Adieu, Dennis Wideman. We barely knew you, and yet we knew you as much as we’d like.

Faithful readers will know that there is no love lost between myself and Wideman. I coined the term “Widemanesque” after game 5 of the WSH-NYR series, meaning “awful” or “disappointing” or “the worst ever.” I nicknamed him Dennis “NHL All-Star?” Wideman and Dennis “Useless Paperweight” Wideman. I was not convinced that he was an All-Star and totally let down by him during the playoffs.

And yet he was. Dennis Wideman was the only Capital to make it to the All-Star Game. He was 4th on the team in scoring (11-35-46). He led the team in ice time, averaging 23:54 in the regular season. On paper, he was perfectly satisfactory.

I think it’s most accurate to see him as disappointing. We paid him $4 million and expected him to take some of the pressure off Mike Green (as a dynamic defenseman capable of scoring) and be the final piece of a Stanley Cup-caliber team. He failed to do this, and worse, he didn’t seem to be disciplined for his mistakes.

Maybe it’s shallow to assume it was merely some form of hockey nepotism — Dennis Wideman and John Carlson (21:51) had the most and second most TOI/G on the team. They finished -8 and -15. Mike Green and Karl Alzner both had less ice time and a +/- of +5 and +12, respectively. But when Alex Ovechkin’s dwindling ice time is held up as an indication of the hardline stance Hunter was taking, it seems suspicious that two underperformers are not penalized… and are both former London Knights.

Because he was supposed to be better than this, it was all the worse when he was out of position, or made sloppy turnovers, or indirectly caused a goal against. I could’ve handled that sort of behavior from Jeff Schultz (not been pleased about it, mind you, but my expectations for Jeff Schultz are relatively low). I expected competent defense with a soupcon of scoring — the above-average scoring did not excuse the sometimes trainwreck defense. He was pretty good when he was good. He was a genuine liability when he wasn’t.

By trading Wideman rather than letting him walk as a UFA, we received a 5th-round pick in the 2013 draft and defenseman Jordan Henry from the Flames. They promptly signed him to a 5-year, $26.25 million deal with a full no movement clause. The best word I have to describe that deal? Widemanesque.

After a few days off, I’ve recovered sufficiently to say something about the Capitals. (Literally recovered. I have scabs on my knee from my nails cutting where I was clutching it during Game 7.) Unfortunately what I have to say is “what a shame.” These Caps really had the look of a team that could go all the way. Or perhaps what I mean is that we could have looked that way, but factors against us combined to make it not so… And thus took us, I think a few years further away from a Cup.

First, we will bid adieu to Tomas Vokoun, who signed an astoundingly cheap contract knowing full well he would only be here a year. He has in fact complained before at how homesick he was. There’s nothing wrong with missing your family, but perhaps he could’ve considered the before he chose the career of “professional athlete in a country that is not your homeland.” Personally, I don’t have a lot of sympathy for him. Maybe I would have more if he had ended up being that Cup-contending goalie he was meant to be, instead of putting up average to good reg season numbers then getting injured immediately before the postseason began.

Secondly, we will almost definitely bid adieu to Sasha Semin, who, while never the lynchpin of anything, was always a welcome addition to our offense. To me, his gorgeous sniper-like wrist shots made up for the lazy offensive zone stick penalties. Even when they made the coach do this. I understand why he would want out, but I’m going to miss him.

Also on the list of players I would miss: Mike Knuble. He’s 40 and coming off an unimpressive season thanks to Dale Hunter Hockey (TM), but I think we can squeeze a couple mil under the cap to retain his services, eh GMGM? He says he both feels fine and wants to keep playing, and even if he didn’t get the 20 goals he wanted, he still has grit and adds the presence of a grizzled veteran. And may I remind of you of when he outraced a man half his age to wash out an icing in the Rangers series? The man still has the internal fire.
» Continue reading “A Look At Capitals Free Agents, Part 1″

Much as I hate to invoke Bill Simmons’ preposterous, martyresque, and (worst of all) Boston-sports-centric Levels of Losing, I think I might have to. The only thing that stops it being a Level III Stomach Punch is the fact that the Capitals are still alive, and, though that was emotionally devastating, it doesn’t feel totally hopeless. It’s almost what we’ve come to expect from the Caps. We all understood. We spent the last five minutes saying, “When is Marian Gaborik just going to tie this thing already?” or “Look, it’s icing. I guarantee Brad Richards scores off the faceoff here, come one.” It was probably with 7 seconds left that I let myself believe we could actually win this.

I won’t be making that mistake again.
» Continue reading “Capitals Lose Game 5 In Most Infuriating Way Possible”

There was a contingency plan in place for NBC in case this game went so long it interfered with the Kentucky Derby. Luckily, they didn’t need it. The Caps have now split 2-2 with the series going back to New York.

