Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Springfield defeat Hershey in Shootout.

Saturday evening, with our NHL differences aside for now, we headed to the Giant Center to see the Bears host the Springfield Falcons. For many Bears fans, this was a homecoming night for the Mayor of Hershey, Dean Arsene, and enforcer Kip Brennan - two of the Bears championship team from last season. Arsene, however, would not make the trip. The Mayor was instead fulfilling his dream of playing hockey in the NHL, as a call-up to the Edmonton Oilers. The last time I checked, Arsene had played in at least 3 games for the Oilers, and was receiving favorable feedback from the coaching staff in Edmonton. Congratulations to you Dean - you truly deserve this opportunity.

The Falcons had started off well this season, so we knew this game would not be easy. Just not too long ago, we faced a red-hot Jonathan Bernier in goal when we played the Monarchs. Springfield would give us another tough encounter, with a stellar performance from goaltender Devan Dubnyk. With Michal Neuvirth in Washington, the Bears went with Braden Holtby in goal, and when the game became a shootout, a feeling of deja-vu from the Royals/Stingrays game would haunt us. Holtby has agility and decent reflexes, but has yet to look comfortable in the one-on-one situation. Holtby would once again lose the shootout, conceding a score to Chad Wiseman. He would have little help from his team-mates, who failed to connect on all five of their attempts against Dubnyk. The Bears may have dominated the game in regulation, but their failure to beat Dubnyk after 60 minutes was enough to give Springfield the confidence to take home the victory.

Okay, so hands up all Bears fans that found themselves secretly rooting for Kip Brennan when he chose to drop the gloves with Hershey enforcer Brandon 'Sugar' Sudgen. Hmm, I found a good friend of mine who raised her hand at work (thanks Lorie), so I don't feel so bad now. Those that know me, know that it takes me a while to warm to 'newbies' on the team. Last year, I did not care much for Kipper himself until we had a chance to meet and have a short conversation. This year, I am struggling to care for the likes of Sugden, who brings mediocre hockey skills at best. However, I find it harder still right now to show any emotional attachment to Boyd Kane. Yes, he is a former Bear that has come back! Yes, he's already played a handful of games in a Capitals sweater this season! But there is something, just something, that irks me about him. Is it the whining that he was famous for last season when wearing a Phantoms sweater? Is it the lack of ba......erm, courage when pushed into a corner? I really don't know - but my lack of attachment will make it harder still for him to win me over. He must prove it on the ice, and the missed opportunity to win the game on Saturday night in front of the goal certainly did nothing to boost his worth.

When Husband and Wife disagree....

the source of such differences often coincide with the Washington Capitals facing the Montreal Canadiens. Last season was a great year for the husband (me!!!). We saw the Caps shutout the Habs 3-0 last year in the Verizon Center, and win 3 out of the 4 games played during the regular season. Last year, I took home the 'household' cup.

Fast forward to the 2009-10 NHL season, and we took in our second Capitals game of the season at the Verizon Center. Once again, it was the Caps and Habs, but this time I would suffer the humiliation of defeat, and hand bragging rights back to the Habs fan in the household. The Caps did not play to their potential. The Habs had little offense, but played great defensively and relied on the outstanding performance of goaltender Carey Price probably a little more than they should have. Both teams could have taken this game, but the Habs wanted it more and beat the home team by a score of 3-2.

With Jose Theodore taking time out for personal reasons, Hershey goaltender Michal Neuvirth would be given his first NHL start of the season. The game was also a first for Hershey defenseman John Carlson, who many believed should have stayed in DC right after training camp. Both call-ups had great performances (Neuvirth may have liked the second Habs goal back, but alas) and while neither could add a victory to their resume on this particular night, they both had a chance to shine at the highest level of pro hockey.

So for now, wifey has a 1-0 lead this season, but the Caps will be looking to tie that series when both teams square off this weekend at the Bell Center in Montreal.

An irrelevant side note: congratulations to the CFL's Montreal Alouettes for winning the Eastern Final, and having the opportunity to play once again in the Grey Cup this coming Sunday. Best wishes for Anthony Calvillo and the boys when they take on the Roughriders. Go Als.....

Royals upset Stingrays with Shootout Victory

We arrived at the Sovereign Center in downtown Reading just as both teams were taking to the ice for their pre-game warm-ups. As mentioned in my previous entry, this was our first opportunity to see South Carolina in person, and it was great seeing a few familiar names from the Capitals roster. It was certainly not hard to miss the towering Joe Finley, who we had not seen since his short stint in Hershey last season. We also noticed a lot of new names and faces amongst the Royals. We were certainly disappointed to learn that Dan Rudiseula had not been resigned, and like many others that preceded him, was now playing hockey in Europe. It is a shame that players we have come to know, such as Josef Boumedienne and Shawn Collymore, have made such little impact in the North American pro-ranks that they've had to ply their trade elsewhere.

