years, and unfortunately he’s not fading. With a monster 25 points (13 G, 12 A), you might think he’s the cudgel the Leafs draw out whenever it’s not working for them. In truth Kessel isn’t a bludgeon; he’s a game-maker. As in: he has a history of edging the Leafs out of a draw, moving them into a winning position. He’s one of those guys you hate, consistently moving his squad from tie to W. We expect no different Saturday.

Joffrey Lupul

2: What We Didn’t: Joffrey Lupul is a square-headed, 28-year-old sausage from Alberta – meaning nobody from nowhere. Yet he’s proving this season he can play with the big boys (which, at 206, he qualifies for.) He’s 11th in the league for goals, and 10th for overall points, which means while Kessel can’t dig the Leafs out of a hole, Lupul likely can. And to top it off, he’s smokin. We hate you Joffrey Lupul. Please call us.

3: Toronto Heat: You ever take a look at the Leafs bench? What is that, “Twilight” stand-ins? OhMyGod, we love our Caps but if you’re just trawling around the web – not like we ever do that – looking for studly hockey players, go no further than Toronto. And they’re good payers, so just relax. We realize this makes some of you uncomfortable (or at least, you say it does) and it has nothing to do with play on the ice. But remember: we called the last two games, and we’re just a couple sissyboys, so give credit where it’s due.

4: We Miss You Stecks! Sure, he may have waffled on Brad’s diss on Sasha, but…we still love you!

What Makes Them Not:

1: It’s Not You, It’s Me: The Capitals fairly leaped off the bench at the start of the season, but seem to be hitting a slow patch. Nicky’s performing better than last year, but Green’s absence has hurt the team, and Vokoun – always a slow starter – is proving unusually slow. Slouches always happen, but ours of late seem to be concentrated on the road. Also, we’re still a better come-from-behind team, which means you need your clutch players like Wideman, Ward, Knuble and others in a pinch. We’d rather see less white-knuckling.

Ben Scrivens

2: Options Open: Burke’s been fairly clear: he’s not spectacularly happy with his netminders. Jonas Gustavsson and Ben Scrivens have both been a disappointment this year, and, despite his age, James Reimer is basically a rookie – and by his numbers, always will be (.912 Sv% 2.58 GAA). Do the Leafs need better goal-tending? Obviously. Is Burke looking around for just that? Apparently. But no-one at this point wants to talk about the obvious: these guys have to go if the Leafs are going to move forward.

 3: Who’s Your Daddy? This might be shocking for Washington audiences, but do you know who owns the Maple Leafs? No, not a billionaire nor an investment house conglomerate. It’s the Ontario Teacher’s Pension Plan. Serious. They own a significant majority in the team enterprise, but now a new group (possibly lead by The Great One) wants ownership. Nothing like success to bring out the weasels. And nothing like corporate bullies to ruin a good team. Redskins, anyone?

Predition: Caps 4, Leafs 2.

Four on Four OT

Jeff Halpern

So OK, we sorta knew this already, but we’re just going to ask it for giggles. When did Jeff Halpern get so blazing hot? Perhalpy about 10 years ago, when character starts to bleed into a man’s face. Or maybe he was just born with it. Maybe it’s fatherhood. Whatever: Halpy looks you in the eye – whether you’re a dork hockey fan or a Hadeed carpet commercial camera or, we imagine, an opponent. He’s been bloody good this year, taking and making hits, setting up draws when he can, or just out-maneuvering the other team. We’ll just stick with bloody good.

The Shoot Out

We’ve heard through various channels that some of you, specifically a small, vocal subsection, have taken hurt at some of our jibes in our previews. We understand words can hurt. It’s never our intention to lacerate; merely jest. However, if some of our words have cut, remember that words can heal, too. We apologize. Now grow a pair and get on with it.

Neuvy celebrates with his teammates after coming up victorious in the shootout. (Photo credit: Graig Abel)

What can’t Knuble do? (Photo credit: Graig Abel)

In their first game of the final back-to-back of the season, the Capitals found themselves in Air Canada Centre to face the surging Toronto Maple Leafs. Since the All-Star break, the Leafs have gone a ridiculous and improbable 18-7-5, riding mid-season call-up James Reimer’s (Oops, sorry!) Optimus Reim‘s incredible goaltending back into playoff contention.

