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.

I suppose there are a bunch of ways to measure how valuable a player is to his team, but the most obvious is how much of his team’s offense (sorry, goalies) comes from him. The chart below shows the percentage of total team goals each of our four big names has personally offered.

Despite missing a quarter of the season, Crosby still has had his greasy Canadian fingers in nearly 40% of the Penguins’ league-leading goal tally. Alex Ovechkin isn’t far behind (37.2%), but he also scored more than one-fifth of Washington’s goals, slightly above where Long Island’s John Tavares placed. Jonathan Toews isn’t all that exceptional when it comes to carrying production water for Chicago.

(By the way, Steven Stamkos’s numbers last years were better than all these guys: He had points on 40% of Tampa’s goals and scored 25% of them personally, but no playoffs, no trophy.)

The point here is that a player’s raw numbers– goals and assists– should be considered in context of his team. Washington depends on Alex Ovechkin to produce, and he this year has done exactly that.

The most compelling argument against Ovechkin as “outstanding player” is all about how his slow start to the season doomed him. Those people are right. Alex Ovechkin had just 2 goals through the season’s first 10 games, and his team had just two wins in that same span. I think that’s enough to cost him any chance at league MVP, i.e. the Ted Lindsay– but it just underscores his case as the player most valuable to his team, i.e. the Hart.

This next graph shows how the Caps’ fate has been tied to Alex Ovechkin’s goal production… and how fantastically that has turned out for them.

The Capitals didn’t win until Alex Ovechkin started scoring. The Capitals couldn’t hit .500 until Ovi cracked .6 goals per game. They’re on the same trajectory here– away from a lottery draft pick and headed towards the postseason. It should be noted that within 10 days after Adam Oates switched him to the right wing and reunited him with the uber-Swede, Nick Backstrom, Ovechkin jumped from 0.36 goals per game to 0.50 goals per game and climbing.

Consistency is a virtue– one that Ovechkin does not possess– but I don’t think it’s critical to the proposition of the Hart. The more important matter is how Alex Ovechkin’s goal scoring (and assisting!) has been critical to the Capitals’ success. The Capitals without a great Ovechkin are not a good hockey team. The Penguins without Sidney Crosby, meanwhile, are still terrifyingly good; they just move less merchandise. It’s your basic Michael Jordan on the Bulls versus Michael Jordan on the Space Jam team scenario– although in my metaphor the Swedish Bugs Bunny is really driving puck possession for MJ.

Another dig on Ovechkin is that his playing in the Southeast Division puts him on the NHL version of the bunny slope. The other four teams in his division rank mostly in the bottom third of teams in shots and goals against. None of them has a save percentage above 90.1%. The Southeast really does stink, and Alex Ovechkin is wafting the fumes. His point production against the SE more than doubles how he does against the Atlantic and Northeast divisions.

Still, I really doubt people are filing the same objections about the Northwest.

Finally, there’s the fancystat argument. Alex Ovechkin’s underlying numbers– particularly in puck possession– just aren’t as strong as his peers.

Alex Ovechkin is the only player in the group who sees more shot attempts go towards his team’s net than the other guy’s net when playing 5-on-5. We could try to explain that away, but it’s true. I just don’t think it matters. These advanced stats are helpful in estimating how a player may perform in the future independent of variance, but we have actual performance metrics for this season we could use instead. The fact that John Tavares likely won’t shoot 17% next year is immaterial to adjudicating how well he did this year.

Again, I don’t know who will win the Hart, and I think it’s foolish to try to guess how hundreds of pro hockey writers will vote, particularly given the criteria for Hart we’ve heard before. I do know that Alex Ovechkin has a damn good case to win. But so does Sergei Bobrovksy.

In the end, it doesn’t matter all that much. We’ve got the Art Ross and the Rocket Richard, and those guys don’t care about Southeast bias or ZoneStart-adjusted Fenwick Close on turf against left-handed pitchers. And the totality of NHL Awards adds up to exactly shrapnel compared to the real goal of a hockey season: the Stanley Cup.

p.s.

