Thank God For the Caps: 2009-2010 Predictions

Between the infinite sadness that is the Redskins offense and the enigma that is the Hokies offense, I say a little prayer everyday thanking God for my Washington Capitals. If I had to run through hockey season with a Minnesota Wild-type offense, I think my eyes would start to bleed and I would give up on sports altogether. Ok, maybe that last part isn't so true, but life would be a lot tougher without the boys in red. I've been spending quite a bit of time concentrating on the now #6 Hokies, and the miserable Skins, so I haven't put nearly enough effort into a full Caps preview. I'll leave that stuff up to the professionals like JP and Stephen Pepper. Over here at FFODC, I'll just make my asenine, bold, an extremely homer-esque predictions for the upcoming season.

Offense:

Obviously the Capitals biggest strength, and it only got stronger in the offseason. Mike Knuble has already proven that he's the glue that Ovechkin has needed to take the first-line game to the next level. If Boudreau can avoid keeping the carebears together too much this season, the Caps should be in good shape. Alex Semin and Brendan Morrsion showed some pretty solid chemistry when they got to play together, and I think you'll see a little more of the Vancouver edition of Mo this season. I also expect to see more improvement from Brooks Laich, and hopefully from David Steckel. Don't be shocked to see Stecks learn how to score on teams other than Tampa this season. The only problem here is if the team leans too hard on Knuble for their offensive grit and otherwise try to be too fancy. That was the top problem last year, but it should be corrected.

Defense:

Tyler Sloan has officially earned a spot with the big boys (as of today) and should help bolster the defensive corps with some depth. Guys like Jurcina, Morrisonn and Schultz must keep their play to a high level if they expect to see the type of ice time they saw last season. Brian Pothier came on very strong at the end of the playoffs, and should be able to shoulder a little bit of the load from Mike Green on the power play. This group is much maligned, but I think you have to put a great deal of pressure on Tom Poti this season. If the Poti of 2007-2008 shows up, the Caps should be a little more stout, but if the oft-injured edition from last year makes too many appearances, we could see a lot of 5-4 games. I think we'll see improvement to somewhere in the middle of the defensive rankings this season, but don't expect much better than that. Ideally, you'd like to see a Karl Alzner or John Carlson develop enough early in the season to squeeze a veterean out come the trading deadline.

Goaltending:

I expect, like most, for Semyon Varlamov to start the season on the bench and wrestle the job away from Jose Theodore by Thanksgiving. People forget how poorly Theo played in the early goings last season, and he's prone to very slow starts. He can't afford to pull that stuff this year or he'll be riding the pine. I think the best case scenario is for Theo to have a strong enough season to go around 50-50 with Varlamov, keeping Varly fresh enough to take his game to another level in the postseason.

Schedule:

It starts out like a bear, tapers off, then has a major break for the Olympics. Those are the things to watch. Don't be shocked if this team comes out hard early, but doesn't have a great record to show for it. The schedule is frontloaded with the likes of Boston, Philly and San Jose, but they don't play Pittsburgh until 2010. How will the team handle the long break? How will Ovechkin, Semin and the other Olympic participants fare at the end of the season. It should be interesting.

Coaching:

Does Gabby get them motivated every night? Does he resort to "pretty play" with Semin and Ovi or does he crack down on them and ask from more grit. Will he be able to push the right buttons down the stretch? How does he handle an inept Michael Nylander on the roster. These are all huge questions.

Overall Impressions:

I think the Caps will be a better team this season. They're one year older and two playoff series wiser. It might not reflect in the points standings, but they will be a bigger force come playoff time. However, injuries could be the great equalizer. Last season, we seemed to have the injury bug throughout the season and into the playoffs. It could be the same with so many guys playing in Vancouver. That's something to watch for. Overall I look for an equally potent (but grittier) offense, a little more balanced defense, and up-and-down goaltending, hopefully settling by February or March. I think the Caps will have a tougher time with Carolina this season, but the win the Southeast. They'll take it a step further and lose to Boston in the Eastern Conference Finals this season. Here's hoping they go further.

