Crosby Signs Extension, Is Ovechkin Next?

Caps Announce Development Camp Schedule and Add a Stanley Cup Champion to Their Roster
The Pittsburgh Penguins made sure that this year's MVP would not hit the restricted free agent market after next season, locking up Sidney Crosby for the next six years at a total of $43.5 million. That just happens to average out to $8.7 million a season for number 87 beginning in '08-'09.

So what does this mean for Alex Ovechkin? Russian reporters caught up with Ovy and asked him what he thought about the signing. Courtesy of AOL Fanhouse:

"What can I say? Good for Crosby! It is easier for any player to come out and play when he knows that his future is secure. I think Pittsburgh wasted no time offering Crosby the deal because of what Edmonton did trying to sign a restricted free agent. Any Canadian team (and not only Canadian) could have offered great terms to Crosby in the future. And who knows if the Penguins could have matched it. But now Sindey is staying in Pittsburgh, and will stay there beyond 2013, in my opinion."

When asked about his contract, Ovechkin said:

"I will negotiate with the Capitals myself. To be precise, I will wait for their offer. If I like it, I will sign the contract. If I don't, then I will get myself an agent (I don't have one right now) to represent me in talks with the Capitals."

There is no question that this needs to get done soon, preferably before the season starts. Now that Crosby has signed the parameters are in place and should make the deal with Ovechkin easier. The quicker this gets done, the better off all parties will be.

The Caps also announced today the roster for their developmental camp this week. From their press release:

2007 Washington Capitals
Summer Development Camp July 11-14, 2007
Arlington, Va. Kettler Capitals Iceplex

No. Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Birthdate 2006-07 Team Acquired
19 Nicklas Backstrom C 6’0” 183 11/23/87 Brynas U-18 (Sweden) Draft (1st, 2006)
29 Jamie Hunt D 6’2” 200 4/20/84 Hershey (AHL) Free Agent
30 Michal Neuvirth G 6’1” 197 3/23/88 Plymouth (OHL) Draft (2nd, 2006)
31 Daren Machesney G 6’0” 182 4/17/87 S. Carolina (ECHL)/Hershey (AHL) Draft (5th, 2005)
34 Sasha Pokulok D 6’5” 220 5/25/86 S. Carolina (ECHL)/Hershey (AHL) Draft (1st, 2005)
36 Francois Bouchard RW 6’1” 187 4/26/88 Baie-Comeau (QMJHL) Draft (2nd, 2006)
40 Simeon Varlamov G 6’1” 183 4/27/88 Yaroslavl (Russia) Draft (1st, 2006)
41 Theo Ruth D 6’1” 199 2/14/89 USA U-18 (USNTDP) Draft (2nd, 2007)
42 Sami Lepisto D 5’11” 176 10/17/84 Jokerit Helsinki (Finland) Draft (3rd, 2004)
45 Steve Werner RW 6’1” 200 8/8/84 S.Carolina (ECHL)/Hershey (AHL) Draft (3rd, 2003)
46 Patrick McNeill D 6’1” 198 3/17/87 Saginaw (OHL) Draft (4th, 2005)
47 Karl Alzner D 6’2” 206 9/24/88 Calgary (WHL) Draft (1st, 2007)
48 Oskar Osala LW 6’4” 222 12/26/87 Mississauga (OHL) Draft (4th, 2006)
49 Viktor Dovgan D 6’1” 205 2/27/87 S. Carolina (ECHL)/Hershey (AHL)
54 Oscar Hedman D 6’0” 209 4/21/86 Modo (Sweden) Draft (5th, 2004)
57 Kyle Wilson C 6’0” 200 12/5/84 Hershey (AHL)/S. Carolina (ECHL)
58 Maxime Lacroix LW 6’0” 180 6/5/87 Quebec (QMJHL) Draft (5th, 2006)
59 Joe Finley D 6’7” 233 6/29/87 North Dakota (WCHA) Draft (1st, 2005)
61 Andrew Joudrey C 5’11” 191 7/15/84 Wisconsin (WCHA)/Hershey (AHL)
62 Sean Collins D 6’1” 215 10/30/83 Ohio State (CCHA)/Hershey (AHL)
63 Andrew Gordon RW 5’11” 180 12/13/85 St. Cloud State (WCHA) Draft (7th, 2004)
65 Andrew Glass LW 5’11” 180 7/14/89 Nobles (High-Mass.) Draft (7th, 2007)
67 Justin Taylor C 5’11” 180 2/8/89 London (OHL) Draft (6th, 2007)
70 Justin Mrazek G 6’3” 185 7/21/85 Union College (ECACHL) Draft (8th, 2004)
71 Travis Morin C 6’2” 175 1/9/84 Minn. St. (WCHA)/S. Car. (ECHL)
72 Pasi Salonen LW 5’11” 187 12/18/85 HIFK Helsinki (Finland) Draft (5th, 2004)
73 Josh Godfrey D 6’0” 197 1/15/88 Sault Ste. Marie (OHL) Draft (2nd, 2007)
75 Phil DeSimone C 5’11” 193 3/19/87 Sioux City (USHL) Draft (3rd, 2007)
76 Brett Bruneteau C 5’11” 183 1/5/89 Omaha (USHL) Draft (4th, 2007)
78 Brett Leffler RW 6’0” 198 5/19/89 Regina (WHL) Draft (5th, 2007)
80 Dan Dunn G 6’4” 200 6/20/88 Wellington (OPJHL) Draft (6th, 2007)
85 Mathieu Perrault C 5’8” 151 1/5/88 Acadie-Bathurst (QMJHL) Draft (6th, 2006)
86 Luke Lynes C 6’0” 195 11/28/87 Brampton (OHL) Draft (4th, 2006)