This is probably not a week that you want to remember in great detail, things didn’t go, uh — exactly as planned, but don’t worry, we’ll whip right through this quickly and painlessly and move along, there’s another game tonight, so there’s no time for moping. The Caps went 1-3-0 this week with losses against the Lightning, the Canes, and the Sens. Sad trombone. And just because a TSN commentator chose to utter the words “How could things get worse for the Washington Capitals?”, Alex Ovechkin also suffered a lower-body injury, didn’t participate in multiple team skates, and missed the game in Ottawa. Despite all this, the week did end on a good note when Ovechkin caught the Brooks Laich fever and unexpectedly declared himself ready to go, and then promptly scored against Montreal in a game that the Caps won. It’s a huge relief that it ended well, but I think most of us are just glad this week is over.

Elsewhere in the NHL, lots of other people were having bad weeks too. The day after it was revealed that his “upper-body injury” was probably a concussion, Jonathan Toews crashed his car into a pole, Pavel Datsyuk had knee surgery that will put him out for two to three weeks, Vincent Lecavalier is out indefinitely with an upper-body injury, and the Maple Leafs goalie tandem is testing their franchise’s patience, Jeff Carter, on the other hand, had probably about the best week that he’s had in nine months as he was traded out of Columbus to the LA Kings, which is good news for him because it’s probably exhausting to keep up a sulk for that long.

In case you were wondering the most important question, though — how does everything in the world apply to the Washington Capitals? — we’ll break it down for you after the jump.

Best of the Week

• Caps fans welcomed Rene Bourque back to town with these masks!
• Four fictional hockey teams probably could have beaten the Caps on Monday.
• Good Evgeny Kuznetsov news: he was on the cover of Russia’s PROSports magazine!
• Bad Evgeny Kuznetsov news: he was injured in a KHL game on Friday.
• Caps fan videos are getting pretty somber these days.

Photo credit: Chris Gordon

Over the summer, General Manager George McPhee started snatching players like a rabid mom snatching groceries on Supermarket Sweeps. In are gritty NHL veterans like Joel Ward, Roman Hamrlik, and Jeff Halpern. Out are fan-favorites like Matt Bradley and Boyd Gordon.

Beyond the discounted signing of Tomas Vokoun, there may have been no better addition to the line-up than the Draft-night trade McPhee swung with the Chicago Blackhawks in which he landed Troy Brouwer for a first-round pick. Brouwer, who signed an affordable two-year deal worth $2,350,000 per year on July 6, was part of the Blackhawks’ 2010 Stanley Cup Champion squad and is known in part for his physical, hard-hitting game. The 26-year-old right wing has also been a proven scorer at every level he’s played, tallying 20 goals in the NHL, 40-plus goals in the AHL, and 100-plus points in Juniors.

So with Opening Night only a few days away, what can Caps fans reasonably expect offensively from Brouwer? Also, how about some bizarre facts about Troy that only RMNB can dig up? Follow me past the jump to find out.

How do you pronounce Troy’s last name?

Brow-er, not Brew-er. And I’m talking with experience here because I’ve actually been guilty of butchering his last name for the last three months or so. Peter seems committed to re-naming the Capitals’ man-advantage “the Brouwer Play”, so I’ll learn.

What number will he be wearing in Washington?

#20. Troy will be the first player to wear the number full-time for the Capitals since Rico Fata did in 2005-06. Other notables who wear the #20 include Gary Rissling (1979-80), Michal Pivonka (1986-99) and Robert Lang (2002-04).

What interesting fact about Brouwer is going to blow my mind?

In Troy’s first NHL game with the Blackhawks on December 23, 2006, a 3-2 loss to the Colorado Avalanche, he was put on the same line with a former Caps great. “I’d like to see him and say hi to him. I don’t know if he’ll remember me because it was six or seven years ago. But it’d be cool to see him again.” The player he’s referring to? None other than Peter Bondra.

So he’s won a Stanley Cup?

Yeah, dude. In 2010. Troy had four goals and four assists in 19 games during that fateful playoff run, his only goal in the Finals coming in Chicago’s 6-5 win over the Flyers in Game 1.

What did he do on his day with the Stanley Cup?

I’ll let Troy explain: “We had a full day with it. For me, I had it at my house early in the morning and ate some cereal out of it – Fruit Loops. My wife’s sister wanted to do that so we did. My dad was in the hospital throughout the playoff run so we took it to the hospital that he was staying at to say thank you to all the nurses and doctors. Hopefully, it brought some cheer and happiness to everyone else that was in his ward. Then I brought it to the Minor Hockey League rink for the minor hockey league kids to see just because their numbers have been spiraling downwards a little bit lately. So hopefully it brought some enthusiasm to hockey there. And then afterwards, I had it at my Parents’ house. A nice big yard, we had a barbecue and partied with about 200 people.”

