The Washington Capitals were on ice for a practice Thursday morning at Kettler Capitals Iceplex as they prepare to meet the Devils in Newark Friday night.  Some updates from Arlington:

Marcus Johansson took a maintenance day, so the Caps trot out some shiny new lines.  They were as follows: Ovechkin-Perreault-Brouwer, Semin-Backstrom-Laich, Chimera-Eakin-Ward, and Hendricks-Halpern-Knuble.
Once again, Mike Green participated fully in practice.  His status for Friday's game is not known at this point, though both he and Bruce Boudreau were optimistic that he would play.

That's all for now.
Information from Katie Carrera was used in this post.

The Washington Capitals were on ice for an intense practice bag skate Wednesday following their pathetic showing against the Dallas Stars Tuesday night.  Some notes from Arlington:

The team participated in about 90 minutes worth of suicides, one-on-one battle drills, group conditioning, and overall Miracle-ish drills that left the entire team, shall we say, gassed.  Think Bruce Boudreau was trying to send a message?

All 22 Caps on the active roster were on the ice, including Mike Green, as the defenseman continues to work his way back from an ankle injury.

The Capitals have made a couple roster moves over the past couple of days that probably deserve more attention than they've gotten.

The first move was D.J. King's assignment to Hershey.   Not all of us were in agreement that it would be a good thing for the Bears because it meant possibly less ice time for an NHL prospect, never mind a guy with a bigger contract than the team's #1 center just coming down to the AHL, a situation where a lot of those suddenly "former" NHLers don't react well and are a negative force in the locker room.  I don't think King will be a problem, after all, he's not far removed from the AHL anyway, he knows he's good enough for the NHL, and he just wants to play.  He asked to be waived so he could play hockey for another NHL team, and considering what a good teammate he was in DC despite his lack of playing time, he should be a great teammate and mentor for the players in Hershey, too.  Not all of us were on board with the trade that brought King here, but that's another story.

So, with the addition of another winger who would be getting into the lineup regularly, the question became "who would sit out?"  Well, that suddenly got answered when the Caps dumped underachieving winger Francois Bouchard to the New York Rangers for a defenseman prospect.  Bouchard was a second-round pick in 2006 and had one decent season in Hershey two seasons ago before regressing last season and falling off the map completely this season amidst some personal issues and the lack of Mathieu Perreault centering his line to make him look good.  Bouchard will not be missed in these parts, and considering he had no points in 8 games for the Bears, D.J. King should have no trouble replacing his offense.

But hold on a second, who did we get in return?  Who is this Tomas Kundratek guy, anyway?  NHL.com's player page lists him as a left-handed defenseman standing 6'2, 201 who doesn't put up a ton of points.  He's a righty, you say?  Well, then, this trade just got a whole lot more interesting. 

Kundratek was a 3rd round pick of the Rangers in 2008.  He came to the WHL the next season and played two years of junior before going pro last season.  He apparently adapted well to the North American game and had a very solid first season in the AHL, with 12 points and an even rating in 70 games, plus 2 points in 6 playoff games.  He's had another solid start to the season this year and Hockey's Future thinks he could be ready for the NHL next season.  With a right-handed shot, though, he could be the next call-up from Hershey instead of Sean Collins, though.  He's just 21, but has a full pro season and all the physical gifts to be an NHL defender, including a big shot and decent puck-moving skills, never mind the tendency not to take penalties, which McPhee always likes.  He's no stranger to the rough stuff if need be, though. Check out more about him on "Da Bears" page, with links to various player pages. 

Did the Caps blueline depth just pick up a red-chip prospect for a washed up spare part?  If so, score a big win for George McPhee.  Welcome to America's Hockey Capital (and Chocolate Capital!), Tomas.

Washington Capitals goaltender prospect Philipp Grubauer was named the Reebok Hockey ECHL Goaltender of the Week for October 31-November 6.  The Capitals' 4th Round pick in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft, Grubauer is plying his trade for the South Carolina Stingrays, the Capitals' ECHL affiliate.  The 19-year old rookie won all 3 of his games, 1 by shutout, and stopped 72 of 75 shots over the course of the week.  Overall, the Rosenheim, Germany, native sits atop the ECHL in save percentage (.946), is second in goals against average (1.50), and is second in wins with a 6-0-0 record.  Grubauer is fifth on the Capitals depth chart at the moment and would be an obvious candidate for promotion to Hershey if a roster spot opens up. 

