I started blogging March 14, 2007.  My blog was originally titled Bottomfeeder Baseball Blog, and I attempted to write about the Nats, Orioles, fantasy baseball, Capitals and other stuff.   It was not very good and nobody read it.  About that time, I also started writing about the Caps and the Nats at DC Sports Box, and I want to express my thanks to Al Santos for allowing me that great opportunity.

Since it was weird to write about hockey on a site with baseball in the name -- and I wanted to do things my way -- I started a second blog, what is now Caps News Network, on Oct. 13, 2008.  Since I'd been credentialed with DC Sports Box, the team credentialed my new blog soon after I qualified, and that's where we stand today, on the precipice of my fourth season as a member of the credentialed media covering the Washington Capitals. 

I will be eternally grateful to Ted Leonsis for his vision and Nate Ewell for his passion promoting independent media coverage of the Caps.  I'd also like to thank the Caps current Media Relations staff -- Sergey Kocharov, Kelly Murray and Ben Guerrero -- for continuing to put up with me.

Anyway, fter five years and 584 posts, I will be retiring Caps News Network. I've decided to combine my two blogs, pick up coverage of the other sports in town, and start an on-line sports page covering all of D.C. sports. You can find the new site at http://www.districtsportspage.com/. It's a monumental challenge for me, but I won't be alone.

I have recruited some of the finest local independent journalists to help me with the project.  Each sport/team will have a page editor who will guide content for those teams. Abram Fox, who used to cover the Caps for DC Sports Box, will be our Caps page editor.  I won't be writing as many game stories, but that will give me more time to concentrate on writing analysis and opinion, which I think suffered with all my daily responsibilities running my two pages.

We have several staff writers who will write game stories and analysis. We'll have contributors; folks that have their own blog but will occasionally post for us too. We'll continue to have fantastic photography from not only staff photographer Cheryl Nichols, but our good friends Brian Murphy and Anthony Amobi too.

Also, Cheryl's Off the Ice column will be coming with us, so if you're looking for the latest player appearance in the community, player birthday or photo gallery, it'll all be on the new site.

Hopefully, we'll continue to have you as well, reading and commenting on our material.

Please visit our new site. Tell us what you like, what could be better, and what you might like to see. It's still a work in progress, but we're excited to get it out there and give folks in the DMV another outlet to get sports news, analysis and opinion.

Thanks for making Caps News Network what it was. What started as a vanity project became something so much bigger, bigger really than I or anyone could have expected and it's all because of you. Thanks, as always, for reading.

I read with interest both On Frozen Blog's piece "Renewed Questions of Leadership" and Ed Frankovic's "Caps Off-season Focus Should Be on Leadership".  I know both these guys very well from our time in the press box together, not to mention an episode or two of working out with 12 ounce curls, and have the utmost respect for both.  Please take a moment or two to read their opinions if you haven't already.

They know my way of thought as well, so I think they will understand my position when I say, respectfully, that I disagree with them and think they are both over-simplifying the point and romanticising a notion that is not quantifiable.  And they are doing it, maybe even subconsciously, because the real answer is too tough to take.

They both go to great extents to quote executives and others in the game about the importance of "Leadership".  It's a concept that is as deeply rooted in hockey as the mythical "playoff hockey." (I guess Vancouver didn't play "playoff hockey" last night since they won 7-3.)  Hockey is the only sport that bestows a decoration on the uniform of one of its players signifying he is the captain.  But for the most part, it's just that: a decoration.

Leadership isn't taught.  It isn't acquired. It isn't tangible.  If George McPhee, or any executive, could identify it or train someone to do it, they already would.  Leaders aren't made, they are born.  You can train people to manage others, to teach others, to instruct others, to discipline others. But only Leaders know how to lead.

It has to be self-motivated.

McPhee has gone out the last couple of seasons to acquire several veterans that were supposed to bring "leadership."  Jason Chimera. Mike Knuble. Scott Hannan. Jason Arnott. Dennis Wideman.  He had a pretty good one in the room already in Brooks Laich. All are tremendously hard workers, experienced, talented, sacrificing; honorable.  Knuble and Arnott have rings; Arnott a former captain.  Are these not the requirements that John and Ed spoke about in their posts?  Is the fact that the Caps flamed out in the second round this season evidence these men are not leaders?

Were these players leaders during the regular season, when the Caps came back from an eight-game losing streak in December to capture the Eastern Conference regular season title?  Were they leaders in the first round when the Capitals stymied the New York Rangers in five games? Are we to believe then that they simply forgot to lead in the second round?  I hardly think so.

And how about the captain, the man on this team that wears the decorative "C' on his sweater?  There's not a man in that room that doesn't have the utmost respect for Alex Ovechkin.  There's also not a man in that room that wants to win more than he does.  Isn't that where respect -- leadership -- comes from?

The problem with the Capitals isn't a lack of leadership, on the ice, in the room, or in the organization.  If anything, the problem is with some of the individuals in the room and their lack of clarity of purpose.  There are several on this team that are "happy to be here."  They may be extremely talented players, and at times say the right things, but repeatedly cower when faced with hardship and sacrifice. 

These players are not capable of being led, not at this time anyway. At some point in their careers they may realize that all the money, fame and notoriety is meaningless without achieving the ultimate goal. But for now, they are too self-centered to concentrate, really seriously concentrate, on the matter at hand and sacrifice personal gains for the team's greater pursuit.  No less an expert on leadership than Gen. George S. Patton alluded to this concept in his speech to the Third Army in 1944.

"Each man must not think only of himself, but also of his buddy fighting beside him. We don't want yellow cowards in this Army. They should be killed off like rats. If not, they will go home after this war and breed more cowards. The brave men will breed more brave men. Kill off the... cowards and we will have a nation of brave men."

Now I'm not comparing the game of ice hockey to the rigors of World War II, but the concept of leadership is the same regardless.  No, the problem with this team isn't the lack of leaders, its that it has a lack of followers.  Cull the cowards from the program as Patton suggests and watch how effective the leaders that are already assembled can be.

_______________________________________________________

Ultimately though, and this is the point that no one wants to address: you have to have the players.  For all the fawning media coverage of this team locally, the real truth is that this team is still significantly flawed in several areas and honestly, just isn't good enough to compete past the level they have achieved the last few seasons.  They aren't advancing because of lack of leadership, it's because they aren't good enough yet.

Again, from Patton:

"The publicity I have been getting, a good deal of which is untrue, and the rest of it ill considered, has done me more harm than good. The only way you get on in this profession is to have the reputation of doing what you are told as thoroughly as possible."

Aynyway, here are the points I consider to be this teams biggest weaknesses.

• This team is weak physically down the middle.  Nicklas Backstrom and Marcus Johansson are both extremely talented players and supreme skaters, but lack the physicality necessary to compete with stronger players. It's no secret that if you put a body on these guys they aren't going to answer the bell, and it's more glaring in the playoffs when the sheet gets shorter. None of the Capitals centers in the playoffs except for Boyd Gordon on the fourth line had a faceoff percentage higher than 50 percent.  That's unacceptable.
• There's not nearly enough toughness on this team.  Matt Hendricks and Matt Bradley were both willing during the regular season to drop the gloves when they had to, but I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about players willing to get into the corners, dig pucks out, stand in the crease and deliver a pounding.  Not take it, but deliver it.  The Capitals lose more one-on-one puck battles than any other team in the league. This team is in need of a couple of rugged wingers (and probably a defenseman as well) willing to get their noses dirty and push people around.  They don't need fighters, they need physically stronger players to give their supremely talented players more room to skate.
• There's no offensive contribution from the third and fourth lines at all.  17-of-21 goals scored by forwards in the playoffs by the Capitals were by just six players.  Look at Tampa Bay, their third line of Bergenheim, Downie and Moore have combined for 13 goals and 19 assists in 13 games.  Boston has 12 players with more than one goal in the playoffs. You don't need a 30-goal scorer on the third line, but you need contribution.  Bergenheim has made himself a LOT of money this post-season as he becomes a UFA.
• I've said this before, but I also think Bruce Boudreau needs to go back to what got him here.  He doesn't like playing the trap.  He's never implemented it before and has never taught it.  His players are ill-fitted for it and don't like it.  The lack of conviction from his players was evident because of the lack of conviction in the system by the coach.  Live by the sword or die by it.  I maintain that Boudreau allowed the Canadian media to alter his judgment on the heels of the loss to Montreal last year and the pain of the eight-game losing streak. Another thing Patton said in his address to the Third Army in 1944 applies here (forgive the rough language):

"I don't want to get any messages saying, "I am holding my position." We are not holding a thing... We are advancing constantly and we are not interested in holding onto anything, except the enemy's balls. We are going to twist his balls and kick the living shit out of him all of the time. Our basic plan of operation is to advance and to keep on advancing regardless of whether we have to go over, under, or through the enemy."

• Lastly, Alex Ovechkin needs to elevate his game.  The league has "figured him out." If he wants to lead this team and become one of the greats of all-time, he's going to have to elevate his game past what it is now.  He's going to have to learn when to try to carry the puck and when to give it up.  He's going to have to dump to the opposite corner and crash the goal.  He's going to have to reign in his emotion and channel it rather than let it get the best of him.  And he needs to be in supreme shape at the beginning, middle and end of the season.

Lastly, and I know this is the hardest part of all, but I implore all Caps fans to continue exercising patience. 

There are a lot of Caps fans that have no idea how it was back in the dark days, when this team was a laughingstock or worse, an afterthought.  The Washington Capitals franchise is enjoying an unprecedented run of success and with the two best players signed long-term, there's little reason to think that run won't be continued.  This team is young, talented and managed by dedicated and knowledgeable executives. They just have some issues that still need to be addressed.

There is no reason to blow this thing up and start over.  Bringing in new coaches or executives would only delay the process, not speed it up.  At least in my opinion.

The window isn't closing, as some folks would lead you to believe, it's barely been opened.  They just have to fix the cracks.

As they did for the first round, NBCWashington.com assembled some of the finest hockey minds in D.C. (and us) and asked them to make some projections about the Washington Capitals second round matchup with the Tampa Bay Lightning.

As you'd expect, most predict the Caps will win the series, but there are certainly some interesting thoughts as to the keys to the series and matchups that bear watching.

Please click through to see all of the prognosticators' answers.  And thanks to Jim Iovino for inviting us to participate once again.

I've finally registered for Beard-a-thon, sponsored by the the Capitals and NHL.com.

You can find my profile here if you'd like to support the cause, the Fort Dupont Hockey Club.  Here's a description of the mission: 

Washington Capitals Charities will be donating all proceeds from the 2011 Beard-A-Thon to Friends of Fort Dupont Ice Arena. Fort Dupont is the only public indoor ice arena located in Washington, D.C., and the only skating facility in the area that provides free or subsidized skating programs to children. Its Kids On Ice programs provide free figure skating, hockey and speed skating lessons to vulnerable and economically disadvantaged youth who might not otherwise have the opportunity to learn these sports. Lessons learned on the ice, such as teamwork, respect, hard work and discipline, translate to lessons learned in the classroom and beyond. 

It's a great cause and the Caps Care program does such good work in lots of different areas.  Please consider making a pledge, no matter the amount.

Thanks for your support.

We'll have some personal comments Wednesday about the Capitals, the playoffs and the psyche of America's Hockey Capital.

But for now, Caps News Network was invited to participate in a playoff roundtable by NBCWashington.com with some of the brightest hockey minds D.C. has to offer. And some other guys too.

Seriously, we were honored to be asked to be part of the discussion, and there were some very insightful and intriguing comments made by the responders. And some jokes were made as well.

Please click though on the link above, read all the comments, and enjoy. Playoff hockey is finally upon us.

Andrew Bowser, who produced the wildly popular "Caps Rap", is back with a follow-up, "Caps Rap 2", featuring the the photography of Caps News Network's Cheryl Nichols.

Here's the link to CSNWashington.com, where the video is posted.

We found out this morning that Caps News Network was nominated as "Best Sports Journalist on Twitter" in D.C.

We are truly honored to be included with such good company.

We have the utmost respect for all of these folks and count many of them as personal friends.

Please visit the link to check out the poll, and please visit the websites of all the nominees.  They all do tremendous work, covering the teams and sports we love.

Thanks to TBD.com for including us among the nominees.

If you still haven't had enough of the activity surrounding the 2011 NHL trade deadline and the impact the acquisitions GM George McPhee made for the Washington Capitals, check out 106.7 The Fan's Caps Trade Deadline Special.

We were invited to participate, as were fellow bloggers and media members John Keeley from On Frozen Blog, Ted Starkey from The Washington Times, Brian McNally from the Washington Examiner and Ed Frankovic from WNST Baltimore.

Our spot is at 1:20 of the show, but the whole thing is worth the listen.  There's some real valuable insight to be gleaned from the varied and knowledgable independent voices that cover the Caps.

Double Overtime is hosted by Sky Kerstein and J Brooks for The Fan.  Many thanks to them for the invite to participate.

Jim Kerr of Edmonton's iNews 880 asked if I would be gracious enough to answer a couple questions about Alex Ovechkin, the season he's had thus far, the Washington Capitals struggle on the power play, and Ovi's leadership in the locker room.

Essentially, he wanted to know "What's Wrong with Ovi?"

Here's a snippet: 

Dave Nichols with the Capitals News Network says a number of things come into play when talking about Ovechkin’s “sub-par” numbers this year: a possible wrist injury, a predictable attack, a struggling power play or even the lingering sting of a fruitless 2009-10 season, for example.

“My personal theory is that with all the disappointment from last season - the early playoff exit, the suspensions, the failure of the Russian team at the Olympics - he's changed his game, whether he's doing it consciously or subconsciously,” explains Nichols. “He just isn't playing with the same flair and excitement from years past.”

“The team's struggles this season have really frustrated him because all he wants to do is bring the Stanley Cup to Washington.”

Thanks to Mr. Kerr for soliciting our opinion.  If someone in Edmonton wants your opinion about hockey, you gotta be doing something right.  Right?

The fine folks over at DC Pro Sports Report asked us to participate in a pre-season roundtable, discussing the upcoming season for the Washington Capitals.  We were asked a series of questions, as were a host of respected Caps bloggers.

You can read the complete panel discussion here. 

Some of my answers got truncated for space issues on the panel, so below are my complete answers (in bold) to the panel questions.  It comes off as a predictions column, so I guess I'm now on the record with all of this.

----------------

1. Do you think the Washington Capitals will repeat as Southeast Division champs? What about Eastern Conference champs? Who do you think will be closest to the Caps in the SE Division?

Yes on both counts. The Caps are the class in the East. I don't think anyone in the Southeast will be within 20 points of the Caps, so I'll say Carolina out of habit. You could really pull all their names in a hat and draw one and that would be just as good as any educated opinion.

2. Regarding the goal tending situation, how do you see that working out? Do you see the Caps starting out in a shared situation between Varlamov and Neuvirth or do you think one will be named starter and stay as starter as long as they play well?

I think they will get fairly equal playing time, keeping both fresh (and hopefully healthy) and the competition will keep both focused throughout the season. I don't see Boudreau getting stuck on naming a "starter", and I honestly don't think they'll go outside the organization to acquire a veteran backup.

3. Regarding the final few roster spots, given the three, Mathieu Perreault, Marcus Johnansson, and Cody Eakin, which if any do you see cracking the roster?

Well, Eakin got sent out to Swift Current today (Sept. 30). I've said since beginning of camp that Johansson was the best player on the ice during development and rookie camp, but I don't see him breaking camp with the team without some other player movement or injury. Perrault is your third line center. Won't be long for Johannson to be back with the big club though.

4. Do you think John Carlson has a realistic shot at the Calder Trophy?

Absolutely. He's going to have every opportunity to succeed on a high-profile team that puts goals on the board every night of the week. It helps that he seems to have a flair for the dramatic as well.

5. Project the stats of Alexander Ovechkin.

66-58-124, +45, 74 PIM. His career year.

6. Given the first round exit of the Capitals last season, the pressure this season will most certainly rise. Assuming you believe the Caps are a playoff lock, give your projection on how far they go this season?

Stanley Cup Finalists. In my opinion, only poorly-timed devestating injury could derail the Caps this season. I'm not going to predict a Cup championship because I'm superstitious like that. But they should contend for the title this season.

7. Who wins the Winter Classic 2011?

Washington, 6-2. And Caps fans, especially those that are making the trip.

8. Finally, who are you two teams in the Stanley Cup and your Stanley Cup Champ this year?

I've already predicted the Caps in the finals, so the Western Conference rep will be...the Vancouver Canucks. They are too deep and too talented and will get past Chicago and Detroit this season. What a series that would be! Again, I won't make a prediciton on the winner cause I'm superstitious, but you can probably figure out that my superstitions have nothing to do with the Canucks.

The fine folks over at Kings of Leonsis asked us to participate in a roundtable discussion on some topics relating to the upcoming season.  It was the second installment of a series, you can see the first here.  We were only too happy to oblige.

Please click the link and check out the discussion.

Other panelists were Emily Bennett (Japers’ Rink) and Chris Gordon (Caps Snaps).

Thanks to Kings of Leonsis for including us!

Storming the Crease, one of the credentialed blogs that provides excellent coverage of the Washington Capitals, is profiling fellow Caps and hockey bloggers leading up to the start of the season.

Today was our turn.  Please visit STC to check out our profile and all the others he's posted so far.  It gives you a good idea why bloggers and internet writers do what they do.

Earlier this fall, the fine folks at DC Pro Sports Report asked us to participate in a survey of Media and Internet writers answering seven "easy" questions.  It was an honor to be asked to be part of the group, the best and the brightest covering the Capitals in the electronic media.  Thanks very much to DC Pro Sports Report for putting the survey together and asking me for my opinion.

1)  Will the Caps three-peat as SE Division Champs?

2)  Will the Caps make it to the finals?

3)  If and when will Semyon Varlamov wrestle the starting goalie position from Jose Theodore?

4)  Each year there seems to be a surprise offensive player.  Who could that be this season?

5)  What player -- or type of player -- do the Caps need to win the Cup?

6)  What impact will 2008 1st round pick John Carlson make on the Caps this season?

7)  Rank the SE Division standings.

Here are my answers.  I was fairly direct in my answers on the survey, so I'll elaborate a bit here.

1)  Yes.  Carolina has to be considered a challenge, but this Caps team is built to win this division and go deep in the playoffs.  With the addition of Mike Knuble and Brendan Morrison, the team is tougher, stronger and better balanced across the three scoring lines.

2)  No.  The Caps are slowly progressing by round in the playoffs, and the natural progression of growth is good for the team; they are getting better but still have more to strive for.

3)  Christmas.  I think coach Bruce Boudreau is going to have Theodore on a long leash this fall, but eventually Theo will play his way out and Varlamov will play his way into the No. 1 spot. 

For all his talent, Varly still hasn't played a full season in the AHL or NHL.  He needs to learn how to channel his energy in playing two or three games a week instead of laying all out once a week.  We saw how his talent dulled a bit as the grind of the playoffs took it's toll. 

The regular season doesn't have the emotional strain of the playoffs, obviously, but playing more often will help him control his energy -- and emotion.

4)  As for surprise palyers up front, I just don't see it.  The door is open for someone to step up with Fehr and Fleischmann out during preseason at least.  Someone like Alexandre Giroux or Andrew Gordon will have an opportunity to impress. 

But for the most part, the Caps are set up front with dependable veterans.  And another budding superstar in Alexander Semin, who needs only to stay healthy to advance to be an elite scorer in the NHL.

5)  The biggest glaring need for the Capitals to advance to the Stanley Cup finals is a big, strong, tough, nasty defenseman whose only care is keeping his goalie's crease and doorsteps clean.  Whether they find that player internally or from another club, if they want to take "the next step", it begins with finding that player.

You can win 50 games in the regular season, but the rink gets shorter in the playoffs, especially as you get closer to the finals.

6)  I stated that there would have to be a ton of injuries for John Carlson to make a real impact.  That's not an indication of Carlson's talent -- that's unquestioned.  But the Caps have a ton of defensemen under contract, and as they showed last season with Alzner, and with Green before him, GM George McPhee is willing to be patient with this top defensive prospects.

7)  Washington, Carolina, Florida, Tampa Bay, Atlanta.

Almost all my collegues agreed that Washington and Carolina -- in that order -- are the cream of the division.  I'm a little surprised that several of the survey results have Atlanta higher in the standings, but the bottom three in the division won't be a factor in the playoff discussion regardless, unless something completely wacky happens.

There's a tradition in hockey that players start growing a "playoff beard" as soon as their team qualifies for the playoffs. It's a symbol of unity and support for your teammates. The Caps (and other NHL teams) are taking the tradition one step further…asking fans, front office staff and media members to participate as well for charity.

The Washington Capitals "Beard-a-thon" benefits Caps Care, the team's non-profit arm.

You can learn more about Caps Care at this link.

To sponsor me, go to this link.

You can check out my progress, and check out the other participants as well at the main page.

Any excuse to grow a beard is a good one for me, but this one helps others too! Plus, I already have a head start!

Thanks for your support, and ROCK THE RED (BEARD)!!!

Starting Point

The Goal!