Does Troy own a pet?

Yes. Troy has two dogs. Above, Brouwer introduces the world to Ari, a beagle mix (we think). We find out that “some of Ari’s favorite things to do are chase squirrels and cats” and that she has “designer clothes,” like any good princess would. The video’s worth watching just to see her play dead.

Was Troy Brouwer cuter than me as a child?

Yes. Though that Sharks jersey gots to go.

Is Troy Brouwer better than me at Poker?

I wouldn’t bet your wife’s wedding ring on a good hand with him. Brouwer was the last Chicago Blackhawk standing at teammate Brian Campbell’s charity poker tournament two years running.

Any injuries I need to know about?

Brouwer had to have surgery this past May to repair a torn labrum in his right shoulder, an injury that he suffered sometime in 2009-10. “It was pretty ugly,” Brouwer said of his shoulder. Troy avoided the surgery two summers ago, because the recovery time would be four months, four months that he didn’t have because of the Blackhawks Stanely Cup win in June. So he played through the pain last season and reaggravated the injury in April after flying into the Montreal boards on a missed check. Troy’s first pre-season game came against his former team two Monday’s ago.

Does Brouwer fight?

Ask Mike Richards how that right hand tastes and you’ll get your answer. Hockeyfights.com has credited Brouwer with 43 career bouts, 13 of them at the NHL level.

Why did Chicago trade him in the first place if he’s so good?

Brouwer was a restricted free agent and due a hefty raise from the $1.025 mil he was making in the final year of his two-year contract with Chicago. Plus, he also struggled to find consistency last season and wasn’t a factor in the playoffs, where he went pointless in seven games against the Vancouver Canucks. In the Blackhawk’s final 22 regular season games, Troy failed to tally a goal and had only three points. How much that can be blamed on his wonky shoulder we’ll never know.

Where does Brouwer score most of his goals?

In the bakery. 10 of Brouwer’s 17 goals last year were scored within 15 feet of the net, mostly off rebounds and deflections.

But 20 Goals is a lock right?

Not so fast. Neil wrote a great piece about this for Capitals Insider. Here’s a sampling.

The 6-foot-3, 215-pound forward scored 22 goals during the Chicago Blackhawks’ Stanley Cup-winning season in 2009-10, and he potted 17 goals last year.

But those numbers came in some of the most optimal conditions possible.

[. . . ]

Brouwer’s even-strength shifts started in the offensive zone almost two thirds of the time, and a third of those were with Patrick Sharp, Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane, three of the league’s best players.

Is Brouwer going to play on the first line?

Yes, at least for the season opener. Brouwer will play with Marcus Johansson and Alex Ovechkin, while Nicklas Backstrom will most likely center Alex Semin and Mike Knuble on line two.

Where can I see every goal Brouwer scored last year?

Right here, just step over my passed out body and its cramped and worn-down typing hands.

Goal #1 – 3-1 win over the Minnesota Wild, October 30, 2010

Troy corrals the rebound and scores on the backhand.

Goal #2 – 7-2 loss to the Calgary Flames November, 19 2010

Brouwer knocks in a rebound from the waist area past Mikka Kiprusoff.

Goal #3 – GWG, 7-1 win over the Vancouver Canucks, November, 20 2010

Brouwer puts his shoulder down, takes the puck strong to the net, and puts one past Roberto Luongo. Goals in back-to-back games.

Goal #4 – 4-1 win over the Anaheim Ducks, November, 26 2010

A big hit by Brouwer starts the Blackhawks on an odd man break. Brouwer takes a pass from the boards and rifles a slapshot from the middle of the circles past Jonas Hiller.

Goal #5 – PPG, 7-5 win over the St. Louis Blues, November 30, 2010

Joe B.’s commentating! The goal is a gimme. Puck takes weird bounce off the boards on a dump-in. Brouwer collects and rifles it into a yawning net. This marks four goals in six games for Troy.

Goal #6 – GWG, 5-3 win over the Dallas Stars, December 8, 2010

Brouwer takes a slick pass from Bolland on a 2-on-1 who then takes the puck in, dekes to the backhand, and roofs it past Andrew Raycroft.