Don't miss your opportunity to see some of the future Capitals in action this week at the Kettler Capitals Iceplex. Visit WashingtonCaps.com for the complete schedule of all the action.

And finally, General Manager George McPhee was busy again today signing right winger Joe Motzko to a two year contract. Motzko finished up this past season with the Stanley Cup Champion Anaheim Ducks after being acquired in a trade from Columbus in January. He was fortunate enough to appear in three playoff games including game 4 of the finals against Ottawa where he totaled 2 minutes and 46 seconds of ice time. There has been no official word but Motzko most likely signed a two-way deal, meaning he could be sent to the Hershey Bears without clearing having to clear waivers. While the Minnesota native has yet to make much of an impact at the NHL level, Motzko has excelled at the AHL level tallying 100 goals, 133 assists, for 233 points in 277 games over the past 4 seasons.

Joe Motzko's scouting report from sportsnet.ca:

Assets - Has been an accomplished point producer at the AHL level. Displays enough feistiness and grit to play a bottom-six forward role in the NHL.

Flaws - Is somewhat undersized for the big league and doesn't own the hands of a natural sniper. Lacks a particular niche for the NHL game.

Another depth signing, Motzko should provide competition in training camp while helping the Bears remain an elite team in the American Hockey League.

A Weekend to Forget

It was not the best of days for the Washington franchise yesterday as both of their affiliates joined the Capitals in loosing despite the fact that they all outshot their opponents. The Caps outshot the Penguins 31-25 before falling 3-2 in the end, the Bears outshot the Hamilton Bulldogs 32-22 even though they lost 5-2, and the Stingrays outshot the Florida Everblades 30-29 in spite of the fact that they were never really in the game, losing 4-1. Out of the three teams, the only one to record a point in the standings this weekend was South Carolina with their shootout loss to Florida on Saturday night.
(Photo Courtesy of Jason Cohn/Reuters)

The Capitals played pretty well overall in the nationally televised game on NBC. They once again shut down their opponents top guns, as they did in Tampa on Thursday night when only a five minute let down in the beginning of the second period lead to two Vincent Lecavalier goals. Evgeni Malkin scored on his only good opportunity of the day, a hard angle shot from the corner that I'm sure Brent Johnson would like to have back. Sidney Crosby was held in check, posting only a secondary assist on the Penguins first goal of the game, a Mark Recchi power play goal.

On the other hand the Caps once again had trouble putting the puck in the net. They hit the crossbar twice with shots in the third period including one from Alexander Semin on his penalty shot opportunity when he had a wide open net after completely faking out Penguins goaltender Jocelyn Thibault. Semin summed up the feelings of Capitals fans everywhere afterwards by looking towards the ceiling in disbelief. Alex Ovechkin was quiet again recording 5 shots in 19:44 of ice time, but never really threating Thibault. It is now safe to say that Alex is in a big slump as he has just 1 goal and 1 assist in his last 7 games. Kris Beech, Ben Clymer, and Steve Eminger were the healthy scratches again. In the meantime, Washington is now 1-11-1 in their last 13 road games. It may be safe to finally say it's time to look forward to next season.