Once the game got underway, it was VERY difficult to root against either team. We are fond of the Royals, but we were also loyal to the NHL affiliation with the Caps. It was hard to cheer respectfully when the Rays scored, and almost impossible to stay seated when the Royals took their turn finding the back of the net. Spotting some friends from Hershey in the crowd, we moved after the first period to both not alienate the fans in our section and to have strength in numbers to support the visiting team.

The game itself was a sequence of fights and a shootout - but this was not a Clint Eastwood western - this was ECHL hockey. Joe Finley would indeed drop the gloves, as would Matt Fornataro and Nate Kiser (an impressive defenseman). However, it came down to a duell between two great goaltending prospects: Braden Holtby for the Rays and Andrew Engelage for the Royals. Needing to stand tall, Holtby would be beaten by Jared Ross in the shootout and the home team would take the victory. In a way, it was a win-win for us - the Stingrays beat the Royals just 24 hours earlier, and then took an extra point in defeat. While the Rays headed home with 3 out of 4 points on the road, the Royals also salvaged a victory of their own for the 5000 fans in attendance.

Sunday, November 8, 2009

Torn Loyalties Tonight

We are heading to Reading, PA tonight for our first taste of Royals hockey. While our visits to the Sovereign Center only account for a small percentage of our hockey viewing pleasure, we always enjoy the fast paced action that the ECHL offers. Tonight, however, we face the paradox of having our Royals host the South Carolina Stingrays (affilates of the Washington Capitals), and thus questions arise as to where our loyalties will lie. We are supportive of the Royals, but with no emotional ties to either the Toronto Maple Leafs or Boston Bruins, it will be almost impossible to cheer against the Rays. We look forward to seeing the likes of Josh Godfrey, Michael Dubuc, Joe Finley, Jake Hauswirth, and possibly even Braden Holtby who was recently reassigned. Indeed, talk about being between a rock and a hard place.

So our apologies in advance to the Royals. We support you and always wish you success, but just this once our loyalties to the Capitals will take precedence. Next time we visit the Sovereign Center, we'll be rooting for the home team, honestly.

On a side note, we are looking forward to seeing Kyle Laughlin play tonight for Reading - son of CSN color commentator, Craig Laughlin. Hopefully Craig can take time out to visit Reading and see his son play.

AHL'ers making an impact in DC

I am prone to spending my work breaks perusing hockey blogs that talk primarily about the Capitals and the Bears, and have seen a lot of criticism about Bruce Boudreau recently. To many bloggers, there seems to be some level of disgust concerning how a coach with a largely minor league background tends to be favorable towards his minor league prospects from Hershey. I have seen several comments about how DC only needs 'The Young Guns' (Alex Ovechkin, Alex Semin, Nicklas Backstrom and Mike Green) to be successfull, and that call ups from Hershey are a sideshow. Just last season, in the stands at the Verizon Center, I would often hear bitter resentment from fans if such a call-up fanned on a shot, missed a pass, or was out of position. Only once did I think such criticism was justified. It was hard to forgive Sami Lepisto and his 'broken skate' episode that cost the team a victory, and a subsequent lack of confidence in his ability from coach Boudreau. But cries of 'send 'em back to Hershey' and several others not fit to print left me with a feeling that the talent provided by the farm system was completely under-appreciated.

This brings me to my reasoning for this entry. Over the last three games played by the Capitals, the Young Guns have not been a factor. With Ovechkin out due to injury, Semin investing in penalty box real estate, and Green ailing once again, only Backstrom is left to carry the load, and he too has been quiet lately. In the absence of the Great 8, the Capitals have still posted a 2-1 record, and underlying the success in these games have been, yes, you named it, the AHL contingent. Take a look at the stats, for they do not lie. Hershey call-up Mathieu Perreault has points in all three games since wearing a Caps jersey, including a nifty goal against the Florida Panthers in his Verizon Center debut. Tyler Sloan has successfully switched between playing forward and defense as dictated by Boudreau, and has two goals in those last three games now posted on his resume. Another one of Gabby's boys, Quintin Laing, has demonstrated an uncanny knack for killing penalties, and has developed great chemistry with his linemates David Steckel and Matt Bradley. Laing has also found the net recently too, beating Columbus netminder Steve Mason and then tallying last night in the 7-4 victory over Florida. And then what about that other 'Hershey' guy? Oh yes, Semyon Varlamov, the Hershey call-up that helped keep the playoffs alive in back to back series last season, and who maintains a pretty impressive win/loss percentage since playing for the Caps. Yes, clearly there is absolutely no need to have these mediocre AHL'ers taking up roster space :')

So has Gabby shown favoritism towards his minor league boys? Not at all! In my opinion, the coach has simply made the right decisions for the best interests of the team. Few could argue that in the absence of the superstars, the call-ups have not been a contributing factor to the Capitals continued success. And for those that remain unconvinced...well, sorry to rain on your parade, but both Hershey and the South Carolina Stingrays are developing the next generation of this team, and given their track record recently (Calder Cup and Kelly Cup), have certainly done a pretty outstanding job to date.