Goals #7 and #8 – 2 PPG, 7-5 loss to Colorado, December 13, 2010

A fortunate bounce finds Troy in front of the net on the Brouwer play.

This goal gives the Blackhawks a 5-4 lead. Brouwer tips a shot from the point into the net from about waist-high.

Goal #9 – 4-3 loss to Colorado, December 15, 2010

Brouwer scores a meaningless goal in front of the net with a second left on the clock. Props for the reserved goal celebration. He currently is enjoying 8 goals in 12 games at this point.

Goal #10 – PPG, 5-3 loss to San Jose, December 30, 2010

Brouwer’s centering pass on the powerplay redirects off of Niemi into the net.

Goal #11 – GWG, 4-0 win over Colorado, January 12, 2011

Brouwer jams the puck towards the net and in after a good battle along the boards.

Goals #12 and #13 – PPG, GWG, 6-3 win over the Preds, January 16, 2011

Brouwer scores on the powerplay after taking a rebound and jamming it home.

Brouwer scores 40 seconds later. Takes the puck from the corner, uses his speed to curl to the middle of the ice and wrists a shot past a helpless Anders Lindbeck. It ends up standing up as the game-winning goal and is potentially Brouwer’s most impressive individual play on the year.

Goal #14 – 4-1 win over the Red Wings, January 22, 2011

Jonathan Toews sets Brouwer up in front of the net, and Troy snaps her home.

Goal #15 – 4-2 loss to the Wild, January 25, 2011

Puck finds Brouwer in the crease. Five goals in six games streak.

Goal #16 – PPG, 3-2 (OT) loss to Phoenix, February 12, 2011

Brouwer takes a pass from Marian Hossa and one-times the puck past Ilya Bryzgalov.

Goal #17 – GWPPG, 3-1 win over the Wild, February 16, 2011

Hawks keep the puck in at the blue line. Play breaks down and Brouwer ends up having a 2-on-1 with Hossa from close range. Brouwer tries to send the puck to Marian Hossa but instead the biscuit deflects in past Jose Theodore. Goals in back-to-back games.

In the end, Troy scored his goals from 6ft, 15ft, 7ft, 31ft, 14ft, 7ft, 12ft, 11ft, 11ft, 10ft, 20ft, 16ft, 21ft, 23ft, 10ft, 22ft, and 11ft away from the net. The more you know.

Ovi sports his new gear. Click to enlarge. (Photo credit: Bauer)

Photo credit: Chris Gordon

The world’s most famous hockey player has got some new gear. After dropping CCM over the summer, Alex Ovechkin unveiled a new six-year sponsorship with rival manufacturer Bauer, whose equipment Ovi used for the first three years of his career. This is Ovechkin’s second new sponsorship of the week after news of his long-term deal with superpower Nike for “lifestyle” and “performance” products surfaced on Thursday night.

“I think that CCM treat me well,” Ovechkin told reporters Tuesday afternoon. “They help me a lot and without that project I can’t score 65 goals. But in that kind of moment and that kind of situation right now, I feel that Bauer is company who I’m looking forward to work with. I played with this stick a couple years ago and I like it.”

The move doesn’t exactly come as a surprise. With Ovi’s ditching CCM — and therefore their parent company Reebok — that left Bauer as the only company with the cash to pickup a superstar endorsement.

The move was also teased on Bauer’s Web site over the holiday weekend, with their home page sporting a picture of skates with the Great Eight’s trademark yellow laces and the banner “This year will be different.”

And the biggest giveaway? Well that would be the fact that Ovechkin has been sporting Bauer gear for the last week during informal practices at Kettler Capitals Iceplex.

Ovi showed displeasure with CCM equipment at times — especially their frangible sticks — leading him to switch to Bauer twigs that were simply spray painted over before CCM’s corporate overlords put a stop to it.

“He’s very, very confident in his new equipment and we think that’s half the battle,” Capitals owner Ted Leonsis said of the switch. “It’s like a golfer with new clubs. He’s been trying his hardest to try to break a stick and so far they seem indestructible and that makes us all smile.”

Bauer and Ovechkin are also donating 108 full sets of youth hockey equipment to the Ketter Capitals Iceplex and Potomac Valley Amateur Hockey Association in the DC area, along another 108 sets to the Dynamo Hockey School in Moscow. In addition, the Caps presented the PVAHA with a donation of $25,000.