The Hershey Bears lost their second consecutive game on Sunday. They followed up a sub par effort in a 3-1 loss against the Albany River Rats on Saturday night, with another dreadful outing against the Hamilton Bulldogs yesterday losing 5-2. Maxime Daigneault struggled for the Bears in his first start in goal since returning from a high ankle sprain as he allowed 5 goals on just 22 shots. Two quick goals by Michael Lambert and Mikhail Grabovski in the beginning of the second period had Hershey trying to play catchup for the rest of the game. Joey Tenute provided the only highlights in the game for the Bears netting both of their goals as he now has 17 on the season. Mike Green tailed his first assist of the season with Hershey, but he also had a -3 defensive rating on the day. The Bulldogs triumphed despite playing without their All-Star goaltender Jaroslav Halak, who was in the process of winning his first career NHL start for the Montreal Canadians 3-2 over the Columbus Blue Jackets. The Bears have now lost both of their games since Frederic Cassivi's recent recall due to an injury to Olaf Kolzig, leaving them seven points behind the division leading Norfolk Admirals. Their record on the season without Cassivi on the roster dropped to 10-8-0-2, while they are 22-4-5-3 while their number 1 goaltender is on the active roster. They will have to do their best without him, as he will be with the Capitals for at least the next 3 weeks as Kolzig recovers from his knee injury.

The South Carolina Stingrays finished up a weekend they would soon like to forget, loosing to the Florida Everblades for the second time in two days at the North Charleston Coliseum. Goaltender Daren Machesney started in goal for the second consecutive game after being reassigned to the team earlier in the week. He ended up being pulled from the contest in the second period after allowing 4 goals on just 11 shots. Davis Parley shutdown the Everblades the rest of the way, stopping all 18 shots he faced, but the lead was too much to overcome for the Stingrays. The weekend results dropped South Carolina into a tie with the Charlotte Checkers for fifth place in the South Division with 57 points. They now trail the division leading Texas Wildcatters by 12 points. With their six game home stand now over, the Stingrays will travel to Augusta to take on the Lynx Tuesday night, gametime 7:35 PM ET.

Offense is Offensive

Improved Defensive Performance Spoiled as Caps are Shutout for the Third Time This Season
Pittsburgh Penguins 2, Washington Capitals 0
Boxscore
(Photo courtesy of Keith Srakocic/AP)


Whether it was the presence of a newly acquired defenseman in Milan Jurcina, or a determination to refocus on playing traditional Capitals' hockey, the Caps played their most complete game of the season defensively. They shut down the NHL's leading point scorer in Sidney Crosby and the leading Calder Trophy favorite in Evgeni Malkin, keeping them both off the scoreboard and denying them any significant opportunities.

Jurcina made his debut with the Washington Capitals today and made himself right at home, pairing up with former Providence Bruins teammate Shaone Morrisson. He wasted no time making an impact stopping Sidney Crosby as he attempted to go coast to coast just four minutes in. Crosby maneuvered his way around three Capitals players, but a Jurcina pokecheck stopped him from moving in on Kolzig.

Unlike previous games where the team has struggled out of the gate, the Capitals controlled the action early on recording 8 of the games first 9 shots. Six minutes in, Chris Clark had the best scoring chance with two point blank shots in front of Fleury on the power play. During the same man advantage, Alex Ovechkin served the Penguins notice that the Caps were here to play when he drilled Maxime Talbot in the open ice as he had his head down while trying to clear the puck out of his defensive zone. After taking a moment to regain his senses, Talbot headed off to the locker room for repairs. He did return later in the game.

The middle of the second period set the tone for the remainder of the game. Moments after a Steve Eminger shot rang off the post, Ronald Petrovicky beat Kolzig on a weak shot as he entered the offensive zone on a 2 on 2 situation. He faked a slap shot then squeezed a wrist shot between Kolzig's glove and right pad. The goal was an unassisted marker for Petrovicky's 2nd of the season.

