Vegas Golden Knights

Caps By The Numbers: The Save Gives Caps a Split in Vegas

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For the first time in franchise history– the Washington Capitals won a game in the Stanley Cup Final. In what could be the best save in his career, Braden Holtby stopped Alex Tuch late in the third period to preserve the Capitals 3-2 lead, which ended up being the final as the teams go back to Washington tied up at one game a piece. Caps goals came from Lars Eller, Alex Ovechkin, but the game-winner came from Brooks Orpik– his first goal in 220 games.

The game didn’t come without a price, as Evgeny Kuznetsov took a hit from Brayden McNab in the first, looking like he jammed his wrist and didn’t return. Late in the game, Jay Beagle took a shot off the inside of his foot. He did play the rest of the game, but had a noticeable hobble when he was on the ice. Luckily, the teams have space between games, as they don’t play until Saturday night.

With the 13th win, we have a former Caps #13.

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Since it’s the first time that the Caps have won their 13 games in the playoffs, why not go with the first guy who wore the #13?? That feat didn’t happen until 1997 when it was the man they call Niko, who first donned the superstitious number after coming over from the Hartford Whalers. It’s time for Andrei Nikolishin.

Nikolishin came into the league as an offensive forward, but adjusted his game to the North American style, while also keeping his solid hands, impressive strength of skating, and one of the most balance players in the league, though the numbers never translated that. Coming to the Caps in the middle of the 1996-97 season, Niko was put into a checking role– which is something he happily went into. While he only peaked at 38 points for the Caps in his six years in DC, Nikolishin’s backchecking, forechecking, and ability to give up the body for the play was one of the big reasons why the Caps wanted him in the trade.

Of course, the relationship wasn’t without its drama with contract disputes. Nikolishin sat out most of the 1997-98 season due to trying to get a better contract, which limited him to only 38 games. However, once the playoffs came– Niko was a big reason why the Capitals were able to get into the Stanley Cup Final, putting up 13 assists in 21 games, while also providing the stingy defense that tends to win you championships.

Nikolishin would improve his offensive output after that season, peaking at 13 goals and 25 assists in 2000-01, complimenting that with a 13-goal, 36-point output for the Caps in 2001-02 before leaving the team to test the waters. With two failed attempts in Chicago and Colorado, Nikolishin went to Russia to end out his career.

My Life As a Caps Fan

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Photo via CapsJerseys.com

This story is unique, but not. Many Caps fans have a similar tale– one of hope, heartbreak, despair, and faith. This is just mine.

My first Caps game I remember seeing on TV was on WDCA Channel 20 when the Caps played the New York Rangers in 1987 or 88. I knew the game of hockey because I had saw two wooden souvenir sticks in my bedroom, I believe a gift from my Godfather. They were red with blue lettering “Washington Capitals” with the Caps logo on it. I also had Fisher-Price roller skates with bells on it– so when I saw the game and wanted to imitate that– my mom and dad were reluctant about it. Not because of the game itself, it was mostly because of the ringing.

The first Caps game I attended was in February of 1989 (a story that I’ll hopefully get to tell at the end of the playoffs). I was instantly hooked, not with hockey– but with the Capitals. They were my local(ish) team, even though the Baltimore Skipjacks were a few miles from me– my dad had some connections at the Capital Centre that allowed us to see many games together until they left for the then MCI Center.

Through it all, this is the team I hung my hat on. From the days of never getting out of the Patrick Division until 1990 or the times going up three games to one in a series, only to lose. From the miraculous run in 1998 until the Cup Final to the Jaromir Jagr trade, which always left a bad taste in my mouth. From all the rebuild, which included Matt Yeats as a goalie to now in this era of Caps hockey that’s great and scary all in one. This is a team that always gave me the highest of highs and lowest of lows in sports fandom.

It also provided a community. Because of the Caps, I got into local hockey– first at Benfield Pines and then Piney Orchard– which happened to be the Caps practice facility. Through youth hockey, I have some of my closest friends, who have all come together through the wonders of social media to enjoy this series, as well as relive moments from our own glory days of travel hockey.