Unfortunately for the Leafs, their chances of still making the playoffs were about as likely as Jason Chimera having a 50 goal season: less than one percent. To stave off mathematical elimination for one more night, they had to have either a regulation or overtime win against DC and a loss from Buffalo.

“They have to have every point,” winger Brooks Laich explained to the media after the Capitals pre-game skate. “They have to have every point in regulation the next three games and then hope for the best. This is an elimination game for the Leafs and they’re going to show us their absolute best.

Toronto certainly came out hard, as Nikolai Kulemin tallied the game’s first goal — his 30th of the year — 5:37 into the first period on the power play. After the Leafs brought the puck up the ice with speed, Kulemin cut to the middle of the circles, used Karl Alzner and John Erskine as a screen and flicked a wrist-shot past a helpless Michal Neuvirth. Alex Ovechkin responded 6:49 later with his 300th career goal, blasting a power-play one-timer from inside the left circle past an overpowered Reimer.

Joffrey Lupul regained the Leafs lead in the second period, slipping past Jeff Schultz on a two on two rush and knocking home a brilliant pass from everyone’s favorite last pick in the All-Star Fantasy Draft, Phil Kessel. John Erskine — yes, John Erskine — then answered Lupul’s tally midway through the period, misfiring on a thigh-high shot from the point by nearly five feet. Lucky for Big John, it ricocheted off of Luke Schenn’s rump and into the back of the net. 2-2.

That score held up until the end of regulation. But by then, the Leafs playoff hopes had been dashed as Buffalo defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning, 4-2. The Sabres victory also ironically clinched the Capitals fourth straight Southeast Division crown.

Neither team managed to score in overtime or the first three rounds of the shootout. So Bruce Boudreau turned to 38-year old Mike Knuble in the bottom of the fourth.

“I was going down the list oldest to youngest and I had Arnott up and then I looked down, I said, ‘Knuble’s older,’ so I went with him,” Boudreau explained. “There’s no science or anything involved in that tonight.”

Kanoobs went on to beat Reimer high and glove side, prompting a raucous celebration at their end of the ice with Neuvy. Caps beat Leafs, 3-2 (SO)!!

• With tonight’s win and Philadelphia’s loss, the Capitals moved into sole possession of first place in the Eastern Conference. If the playoffs started today, the Capitals would be matched up against the New York Rangers in the first round.
• In their last nine games that have gone to overtime, the Capitals have a record of 8-0-1.
• For those who missed it earlier today, Alex Semin did not travel with the team and stayed at home in Washington to rest an unspecified (wrist, wrist, wrist) injury. Via Katie Carrera: “He could play if we wanted him to play today,” Boudreau said. “I hope he’s back tomorrow but if he’s not…. hopefully it will be Saturday. If it’s not, then hopefully it will be the first game of the playoffs.” Coincidentally, the Capitals were not whistled for any stick infractions during the game.
• Rogers Sportsnet revealed during their telecast that Toronto was willing to pull their goalie in the final minutes of overtime because Buffalo held a tie-breaker over them, making a shootout victory worthless. Had there been an empty net goal in OT, it would have been only the fourth time in the modern era (1968 – 2011) that it’s happened. #fancystats
• While the Capitals held a 41-21 advantage in shots, the teams were almost even in regards to scoring chances, with Washington out-chancing Toronto, 22-17.
• The Capitals accrued five chances on the power play tonight, the most they’ve racheted up in a game since they blew out Edmonton 5-0 on March 10th (eight chances, two power play goals).
• Alex Ovechkin‘s 300th career goal was nice. But I was more impressed by the tenaciousness he exhibited throughout the entire game and how hard he competed. Ovi went through three sticks in the first period alone, broke Tyler Bozak’s ankles (figuratively speaking) with a move in the offensive zone and attempted a mind-bending 17 shots over the course of the entire game. Ovechkin also had his customary four hits. The only troubling number I saw in the final box score was Ovechkin’s TOI stat. The Russian Machine played the most minutes of all Capitals fowards (23:36).
• Ovechkin now has 23 goals in 23 career games against the Leafs.
• Despite being the most ineffective defenseman on the ice and looking like like he was skating in mud, Jeff Schultz logged heavy minutes, receiving 26 plus minutes from Bruce Boudreau. Sarge was cleanly beaten to the net by Toronto players on three different occassions, one of which led directly to Joffrey Lupul’s second period goal. If we examine his scoring chances numbers, Mr. Nasty’s awful night is even more evident. Schultz was on the ice for nine chances against — or almost half of Toronto’s chances on the night.
• Nicklas Backstrom was nine of 22 in the faceoff dot (41%) and finished a minus-one on the night. Backstrom has also gone 19 straight scoring chances without a goal. So basically, he’s due.
• Brooks Laich, Jason Chimera and Jason Arnott were each on the ice for only one even strength scoring chance apiece. However, Laich was on the ice for all five power play chances the Capitals generated and also drew a powerplay by himself after going hard to the net in the second period.
• Eric Fehr, Marcus Johansson and Marco Sturm were each on the ice for nine scoring chances for.
• The Leafs’ James Reimer was the hard luck loser tonight. He had several ten belle stops, most notably his diving two-armed save on Marcus Johansson from point-blank range.

