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Off Day Notes: Scuderi performance on Ovechkin driving his UFA price up
by Tony on 05/10/09 at 06:35 PM ET
Comments (11)
- It wasn’t but a few years ago that Rob Scuderi, often paired with the one and only Joe Melichar, was being unmercifully blasted by the Pittsburgh press and fans. How quickly things change. Hopefully I’m getting way ahead of myself, because the Pens hopefully have much more hockey left to play, but UFA-to-be Scuderi’s fabulous defensive performance against Alex Ovechkin is quietly driving his asking price up quite a bit. Ovechkin has seven goals so far in the five games of this series. Scuderi has actually been on the ice for four of those goals, but Ovechkin has not scored when Scuderi has actually been defending him. The Pens will have 10 UFA’s when this season ends, including 3 on defense, but Scuderi is quickly becoming the primary target for GM Ray Shero.
- What some couldn’t previously think was possible, but Capitals owner Ted Leonsis’ level of whine is reaching Flyers proportions. There hasn’t been too much during this series that he hasn’t complained about. He’s moaned about the penalties getting not getting called against the Penguins, the penalties getting called against his Caps, he’s even complained about Yanni. Seriously, Yanni Ted ?? As if in months past, the promoters and the Mellon Arena folks got together and got out a crystal ball and conspired to force back-to-back games in the 2nd round of the playoffs. Perhaps Mr. Leonsis, rather than constantly complaining about just about everything related to this series, you should take a step back and just enjoy the hockey. While your team is still alive, that is.
- Still nothing official from the Pens on the Sergei Gonchar injury, and most likely, we won’t. However, HCDB did provide an interesting update when he said, according to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, “He’s coming in and evaluating the situation,” Bylsma said. “It’s nothing more than that for us. He’s here today. We’ll find out more after his treatment. I don’t know any more than that. I’m hoping he improves and we can see him on the ice today and tomorrow, and we’ll go from there.” Of course, all of that could be nothing more than a smoke screen. We’ll see if there’s anything to it.
- Just in case you haven’t noticed: If the Penguins close out the Caps, and the Hurricanes finish the upset over the Bruins, the Penguins will actually get home-ice advantage for the Eastern Conference Finals. What a difference when you consider this team was very close to not making the playoffs back in February.
- Another whiteout for Game Six at the Igloo on Monday night. By the way, Ted, that’ll be 113 straight sellouts at the Igloo. Give me a call when (or shall I say, if) the Caps ever get that high. Also, for those who can’t get tickets, the game will be shown on the big screen outside the arena.
- Rather than complain about the officials, perhaps Ted can complain about the production of Alex Semin (0 goals, 4 assists, -5) and Mike Green (0 goals, 4 assists, -2).
- Penguins are 7th out of the 8 remaining playoff teams on the powerplay with a 14.6% conversion rate, while their penalty kill is ranked 5th at 83.7%.
- Amongst the 8 remaining goalies, Marc-Andre Fleury is ranked last with a 2.61 GAA and 7th in save pct. with .909. Simeon Varlamov is ranked 6th in GAA with 2.15 and 6th in save pct. with .927.
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Tags: NHL-Hockey, Pittsburgh+Penguins, Washington+Capitals,
Comments
Seems pretty clear to me what Tony means. What don’t you understand, chief?
Posted by Principal Dondelinger on 05/10/09 at 06:54 PM ET
What some couldn’t previously think was possible, but Capitals owner Ted Leonsis’ level of whine is reaching Flyers proportions.
Really? You know, his complaint was that the arena is supposed to be free during certain times - a legitimate one that affects BOTH teams, not just the Caps (and he said as much).
And I wonder, if any other owners in this league were brave enough to do what Ted does on a daily basis - face his fans, interact with them and let his opinions be known - would their blogs sound any different? I doubt it. (Although Lemieux would probably be too worried about hair gel issues or finding a new way to screw over the team and then save them in the ‘ta-da!’ nick of time to care.)
And the irony of a Penguins fan complaining about someone whining cracks me up.
Posted by Enough from Washington, DC on 05/10/09 at 08:23 PM ET
Oh please, scheduling conflicts happen every year in both the NBA and NHL playoffs. The teams try to avoid it, but it happens. And the inferrence that the Pens somehow intentionally did it is woefully ignorant....