I was pretty satisfied with this game. The first period was a delight for the home team: we had a high-tempo game (14 shots on goal in the 1st = as many as we had in the entirety of game 1) and our power play looked very sexy. Too bad that didn’t help (at least not until the 3rd period, but hang on, I’m getting there). Instead, Ovechkin appeared to be buoyed by the 8th minute yet again as he fired a beauty of a slapper that was apparently scared of Lundqvist’s glove, since immediately jumped out and into the safety of the back of the net.

Things aren’t all sunshine and roses for Ovie, though, because it looks like some people want some supplementary discipline for his hit on Dan Girardi. He may be known for his exuberant hits, but I doubt anything will happen: no one was hurt and Ovie is a superstar. If any action is taken at all, I bet it’s a fine — it wasn’t as bad as Shea Weber.
» Continue reading “Capitals Tie Series With Rangers”

The Capitals decide they want to cut another year or so off my lifespan and drop Game 6. Now we’ll see the Bruins in Boston on Wednesday for a Game 7 that is far too far in the future. I frankly dread seeing Professor Bruins Fan — in fact, the last time I ever see him will be Wednesday afternoon! I’ll never get to see his reaction or experience his taunting! Now I’m depressed all over again.

In a bit of poeticism, Mike Green scored his first goal since October 22 yesterday, which was Earth Day. This is is second goal in the playoffs, but he is also +5. Dear me. And even more surprisingly, so is Roman Hamrlik! I suppose I’ll have to stop hating him, which is fine, because I can easily replace that hate with some for Dennis “-4″ Wideman. Thank God Hunter benched Jeff Schultz. I’d rather have a slightly menacing John Erskine skating around harmlessly. Mike Knuble also got his first playoff goal this weekend, which caused my friend and I no small amount of glee. How come Hunts hasn’t figured out how to use him effectively? Stick him in the crease on the power play and watch the magic happen.

I’m not one to begrudge a rival’s talented play, and I have nothing but adulation for Tyler Seguin’s gorgeous OT winner. Holtby commited to taking away the angle by sneaking up to the edge of the crease, and Seguin simply out-waited him and shot into the gapingly open net. Dennis Wideman (useless paperweight that he is) leapt valiantly in an attempt to block it, but it was too late. So I’ll give Tyler Seguin his propers…

…only to rip them away moments later. From the Puck Daddy article:

You won’t believe me, but when I was going down the wing, the first thing that came to my mind was to pass, and then to shoot it off his head.

That’s really f***ing classy, Mr. Seguin. I know, I shouldn’t expect anything but trashy from someone who has his surname tattooed down his bicep in Gothic characters, but really? Joking about head shots in this NHL climate? You’re lucky Brendan Shanahan doesn’t bench your ass for a game. I find that comment genuinely repulsive. It’s like Boston sports teams are actively trying to make you detest them. Well, you’ve succeeded.
» Continue reading “Capitals-Bruins Going To Game 7″

So the Capitals have won 4 in a row! This seems to be proof we can do it without Nicklas Backstrom! STANLEY CUP, HERE WE COME!!!!

I suppose the interesting thing about this win streak (besides the fact that we’re surprised by it, and it’s got us back in the playoffs, tenuously) is that there’s nothing really attributable to it. Right before it started, the Caps lost to the Hurricanes (13th in east). Yet we manage to beat the Bruins (2nd in east, though that’s thanks to the divisional seeding). And yesterday we get ourselves in a hole and manage to pull ourselves up by our fingertips to come out victorious in the shootout against… the Islanders. Not exactly a murderers’ row of hockey talent.
» Continue reading “The Capitals (Improbably?) Win 4 Straight”

For being the lone representative of the Capitals at the All Star Game, Wideman has been less than worthless. He’s been a liability. Case in point, last game he was directly responsible for two goals against (including the game-winner).

It’s understandable to defend Wideman — after all, he was a perfectly serviceable defenseman when Mike Green was gone, and we tricked ourselves into thinking he was comparable. And he’s not bad. He’s certainly better than that awful Hamrlik, and that not-actually-awful-but-just-extremely-defensive-and-completely-soft Schultz. And he’s probably better than Tom Poti, but it’s been so long since I saw him take the ice that he’s more like a legend of old than an actual defenseman.
» Continue reading “Dennis Wideman: Overrated All-Star”

Call me old-fashioned, but I’ve always thought that you shouldn’t punch your co-workers in the face. This is why fighting your teammates during rookie camp has always struck me as a bad thing, though I realize every front office everywhere disagrees with me. It seems Ovechkin disagrees as well.
» Continue reading “Ovechkin Gets Into It With Wideman, Kölzig”

It’s the moment we’ve all been waiting for: the only two currently undefeated teams in the NHL face each other. (I would like to point out that the Caps are undefeated-er, going 6-0-0 while the Wings have only sustained 5 wins.) This is the second time two undefeated teams who have played more than 5 games each have faced each other.

This game is also pretty special to me, because the US office of the study abroad program I did last year was based in Detroit, so everyone I know is a Red Wings fan. There is a lot of my personal pride riding on this game. » Continue reading “Capitals vs. Red Wings – In Pursuit of Perfection”