The Washington Capitals completed a swap of minor-leaguers today, sending RW Francois Bouchard to the New York Rangers for D Tomas Kundratek.  Bouchard was the Capitals' 2nd round pick in 2006 and is the younger brother of Minnesota Wild playmaker Pierre-Marc Bouchard.  He never lived up to his billing as an offensive playmaker, regressing last season with the AHL Hershey Bears.  He never appeared in the NHL with the Capitals.

Kundratek, 21, is a 6'2, 201 pound native of the Czech Republic.  He spent last season with the Connecticut Whale of the AHL after coming over to the WHL for the 2008-09 and 2009-10 seasons.  A defensive defenseman, he was the Rangers ' 3rd round pick in the 2008 Entry Draft. 

The Washington Capitals came into tonight's game with a chance to be the top team in the NHL and blew it right from the start.   The team's unwillingness to play defense and their propensity for trying to make too many fancy plays (including 3rd liners) made the Caps an easy target for the high-flying Stars.  Dallas used their team speed and some astute coaching moves to gain the upper hand, but the Caps did the rest, giving the game away with bad penalties and poor zone coverage, allowing the Stars to score almost at will for large chunks of the hockey game.

Photo by Mitchell Layton/NHLI via Getty Images

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Washington Capitals (9-3-0) vs. Dallas Stars (10-3-0)
Location: Verizon Center
Time: 7:00 PM
TV:  Comcast SportsNet (HD) (Game On!)
Familiar Faces of Former Caps: Krys Barch (1998 Draft Pick)
Former Stars:  Jeff Halpern (140 GP, 2006-08), John Erskine (107 GP, 2001-06)
Our Bloguin Partner:  Stars of Big D

We don't sleep, we wait. Read on!

Good morning from Kettler Capitals Iceplex where the Capitals reconvene after a tough two-day, two-game road trip last weekend. 

A familiar face is no longer on the ice, as enforcer D.J. King has been sent to Hershey of the AHL for more playing time after clearing waivers last week.  King has been the odd man out most of the last two seasons, only getting into 17 of 103 regular season and playoff games here in D.C.  King was a class act during ihs time in D.C., here's wishing the best of luck to him with the Bears.

On the ice today are these line combos:

Mike Green is out on the ice, but his ankle is still bothering him. He was wincing in pain on a few drills. He still looks pretty close to returning, like he could play tomorrow against Dallas if it were the playoffs, but with 6 healthy NHL defensemen, there's no need to rush him back before this this weekend's back-to-back set with New Jersey.

Tomas Vokoun and Michal Neuvirth are both on the ice as full participants.

Jay Beagle is still not practicing with the team.

Today's practice was fast-paced and lighthearted. When Ovechkin missed a lead pass, he dove for it and missed, and slid halfway down the ice into the corner. His line was successful in scoring a few goals in drills, too. More good news, the second line of Eakin, Johansson, and Semin looks sharp. They were passing the puck to each other crisply in tight spaces and their shots were on target.

The Washington Capitals played their first set of back-to-back games this weekend, and it showed.  Predictably, the Capitals had jump in the first period, jumping out to a 2-0 lead.  They couldn't sustain the push, however, and Tomas Vokoun had an up and down game, though it is hard to pin the loss squarely on his shoulders.  The Islanders skated hard all game and scored goals on simple hockey plays where they simply beat the Capitals to the puck.  After losing 6 in a row and only scoring 18 goals in 10 games, the Islanders, who scored more goals than the Caps last season, were due for a win.

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Photo by Mike Stobe/NHLI via Getty Images

Washington Capitals (9-2-0) vs. New York Islanders (3-5-2)
Location: Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum
Time:  7:00 PM
TV:  Comcast SportsNet (HD) (Game On!)
Radio:  1500AM, 820 AM, and XM
Games Remaining:
Jan 17, 2012 NYI@WSH, 7:00 PM
Feb 28, 2012 NYI@WSH, 7:00 PM
Mar 13, 2012 WSH@NYI, 7:00 PM
Familiar Faces of Former Capitals:  D Milan Jurcina (211 GP, 2007-09)
Former Islanders:  D John Erskine (34 GP, 2005-06), D Roman Hamrlik (300 GP, 2000-04) 
Our Bloguin Partner:  Islanders Hockey Blog

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