Acallabeth
Post approved by Ovechkin
I think we all agree on this, Williams has the highest hockey intelligence on this team. He's a dream veteran.
Post-Game Talk: Tampa Bay @ Washington...again... Wilson's Revenge 7:07 pm
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Corby78
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I saw that too. I agree I think Williams is doing alot of things with this team we don't see on the stat sheet or in the highlights.
HTFN
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- Feb 8, 2009
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Agree on, sure, but appreciate enough, I don't think so. Hockey IQ encompasses a lot of things to me, but this is more gamesmanship.
I think what I like so much about this team is they strike me as the land of misfit toys. Ovie was washed up and an albatross two years ago. Backy is perennially underrated. Oshie was the cause for the Blues not reaching their potential. Kuzya was another Russian with talent but not the heart to play in the NHL. Williams is the cagey veteran. Wilson is a bust of a 1st round pick and nothing but a plug/goon. Laich is an overpaid penalty killer. Latta was the afterthought in the worst trade in franchise history. We did the Pens a favor by signing Nisky and Orpik. Carlson and Alzner aren't top 4 defensemen on a Cup team. Holtby is no where near an elite goalie. And so on. These guys care about each other and they're scrappy as hell.
Also, the player I covet most on the Lighting isn't Stakmos. It's not Hedman. Not Bishop. It is Nikita Kucherov. That dude is unreal. Can you imagine him on Kuzya's wing??
Also, the player I covet most on the Lighting isn't Stakmos. It's not Hedman. Not Bishop. It is Nikita Kucherov. That dude is unreal. Can you imagine him on Kuzya's wing??
Acallabeth
Post approved by Ovechkin
Russian factor, when an easy top 10 talent is picked 58th and the most skilled player in the year goes undrafted ¯ \ _ (ツ) _ / ¯
We're definitely not a glamourous team like we were in 2008-10.
g00n
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I agree the Niskanen hit will get a review, but I don't know if anything will come of it. Head looks like one of the primary points of contact but was he targeting, and did Brown put himself in that position? If Tom Wilson makes that hit the world explodes.
Oh, I saw that with Williams and Kuzy too. Kuzy started to go after Hedman and likely would have drawn a matching penalty and Williams nipped that in the bud and calmed Kuzy down with a smile. You're absolutely right. I don't watch Western teams very much, but a few years ago I watched the final game of the SCF when the Kings won and I really liked Justin Williams, so when he was signed to our team in this off season, I was thrilled... based off just ONE GAME. He was that impressive.
And I'm with you, I've been watching him every game and he does so many small, little things so very right. He is freaking amazing! After Holts and (at this point it's kinda getting maybe) Ovi, Williams is my favorite Caps player. (He's also pretty awesome by all accounts off-ice too.)
g00n
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In their new and/or increased roles, Williams, Oshie and Kuz all bring a much, much higher level of awareness on the ice compared to some guys we lost. Ward, Fehr and Brouwer were grindy guys with a bit of skill now and then, but they were very simple in their approach to the game. See puck, chase puck, go to net, get back on defense, move puck up the boards, repeat. There wasn't the same anticipation and layered knowledge there (not to mention the much higher skill level).
Having Kuz and Williams on the same line with Mojo has opened things up for the latter, imo-- not just in raw ice created by the possession game but by allowing Mojo to see what the others are doing and become a part of it. Brouwer on the RW there didn't have that element for the aforementioned reasons. It was the Kuz show. Mojo up top with Backstrom and Ovie meant Mojo was usually just trying to find somewhere on the ice to be while those two did their thing, which was mostly opportunism unless Ovechkin was in bull-mode.
This is an interesting problem to have. IF this 2nd line continues to click you have to consider keeping Mojo after this season, at least for another year until you figure out where Oshie and Williams will be when their deals run out. But I don't know if another 1 year deal is in play.
Having Kuz and Williams on the same line with Mojo has opened things up for the latter, imo-- not just in raw ice created by the possession game but by allowing Mojo to see what the others are doing and become a part of it. Brouwer on the RW there didn't have that element for the aforementioned reasons. It was the Kuz show. Mojo up top with Backstrom and Ovie meant Mojo was usually just trying to find somewhere on the ice to be while those two did their thing, which was mostly opportunism unless Ovechkin was in bull-mode.
This is an interesting problem to have. IF this 2nd line continues to click you have to consider keeping Mojo after this season, at least for another year until you figure out where Oshie and Williams will be when their deals run out. But I don't know if another 1 year deal is in play.
Jacoby4HOF66
Pull my finger
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Missed the game due to **** FIOS equipment failure. Besides the come back, how did Willy play after getting the boot in the OTT game? No affect on his play or was he tentative to hit someone?
Alexander the Gr8
Registered User
He was skating around and defending a lot. Didn't play very physical but the opportunity to truck someone didn't present itself.
Dr John Carlson
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Obviously you'd expect them not to keep up this pace, but here's a stat: The Capitals are on pace for 61 wins; the most wins in a season in NHL history is 62.
Acallabeth
Post approved by Ovechkin
Alexander the Gr8
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Dr John Carlson
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Actually, the team who had 62 wins was the 1996 Red Wings, and they didn't win the Cup. We can't get too hopeful.
Carlzner
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Alexander the Gr8
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Kuzy and Panarin getting praise from the Russian Rocket.
http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=793182&navid=nhl:topheads&cmpid=nhl-fb
http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=793182&navid=nhl:topheads&cmpid=nhl-fb
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RandyHolt
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damn good post and likely spot on. I would like to think Ward had a similar effect....
But Oshie increases the teams overall skill level - rather noticeably, and I think that, more than vet leadership and mentoring, is what this team has lacked.
We had a bunch of lackeys at RW.... and it has been holding us back from competing with the high skill teams of the league. We have wave after wave of PMRHD moving pucks up to... dump and chasers at RW. Its damn nice seeing us trying to score off the rush.
And JW does of course help in that dept as well.
I love what JW and Oshie have brought to the table and JW will continue to impart his wisdom to the younge players but the unspoken MVP is GMBM. In two off seasons he brought in a proven coach and 4 FIXES (Niskannen, Orpik, Williams and Oshie) to glaring weaknesses that McPhee never did anything more than a band aid. I have no belief Mcphee would have made these moves let alone fixed the problems.
txpd
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Orpik brought the group a certain mental approach and attitude last season. Williams brings similar in some different areas.
The team balance of aging vets, prime career players and young players is really strong. Holtby, Schmidt, Orlov, Burakovsky, Wilson, Kuznetsov, Latta.
The team balance of aging vets, prime career players and young players is really strong. Holtby, Schmidt, Orlov, Burakovsky, Wilson, Kuznetsov, Latta.
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