OLYMPICS: Medal Count

Here's your medal count through Day 4 in the Wubter Olympics in Sochi.








As you can see, the United States is in 5th place but hopefully that will change because there's quite a few events left on the schedule.




Here's the 7 - U.S. medalists through Day 4 of the Winter Olympics in Sochi:






- Sage Kotsenburg - Gold -Snowboarding Men's Slopestyle


- Hannah Kearney - Bronze - Freestyle skiing, Women's Moguls


- Jamie Anderson - Gold - Snowboarding, Women's Slopestyle


- USA - Bronze - Figure Skating, Team Event


-Julia Mancuso - Bronze - Alpine Skiing, Women's Super Combined


-Devin Logan - Silver - Freestyle Skiing, Women's Slopestyle


-Erin Hamlin - Bronze - Luge, Women's Singles








Zach Hart
Shades of Red

OLYMPICS: Men's Ice Hockey: Our Projected Medalists

For me, Olympic hockey is the best part of the Winter Olympics. The Olympics throw us a change-up from watching the NHL, which undoubtedly boasts the highest skilled players that come from around the world to play. But when you look at the rosters from each country who are competing in the Olympics, you realize just how many superstars there are in the NHL from other countries. It makes me feel lucky to have the opportunity to watch many of the world's best players on a nightly basis.

We project that the top 4 teams in the Olympics will end up as: Russia, Sweden, Canada and the United States (not in that order.) Let's do a short breakdown of each and we can all decide which order we think they will finish. At the end of the article, myself and some of the other writers here at Shades of Red, will give our own projections of the order we think "our projected" top 4 teams will finish.

Team Russia:

Hockey is HUGE in Russia. They will have possibly the biggest advantage of the tournament as they will be playing in their country. They will no doubt gain energy from their home crowd which will most likely be on it's feet and cheering every game. In my opinion, the line they will make out of Kovulchuk, Datsyuk, Malkin and Ovechkin, will be the best scoring line of any country. They will receive a lot of ice time and all four players have Olympic experience. Their second line will most likely be made up of Alexander Semin, Alexander Radulov and whichever of the aforementioned 4 doesn't play on the 1st line. This will make up for an above average 2nd line but not as good as some of the other teams 3rd or even 4th lines. The problem I see with Russia, is the depth behind their 1st two lines. I don't know much about the other players on their roster who play in the KHL, but I know the NHL is the more skilled league of the two. With the US, Canada and even Sweden, full of NHL level talent, only time will tell how they will match-up. Once again, home-ice advantage will be huge, and they have the NHL's leading goal scorer (Ovechkin) to their advantage.

Team Sweden:

They took a slight hit when Henrik Sedin was ruled out, but overall the squad is solid. Like Team US, the biggest advantage Team Sweden will have, is their goaltending. We've all seen Henrik Lundqvist strip great teams of wins and even playoff series with his stellar skill in between the pipes. Outside of Lundqvist, the team still is loaded with other NHL stars. Zetterberg, Karlsson, Daniel Sedin, Steen, Alfredsson, and Backstrom provide the make-up for a lethal scoring threat. The squad also features a great defense. Overall, the team is made up of 24 NHL players. Only one player on the roster (Jimmie Ericsson), comes from a league other then the NHL. This team could be a gold medal surprise.

Team Canada:

Ok, this team is loaded with lethal scoring ability. 11 of the teams forwards are among the NHL's top 25 point producers this season, including the leagues top 3, and 5 of the top 10. Also, 5 of the leagues top 10 goal scorers, two of which (Crosby and Kunitz) play on a line together in the NHL and will be paired on Team Canada. Defensively, Canada will feature 4 of the leagues top 6 (defensive) point producers. There's no doubt that when it comes to scoring, Canada has the biggest advantage of any other country. Every line and defensive pairing they have are of NHL top line/top pair quality. It's insane to think that their 4th line will consist of John Tavares, Rick Nash and Patrick Marleau. Their only weakness could be goaltending with Roberto Luongo and Carey Price having so-so NHL seasons. But that could prove to be wrong though, because at the Olympics in Vancouver, Luongo shined and helped Canada to win the Gold.

