Alexander Ovechkin - Smashing the Critics

After everything Ovechkin has done with the Washington Capitals, he still hears criticism from fans of the Caps and the sport.  My question is why? 

 

Let's start by answering some common questions in the revolving debate of Alex Ovechkin. 

 

Is his passion entertaining?

 

I think he's an absolute blast to watch play the game and when I'm in attendance, it feels as though all the oxygen has been sucked out of my body when he steps on the ice.  You just never know what will happen.  When something does happen, it usually involves an opponent flat on his back or a puck in the back of the net.  I'm glad he's a Cap because he's the most entertaining player I've ever watched play the game.

Is he worth the $124 Million over 13 years?

He is absolutely worth the contract.  Why wouldn't he be? He's a three time MVP.  He had two seasons where his goals total dropped.  Those two seasons were also a time when coaches were trying to work in a more defensive style system.  To say they were down seasons isn't quite fair because he's never scored less then 32 goals in a season which is excellent.  Sure he became a bit predictable but he did what good athletes do and made necessary adjustments.  He came back strong after two down seasons and won his 3rd MVP title and scored more goals then anyone in the league.  For anyone saying he's not worth the contract, you may want to re-evaluate the three time league MVP.

Are his goal celebrations too much?

I don't need to answer this question.  Oilers coach "Dallas Eakins" already answered it and his answer expresses my feelings perfectly.  Here's what he had to say:   “I want to get to a place with our group that they do wear it on their sleeve a little bit, and I don’t mean being cocky hockey players. I mean having a little bit of swagger to your game and having confidence on the ice,” Eakins said. “I think Ovechkin brings that. He’s highly confident, he brings a little bit of swagger and very rarely has he gone overboard with it. For me, to be out there being a bunch of robots with no expression on your face it’s not very much fun. It is an emotional game and I think it’s okay to show emotion.” 

If you thought we weren't mentioning Crosby in this section you were mistaken.
 
Crosby is the absolute reason this topic is up for debate around the league.  When asked about Ovechkin's on ice celebration after scoring his 60th goal of the 2007-08 season, this is what Crosby had to say:
"Some people like it, some people don't. Personally, I don't."  AND:  "He likes to stick out and I like to blend in."

Crosby clearly has some issues with players who don't play the game exactly the way he plays it.  Crosby would REALLY dislike me because if I scored 60 goals in one season, I'd have the biggest celebration in the history of the sport.  Soccer players celebrate goals, football players celebrate touchdowns, tennis players celebrate wins and etc.  The emotion shown by Ovechkin on the ice gets his team fired up and changes the momentum of games.  He's the captain of his team and when he celebrates a goal it charges his team with energy and confidence.

A lot of rumors were passed throughout the world of hockey recently, when he missed two games (Flyers and Panthers) and the Caps managed to win those two games.  Rumors like "we don't need Ovechkin to win" and "Ovechkin is the most overrated hockey player in the league."  I must remind those of you who passed these rumors along that the Caps were playing two of the worst teams in the NHL at the time of those games.  The Flyers were at 3-8-0 and the Panthers were 3-8-2.  We've played two games since hes been back and he has three goals in that span.  Ovechkin now has 13 goals in 14 games played and is one goal shy of the leagues leader (Alexander Steen.)  How can there be criticism towards the leagues reining MVP who is averaging barely under a goal a game?  I'll leave that question for the hockey fans to answer.

GO CAPS !

Zach Hart
Shades Of Red
 

Washington Capitals (8-7-0) vs. Minnesota Wild (9-4-3) - Game Preview

 

 

 

The Washington Capitals will be hosting the Minnesota Wild at Verizon Center on Thursday night.  Puck drop is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.

 

The Capitals are coming off of a strong 6-2 win against John Tavares and the speedy Islanders.  The Caps overcame the 1 goal deficit and scored 5 goals in the second period of play.  In the explosion of scoring, the Caps scored 4 of their 5 2nd period goals in a 5 minute frame.

 

In Ovechkin's first game back from injury, he found the back of the net twice for two powerplay goals.  John Carlson tallied his first goal of the season and Tom Wilson tallied his first NHL career goal and assist.  It was an overall strong performance from the Caps and they'll look to extend their 3 game win streak against the Wild tonight.