Friday, November 6, 2009

Triple Treat of Hershey Bears Action

Following on from the previous entry, we took in 3 games at the Giant Center over the following couple of weekends. Hershey would concede a game to the Binghamton Senators, in a 5-2 loss that resulted from not necessarily a lack of effort, but a lack of chemistry. With a tied game after one period, a combination of missed opportunities, poor puck distribution and penalty woes pushed the Bears into a hole from which they would not recover.

The next evening at Hershey saw the Bears host the Portland Pirates. Just like the Manchester game from the week prior, the game would be a tight, defensive affair. Goaltender Jason Bacashihua would make his home debut for Hershey, and looked pretty calm and collected between the pipes. Down by 2-1 after two periods, Andrew Gordon would level the score just six minutes into the third period. Six minutes later, gritty winger Steve Pinizzotto would not only score the game winning goal, but would do so short-handed whilst killing a high sticking penalty assessed against the Bears. Pinizzotto would earn number one star honors for his efforts, and hopefully the victory would steer the Bears back to their winning ways.

One week later, and back at the Giant Center once more to host the Albany River Rats. With a combination of confidence and momentum, the Bears made short work of their opponents, downing the River Rats by a score of 4-1. Jason Bacashihua was once again solid in goal for Hershey - a great off-season signing who can not only perform, but will be a great mentor for both Michael Neuvirth and Braden Holtby. Andrew Gordon would score the game winner during a Bears power play, and Francois Bouchard would take the first star honors after recording one goal and two assists.

Salutaions From the Sin Bin Returns for 2009-10

After a lenghy hiatus from the world of blogging, hockey observations from 'Salutations from the Sin Bin' are back at the cyber-rink. Sure, the season may be well and truly underway, but after serving time in the penalty box, it is time to 'unleash the fury' once again. There will be no real changes to the format that was started last season - once again, the focus will be on the Washington Capitals, the Hershey Bears and a few reports from the Reading Royals too. This particular blogger does not intend to provide a play-by-play summary of each game played, but to merely provide commentary and observations from games attended throughout this season.

The Season so Far: A Recap:

The 2009-10 season started where last year ended - back at the Giant Center in Hershey, PA. After bringing the Calder Cup back to Hershey last June, it was only fitting to commence a new season at home with the raising of the tenth Calder Cup victory banner to the Giant Center rafters. Being in the fortunate position to retain a large percentage of the championship team roster, the Bears would open their 72nd season against the Norfolk Admirals. With plenty of talent provided by the Capitals organization, and a few free-agent signings, the Bears roster once again has plenty of depth. And once again, it would be a mediocre Norfolk team that would feel the wrath of an opponent looking to start the season in similar style to the way in which it took all of the honors last year. The Bears took a 3-1 victory, in a game that was nowhere near as close as the score would indicate. Capitals prospect Braden Holtby would make his Hershey debut between the pipes, and played a solid 60 minutes for the host team. With the departure of Graham Mink, Andrew Gordon was promoted to the first line with Alexandre Giroux and Keith Aucoin, and while Gordon does not bring the grinding skills of Mink, he does bring an acute awareness of where to be when the puck is brought into the zone. It was only fitting that Gordon would nail the game winning goal, and be awarded the number one star for his efforts. The performance also left a taste for more winning hockey at Hershey - this should be another great season.

One week later, we were back at Hershey to welcome a visit from the Manchester Monarchs. The Bears and Monarchs do not play each other too often, but when they do, the games tend to be tight, and this encounter would be no different. However, on this occassion, the Monarchs would bring an ace up their sleeve - goaltender, Jonathan Bernier. Braden Holtby was once again given the start for Hershey, and held his own against his NHL experienced counterpart. However, with a red hot performance from Bernier, who stopped 34 of 35 shots, the Monarchs would steal this one in a low scoring 2-1 affair. The Bears did not play a 60 minute game, and ultimately left it too late in the 3rd period to mount the necessary comeback.

We made our first visit to Washington DC just 24 hours after the Bears game, and took in the Columbus Day battle between the Capitals and the New Jersey Devils. After taking a quick 2-0 lead in the first period, the Capitals looked to be a team that finally had all the pieces in place to be a contender this season. Newcomers Mike Knuble and Brendan Morrison were quick to adapt to the Boudreau system, and the team seemed to have this game under control. And that led to their downfall - too much confidence, and some sloppy hockey in the remainder of the game saw a 2-0 lead evaporate, and a shootout victory for the boys from Joisee. The Caps did not go for the kill, and the Devils refused to quit - Martin Broudeur would seal the deal in the shootout, and the visitors were handed 2 points from a Caps team that showed a severe lack of discipline and intensity down the stretch.