Ovi and Uncle Ted laugh after the press conference. (Photo credit: Chris Gordon)

Ovechkin will be featured in the company’s upcoming marketing campaign for their new Vapor APX stick, along with Bauer’s “growth strategy” for expanding their brand in Russia and other parts of eastern Europe.

“That sport is as iconic to that country as it is in other areas of the world where it’s really, really important,” Bauer President and CEO Kevin Davis said. “We know that there’s a tremendous amount of population of players out there and we know how much business that we do so, from a market share perspective, there’s lots of opportunity in that country.

Ovi is just the latest player added to Bauer’s list of star sponsorships which already includes his buddy Nicklas Backstrom plus Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, Steven Stamkos, Henrik Lundqvist, Eric Staal, Mike Richards, and Ryan Kessler.

But there is a sad aspect to all this, and that is the end of the ridiculous decapitated head series of CCM commercials. We only hope that Bauer’s — and Nike’s — PR firms can come with an equally terrible idea that perfectly matches Ovechkin’s acting skills.

Photos

Ted Leonsis speaks to young hockey players in attendance. (All photos by Chris Gordon; click to enlarge)

Alex Ovechkin greats Bauer President and CEO Kevin Davis.

The Capitals’ new radio voice John Walton MCs the event.

Ted Leonsis, PVAHA President John Coleman, Alex Ovechkin, and George McPhee present a check for $25,000 to the PVAHA on behalf of the Capitals.

Ovechkin and Leonsis share a laugh.

Alex Ovechkin, Bauer President and CEO Kevin Davis, and George McPhee pose for a photo with the kids.

GROUP HUG! (Photo credit: Rob Carr)

Jason Chimera brings the intensity in a second period fight with Brent Seabrook. (Photo credit: Jacquelyn Martin)

In dramatic fashion, in front of a national television audience  and a sellout crowd at Verizon Center, the Cardiac Caps were once again back at work as Washington pushed their winning streak to eight. Less than one month ago it would have been hard to imagine any of this happening. Nevertheless, the Caps are now just a single point out of first-place in the Eastern Conference.

“Guys have a bit of a swagger right now, back to the way things were,” said Capitals goaltender Braden Holtby.

The Blackhawks opened the scoring less than five minutes into the contest. After receiving a feed from Marian Hossa, Nick Leddy put the puck past Holtby. Just under two and a half minutes later, however, Boyd Gordon would knot the game at one. After picking up an errant pass by the ‘Hawks power play, Gordon raced down the wing before firing a slapper past Chicago netminder Corey Crawford for the shortie. Late in the first frame, after John Erskine drew a holding penalty, Washington headed to their recently anemic power play. This time, however, it would be different. New Cap Jason Arnott fired a bullet from the point that found twine, giving Washington their first lead of the game.

Three minutes into the second period, Chicago would tie the game at two when Holtby gave Tomas Kopecky a little too much daylight. Kopecky seized the opportunity, banking the puck off ‘keeper’s back from behind the goal-line. In the waining moments of the stanza, things got physical when Chicago’s Brent Seabrook delivered a hard check behind the net to Jason Chimera. Everyone favorite fire-footed, stone-handed forward took exception to Seabrook, challenging him to a duel. Seabrook appeared to come out with the win in the bout but it was Chimera got the take-down.

“Chimmer, I thought, he was a factor. He did not get a star or anything, but I thought he was a real big factor in the game,” said Chimera’s teammate Brooks Laich. “He was the one that sort of instigated that little rhubarb there. I think he does a good job and takes one of their top defenders off. So I think he had a very good night.”

Six and half in to the final frame, the aforementioned Laich put home Matt Hendricks’ (or more accurately Eric Fehr’s) feed from the corner to put the Caps on top. Washington appeared to be in control until Marcus Johansson was called for hooking at 18:10. “I thought it was a pretty chintzy call,” said Boudreau. On the ensuing Blackhawks power play, Jonathan Toews converted on a mad scrum in front of the net, as the puck bounced in off Holtby’s skate.

In overtime, the Capitals missed numerous chances until, finally, Mike Knuble — with a little help from Johansson — came to the rescue. Ballgame over. Caps top ‘Hawks, 4-3.