Final Prediction:

Eastern Conference Runner-Up, 48-27-7, 103 points

The Value of Mike Knuble

Let's get the hell away from football a second because, well I'm sick of talking about Miami, and I'm sure your sick of reading about them, not only here but all over ESPN's jock. I have to admit that I haven't had the evening downtime, nor the weekend downtime to enjoy seeing the Caps much since camp opened. I've been relying on the likes of JP and pucksandbooks to keep me informed about the goings on over at Kettler. On Wednesday night, with a needed break from the marching band schedule, I took advantage and watched the live stream of the Caps 6-2 thrashing of the Chicago Blackhawks. I'm not going to get too much into the ins and outs of what I saw (since it was just the jumbotron feed), but I just have to say how much Mike Knuble is going to make this team better come playoff time. The guy might not put up his usual thirty goals this season, but his grittiness in the lineup has proven to be infectious.

The closest we've come to a gritty winger (that can score) lately has been Brooks Laich or Chris Clark (which has been a stretch in the last two years). Knuble automatically makes those two guys better by being in the lineup, and he provides a great example for Laich and Eric Fehr to emulate in front of the net. While Knuble did have a pretty high-slot tally the other night, he also had his butt in Corey Crawford's face quite a bit (helping his case on one goal). I don't mean to overreact to a preseason win, but it's just nice to see a guy get his nose a little dirty like Knuble did, and to see guys like 21 and 17 follow suit. As you noticed from last night's showing without 22 in the lineup, the power play dipped to 0 for 5. They were 3 for 6 on Tuesday with him.

Boudreau insists on keeping the carebear (8-19-28) line together, despite the fact that he has to make a "they were too cute" comment EVERY TIME THEY PLAY TOGETHER. He knows that Knuble makes things happen in front of the net, and that should be enough to earn him a spot on Backstrom's right flank during the season. I think Knuble has workmanlike attitude towards the game, and that's one characteristic that a guy like Kozlov didn't bring to the table. Knuble is easily one of the most underrated but necessary upgrades we've made in quite some time. Let's just hope we'll get to see him hoist a cup as a result.

I know none of this is groundbreaking by any stretch, I just had to put it out there that I'm very excited about the prospects of having #22 in the lineup.

Quick Wednesday Thoughts

Image Courtesy of Tim Shaffer

Yesterday was an unexpected big day for the Caps in free agency, with the signing of ex-Flyer Mike Knuble. Knuble brings exactly what the organization was looking for in a first line winger with size (6’3”, 230) and a nose for the net. He has a penchant for posting up in front of goalies and banging home rebounds, which will be huge playing alongside shot machine Alex Ovechkin and deft passer Nicklas Backstrom. He contributes on the PP and PK and has a killer instinct. It’s big to take a top-six guy like this away from a big rival. As it was brought up on EITM on DC 101 this morning, he’s been part of more than one Caps broken heart, between his 2OT winner in Game 4 of the 2008 Stanley Cup First Round and his membership on the 1998 Detroit Red Wings Stanley Cup Winner (Over the Caps in 4). BUT if you watch his GWG in that fateful Game 4, he shows exactly why we signed him (and for reasonable money and term at that). He wins a tough battle on the boards behind the net, gets in front, takes a shot, doesn’t give up and then bangs in a rebound. That’s just what we missed (and Sidney Crosby accomplished) in the Pittsburgh series back in May. Watching that clip is like getting a shot. You know it hurts, but you know how you're benefiting from the contents in the end.

Secondly, Brash gets signed by the Rags to come and protect the brittle Marian Gaborik. There’s no way the Caps could afford Brash at $1.4M, but fans will miss his presence in the community and the team will miss him in the locker room.

Lastly, Tony Romo gets some brownie points (via the Bog) for showing some class in not trashing Skins fans yesterday. In a related story, there should have been another “You’re From Fair-fax” chant for the fans that showed up to Congressional in #9 Jerseys yesterday. C’mon Redskins fans!

Look at for an upcoming post from me on FBS…I’ll let you all know as soon as it’s up.