For many, the Caps are more than just a team (not to be confused with the 1989-90 team video), but it’s something that bound us together through our formidable years. We won’t be watching the Cup Final from our assistant coach’s sun room (shoutout Coach Gary), but we’re all in-tune with this. Especially since this is not something that’s supposed to happen. The window for this team was closed after they went all-in with Kevin Shattenkirk. But they kept it open enough to have the breeze roll in and keep the hope alive. Keep this whole thing going, as improbable as it has been.

And I won’t kid anyone in saying that this all seems like a fever dream. The Caps have had the odds against them and it seems like it’s all going to come to an end in typical Caps fashion so many times….but it hasn’t. We’ve prepared for the worst, but the best has been happening. It’s atypical in so many ways– especially with who they’re playing in this Cup Final.

Seemingly, all the playoff ghosts have been vanquished– beating the Penguins, winning a Game 7– save for three: Marc-Andre Fleury (22-12-2 regular season, 8-6 postseason vs. Caps), George McPhee (former Caps GM, now Vegas GM), and Lord Stanley (The Cup). If there was a time to flip the script and eliminate them all– it’s now.

For now…time to face the next game and hope that these past 30 years as a fan of this team that many love (despite them seemingly not wanting to love us back) continues to be all worth it. I’m not ready to use the “B” word when it comes to this team. Maybe if they get four more wins, I can admit to myself– it’s okay. It’s all okay.

Butthurt Fans Fuel My Golden Knights Love

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It’s funny to see the reaction of people who hate the idea of the Vegas Golden Knights being this close to a Stanley Cup Final appearance. The claims of unbalanced Expansion Draft rules, unfair trades so some guys wouldn’t get picked in the Draft, and other wild, butthurt claims that makes me want them to win the Cup more than ever.

And look– as a Caps fans, I know what it’s like to have a team that struggles and has the talent, but never tastes anything close to the Cup. It’s a bit annoying to see the success of the Golden Knights out of pure jealousy– but when I step back from the fan-view; it’s a great story. Not just in the NHL, but in sports overall. It’s a movie script to be honest– unprotected by their team, picked by this new, put together team, and have this amazing season that still isn’t done yet.

However, to say that they did it by nefarious means is downright outrageous. William Karlsson has talent, but he wasn’t going to get a chance in Columbus with John Tortorella at the helm. You can’t tell me that you thought Karlsson was going to have a 40-goal season in Columbus when he only hit 14 goals in his previous two seasons combined. Oh, and he also was picked AT THE REQUEST of Columbus, while also giving them the salary of David Clarkson. Alex Tuch was a throw-in from the Wild for the Knights taking Erik Haula, Fleury was who the Pens wanted the Knights to take, Reilly Smith was traded to make sure that Jonathan Marchessault was picked by the Knights.

Yup– really unfair when the guys who turned out to be the best players on their team are basically having their old teams BEG VEGAS TO TAKE THEM AWAY!!

You want motivation?? How about when you have teams giving you away because they wanted to make sure someone else got taken. You want to prove value?? You shove it up their ass. That’s motivation. And to have someone like Gerard Gallant– who was last seen in the NHL having to get his own cab– at the helm of this rag-tag team of players; you have 30+ guys with their hearts and minds dead set on proving everyone wrong.

This was a team that most people thought were going to finished dead-last in the league. This was a team that people had not getting to 70 points. This was a team that people believed would have visiting fans outnumber the home fans by a country mile.

So much for that.

No one would have guessed this season would happen. I’m sure some of the guys on the team– despite saying they believed in themselves– would have thought they’d go this far. Five guys with 20+ goals, using five goalies in the first two weeks due to injuries and STILL WINNING, and believing enough in their roster to make very limited moves and sticking with the horses they have. Now, as of the time of this writing, they are one win away from getting to the Stanley Cup Final.

What’s the point of my ramblings?? Well, it’s because fans ruin everything thinking they know what the story is supposed to be for any franchise. Just because your team had to have hardships doesn’t mean it’ll be the same for every team. Just because your team had the top-priced talent doesn’t mean value picks can’t get it done. Just because your team waited X-number of years to win a Cup doesn’t mean this team can’t do it in a single season.