That goal would be all Pittsburgh would need as despite the Caps outshooting the Penguins 30-20, they were unable to penetrate goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury. He stopped all 30 of those shots for his 4th shutout of the season, improving his record to 24-12-6. The key to Fleury's success was his ability to control the first shot from the Capitals and prevent any rebounds.

Rookie Jordan Staal put the game away with 37 seconds to go as he scored an empty net goal to make it 2-0.

The shutout meant an end to Alex Ovechkin's career high point scoring streak at 13 games. It was an uncharacteristic game for Ovechkin who did not record his first shot of the game until the 7 and a half minute mark of the third period.

The loss was the Caps fifth out of their last six games overall and tenth of their last eleven on the road, dropping their record to 21-25-7. The Penguins extended their winning streak to six games and improved to 25-17-8.

Game Notes:

Milan Jurcina's debut meant Lawrence Nycholat was a healthy scratch for the first time since his recall from Hershey on December 23rd. He had been slumping as of late, recording a -7 defensive rating in his last five games.... Daren Machesney backed up Kolzig for the second consecutive game as Brent Johnson remained out with a "body" injury(?).... The loss means the Caps are now 3-17-1 in the last 21 regular season games at Pittsburgh.... The Caps were shut out for the first time since a 5-0 loss at Carolina November 9th.... The 20 shots allowed by Washington was their fewest of the season.... A Boston win at Carolina tonight would drop the Caps to 14th in the conference.

Caps/Penguins Preview

Washington Capitals (21-24-7, 49 points)
at
Pittsburgh Penguins (25-17-8, 58 points)

Television: Comcast Sportsnet
Radio: Sportstalk 980-AM
Gametime: 1:00 PM ET


Following their embarrassing performance in Florida on Thursday night, the Capitals travel to Pittsburgh for a Saturday afternoon matinée with the Penguins at the Mellon Arena. The Caps head into the game having lost three straight and nine of their last ten games on the road. On the other hand, the Penguins have been on a roll as of late riding a five game winning streak entering today's contest.

One of the problems that has plagued the Caps all year, and especially as of late with injuries, has been the play of their defensemen. They hope to get a big boost today from Milan Jurcina, who is expected to make his debut with the team after being acquired from Boston Thursday afternoon for a 4th round pick in 2008. He took Brian Pothier's spot on the active roster after Pothier was placed on the injured reserve list yesterday with a concussion. He could see action on a defensive pairing with his former AHL Providence Bruins teammate Shaone Morrisonn. His hard slap shot could also give him some time on the second team power-play.

While the Capitals were struggling in Florida, the Penguins were busy blowing a 4-2 lead at home against the Montreal Canadians. They were able to regroup and come away with two points after Evgeni Malkin won the game for them in the shootout. The win moved the Penguins into a three-way tie for six place in the Eastern Conference.

It's a tale of two teams going in opposite directions as the Penguins have posted a 9-2-2 record during the new year, while the Caps have gone 5-8-0 for 2007.

Alex Ovechkin enters the game looking to extend his career high 13 game point scoring streak. After his goal against the Panthers he now has 33 on the year to go along with 37 assists for 70 points on the season, putting him in a tie for second in the NHL with the Lightning's Martin St. Louis, 12 points behind the Penguins' Sidney Crosby.

The game will mark the end of a three game road trip for the Caps, which up to now has been winless. They will return home with another matinée on Super Bowl Sunday against the New York Islanders at 1:00 PM ET at the Verizon Center. To purchase tickets visit Ticketmaster.com.

Young Stars and Super Skills Competition Do Their Job: Entertain

It was an exciting preliminary night to be followed by the main event tomorrow, the NHL All-Star game. The young stars put on a show of their skills and how the game would look should it start to resemble the NBA (The No Defense League).
Capitals defenseman Mike Green was able to play in the exhibition despite still recovering from an ankle injury he suffered last week. He recorded two assists and had a breakaway opportunity that was denied by Colorado's Peter Budaj.
Alex Ovechkin participated in the second half of the events for the night, the Super Skills competition. He was a contestant in the fastest skater competition which seemed to be suffering from technical difficulties. The electronic timer was not functioning correctly so the time was being recorded on the ice via a stopwatch. It was not exactly the most efficient way of conducting this event. Ovechkin seemed to be flying around the ice, but when he finished he was announced as having a time above 15 seconds, which was a full second behind the leader at the time Patrick Marleau. The commentators even suggested that the time-keeper obviously was no Capitals fan. Later on, Ovechkin continued his struggles in shootout situations as he missed his only attempt of the night.
Did anyone else have trouble following the ending to the Super Skills competition? How did Sidney Crosby get to take 4 shootout opportunities in a row? Maybe I was just tired, but it was very confusing.
Overall though it was an outstandingly entertaining night, which will hopefully lead to a memorable All-Star game tomorrow night.