 

In Braden Holtby's last two starts, he has shutout the Flyers and held the Islanders to only two goals.  He is our projected starting goalie for tonights matchup.

 

The Caps have scored 15 goals in their last 3 games but they shouldn't let it get to their heads because the Wild have scored 13 in their last 3. 

 

The Wild overcame a 1 goal deficit of their own on Tuesday, when they scored 5 unanswered goals against the Flames to get the win.  Parise scored two goals in the matchup.

 

The Capitals will have their hands full tonight.  In the Wild, they face the league's ice-time leader in defensemen Ryan Suter and the goal scorer Zach Parise.  I expect the Wild will give Harding the start in goal and if they do the Caps will have to be at their best on the scoring front.  Harding leads the league with a stellar 1.09 goals against average and also save percentage with a .951.

 

Note: With a Capitals win tonight, they can pull themselves to within 4 points of the 1st place Penguins in the Metropolitan Division.  (The Penguins lost to the Rangers last night)

 

Zach's Three Keys to the Game:

 

 

** Defense - The Caps will have to play strong in their own end tonight.  This is no team to make mistakes against as they are hot right now. 

 

** Traffic - If Harding gets the start, the Caps are playing against the league's #1 ranked goalie.  They will have to get traffic in front of the net and eliminate Harding's sight lines, try for some deflections and attack the net for rebounds.

 

** Special Teams - The Caps special teams match up nicely against the Wild on paper.  The Caps #1 ranked powerplay should work well against the Wild's 25th ranked penalty kill.  The Capitals have the leagues #1 ranked penalty kill and should matchup ok against the leagues #2 ranked powerplay unit in the Wild.  Hopefully the Caps can capitalize on a few opportunities.

 

If your attending tonights game, ROCK THE RED !

 

Thanks for reading

 

Zach Hart
Shades of Red

Washington Capitals (7-7-0) vs. New York Islanders (6-5-3)

 

The Islanders will visit the Capitals at Verizon Center on Tuesday night for a Metropolitan Division matchup.  Puck drop is scheduled for 7:00 pm.

 

The Capitals are looking to extend a two game win streak after winning the last two games against the Flyers and the Panthers.  They crushed the Flyers in scoring (7-0) and boxing.  Volpatti sent Steve Downie to the hospital with major concussion symptoms and Oleksy knocked Lecavalier out of hockey for a few weeks with facial injuries and missing teeth. In the Panthers game, Nicklas Backstrom scored a goal in regulation and also the game winning shootout goal.  He has 3 goals in the last two games.
 

Although the 3rd line of Chimera, Ward and Grabovski were finally held off the scoreboard against the Panthers, they still have combined for 9 goals and 11 assists in the last 5 games. Chimera was named "NHL's 3rd star of the week" for the week that ended on Nov 3rd.  This line has achieved this greatness through hard work.  They're showing why the dump and chase has a place in hockey and are very good at winning the battles on the boards.
 

Ovechkin, (upper-body) is a game time decision (by Oates) but has listed himself as probable.  After Mondays practice Ovechkin had this to say:

"It looks like I'm probably going to play [Tuesday] and I'm happy to be back"
 

No word yet but Oates will probably give the nod to Holtby.  He was credited with the shutout against the Flyers but he was given a rest against the Panthers in the 2nd game of the back to back set.
 

The Islanders are trying to extend a two-game win streak after getting wins against the Senators (5-4 Shootout win), and the Bruins (3-1.)  John Tavares had a goal in each game and the Caps will have to give him some extra attention.  He is a goal scorer and is due to start scoring at a higher rate any time now.  He finished only 4 goals behind Ovechkin (league leader) in the league last year and seems to always challenge Ovechkin for the goal lead.
 

The Islanders are expected to give Evgeni Nabokov the start in goal.  For the season, Nabokov has a 2.92 goals against average and a .903 save percentage.
 

Note: If the Caps get a win tonight, they'll leapfrog the Islanders in the Metroplitan Division standings and be in 2nd place with a one point lead on the Islanders.  Then they could look towards catching the first place Penguins who would be three wins ahead of them.