If you can’t enjoy this for the story because it’s a first year team and you’re a jealous fan– fine. But don’t say these players don’t deserve it because everyone– including myself– didn’t think this team would do shit for shinola.

Good on them for shoving it up everyone’s ass.

South-Beast Division Representing in Conference Finals

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Of the four teams still left in the NHL Playoffs– three of them at some point played in the Southeast Division.

Let that sink in. Let the worst division in all of hockey; a division that angered so many because they got a top-seed when many times they were undeserving, a division you could say set off these new divisions because of how inferior it was to the others. That division accounts for 75% of the Final Four.

Of course, the Winnipeg Jets only played two seasons after moving from Atlanta because the NHL powers that be didn’t own a map that could have given a better option from the Central Division at the time to move to the Southeast– but whatever. The representation of this often horrid division is finally coming to light.

For the Capitals, they were seven-time Southeast Division champions, while the Lightning had only two division titles to their name– one of which led to a Stanley Cup in 2004. In the 14 seasons that the Southeast Division was in existence, eight times did more than one team get into the playoffs. The biggest margin of victory for a year in the Southeast was that 2003-04 season, where Tampa Bay had 106 points, which was 28 points better than the 2nd place Atlanta Thrashers.

Granted, with all the turnover in the league since the last time there were six divisions only four years ago, it’s hard to compare what would happen now since they’re all spread out in different divisions; but I’d like to believe that the cornerstones to these teams had major ties to the Southeast Era (or Error depending on who you ask). Alex Ovechkin, Dustin Byfuglien, Steven Stamkos– all of those guys were in the midst of the Southeastern heyday. The fact all three came out of their division is pretty fantastic, not only that– but we could see an all former-Southeast Division Stanley Cup Final if Winnipeg beats out Vegas to face one of their former foes.

For my money, however, I see it as a media member’s dream of Vegas beating Winnipeg in six games, while Tampa takes out Washington in seven to make it a very sunny, very warm Stanley Cup Final.

Takeaways and Looking at the Second Round

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The first round is over and it was….something. Here’s some takeaways from it:

-As much as I hate to say it, the Penguins look like they’re world beaters. Sure, they beat the Flyers who were beat-up themselves and not all that great when you look at their goaltending, but to put up 28 goals in six games is impressive regardless of how you look at it. For a team that’s played from top to bottom for two straight seasons, they look like they’re gonna make a bigger push to get to a third.

-Man, those Western Conference series were a bit of a snooze, huh?? Two sweeps, both in the Pacific and the only real big deal series maybe showed the defending Conference Champs showing some vulnerability against a definitively weaker opponent. That said, at least the also-rans are out of the way for the new crop of powerhouses to take control of the division for a bit.

-The question is does this powerhouse really include the Vegas Golden Knights or are they just a mirage. They’ve already overcome the expansion blues and really took the league by storm. The question is whether or not Marc-Andre Fleury can really take the reins of this team and prove his playoff mettle. While defensive teams often take over the playoffs, a little goal support like how they managed this season could really help their cause as this dream season continues.

-Andrei Vasilevskiy will hopefully enjoy this break. For a guy who was talking about how he’s been worn down the entire season by playing so much, this time off will help him get a little recharged and focus. Though, he did look solid in those last two games, only letting up two goals total in them. If Nikita Kucherov and Alex Killorn can keep the offense up, the Bolts could take advantage of a worn down Bruins team.

Now, with that stuff out of the way– what to look for in the second round.

-The Jets aren’t the Avalanche, so the Predators better not let up early goals like they have been. While Pekka Rinne and the squad have been solid, a team like the Jets and the offensive prowess they have will jump all over the Preds and not give the lead up so easily. You have to believe the best is yet to come for Patrik Laine, Mark Scheifele, and Blake Wheeler– and what better way to do it than now.

