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

Preseason Game #7 Recap - Capitals 4 Bruins 5 (OT-SO)

The Capitals completed the preseason with a shootout loss to Boston. The Caps were out played in this one and were lucky to be close. The Caps allowed 44 shots on goal. Previous to this game the most the Caps had allowed was 31. Lets hope this was just a case of a game not meaning much and therefore not putting out the appropriate effort. If anything it will give Coach Boudreau something to harp on in practice. Even with the loss the Caps finish the preseason 5-1-1. Chris Bourque and Karl Alzner both have made the personnel decisions very difficult for the Caps. The Caps need to be down to a maximum 23-player roster and under the salary cap ceiling by wednesday.

Of Note:

• Bourque scored a goal with just about 6-minutes remaining in the third period to send the game into overtime. Alzner assisted on the play as well as assiting on Chris Clark's goal to open the scoring. It was Alzner's first points as a member of the Capitals.
• Alex Ovechkin and Mike Green scored the other goals for the Caps. Milan Jurcina, Alexander Semin, Michael Nylander, Eric Fehr, and Matt Bradley also had assists.
• Jurcina played a very physical game recording 3 hits and a plus-3 rating.
• Jose Theodore had a workout in net stopping 40 of 44 shots on goal. He made several unbelievable saves followed by some pedestian misses.
• The team allowed 1 power play goal against in 4 chances and failed to convert on 2 power play attemps. The Caps finish the preseason 9 for 37 (24%) on the power play and killed 36 of 45 (87%) opponent power plays.
  
• Ovechkin converted his shootout attempt but Nylander and Semin did not. Boston converted on their two attemps to win the shootout 2-1.

Official Recap
Game Summary
Super Stats

Preseason Game #7 Boston Bruins At Washington Capitals

Where: Verizon Center, Washington, DC

When: October 5, 2008, 5:00 PM

Capitals Preseason Record: 5-1-0

Boston Preseason Record: 3-3-0

Probable Line-Ups:

Washington

Forwards:

Line 1: 8 OVECHKIN, 21 LAICH, 16 FEHR

Line 2: 39 STECKEL, 91 FEDOROV, 28 SEMIN

Line 3: 14 FLEISCHMANN, 92 NYLANDER, 17 CLARK

Line 4: 56 BOURQUE, 15 GORDON, 10 BRADLEY

Defense:

Pair 1: 26 MORRISONN, 52 GREEN

Pair 2: 23 JURCINA, 47 ALZNER

Pair 3: 55 SCHULTZ, ERSKINE

Starting Goalie: 60 THEODORE

Backup Goalie: 1 JOHNSON

Boston

Forwards: 11 AXELSSON, 37 BERGERON, 81 KESSEL, 12 KOBASEW, 46 KREJCI, 17 LUCIC, 29 NOKELAINEN, 53 REICH, 73 RYDER, 91 SAVARD, 27 SCHAEFER, 60 SOBOTKA, 16 STURM, 51 THOMPSON, 22 THORNTON, 42 WHEELER, 18 YELLE

Defense: 41 ALBERTS, 33 CHARA, 21 FERENCE, 34 HNIDY, 48 HUNWICK, 45 STUART, 44 WARD, 6 WIDEMAN

Goalies: 35 FERNANDEZ, 30 THOMAS

Preview:

The final preseason game is upon us and Capitals have gone 5-1-0 thus far. The team has performed well in a lot of areas. They have tried some new things that appear to be working including using Alex Ovechkin on the penalty kill. He has 2 shorthanded goals but the question is if the coaching staff will use him in this capacity during the regular season. If the Caps continue to pile up minor penalties as they have in the preseason then yes I think you will. Last season the Capitals averaged a little over 4 opponent power plays per game. In the preseason they are averaging 7 opponent power plays per game. I think the determining factor will be the amount of time the Caps are on the penalty kill. In today’s game look for the young guys to try and make a final impression as the roster must be down to 23-players on Wednesday, also look for the veterans to play lights out to get ready for the opener on Friday.

Joe’s prediction: Caps 6 Boston 1

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Preseason Game # 6 Recap - Capitals 5 Flyers 1

Alex Ovechkin started the scoring shorthanded for the Caps. He went 1-on-3 into the Philly zone and wristed a shot through the five hole of the defensemen and goalie. Ovechkin continued on with assisted on the next two Capital goals. It was five minutes into the third period before the Flyers got onto the scoreboard. Two more Caps goals finished the game as a 5-1 rout of the Flyers. Jose Theodore played the entire 60-minutes in net facing only 18 shots. The team is now 5-1-0 in the preseason and have one exhibition game remaining.

Of Note:

• Ovechkin had 1 goal and 2 assists for 3 points. He has played 3 preseason games scoring 7-points.
• Chris Clark, Nicklas Backstrom, Tomas Fleischmann, and Eric Fehr scored goals for the Caps.
• Sergei Fedorov had 2 assists while playing defensemen. David Steckel, Brooks Laich, Chris Bourque, and Jeff Schultz also had an assist each.
• The Caps scored 1 power play goal on 6 chances. The Caps gave up 1 power play goal to the Flyers on 7 chances.
• Caps' enforcer Donald Brashear and Riley Cote of the Flyers did not play well together. The two fought in the second period and each were given an Unsportsmanlike Conduct and a 10-Minute Misconduct Penalty with about 5-minutes left in the game.
  

