Capitals Insider

Leonsis's statement on Pollin (updated)

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 20:34:42 -0500

Capitals Owner Ted Leonsis has released the following statement regarding the death of Abe Pollin: We are all saddened by the news of Mr. Pollin's passing. We extend our deepest sympathies to Irene, Robert, Jimmy, the rest of the Pollin family and his many friends and join them, and all of Washington, in mourning a great man. Mr. Pollin was a model philanthropist, an icon in the sports world and the individual responsible for founding the Capitals and bringing an NBA championship to our city. He was the catalyst in building a fabulous downtown arena that revitalized the surrounding area. Anyone walking down 7th Street, seeing the throngs of excited fans, the host of popular restaurants, hotels and nightspots, can attest to the lasting legacy of Mr. Pollin's deep commitment to D.C. My partners and I were proud to work with him and his family during the last ten years

Bettman's statement on Pollin

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 19:34:26 -0500

NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman released the following statement regarding the passing away of former Washington Capitals owner and D.C. sports figure Abe Pollin: "Abe Pollin always wanted the best for his teams, for the fans and for Washington -- and all of those passions combined to create the arena that revitalized the entire downtown community. He was a man of commitment and principle and we all will miss him. The National Hockey League family sends sincere condolences to his loved ones."

Abe Pollin dies at age 85

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 15:52:28 -0500

Abe Pollin, the only majority owner in the history of the Washington Wizards and the former owner of the Washington Capitals, died Tuesday at age 85. Pollin was owner of the Capitals when they reached the Stanley Cup finals in 1998, before he sold the team in 1999 to AOL executive Ted Leonsis. Longtime Post sports editor George Solomon will be online at 5 p.m. to discuss Pollin's life and legacy. More to come...

Boudreau: 'We stopped playing'

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 14:49:35 -0500

There was no getting around it in the locker room following practice at Kettler today: The Capitals let what should have been a win slip away in Ottawa last night. After a strong second period gave Washington a 3-1 lead heading into the third, the team's bad habit of taking costly penalties when there's an opportunity to go for the jugular reared its ugly head once again. The Capitals have now lost four of their past five games and given up leads in all of those defeats. In fact, the Caps have held a lead in the second period or later in all 24 games this season and watched six different third-period leads slip away. For that very reason, between the second and third periods, Coach Bruce Boudreau stressed how important it was to stay out of the penalty box and embrace a killer instinct to put the Senators away.

Plenty of Caps absent from practice

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 12:47:39 -0500

The Capitals started practice about 20 minutes later than expected, but Coach Bruce Boudreau is putting his players through some fairly rigorous five-on-five drills considering the team didn't get back from Ottawa until 1:30 am last night. Injured defensemen Milan Jurcina and Shaone Morrisonn are both skating, but Alex Ovechkin, Alexander Semin, Mike Knuble, Tom Poti and Boyd Gordon are all missing. All the Hershey guys (John Carlson, Jay Beagle, and Andrew Gordon) are all still here. More to come once the team gets off the ice.

Morning roundup: Third-period breakdown

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 05:32:40 -0500

(Blair Gable/Reuters) Despite jumping out to a two-goal lead in the second period thanks to a tally by Jay Beagle -- the first of his NHL career -- the Caps only ended up with a single point in a 4-3 overtime loss to the Senators at Scotiabank Place. On a positive note, what says "We've got depth" like a goal from Jay Beagle? From Tarik's gamer: OTTAWA -- Jay Beagle did what most young Canadian hockey players aspire to when he notched his first NHL goal Monday night. But the Washington Capitals' fourth-line center didn't get the chance to celebrate his achievement properly in the solemn visitors' dressing room at Scotiabank Place following a disheartening 4-3 overtime defeat to the Ottawa Senators. Beagle, an undrafted rookie who was recalled from the minor leagues last week as an injury replacement, intercepted a pass midway through the second period and buried

Senators 4, Caps 3 (OT)

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 00:33:43 -0500

With the seven regulars out of the lineup, the Caps needed a strong team effort tonight in Ottawa. And for about 40 minutes, that's exactly what they got. Then in the third, the Senators came out hard and the Caps suffered a collective letdown of epic proportions. They took three penalties (at least two were certainly deserved) in the last 14 minutes after taking none before that. They were out-shot 18-3 in the final 20 and 4-0 in overtime. A once comfortable two goal lead was gone. In the words of David Steckel (who blamed himself for the Senators' second and third goals) the Caps "mentally shut it down" after Jay Beagle gave them a 3-1 lead with his first NHL goal midway through the second period. Go check out my game story, then come back for a few quick notes/thoughts on a game the Caps let slip away:

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Tue, 24 Nov 2009 00:33:43 -0500

Tonight's lineup: Caps at Senators

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 18:12:33 -0500

Semyon Varlamov will start in net tonight for the Caps, who will be looking to snap a two-game losing streak. Brian Elliott, meantime, is expected to get the nod the surging Sens at Scotiabank Place. The Caps, once again, will be without seven players from the opening night roster. Because of that, the lineup is expected to look like this: Forwards Ovechkin-Backstrom-Clark Laich-Morrison-Fehr Fleischmann-Perreault-Bradley Steckel-Beagle-A. Gordon Defense Schultz-Green Sloan-Carlson Erskine-Pothier Goalies Varlamov Theodore Check back later for some postgame notes and quotes.