Team U.S.:

Team US has a big time goal-tending advantage over most other countries with Ryan Miller in the net. Outside of goaltending, Team US features a nice blend of talent. On defense, you don't see many big-time scorers but they do feature solid, defensive minded defensemen, which is what you need in a world class tournament. But it is a young blue-line that lacks experience. I'm excited to watch Ryan Suter (who in my opinion is the best defensemen in the NHL.) At the forward positions, Team US has a blend of superior speed, scoring ability and experience. Phil Kessel and Patrick Kane place 4th and 5th in the NHL. Joe Pavelski is also in the top 20. Those same three players, all place in the NHL's top 9 in goal scoring and Team U.S. features 8 players who have scored 20 or more goals in the NHL this season. Zach Parise, the Captain of Team U.S. has 19 goals but if he wasn't battling injuries this season, he would probably have closer to 25-30. Overall, with the good talented forwards, solid-shutdown defense and elite goaltending, Team US should matchup well with other countries and compete for Gold.

Every countries' teams has a chance so It's hard for us to count out the other countries who will compete as well as these 4. The Olympic hockey tournament is set up different then the 7 game series type that we are accustomed to. Here's a full set of Rules and the 3 assigned groups for the 12 countries' teams. One or two upsets can knock a team out of contention. This is why it's extremely hard to guess who's going to medal. Chemistry has a lot to do with teams being competitive as there's hardly any time to practice. And many of these players traveled to the other side of the world and have one or two days to get adjusted to a MAJOR time difference. No matter what it will be fun to watch and all of us here at Shades of Red will be cheering for the U.S.

Zach's Projected Medalists:

Gold - Canada
Silver - U.S.
Bronze - Sweden
4th - Russia

Brian's Projected Medalists:

Gold - Canada
Silver - Russia
Bronze - US
4th - Sweden

Will's Projected Medalists:

Gold - Russia
Silver - Sweden
Bronze - U.S.
4th- Canada - Cuz they lost Stamkos

Ryan's Projected Medalists:

Gold - U.S.

Silver - Canada

Bronze - Sweden

4th - Russia

OLYMPICS: Shaun White - Half-Pipe Conditions

I'm totally into the Olympics. What's more entertaining in the sports world, then the world's greatest athletes coming together to compete on the biggest stage known to man? My two favorite events are ice-hockey and snowboarding so I'm writing a few articles to step out of my realm of DC Sports for a change. Today It's Shaun White and the half-pipe conditions.




When he arrived in Sochi and made a few practice runs, he made the decision to pull out of the 1st ever Olympic "Slope-Style" event. White released a statement regarding his decision:


“After much deliberation with my team, I have made the decision to focus solely on trying to bring home the third straight gold medal in half-pipe for Team USA,” White said in the statement, given to NBC’s “Today.” “The difficult decision to forgo slope-style is not one I take lightly as I know how much effort everyone has put into holding the slope-style event for the first time in Olympic history, a history I had planned on being a part of.”


Although he has been training hard for the last year to compete in each event, to me, the decision doesn't come as much of a surprise. Why risk the possibility of injury and the exhaustion that the conflicting schedules would enforce, when you have a chance to set a world record? White has won back to back gold medals on the half pipe in the last two Olympics and a third would set a new record.


I'm sure the conditions of the slope-style course and the half-pipe may have contributed to his decision. White is one of many athletes who have complained about the conditions of the course and the pipe. In one of White's early practice runs, he fell and injured his wrist (not a big deal but scary) and Torstein Horgmo, a Norwegian snowboarder, actually broke his collar bone in a practice run.


With the Pipe event set to begin tomorrow (the 11th), final adjustments to the pipe will be made tonight and the athletes will have to make do with however it turns out. Adjustments will be hard with the  There is said to be a bump in the middle of the pipe that won't cause injury problems, but it could effect how strong the overall competition is.


Let's hope Shaun White can pull it out and bring home a 2nd gold for US in snowboarding.