-While I’m a Caps fan and know what could come next, the fact they are going to start Game One without having to face Evgeni Malkin and Carl Hagelin is a good thing. Yet, the Caps are 8-2 in Game Ones against the Penguins and have gone 1-9 in those series by the end. Alex Ovechkin has been scoring and the depth on the Caps is solid– they just have to get the boulder from off their back (and between their ears) if they want to succeed.

-Despite big-upping Vasilevskiy earlier, the Bruins are a team that could very well grind out some wins. It seems no matter what– their depth is chipping in and taking some pressure off Brad Marchand and Patrice Bergeron. However, whether or not Tuukka Rask can withstand the barrage of firepower that Tampa has remains to be seen. You can expect the best out of Steven Stamkos this round, too.

-Someone get the pumpkin ready, because Vegas’s Cinderella season could be at it’s end. It’s nice to believe they can get to the Finals, but when you look at how this Sharks team is performing and how Martin Jones is looking back to form, it’s hard to say they’ll have a cakewalk like they did against LA. With Marcus Sorenson and Melker Karlsson leading the fresh group of Sharks, the Golden Knights could finally see their season end without a fairytale ending.

On the Topic Of Shipping Out Shipachyov

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I’m not trying to make this into a Golden Knights blog, but they’re just so new and shiny and so many moving parts– you just have to talk about them. And that’s the case now with Vadim Shipachyov and their turmoil with him.

Now, when the Golden Knights signed Shipachyov, he was the bonafide first player. All due respect to Reid Duke, but Shipachyov had some kind of foundation coming into the Vegas fold. Nine seasons in the KHL, multiple National team appearances in the World Championships, and one of those guys with the tag of “best not in the NHL.” There was some buzz around him and many thought he could be a big contributor to the team.

Then the expansion draft happened. And then training camp. And then the start of the season. And Shipachyov has only appeared in three of the eight games and now his agent has been told to seek a trade elsewhere since Shipachyov is not happy with a demotion to the Chicago Wolves in the AHL.

There is a sound reason for Shipachyov’s annoyance with the demotion, but there’s a sound reason for the Golden Knights want to have him in the AHL. Shipachyov is 30 years old and has accomplished a lot in the KHL, so why would he want to go ahead and play in the AHL when Vegas brought him over to play in the NHL…or so he thought.

When the blades hit the ice, the Golden Knights were much better than they could have thought. Not only that, but Shipachyov hasn’t taken to the North American game as they would have hope, so why not send him down to get used to it?? Well, because he’s a 30-year-old with a number of professional years under his belt– like I said in the previous paragraph.

Should the Knights find a suitor for Shipachyov, depending on the return, they should go ahead and grant him freedom. Look, he doesn’t do your organization any good being a bad apple in the development system you just started. It’s not like a Danny Cleary situation where he gets sent down to teach– Shipachyov wants a career and it’s obvious that the Knights don’t have him in the immediate plans, so he’s checked out. If they can get a solid return, it’d be great to have him elsewhere while not causing a headache for those involved. Plus, as a new team, you don’t want to have the history of being hardasses when it comes to trying to get out of there if you don’t fit in.

How Not to Panic When Panicking

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The one thing that got me starting loathing that Eric Francis has a writing job with the Calgary Sun, even though he was a morning zoo DJ, was at the end of October of 2005, he had already declared the Flames’ playoff hopes dead. Remember, this is the season removed (since 2004-05 didn’t happen) from their amazing Stanley Cup run. However, since they started the first month of the new season 4-7-2, it was already over months before the playoffs actually began.

The Flames finished 46-25-10 and won the Northwest Division.

Eric Francis is a dumbass. Don’t be like Eric Francis.

Yet, in the “what have you done for me lately”/”hot take” world of sports journalism we live in, everyone is ready to kill their team off after the first month of the season. Sure, some of the people are panicking in jest, but there are far too many who are serious in their assessment.

There’s a highly unlikely chance that a team like the Edmonton Oilers are going to be sitting in the cellar all season, especially with the firepower they have in their line-up and Connor McDavid still healthy. Teams like the Capitals, Ducks, and Sharks are not going to be the middling teams they have been to start this season. The Coyotes…..well, on paper, they seem like a better team than they should be– but the game isn’t played on paper and maybe Antti Raanta isn’t the savior people thought he was going to be.