 

Zach's Three Keys to the Game:

 

** Defense: This will be a key to the game until they have multiple good performances. They need to continue to build chemistry and block shots against the Islanders. Do not give John Tavares open space in front of our net! Green needs to get the scoring going.

 

** Keep Killing Penalties: Going back for ten games, the Caps have killed an incredible 35 straight penalties.  They'll need to keep it up against the leagues 7th best powerplay unit in the Islanders.

** Backstrom: In Ovechkin's absence, Backstrom showcased his shot accuracy with three goals in two games.  Backstrom needs to shoot more tonight and perhaps Ovechkin can begin feeding Backstrom some pucks.

 

If you'll be attending tonights game, ROCK THE RED !

 

Zach Hart

Shades of Red D.C.  

The Enforcers of the Washington Capitals

Enforcer: one who's job is to execute unpleasant tasks for a superior (Web definition from wordnetweb.princeton.edu)


In recent seasons, the rosters of the Washington Capitals have been stacked with talent.  They've had the speedsters, the hitters and the scorers.  They've had a Norris Trophy finalist and the MVP of the league.  But outside of John Erskine, (who they don't want to fight much because we need him on the ice) we haven't had the type of guys that could really strike a bit of fear into the opposition. 

 

In the past, we've dealt with tough guys on tough teams agitating our guys to the point where they wanted to fight but they knew it wasn't an option because our guys couldn't fight.  So they played games when they were literally getting bullied around the ice and trying to perform with that in the back of their heads.  When it came down to important games and especially playoff games, teams knew this weakness and they exposed it.  Just think back to the last playoff matchup with the Bruins.  Milan Lucic was having a field day because outside of "firecracker" Matt Hendricks, (who was a bit small for the task but crazy enough to try) there wasn't anyone to make him stop picking on us.  Erskine, who was a healthy scratch for three of the games in that series, had to be inserted in the lineup (by Dale Hunter) just to help keep Lucic honest.  How many times have we needed someone to knock the block off of Sean Avery in a Ranger's series?  In one playoff series, John Tortorella put Avery, who had been a healthy scratch for a long time, in the lineup just to help expose our weakness.  Avery just made us mad, he had other people on the team that could do the fighting for him.

The Flyers tried to pick on us Friday night after getting a little upset about their slaughtering but....nope, sorry, not this year and not this team.  Enjoy your concussion Downie, enjoy your dental work Lecavalier.

 





George McPhee and Adam Oates have realized the importance of these puzzle pieces.  Sure there's teams around the league who won't be afraid to drop the mitts with our guys.  That's what's so great about it.  No more bullying our little guys around the ice.  Our team is finally ready to accept agitation from other teams.  If someone wants to lay a bone crushing hit or start something with someone like Backstrom, Johansson or Erat, my advice would be "go right ahead."  Team forces will most likely rain upon your face.  When that's done, you'll probably see Backstrom and Johansson combine for two goals on the television while getting stitched up in the locker room.

Do you follow me yet?  George McPhee has figured out a way to put multiple enforcers on the ice.  They include Tom Wilson, Steven Oleksy, Aaron Volpatti, Mike Latta and big John Erskine.  On top of that, these guys are pretty solid hockey players.  The Caps can finally focus on winning the game when they find themselves in a hot situation.  Hopefully this team can make it to the playoffs and we can finally be the ones to push some teams around.

GO CAPS!

Thanks for reading
Zach Hart

Redskins Vs. Chargers..... The Righting of a Sinking Ship????

 

In a must win game, the Redskins won and won in a more than exciting manner.  After winning the coin toss the Redskins marched down the field by doing exactly what Shades of Red has been preaching since week one- BY POUNDING THE ROCK!!!!!!

Darrel Young scored on a 4-yard run in overtime Sunday, the third touchdown of the game for the little-used fullback, giving the Washington Redskins a 30-24 win over the San Diego Chargers.  Young, who is essentially a sixth lineman at fullback, finally got the chance to carry the ball and never looked back.  Young, who had carried the ball only twice all season entering the game, also had a pair of 1-yard touchdown runs for the Redskins (3-5), who scored on the opening drive of the extra period after winning the coin toss at the end of regulation.

Robert Griffin III completed 23-of-32 passes for 291 yards and one interception for Washington.  Alfred Morris rushed 25 times for 121 yards and a score, and Pierre Garcon had seven receptions for 172 yards.