• Braden Holtby continued his determined play of late, making 27 saves on 30 shots despite, as he said later, not feeling at the top of his game. The first two goals he gave up he’d most likely want to have back. On Leddy’s opening goal, a diving Matt Hendricks and a standing Boyd Gordon screened Holtby on the shot from the point. On Kopecky’s “no-angled” tally from behind the net, Holtby cheated off the right post, thinking it was a centering pass. Plain and simple, a rookie mistake.
• “I did not feel that great out there. Today was kind of a battle the whole game,” Holtby said. “Thankfully the guys played a great game, especially defensively, and did not give up too much. A little bit of a mistake by me in the second, but we were still able to come out on top.”
• Still, Holtby was praised by head coach Bruce Boudreau after the game, saying “they are really not making it easy” for him to chose a playoff starter. “I am going to be ready if called upon, willing to put my heart on the line for this team,” said Holtby of that prospect.
• Holtby cleared the puck on a penalty kill again, prompting NBC’s Pierre McGuire to say, “this guy’s about as good as Marty Brodeur when it comes to handling the puck.” We’re still waiting for that empty net goal, Braden.
• 

  DJ Pauly D poses for a photo with Eric Fehr and John Carlson after the game (Photo credit: JC74)

  DJ Pauly D of “Jersey Shore” fame was at the game today after accepting Alex Ovechkin’s invite at Shamrockfest Saturday. Mr. D (?) stayed through overtime and even met with the boys in the locker room after the game, despite having a scheduled show in Harrisburg, PA at 5pm. Outfitted in a Caps jersey, a large chain and diamond earrings, Pauly D rocked the red with Slapshot, filmed an interview with Guerin Austin of Caps Red Line and took a photo with Fehr and John Carlson after the game. I would make some sort of joke here but I’m still dumbfounded.
• Thanks to Arnott’s late power play goal, the Caps came into the first intermission with a lead for the first time in 13 games.
• The Capitals third line of Jason Chimera, Brooks Laich and Eric Fehr played playoff style hockey. Laich won seven of his eight face-offs, Fehr had five shots while Chimera racked up three hits, two shots and, of course, his fight with Seabrook. Chimera’s fight was notable, if only because it took Seabrook – one of the Blackhawks best defensemen – off the ice. With Brian Campbell struggling with a foot injury and playing only 7:05, the Blackhawks opened the third period with only four rearguards. The group’s hard work was also rewarded by a second period goal from Laich. Fehr did all the heavy-lifting, outmuscling Duncan Keith behind the net for the puck before then dishing out a no-look backhander to Laich for a one-timer. It’s Fehr to say, Caps fans Laich goals by Brooks. Yeah, we’re horrible
• Marcus Johansson not only had the game-winning assist, but he also had a game-high seven shots on goal, two hits and three blocked shots. Can we assume his unintentional appearance at RMNB Party Two spurred his inspired performance today?
• Alex Ovechkin‘s seven game point streak — during which he accumulated four goals along with seven assists — may have ended but Ovi was still a force to be reckoned with. Ovechkin had six shots while registering three hits. He saved his most impressive effort for his last shift of the game, where he went one-on-three in the offensive zone, breaking through the triangle of players to fire a wrist-shot just wide of the net. Given how much criticism Ovechkin received for his poor — at least by his standards — play earlier in the year it’s important to note the renewed energy, creativity and hustle that he has displayed over the past month or so.
• Tomas Kopecky unintentionally boarded Dennis Wideman face-first into the glass in the third period, giving the Caps a two-minute power play. But this bullet is actually dedicated to Kopecky’s good sportsmanship after the hit. He tried to hold Wideman up as he fell down, stopped playing and asked to make sure he was okay. With the Zdeno Chara-Max Pacioretty hit dominating sports headlines over the past week, this was good to see. Wideman returned for his next regular shift and logged a team-high 27:27 of ice time.
• Jeff Schultz had five blocked shots. He also happened to miss the net by about 15 feet on a wide-open shot from the point. Nevertheless, a good performance from Sarge despite that fact he finished minus-one for the day.
• Finally, NBC did a nice feature on John Carlson during the second-intermission. View it here.

Joe B. sign of the game (Photo credit: Chris Gordon)

“I just like our team so much more than at this point last year,” said Knuble. “I think we’re definitely headed in the right direction.”

Still, Boudreau doesn’t want to worry about being the top dog in the East. “It is a nice feather in your cap,” he said. “In the end, I mean, I don’t care if we are eighth or first. I got to believe the eight can beat the one. It’s happened, I think.”