My point is that only one team has hit the ten game mark (the Rangers) and even then, you shouldn’t start to really worry until about 25 games into the season. With the lack of pre-season play like the World Cup of Hockey last year, players didn’t come into the season with “high-level” competitive play under their belt. It might take some guys more time to heat up and really show their true worth.

Conversely, the teams that are hot to start the season aren’t necessarily going to be that way through the entire season. The Golden Knights may start to look like an expansion team come December, injuries could rack up for the Devils (or any team for that matter) come next month, and other teams could regress to the mean sooner rather than later.

So take a deep breath people. New players in new places need time to gel. New contracts need time to have their ink dry. Older players need time to get warmed up and rolling. It’s a matter of time where the true teams will come out firing and actually succeed, lest the management who made these teams who were supposed to be good this season be fired.

The Order of the Expansion Knights

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If you know of my past writing, you know I’m all for gimmicks. This year, with the inclusion of the Vegas Golden Knights, couldn’t have given me a better gimmick than to compare them to the expansion teams of the past or at least back to the 1990s. So, every two weeks or so, I’ll check back here and give a little look-see at how the soon-to-be-if-a-copyright-strike-gets-them Sand Knights are doing to their expansion cousins.

THROUGH FIVE GAMES PLAYED:

Vegas Golden Knights (2017-18) 4-1-0, 8PTS, 15GF, 11GA
Tampa Bay Lightning (1992-93) 2-2-1, 5PTS, 17GF, 15GA
Florida Panthers (1993-94) 2-2-1, 5PTS, 15GF, 15GA
Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (1993-94) 1-2-2, 3PTS, 12GF, 17GA
Atlanta Thrashers (1999-2000) 1-2-2, 3PTS, 12GF, 20GA
Nashville Predators (1998-99) 1-3-1, 3PTS, 8GF, 13GA
San Jose Sharks (1991-92) 1-4-0, 2PTS, 16GF, 23GA
Ottawa Senators (1992-93) 1-4-0, 2PTS, 12GF, 27GA
Columbus Blue Jackets (2000-01) 1-4-0, 2PTS, 9GF, 19GA
Minnesota Wild (2000-01) 0-4-1, 1PT, 8GF, 17GA

The Knights are keeping a solid pace for themselves against the other new teams that came in. Of course, many could argue that the talent pool was a little bit deeper and the rules were a little bit more skewed to help Vegas indirectly with the salary cap and all.

Whether or not they’re able to keep this pace or not remains to be seen. With some key injuries happening, especially to M-A Fleury– there’s a chance for a decline, as an expansion team is supposed to be. This is a team that many pundits and bookies said wouldn’t get over 70 points on the season. While it’d be a helluva effort to keep that pace, the fact is there’s going to be a downslide sooner or later.

Just enjoy the wins as they come, enjoy the atmosphere of the T-Mobile Arena (despite the amount of visiting fans coming into the building), and embrace this new team that has gotten plenty of buzz of for what they’ve done so far.

TEPID TAKE: Vegas’s Golden Night

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Photo from the @GoldenKnights

It was touch and go for a bit, but the Vegas Golden Knights got it done with a 2-1 victory in their first NHL game as a franchise. Forget that it took them 50 minutes to get their first goal and forget that Marc-Andre Fleury got pelted for 46 shots in total, the night was theirs to bask in and it showed what this rag-tag group of players can do. They also became the first team since the 1992-93 Ottawa Senators to win their first game in franchise history. 

(Tampa Bay won their first game, too, but it was a day before Ottawa’s. Florida tied their first game in 1993.)

First, back to Fleury– he shined in the first game. The only Dallas goal was a redirect off of Tyler Seguin’s stick, but other than that, Flower was sharp in net. He was able to take away great scoring chances by the Stars, he didn’t let the first game jitters get to him, and he looked like he’s ready for a heavy workload, much like he saw in his first NHL season in Pittsburgh. However, with more maturity, I’m sure he’ll be able to adapt as needed.