The good also comes with the bad as the special teams was again a shadow of its former self, letting two Kai Forbath field-goals get blocked.  Special teams is a glaring weakness that needs to be addressed ASAP.  In my opinion it starts at the top with Coach Burns.  The experiment has failed and we have all seemingly taken Danny Smith's solid but not spectacular special teams for granted and failed in doing so.  He has left for greener pastures in Pittsburgh and we couldn't have made a bigger mistake in letting him move on.  The failure to get players in the right positions to succeed is because of poor coaching and Coach Burns has to go, sooner rather than later.

A win none the less though and a win I'd take ten out of ten times.

Hail to the Redskins and take it easy folks....

Richard Facciolo
Football Columnist
Shades of Red

How To Right The Ship In DC

   Lets face it. This season hasn't turned out how Redskins fans expected or hoped for.  Between the lackluster offense, a defense that early on in the year made a case for being the worst ever, and a special teams unit which allowed a touchdown in a record three straight games, to say the team is disappointing would be an understatement.  Everyone, myself included, anticipated more from this team.  The production just isn't there.

   With a 2-5 start, RG3 and the Redskins have dug a hole that will be difficult to climb out of.  As for last years 7 game win streak happening again... it's not.  Forget about it, don't mention it, get it out of your head.  However, with the NFC "least" being as bad as it's been this season, and the team at the top known to blow it when it counts, all is not lost.  Some things can still be done to salvage what seems like a lost cause.  In this article I'm going to highlight a couple of issues that need to be addressed if the Skins want to compete for the division going forward this season.

• Find An Identity - When I look at the top teams in the NFL, the one thing I notice they all have in common is an identity.  By this I mean they can hang their hat on one aspect of the game.  Denver can pass.  Kansas City can run.  Seattle is a hard nosed defense that will wear you down over 60 minutes.  Last year the Redskins had an identity.  They were a running offense.  This opened up the passing game off of play action and the read option.  Now possibly a hobbled RG3 is part to blame, but the fact that Alfred Morris has yet to carry the ball 20+ times this season is ridiculous.  How can the team progress if they can't dominate one aspect of the game?  This in turn allows other facets of the offense to open up and become a threat.  It would allow Griffin to improve his accuracy and decision making skills if he has confidence in what's being called.  The Skins need to figure out what they want to be before it's too late or they get their QB killed.

• Increase the Pressure - If you look at the Redskins defensive front on paper, you see names like Kerrigan, Orakpo, Bowen and Cofield.  There's no reason this unit shouldn't be one of the most dominant pass rushing units in football.  Even the best quarterbacks in the league can appear to be pedestrian when pressured, see Peyton Manning in the Denver Broncos vs. Indianapolis Colts game.  I'm not sure if it's a lack of hustle or passion by the players, or maybe a fault in the scheme by Jim Haslett, but something has to be done to allow these players to produce at the level we all know they are capable of.  In the game against the Chicago Bears, we saw a look with 3 middle linebackers all standing up at the line of scrimmage.  This caused massive confusion, and even time outs early on in the game.  Haslett has to send pressure from different areas and keep the opposing offenses guessing where the pressure is coming from.  Regardless of how it gets done, if the Redskins want to get more turnovers, improve field position, and get off the field quicker, pressure is a key component to achieving those goals.

• Show Some Discipline - Nothing is worse then watching Alfred Morris rip off a 25 yard run, only to have it be called back for a hold that wasn't even involved in the play.  Or even worse, getting called for holding on a punt and being forced to re-punt, only to give up a special teams touchdown.  Case in point, the week 6 game against the Dallas Cowboys.  Setting the whole penalties example aside, having Pierre Garcon make a miraculous one handed catch, only to ruin the drive with a botched snap on the ensuing play, is something we as fans have seen far too often.  These are mistakes that good teams don't make.  Mistakes that well coached teams avoid.  If the Redskins want to achieve any sort of success this season, or in the future, mistakes like these must be eliminated.  And yeah yeah yeah, I know the Ravens were one of the most penalized teams last year, but that was purely circumstantial.  If that's your argument for this situation, maybe you should step back and reevaluate your outlook!  But seriously, mistakes like these and the lack of discipline are hurting the Redskins in every facet of the game.  Some of these penalties and mistakes are inexcusable and need to be corrected, immediately.