• Okay, now I’m starting to see what Leafs fans are getting so excited about. Reimer, who is in the top five of all NHL goalies with 20 wins since the All-Star Break, also has some pretty sweet nicknames such as The Reiminister of Defense. My favorite? The statue. I’ll let Wikipedia explain: “[This nickname] resulted from head coach Wilson’s attempts to suppress the hype around the rookie goalie only a short time into his NHL career, saying “There’s all this [attention] around here, a guy wins a game and we’re ready to build a statue for him.” Awesome.
• Finally, one worrisome stat heading into the playoffs? The Capitals have given up a powerplay goal to their opponents in three of their last four games.

Joe B Suit of the Night

Tonight, the Capitals played an opponent who was in playoffs mode for 59:10 of the game. Tomorrow, they will face a team who was eliminated from the the big dance several weeks ago and has nothing to play for except for pride. If the Capitals can somehow win out Wednesday and Saturday against the Panthers, they will be the Eastern Conference’s number one seed, something that six weeks ago seemed very unlikely. Oh, the wonders of net crashing and a dedication to defense!

See you back here tomorrow night!

Additional reporting by Neil Greenberg.

Photo credit: Greg Fiume

Celebrating BL21's netter (Photo by Greg Fiume)

No jokes. Nothing cute. The Washington Capitals, deep into a slump, host the Anaheim adjective-less Ducks in a regular season game with a lot of additional gravity. Our hopes are high, our loins girded, our hearts full.

Here comes the arm.

Brooks Laich first marked up the board with a chip-in off of John Carlson during a first period powerplay. In the second, the oddly vowelled Joffrey Lupul put a bounce in the net– also while on powerplay. And it stayed that way until overtime, when Ryan Getzlaf escaped John Carlson’s coverage to wrist the game winner past Semyon Varlamov. Ducks beat Caps 2-1 (OT).

• Brooks Laich was the Caps best player by a mile. Scoring Washington’s only goal from within traffic, he led the offensive charge on every shift. He nearly scored the game-winner, a slow treacle from Hiller’s behind, but Ryan Getzlaf swatted it away. Laich’s 7 shots led the team, fitting for the player whose media quotes over the last few days were the hockey equivalent of FDR’s fireside chats.
• Alex Ovechkin‘s Russian Machine is not broken, but it may have been sabotaged. Ringing the post on a signature breakaway? That’s not bad luck; that’s cosmic malice.
• BBBB (Bench Boss Bruce Boudreau) did something odd tonight– matching the checking line of Laich-Steckel-Bradley up against Anaheim’s top line.
• Welcome back to the active duty, Mike Green. I see you’ve missed the game, as you were on ice for half of this one.
• The first period was a barnburner for the Caps, recording 17 shots on net. Those numbers are unsustainable perhaps, but it is certainly evidential of a focused team. The latter half probably suffered from lack of that effort.
• Who is at fault for the OTGWG: John Carlson; Scott Hannan; or Loki, the god of mischief? (Hint: we don’t care.)

Let’s not go crazy, everybody. We’re all bummed out, and Lord Voldemort is still up in the masthead creeping us out, but this will not last. This will not last. The Capitals were an offensive factory tonight, leading in shots 32 to 24 (We will update with scoring chances when Neil’s data are available), and soon you’ll see that effort manifest in a final score.

We’re gonna be alright, but we’ve got to power through the next few days of blowhard columnists and humorless humorists waxing assholic about our team. But Saturday will be on us before you know it. Up to Boston with us and onward to victory.