Go USA!

Zach Hart
Shades of Red

Capitals (24-2-8) vs. Redwings (23-19-11) - Game Preview

The Caps will wrap up there 5 game road trip when they face the Redwings tonight at Joe Louis Arena. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:30pm. After the matchup, both teams will travel back to DC's Verizon Center to play again on Sunday.

The matchup is the second of a back-to-back set for the Caps. I will waste no time in saying, the Caps performance against the Bluejackets last night was probably the worst of their season. The final score was 5-2. Green sustained an injury to his head or shoulder (or maybe both) but did travel with the team to Detroit and will be evaluated today. Mikhail Grabovski is expected to miss another game with his lower-body injury.

Michal Neuvirth will start in the net for the Caps tonight and it is a welcoming change since Holtby has given up 9 goals in two contests since shutting out the Montreal Canadiens. On the season Neuvirth has a 3-5-1 record with a 2.70 GAA and a .915 Save%.

The Redwings are coming off of a 0-5 loss to the Flyers. The injuries are piling up for them. Against the Flyers, the Redwings played without Datsyuk, Zetterberg and Franzen. Tonight, chances are high that the Redwings will get their leading scorer in Zetterberg back. Datsyuk will be out of the lineup again with a lower-body injury.

Jimmy Howard will get his first start since sustaining an injury on Jan 20th. On the season, Howard has a 9-12-8 record with a 2.64 GAA and a .916 Save%.

Zach's Three Keys to the Game:

*Last night's performance made this simple for me, IMPROVE EVERYTHING!!

Zach Hart
Shades of Red

Capitals (24-21-8) @ Bluejackets (26-23-4) - Game Preview

Capitals look to make it three in a row against Columbus

         This is the fourth and final meeting between these two division rivals. Washington won the first two meetings at Verizon Center. Columbus won the most recent matchup at Nationwide Arena.

         Washington is on a two game winning streak looking to make it a third game in a row tonight. Columbus on the other hand, is on a three game losing skid and they’re looking to change that against Washington tonight.

         If Washington happens to win against Columbus, it would be their first win against a Metropolitan Division opponent since December 27 (New York Rangers). Both teams have 56 points, but Columbus has more regulation and overtime wins, so they are ahead of Washington in the standings. This game plus a game against the Detroit Red Wings at Joe Louis Arena wraps up a five game road trip before the Caps face Detroit again on Sunday at Verizon Center.

         What’s hot: Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin had four points (2 goals, 2 assists) in a 5-4 overtime win against Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday.  In his past five games, he has five goals and three assists and is leading the NHL in goals with 38. Columbus defenseman James Wisniewski has had at least one point in his seven of his last 9 games.

Starting Goalies:

Braden Holtby will start for the Caps and has a 15-12-2, 2.94 GAA, .912 Save%

Sergei Bobrovsky (our projected starter) for the Bluejackets  17-13-2, 2.61GAA, .913 Save% 

         Injuries: Caps forward Mikhail Grabovski (ankle) missed Tuesday’s game. Jack Hillen (tibia surgery) skated Monday. He is hoping to return before the season ends. Jackets right wing Blake Comeau left Tuesday’s game with a knee injury, but played one more shift. Marian Gaborik (broken collarbone) has been skating but not shooting.  David Savard (illness) missed Tuesday’s game. Jared Boll (bruised left foot) is on IR.

 

By: Sarah Park

Capitals (23-21-8) vs. Sabres (14-30-7) - Game Preview

The Capitals will travel to First Niagara Center for the 3rd game of their 5 game road swing, against the Sabres on Tuesday night. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:30pm.