• Open Up The Playbook - Okay, I love the bubble screen to Pierre Garcon as much as the next guy, but it's predictable, defenses are ready for it, and it simply doesn't work.  If you're not running different routes and calling audibles at the line, then that play just won't do it for you.  It's hard to change the play at the line when you're getting out of the huddle with 7 to 10 seconds left on the play clock!  Defenses already know what the Skins are calling.  They're running the same stuff from last year if not less due to RG3's inability to stretch the field with his legs.  Kyle Shanahan needs to be more creative, take more shots, and pick up the tempo for his offense.  A lot of that may rest on RG3, his grasp of the offense, and confidence running. However, the fact that they came out in the second half against Denver and consistently threw the ball instead of sticking with the run (which was working) is ridiculous.  It doesn't take a genius to realize that you need to keep going with what is working for you.  Force the other team to stop what's working and make adjustments to what they're going to do to stop you.  Adjust, adjust, adjust!  I can't count the times I've been watching a game when I said to myself, "Are you serious!! You called that!" Now I am in no way qualified to run an offense in the NFL, but it's just simple, basic football to know that if you can run the ball on a team, you run.  Moving forward I would like to see more variety in the routes, more consistency, dedication to the run, and some more trust from the coaches in their quarterback (that they spent so many draft picks to acquire.)

   The Redskins season could possibly be over already and they may be left to simply develop their young players (including RG3) and try to make the best of their situation.  However, if they can address the issues I laid forth in this article, I believe they have a better chance of turning this season around and making something positive out of it.  I'm not a professional analyst, who has spent my whole life watching and studying football.  I'm just a huge fan that wants more than anything to see the team that I love succeed.  I do honestly believe that this team is better than their 2-5 record indicates.  The defense has played better as of late, and the offense seems to move the ball better each week.  But there are a lot of things they need to improve on.  Let's hope this week's game against the San Diego Chargers can start the trend of turning this thing around, playing solid, good fundamental football, and rattling off some wins to get back in the race for the NFC East.  Hail to the Redskins.

Brian Smith

Shades of Red D.C.

Capitals (6-7-0) vs. Panthers (3-8-2) Game preview

The Washington Capitals will host the Florida Panthers at Verizon Center Saturday night with puck drop scheduled for 7:00 pm.

The Panthers are looking to avoid their 5th straight loss and may have a hard time if the Caps play the same way they did in last night's game against the Flyers.  The Caps scored 7 goals and Holtby was credited with a shutout after he was one of several players to fight in a brawl on the ice.  Backstrom scored 2 goals, Ward scored a hat-trick and Chimera scored a goal bringing his goal per game streak to 4.  This 3rd line is a force to be reckoned with.  Adam Oates will be giving them a lot of ice time tonight. 

Neuvirth will probably get the second start of the back to back game set and has played stronger then his 1-2 record would suggest. 

The Caps are playing their first game at home since finishing the 5 game road trip (3-2.)  Alexander Ovechkin is questionable for the game with an "upper body" injury and will most likely be a game time decision.  If he can't make the start, Eric Fehr will take his place on the top line with Backstrom and Johansson for the second game in a row.

With a win tonight, the Caps can bring their record to .500.  If they want to stay competitive in the strong Metropolitan Division, they need to get two points in games against teams who are playing poorly.  Time for the Caps to put a win streak together here.

Zach's Three Keys to the Game:

** Defense- The Caps defense needs to carry last nights momentum into this game and shut down this weak Florida Panthers offense.  Green, the once 30+ goal scorer, needs to start putting pucks on the net.

** Score early- The Caps have been away from Verizon Center for five straight games.  Verizon Center will be loud (especially after what we saw last night) and an early goal should make it louder and a more troublesome atmosphere for the Panthers to play in.  If your attending, ROCK THE RED!!

** 3rd line- This 3rd line has been one of the best lines in the ENTIRE LEAGUE as of late.  Last night, they combined for 6 assists and 4 goals.  In the last 4 games this line has 20 points!  They need to keep generating scoring chances from the hard work they put in. 

GO CAPS!