Varlamov likely to start in Ottawa

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 12:54:46 -0500

I'm working on something else for later in the week, so I'm going to be brief: *The Caps' injury situation might not get any better before tonight's game. Defenseman Shaone Morrisonn (concussion) skated this morning said he's getting close but that he doesn't expect to play tonight. "I felt pretty good out there, but I'm not 100 percent yet," Morrisonn said. "They don't want to rush something like that." Coach Bruce Boudreau later told reporters that Morrisonn will take warmups and be a game-time decision. *Semyon Varlamov came off the ice first here at Scotiabank Place, which generally means he's going to get the start. The rookie is 7-1-1 with a 1.94 goals against average and .933 save percentage in his last eight games, and a 1.23 goals against average and .957 save percentage in his last four. *Varlamov is expected to oppose Ottawa backup goalie Brian Elliott. *It also

Semin on injury recovery: 'So far, so good'

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 11:33:06 -0500

Here's an Alexander Semin injury update from Russian reporter Slava Malamud: As one injured Alex has returned to the Caps lineup, albeit with mixed results, the other one is still out with a wrist injury and, unlike his teammate and compatriot, mostly remains mum on the subject. This is nothing unusual for Alexander Semin, who always prefers to keep his own counsel when it comes to the recovery time and the extent of injury and doesn't like to give any projections. This weekend, however, Semin called me on the phone, just to give a little update on how things are progressing and to show that he is not really avoiding the media. What can you say on the subject of your health? So far, so good. I think that I may start playing soon. Can you say what the nature of the injury was? Now, do you think I will

Morning roundup: Injuries taking a toll

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 09:44:47 -0500

Tom Poti, left, is the latest Cap to suffer an injury. (John McDonnell/The Washington Post) As the injuries continue to pile up, the Capitals will have to see how much depth they have. The team could again be without seven players who were on the opening-night roster when they play the Senators at Scotiabank Place tonight: The recent rash of injuries has forced Coach Bruce Boudreau to put players in positions in which they're not completely comfortable (left wing Tomas Fleischmann struggled when he lined up as a right wing against Montreal), give significant ice time to rookies before they're ready for it, and lean more on others than he would like. (Mike Green, for example, skated a season-high 31 minutes 38 seconds against the Maple Leafs.) "You can't use it as an excuse because that makes it look like you're looking for a crutch," Boudreau said. "But there's

Maple Leafs 2, Caps 1 (SO)

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 00:18:41 -0500

Reaction to tonight's humbling 2-1 shootout loss to the lowly Leafs was all over the place in the visitors' dressing room at Air Canada Centre. Coach Bruce Boudreau said his players looked worn out, a combination of playing on back to back nights and performing under the strain of so many injuries. It would be hard to argue with him. Then there was captain Chris Clark, who was annoyed about his team's second straight flat start and its inconsistent effort from shift to shift, period to period, against the league's worst team. Again, it would be hard to argue with him. Both, in my opinion, have valid points. But the Leafs? Really? With an early flight to Ottawa in a few hours, I'm going to keep things brief tonight. If you haven't already, check out my game story here and then come on back for a few notes that

Tonight's lineup: Caps at Maple Leafs

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 17:30:45 -0500

Seymon Varlamov will start in goal tonight at Air Canada Center, where the banged up Caps try to take two points from the NHL's worst team. Vesa Toskala, meanwhile, is expected to be in net for the Maple Leafs. Out for Washington are: Alexander Semin (wrist), Mike Knuble (broken finger), Boyd Gordon (back), Quintin Laing (broken jaw), Milan Jurcina (groin), Tom Poti (upper body) and Shaone Morrisonn (concussion). Considering all that, the rest of the Caps' patchwork lineup should look like this: Forwards Ovechkin-Backstrom-Laich Fleischmann-Morrison-A. Gordon Clark-Perreault-Fehr Steckel-Beagle-Bradley Defense Schultz-Green Erskine-Pothier Sloan-Carlson Goalies Varlamov Theodore I'll have more after the game.

Varlamov appears set to start

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 12:23:09 -0500

Here's a quick run down of the Caps' lineup/injury situation from this morning's optional skate at ACC: *Semyon Varlamov appears to be line to start tonight at ACC while it also looks like he'll be backed up by Jose Theodore. Michal Neuvirth, meantime, has been reassigned to Hershey to make room for right Andrew Gordon, who was recalled from the Bears today. "We had to make room on the cap, so we sent Nuevirth back down," Coach Bruce Boudreau explained. "And we needed a roster spot, as well." Why Gordon? He's got 20 points (eight goals, 10 assists) for Hershey.

Canadiens 3, Caps 2

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 23:49:58 -0500

The Caps came out slow against Carey Price and the Canadiens, then poured it on late. But in the estimation of Coach Bruce Boudreau and several of his players, this game was lost in the first period and the opening minutes of the second. "The biggest thing is I don't think we were ready at the start of the game," Coach Bruce Boudreau said. "I think we thought, 'We're the Washington Capitals and we're going to go out there and it's going to be an easy win. But there's no easy wins in the National Hockey League." "When we got the sense of urgency in the last two periods," he added. "Sometimes it's too late when the other goalie is on top of his game." I covered a decent bit in my game story, but after you finish reading that, come on back for a few notes and quotes: