2008 Washington Capitals Opening Roster

The Capitals finished the preseason 5-1-1 and made their final roster moves ahead of Friday's opening night in Atlanta. The Caps sent Chris Bourque, Karl Alzner and Quintin Laing down to Hershey. These guys played well in the preseason but were unable to unseat the incumbents from last season. However, the veterans better perform or not only will they find their spot missing they will be gone off of this team. With the salary cap extremely tight for the Capitals, I get the feeling that the players knocking on the door will make it that much easier for the team to pull the plug on a player who is under performing.

In two days the Caps head to Atlanta for opening night against the Thrashers. They turn around and play the home opener against Chicago on the following night. The team has 3 former Hart Trophy winners in Alex Ovechkin (2008), Sergei Fedorov (1994), and Jose Theodore (2004). Returning from injury are team captain Chris Clark and Michael Nylander. The squad also returns all six top defensemen from the end of last season. The expectations are very high for this team. They are expected to contend for the Stanley Cup. Will this be the year? That's why they play the games, I can't wait to find out.

#	Pos	Name	Age	Height	Weight	Birthplace	Birthday
1	G	JOHNSON, BRENT	31	6'-3''	196	Farmington, MI	3/12/1977
2	D	POTHIER, BRIAN	31	6'-0''	200	New Bedford, MA	4/15/1977
3	D	POTI, TOM	31	6'-3''	210	Worcester, MA	3/22/1977
4	D	ERSKINE, JOHN	28	6'-4''	216	Kingston, Ontario	6/26/1980
8	L	OVECHKIN, ALEXANDER	23	6'-2''	216	Moscow, Russia	9/17/1985
10	R	BRADLEY, MATT	30	6'-3''	205	Stittsville, Ontario	6/13/1978
14	L	FLEISCHMANN, TOMAS	24	6'-1''	188	Koprivinive, Czech Republic	5/16/1984
15	C	GORDON, BOYD	25	6'-1''	201	Unity, Saskatchewan	10/19/1983
16	R	FEHR, ERIC	23	6'-4''	204	Winkler, Manitoba	9/7/1985
17	R	CLARK, CHRIS	32	6'-0''	200	South Windsor, CT	3/8/1976
19	C	BACKSTROM, NICKLAS	19	6'-0''	183	Gavle, Sweden	11/23/1987
21	C	LAICH, BROOKS	25	6'-2''	208	Wawota, Saskatchewan	6/23/1983
23	D	JURCINA, MILAN	25	6'-4''	233	Liptovsky, Slovakia	7/6/1983
25	C	KOZLOV, VICTOR	33	6'-4''	232	Togliatti, Russia	2/14/1975
26	D	MORRISONN, SHAONE	25	6'-4''	210	Vancouver, British Columbia	12/23/1982
28	L	SEMIN, ALEXANDER	24	6'-2''	200	Krasnoyarsk, Russia	3/3/1984
39	C	STECKEL, DAVID	26	6'-5''	215	Westbend, WI	3/15/1982
52	D	GREEN, MIKE	22	6'-1''	200	Calgary, Alberta	12/10/1985
55	D	SCHULTZ, JEFF	22	6'-6''	215	Calgary, Alberta	2/25/1986
60	G	THEODORE, JOSE	32	5'-11"	182	Laval, Quebec	9/13/1976
87	L	BRASHEAR, DONALD	36	6'-2''	235	Bedford, IN	1/7/1972
91	C	FEDOROV, SERGEI	38	6'-2''	205	Pskov, Russia	12/13/1969
92	C	NYLANDER, MICHAEL	36	6'-1''	195	Stockholm, Sweden	10/3/1972