Official Recap
Game Summary
Event Summary

Preseason Game #6 Philadelphia Flyers at Washington Capitals

Where: Verizon Center, Washington, DC

When: October 3, 2008, 7:00 PM

Capitals Preseason Record: 4-1-0

Philadelphia Preseason Record: 4-2-0

Probable Line-Ups:

Washington

Forwards: 8 OVECHKIN, 10 BRADLEY, 14 FLEISCHMANN, 15 B. GORDON, 16 FEHR, 17 CLARK, 19 BACKSTROM, 21 LAICH, 25 KOZLOV, 28 SEMIN, 39 STECKEL, 53 LAING, 56 BOURQUE, 87 BRASHEAR, 91 FEDOROV, 92 NYLANDER

Defense: 3 POTI, 4 ERSKINE, 23 JURCINA, 26 MORRISONN, 47 ALZNER, 52 GREEN, 55 SCHULTZ

Goalies: 1 JOHNSON, 60 THEODORE

Philadelphia

Forwards: 45 ASHAM, 48 BRIERE, 17 CARTER, 32 COTE, 27 DOWNIE, 12 GAGNE, 19 HARTNELL, 22 KNUBLE, 15 LUPUL, 13 METROPOLIT, 18 RICHARDS, 9 UPSHAW

Defense: 5 COBURN, 26 EMINGER, 2 HATCHER, 6 JONES, 3 KUKKONEN, 77 PARENT, 44 TIMONEN, 23 VAANANEN

Goalies: 35 AUBIN, 43 BIRON, 30 NITTYMAKI

Preview:

The Caps suffered their first defeat of the preseason against the Flyers on Wednesday night. The two teams meet again on Friday in Washington. The Capitals sent defensemen Sami Lepisto, Tyler Sloan and Grant McNeill to Hershey along with goaltender Simeon Varlamov. Look for forwards Chris Bourque and Quintin Laing to make their last cases to the coaching staff as the team needs to make at least 2 more roster moves to get to the maximum 23-man roster. Karl Alzner is still trying to make the team as a rookie but the team has been looking at Sergei Fedorov as a possible defensive fill in. It is still not known if the Caps will carry 6 or 7 defensemen to start the season. Watch for more of the regular lineup in this one as the team heads towards next Friday’s season opener.

Joe’s prediction: Caps 5 PHI 2

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Preseaon Game #5 Washington Capitals at Philadelphia Flyers

Where: Wachovia Center, Philadelphia, PA

When: October 1, 2008, 7:00 PM

Capitals Preseason Record: 4-0-0

Philadelphia Preseason Record: 3-2-0

Rosters:

Washington

Forwards: 8 OVECHKIN, 10 BRADLEY, 14 FLEISCHMANN, 15 B. GORDON, 16 FEHR, 17 CLARK, 19 BACKSTROM, 21 LAICH, 25 KOZLOV, 28 SEMIN, 39 STECKEL, 53 LAING, 56 BOURQUE, 87 BRASHEAR, 91 FEDOROV, 92 NYLANDER

Defense: 3 POTI, 4 ERSKINE, 23 JURCINA, 26 MORRISONN, 42 LEPISTO, 47 ALZNER, 52 GREEN, 55 SCHULTZ, 75 G. MCNEILL, 89 SLOAN

Goalies: 1 JOHNSON, 40 VARLAMOV, 60 THEODORE

Philadelphia

Forwards: 45 ASHAM, 48 BRIERE, 17 CARTER, 32 COTE, 27 DOWNIE, 12 GAGNE, 19 HARTNELL, 22 KNUBLE, 15 LUPUL, 13 METROPOLIT, 18 RICHARDS, 9 UPSHAW

Defense: 5 COBURN, 26 EMINGER, 2 HATCHER, 6 JONES, 3 KUKKONEN, 77 PARENT, 44 TIMONEN, 23 VAANANEN

Goalies: 35 AUBIN, 43 BIRON, 30 NITTYMAKI

Preview:

The Caps move into October with a matchup against the Flyers. The Caps won all 4 of their preseason game in September. With 10 days remaining until the start of the season, the Caps roster was trimmed by 2 yesterday as C Keith Aucoin was sent to Hershey and D Jakup Cutta was given his release. Aucoin is a guy who may be called up during the season whereas Cutta will most likely head back to Europe. The roster has 16 forwards, 10 defensemen and 3 goalies on it. Look for Chris Bourque and Quintin Laing to fight for forward spots and Karl Alzner, Sami Lepisto, and Tyler Sloan make their case for a spot on the defense. In goal Simeon Varlamov has done well in training camp but needs to get some experience in Hershey.

Joe’s prediction: Caps 4 PHI 2

Official Preview