Last in the Eastern Conference, the Sabres are playing the Caps in the 2nd game of a back to back set. Before getting shutout by the Penguins last night, the Sabres beat the red hot St. Louis Blues on Saturday which ended the Blues 8 game winning streak. The Sabres have lost 6 of their last 7 matchups. Although Ryan Miller has been excellent against the Caps this season, he played last night against the Pens so he may receive a rest. If he does, the Caps will face Sabres backup goalie, Jhonas Enroth. On the season, Enroth has a 1-10-4 record with a 2.67 GAA and .910 Save %. If the Sabres decide to go back to Miller due to his two excellent performances against the Caps this season, he has a 13-20-3 record with a 2.61 GAA and a .926 Save %. Buffalo has won both games against the Caps this season in the Shootout and in both matches combined, Miller has stopped 77 of 79 shots and hasn't given up a single shootout goal. Who would you play if you were the Sabres coach? (HA!)

The Caps are coming off of a 5-0 win against the Montreal Canadiens, which saw them break a 7 game losing streak. Goals were scored by Ovechkin, Erskine, Wellman, Carlson and Beagle. The Caps have recalled Center Ryan Stoa from Hershey and it makes us wonder what the status is on Brooks Laich who is coming off of a "Maintenance Day" (although Laich did skate this morning.) The Caps will once again be without Center Mikhail Grabovski who is out with a lower-body injury.

As reported by Katie Carrera of Capitals Insider, Caps lines at this mornings skate were: Johansson-Backstrom-Ovi, Erat-Laich-Brouwer, Chimera-Beagle-Wilson, Fehr-Volpatti-Wellman-Stoa and Ward as a group. One would wonder why the world Erat is still in the lineup considering he has no goals on the season and only 1 total goal in his Caps career.

It is unkown if the Caps will start Holtby or Neuvirth although we project Holtby to get the start after blanking the Canadiens his last game. For the season Holtby has a 14-12-2 record with a 2.90 GAA and .913 Save %. Neuvirth has a 3-5-1 record with a 2.79 GAA and a .915 Save %.

Time for the Caps to start racking up some points. Believe it or not, their only 3 points out of the final Eastern Conference playoff spot!

Zach's Three Keys to the Game:

Power Play goals: The Caps great powerplay has been awful as of late. They've only converted 1 of their last 32 attempts. If Miller is in net, the Caps are gonna have to make use of the man advantage and find a way to get some goals.
Discipline: The Caps need to stay out of the box in this one as their penalty kill has been rough recently. There's no excuse for losing to the Eastern Conferences worst team for a 3rd time in a row. Hopefully playing some disciplined hockey will help lead them to a W.
Secondary Scoring: We saw a flash of what the Caps can do last game when 5 different players scored goals against the Canadiens. They have to find a way to keep this up! Score Score Score!

SoR Writers Discussion - Skins Front

Shades of Red writers talking about the Redskins:

Zach: So there's alot to talk about on the Skins front already. I have to start by asking, what do you guys think of the Jay Gruden Hiring?

Brian: There's definitely a lot to like about the Redskins hiring Jay Gruden. He seems to be more of a "players coach" then Shanahan, and has already made strides to get on the good side of the media. It's a fresh start for an organization who has seen the promising hire of a veteran head coach wither away, and their franchise qb mismanaged and thrown under the bus. As offensive coordinator of the Bengals, Gruden saw three straight playoff appearances. And it doesn't hurt that he has already stated that RG3 is the teams QB, no questions asked. But the real question is, What do you think about the decision to retain Jim Haslett as defensive coordinator?

Will: God awful decision! Haslett has literally never had anything better than a mediocre defense in his entire NFL coaching career. Whether it's a 3-4 or a 4-3, doesn't matter when your defensive play-caller can't make adjustments. His track record speaks for itself. In 2000 in New Orleans, the defense under Haslett ranked 8th in yardage allowed and 10th in points allowed. That's pretty good. Since then, his defenses haven't ranked highter than 14th in the league with some dead last and second to last. He's obviously not a good coordinator. There has to be some kind of hidden reason why he continues to be hired. We know he coached with Gruden in the UFL so that's why he was retained. Merely for a reason of helping the new coach get "comfortable". But is that REALLY a justifiable reason?