The Caps in Montreal Tuesday night. We’ll see you right back here.

Bonus Video: Homer McFanboy captures DJ Pauly D meeting up with Ovi after the game

Additional reporting by Ian Oland.

Adrian Dater had an interesting post naming the top 10 centers in the NHL. As you would expect with 30 teams, each with 4 centers, some big names were omitted. The ranking is also subject to much debate. Take a look:

1. Sidney Crosby, PIT
2. Pavel Datsyuk, DET
3. Henrik Sedin, VAN
4. Jonathan Toews, CHI
5. Mike Richards, PHI
6. Evgeni Malkin, PIT
7. Mikko Koivu, MIN
8. Joe Thornton, SJS
9. Nicklas Backstrom, WSH
10. Ryan Getzlaf, ANA

Nicklas Backstrom's favorite shirt: Your girlfriend loves wearing my jersey

You would think that Nicklas Backstrom being 9th out of all NHL pivots would be cause for celebration! Instead I am ready to fight for the guy – even if my girlfriend wears his jersey. Well, if I had a girlfriend. But that’s a post for another day.

So where should Backstrom rank in this Top 10?

The center position is one of the tougher positions to quantify: They are defensively responsible for two opposing wingers, they try to win faceoffs and they have to put points on the board. Then there is the burning question: How many Cups have they won?

We should also not limit ourselves to just one season. For this exercise I am going to look at the 3-year averages to help smooth the curve a bit.

Let’s start with the easy one: Did they win a Cup? Crosby, Malkin, Datsyuk and Toews have all kissed The Cup while Malkin and Toews have also won the Conn Smythe as Playoffs MVP. Without a ring, Backstrom still has some work to do to be the #1 center in the league.

Next we will analyze their offensive numbers.

I had a tweep remark: When Nick wins more faceoffs then you can bitch about him being #9. Well, here I am so . Seriously though, just because you don’t win faceoffs doesn’t mean you’re not helping your team’s offensive production. That’s why statistics like CORSI and others at Behind the Net are so valuable: They help put everything in context.

Sure he doesn't win all his faceoffs, but Nicky joined Sid and Henrik as the only three centers in the NHL last year to score over 100 points.

So yes, I agree Backstrom doesn’t win a huge amount of faceoffs. But he’s averaged 2.48 points per 60 minutes over the past 3 years (good for 6th on this list behind Crosby, Sedin, Malkin, Thornton and Datsyuk). He also was third among centers (behind Hart and Ross Trophy winner Sedin and 50 goal scorer Crosby) in points per 60 minutes in 2010.

Defensively only Mike Richards and Evgeni Malkin have averaged a negative CORSI ON, meaning more shots have been directed to their own net while they were on the ice. Richards has an excuse: He started only 46.8% of the time in his own offensive zone (next lowest was Mikko Koivu at 50.4%!), while playing with below average teammates against decent competition. Malkin’s poor play came despite starting a whopping 58.17% of the time in his OWN offensive zone. Only Toews (60.9%) and Backstrom (59.17%) were higher, but both of those players had positive CORSI’s.

Backstrom’s CORSI ON (17.18) is behind only Datsyuk (22.1) and Toews (18.38). Simply put, when Nicklas Backstrom is on the ice his team gets the puck to the net – a lot. And before we throw the “Of course he does, he plays with Ovechkin” argument out there, let’s keep in mind that both Toews and Datsyuk played with better linemates statistically over the past 3 years. So they too had help yet are ranked ahead of Backstrom on Dater’s Top 10. This means we can’t discount the play of Backstrom’s wingers if we are not ready to do so for the others.

If we look at Goals For and Goals Against differential as a defensive indicator, Backstrom shines here as well. He ranks second (1.31) in this group over the past 3 years trailing only Datsyuk (1.63) – who won the last three Selke awards. Last year, Backstrom led all centers (60+ games played) with 2.15.

To summarize: offensively Backstrom is middle of the Top 10 pack at 2.48 points per 60 minutes while defensively falling behind only Pavel Datsyuk and perhaps Jonathan Toews.

Now that we have the context settled: Where should Backstrom actually rank?

Some would say he is “still not [a] Top 5” center but they would be wrong. Without a Cup, sure Nicky takes a back seat to Crosby, Datsyuk and now perhaps Toews. But after that, it would be tough to argue that Nicklas Backstrom is undeserving of a Top 5 slot.