Ovechkin vs Crosby

By this time, we've heard and engaged in the debate over and over again. If you could build your franchise around one of these two young superstars, which would you choose? In the newest issue of The Hockey News magazine, columnists Ken Campbell and Mike Brophy provide what I believe to be the best argument so far. More specifically Ken Campbell provides the best case as to why your choice should be Ovechkin.




VS





Campbell: "I looked at the stats this morning. Alex Ovechkin 77 career goals, Sidney Crosby 58 career goals. Goals are what make things happen in the NHL. You can get a goal without an assist, but you can't get an assist without a goal. Ovechkin is by far the better goal-scorer, he's more dynamic, more explosive, he speaks his mind. Sidney Crosby never does. He just completely shuts it down and gives you cliche after cliche. If we're looking at growing this game, Ovechkin is the dominant personality. He's the dominant player and he does it with way less of a supporting cast that Crosby does. He's out-and-out the better player.

Brophy: "You tried to sell me on Wayne Gretzky over Bobby Orr on if he never scored a goal he would have led the NHL in scoring by assists and now you're undermining the value of an assist."

Campbell: "Gretzky's still the all-time leading goal-scorer, too, though."

Brophy: "You're undervaluing an assist. Sidney Crosby is younger. Sidney Crosby has more pressure on him. The expectations for him to be great have been there for a long time. If we're going to talk about selling the game, we're getting into personalities. I'm talking about Sidney Crosby the hockey player. Crosby is on a mission to be the best player in the world. I think Alexander Ovechkin is on a mission to be a great player. Sidney Crosby has set himself up for the harder chore of the two. I get a sense watching the two that while they both strive for greatness, Sidney Crosby will be the first to lead his team to a championship and will have more to do with his team winning the championship than Ovechkin will."

Campbell: "I just see a guy in Ovechkin who's intensely committed. I think he wants to be every bit as good as Sidney Crosby. He wants to be the best player in the world just like Sidney does. What may set them apart is Sidney Crosby, the way he plays the game, is goinBg to break down a lot sooner than Alexander Ovechkin will. Crosby won't last as long because he plays the game too recklessly and leaves himself much more vulnerable to injury than Ovechkin does."

Brophy: "I love Sidney's intensity. In the end it may be his undoing - he's the epitome of a guy who will go through a brick wall to succeed. In a 1-on-1 showdown, and this has been proven in their showdowns, Sidney will come out on top."

Campbell: "Except, of course, at last year's NHL Awards. I don't think he came out on top there. I could be wrong..."

The fact is you can't go wrong with either one. And while they are both top of the line superstars, they are very different when it comes to their playing styles. Ovechkin emits more passion for the game in the emotions he shows both on and off the ice. Crosby has that same love of the game but he is just a more passive person personality wise. Campbell's best argument is when he brings up the issue of goal scoring. Ovechkin is by far and away the better and more explosive goal scorer of the two. He is also the faster skater of the two, and can use that speed to absolutely blow by defenders. Crosby's 4-0-1 record in head to head match-ups so far is meaningless, as both teams are just in the beginning stages of rebuilding their rosters. It remains to be seen whether Brophy's prediction of Crosby winning a championship first comes to fruition. Hopefully Ovechkin will prove him wrong and finally bring the Stanley Cup to Washington.

The Hockey News Editor Jason Kay had this idea on a way to spice up the All-Star game:
"A team of 30-and-older players against a team of 29-and-under. Imagine Sidney Crosby and Alexander Ovechkin trying to work their magic against Nicklas Lidstrom and Scott Niedermayer, Martin Brodeur vs Cam Ward, Chris Chelios trying to stop Jordan Staal. There would certainly be a lot more pride on the line under this scenario than there is when East meets West."

I love it. It would provide a way to inspire a more exciting game. The young guys trying to take down the veterans. And the old guys trying to show the young guys whose boss. Just another way to liven up the game a little.