In terms of Ted’s blog, I’ve given him props in the past not only for his interaction with the fans, but his access for bloggers at the arena… His problem is that his blog has turned into his personal “oh woe is us” forum…
Hair gel issues ?? Finding a way to screw over the team ?? Is that the best you can do ?? Sounds like a lot of jealousy, considering how many times Lemieux burned the Caps over the years....
Might as well get all your insults out of the way now, since your season will be over about 24 hours from now…
Posted by Tony F from Virginia Beach, VA on 05/10/09 at 08:45 PM ET
Enough - The Caps management - owner, GM and coach whine, whine, whine. No class. Lemieux has too much class to follow the Mark Cuban model of sports ownership. Something Ted is doing his best to replicate. He has accomplished part of the act though - not winning the big one. Enjoy the summer....
Posted by McFly on 05/10/09 at 09:18 PM ET
Hey Enough,You are a fan of a team that CHOKES! Regardless of who is in the uniforms, the Capitulators always lose to the Pens. Your team has one player, Ovechkin. Backstrom gets his points from being on the ice with Ovechkin, the same with Fedorov. Semin and Green are chokers. Your goalie is feeling the pressure, and it’s showing in his game. The Capitulators are a one man team. Owners are wise to keep their opinions to themselves. Sounds like a lot of childish ego. LET’S GO PENS!
Posted by Pens Fan in DC on 05/10/09 at 11:27 PM ET
The Pens will have 10 UFA’s when this season ends, including 3 on defense, but Scuderi is quickly becoming the primary target for GM Ray Shero.
Source?
Posted by Guest on 05/11/09 at 10:19 AM ET
No source, just an opinion. Sorry to mislead…
Posted by Tony F from Virginia Beach, VA on 05/11/09 at 10:21 AM ET
Leonsis can complain about the Yanni concert and imply the Penguins were responsible all he wants. The only problem with that is that the Pittsburgh Penguins don’t own their arena. If the Capitals have an issue with arena scheduling, perhaps they should contact the Allegheny County Sports and Exhibition Authority - the owner of the Mellon Arena.
I’ve lived in the DC area for over 20 years now and the Capitals organization is a joke. I will give Leonsis credit for being an involved owner and trying to build something that DC lacks (a winning sports franchise), but all he does is piss and moan when his team doesn’t win.
Bottom line: Championship caliber teams don’t make excuses - they let their play speak for them, and they go out and win. The Red Wings had every right to spout off about the refs after Game 3 in their series, but instead they focused on other ways they cost themselves the win.
As long as all members of the Capitals organization and their “fan” base continue to act like petulant little whiners, they will never be taken seriously by true fans of any team, and they will never be considered a legitimate championship caliber club.
Posted by SprJudd from Washington DC on 05/11/09 at 10:35 AM ET
Ya know, not only did “Sasha” get away with blatently knocking our top defenseman out of the series, he ALSO got away with firing a puck at Scuderi’s head at the end of that same game. Not to mention his countless 9-stride charges and flying shoulder tackles. Also his fans throw stuff at our players. Soixante-Six, however, didn’t ‘tweet’ about it.
Meanwhile Uncle Ted is smelling a Yanni conspiracy. Explain to me again how Pittsburgh is a bunch of whiners?
Posted by Dr. Galkinsmelter on 05/11/09 at 04:36 PM ET
The Pens have 17 unrestricted free agents after the season, including guys hurt and in the minors:
Bill Guerin
Miroslav Satan
Petr Sykora
Ruslan Fedotenko
Craig Adams
Philippe Boucher
Hal Gill
Rob Scuderi
Mathieu Garon
Mike Zigomanis
Janne Pesonen
Andy Wozniewski
Jeff Taffe
Chris Minard
Connor James
Dave Gove
Joey Mormina
Of those 17, I say you only try to sign Scuderi, Fedotenko, Zigomanis, Pesonen, Adams and Gill in that order. Everyone else can go play for the Islanders or Kings, teams with cap space.
Posted by Hept-Rossi on 05/12/09 at 03:56 PM ET
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Wow, Ovechkin hasn’t scored when a player has been actually defending him?! What a revelation!
Posted by BrandNewDream on 05/10/09 at 06:16 PM ET