Zach: I can't decide if I like or dislike the Gruden hiring. I don't know much about the guy really but I do know the Bengals games I've seen the last few seasons, it seems like all he did was run the ball or air it out to AJ Green. I just didn't think his playcalling was the game-winner in Cincinatti. He failed in the playoffs making no offensive adjustments at halftime this past season. But we'll see. As for Haslett, the fact that I'll probably have to scream at him through my television for another season while throwing my foam Redskins bricks around my house every game is not what I'd like to call an exciting future. I truly hope with this free agency money to spend, they can bring in a couple of studs to change this around. What positions do you guys think are the most dyer for an upgrade in free agency? Any possible suitors in mind?

Brian: While Rg3 needs some weapons to thrive, I think the most important positions to address are on the defensive side. The secondary specifically. With players like Reed Doughty and Josh Wilson starting, It's very apparent the defensive backfield needs work. One name that pops out to me is TJ Ward out of Cleveland. He led the team in tackles and had a stellar year. The safety position is in need of an addition to help our corners play more one on one and be confident they have good help over the top. And you know what? Another name that stands out... Orakpo. I think It's necessary to bring him back. He had his best season yet, and if they don't pay him, someone will. And he will be just another player the Skins develop then send off to prosper elsewhere. The Redskins have their work cut out for them this offseason. But can the Offense be successful without bringing in a big name reciever for Griffin?

Will: Sure it can. Look no further than 2012 to understand how good an offense can be with Griffin under center and Morris in the backfield. Pierre Garçon is no slouch either, after breaking the franchise record for catches this season. It's my opinion that available "big name" receivers are mostly only big names with no justification. How often do teams let go of an elite, young reciever? Yes, hardly ever. So you might fall in love with your own version of "potential" when it comes to a free agent reciever, but obviously if they were helping their respective teams, they'd usually stay put. Besides quarterbacks, the reciever position is the next important skill position in football. These two make each other famous. But a committee of good receivers is much better than 1 elite one. Look at Peyton Manning's whole career. He's never had one elite reciever and a bunch of scrubs. He's always had a group. So has Brady. Dang, I feel like I took the dirt road on this topic and got off track. All in all, I feel like the most money this offseason should be spent on a right tackle and a defensive back.

Zach: Bruce Allen says the team will be "very active" in free agency but I truly hope he strongly considers Morocco Brown's opinion on who should be signed. Allen with final say on football operations is a little scary considering his lack of experience (and maybe knowledge) in this area. But as far as what positions are most important to address in free agency, my top 3 would have to be Free Safety, Right Tackle and Wide Reciever. The Skins have badly needed a free safety since the passing of Sean Taylor and I think they should spend high for this position. I personally think Jarius Byrd could fit the bill. As for a right tackle, Polumbus is just horrible. If Gruden wants to help Griffin develop, he should be lobbying for help on that O-Line because Griffin will not excel if he's taking hits every snap. Not to mention the possibility of injury. Lastly, outside of Pierre Garcon, theres no other WR's to strike fear into defenses. In fact, outside of Garçon, no other wide-out topped 380 yards...definite problem there. Moss almost got to 500 in the slot but he might not be back (if he isn't I like the idea of Robinson in the slot.) There will be quite a few WR's on the market who would be definite upgrades. I'm excited to see how it plays out.

Brian: I think its safe to say that regardless of what pans out this offseason, the glimmer of hope of a fresh start and new look to the organization is a positive for fans. Coming off of the season the Redskins had, it cant get any worse right??  *Knocks on wood*  Win or lose, I want to see a team and staff that does things the right way. Discipline, fundamentals and consistency. If they lose to a team that is better than them, so be it.  But coming out blowing leads, stalling drives with mindless penalties and turnovers, and dropping passes just won't cut it. Good teams don't do that. Teams that expect to compete game in and game out dont do what we all cringe at and expect from our team. We need change. We need new direction, and I think we made a good choice in Gruden. Anyone but the red lobster!

Will: Yes indeed, B. Good riddance to the Red Lobster and his son the Crawfish! 

The rookie combine starts next month, so time to nerd-it-out and hope we land some kind of young golden goose! 

Zach: Shades of Red out!