Second, Vegas’s power play looked okay, though they had nothing to show for it. They created a lot of chances, Brendan Leipsic looked like he was very hungry to get that first franchise goal, and with a few more games and practices under their belt– this could be a solid power play to deal with.

On the Dallas side, Ben Bishop looked pretty good before having to be removed due to taking a puck to the face, which cut him. He was back out on the bench for the end of the game, but Ken Hitchcock kept Kari Lehtonen in the game, probably due to the not knowing if Bishop had a concussion or not and erring on the side of caution…which may or may not have cost him the game.

Antoine Roussel being in the box three straight times could be a problem for the Stars going forward. They were 30th in the PK last season and who knows if Hitch is going to make them better going forward against a more potent power play. They were perfect, but against a team in their first game– it’s a start, but I doubt he wants to keep testing the team’s luck like that.

It was a very hard hitting game, which was a good sight to see as nothing was overtly dirty– though you could say James Neal’s hit on Tyler Seguin at the end of the second was like Lex Luger’s bionic forearm– it was a nice rough game and something that Vegas will probably need to get used to in the Western Conference.

For now, they will take this win in stride and hope that the good times keep rolling for them.

What I’m Looking Out For This Year

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With the pre-season over, what more is there to say that hasn’t been said by talking and typing heads around TV and the internet?? Well….probably not a lot, but that’s fine, it’s fine. I’ll just pile onto some topics because what else would I do?? It’s not like original content can get much hits…but not bitter….not at all.

In any case, here we are– another year older, another team bigger, and all the ish is happening. So, here’s what worth looking forward to this season:

-The Golden Knights are obviously going to be one of the main topics of work. Now, I won’t go with the “Swingers” line because everyone is going with that and I’m not that hacky….yet. However, the thing that I have said is that I’ll get sick of the First that will come from this year, but it’s something understandable. One thing I will be interested in towards the end of the season is how they’re keeping pace with past expansion franchises. Shouldn’t take long (hopefully) for them to past the 1974-75 Washington Capitals– so they’ll have that going for them.

-Goalies being in new places will definitely be a talking point, especially since so many faces switched places. Ben Bishop being Dallas, Mike Smith in Calgary, Brian Elliott in Philadelphia, Steve Mason in Winnipeg– all of them are being touted as the true goalie to stop their woes. In Elliott’s case, he’s #17 in the long line of Flyers goalies to have this title, though he’ll fight Michal Neuvirth for the starting position. While none of them may be the franchise changing goalie, they could be a vast improvement on what the teams had…until they aren’t because goalies are totally replaceable.

-Is there any stopping Connor McDavid?? Sure, it seems like we’ve heard the whole “next one” conversation a lot, but McDavid really has been as good as advertised since coming in. There’s plenty to be happy about in Edmonton, especially since he’s not going to have those World Cup of Hockey games under his belt. If he can command the scoring pace for the league again, the buzzing of this team bringing back the glory days in Edmonton will be hard to block out.

-While it’s great Nico Hischier and Nolan Patrick are out there, there’s plenty of Calder candidates out there for this season. Arizona has Dylan Strome and Clayton Keller, the Isles have Josh Ho-Sang and Matt Barzal, former UND players in Brock Boeser (Vancouver) and Tyson Jost (Colorado) could be in consideration. It’s a wide open field and this new wave of young talent is going to be a fun time to watch…only until your team losing becomes unbearable and even this silver lining can help you get over their horrid play.

-It’s the 100th year– not season because the NHL lost one, but it’s the 100th year and it’ll be interesting to see how deep the league goes for this. Of course, they’ll have the outdoor game between Ottawa and Montreal to commemorate the first NHL game, but outside of that– they announced the top 100 players, they’ve been going around with the Centennial Museum on wheels, but you’d have to think there’s got to be more to this year than what we’re seeing…I hope there is. If that’s all there is, then it’s been a bit of a letdown.

There’s some other out there– like the Penguins possible three-peat, what’s going to happen to Alex Ovechkin, who will care about the Olympics when they’re on– but I think those topics will come a bit more to light as the season goes on.

Puck drops tomorrow– strap it and enjoy the ride.