A summer that has already seen three young men succumb to their own demons just got worse when news broke that the KHL team Yaroslavl Lokomotiv was aboard a Yakolev-42 aircraft that crashed shortly after takeoff at noon on a clear, sunny day. There were 37 passengers and 8 crew aboard the plane headed for their season opener in Minsk. Reports list 2 survivors, including 26-year old forward Alexander Galimov, and both are in critical condition.

NHL.com story

TSN Story

Puck Daddy Story

Yaroslavl Lokomotiv Roster

The roster includes some well known names of former NHLers. We are all fortunate that it doesn't include one more, Semyon Varlamov, who almost returned to play in Russia this summer. The season opening game between Salavat Yulaev Ufa and Atlant Mystichi was suspended once the news broke and the game is not expected to be completed.

The NHL veterans on the roster are below:

Capitals prospect Dmitri Kugryshev is returning to Russia.  The Washington Post is reporting that the 21-year old left winger has signed a 2-year deal to play with CSKA Moscow in the KHL.  The Capitals have placed Kugryshev on unconditional waivers in anticipation of terminating his contract.  This marks the second highly-touted prospect to leave the Capitals this summer, as Kugryshev follows Swedish center Anton Gustafsson back to Europe.  Kugryshev, a flashy offensive-minded player, was coming off a bumpy season with the AHL Hershey Bears that saw him post only 6 goals and 14 points in 64 games, not to mention a 3-game demotion to South Carolina of the ECHL. 

A Moscow native, Kugryshev grew up playing in the CSKA Moscow system before the Capitals made him a second-round draft pick in 2008.  After the draft, Kuger left Russia to play for the Quebec Remparts of the QMJHL where he posted 63 goals and 161 points in 123 games over two seasons, plus another 10 goals and 30 points in 26 playoff games.  He also won the bronze medal at the 2009 World Junior Championships with Team Russia. 

Here's hoping you regain your scoring touch back home, Kuger. 

Capitals General Manager George McPhee decided he had seen enough of the wait-and-see approach with the Caps roster and moved on to the win-now approach. The Washington Capitals have beefed up nearly every part of their lineup for the upcoming season, no mean feat to accomplish while keeping the team’s core intact.  When The Hockey News anointed the Washington Capitals their 2012 Stanley Cup Champion, it immediately turned my attention to the pivotal position on any championship squad:  center.  Throughout the annals of Stanley Cup champions, the teams that win championships all have one thing in common:  two excellent centers.  The position McPhee did not address in the offseason was #2 center, so that remains the team's biggest question mark heading into the season.

Right now the Capitals have two centers with established roles, Nicklas Backstrom at #1 and Jeff Halpern at #4, though he could just as easily start the season as #3.  The Capitals have a few options in house to fill the #2 and #3 center slots, and there figures to some competition in training camp among swift rookie Cody Eakin, bruising Swedish veteran Mattias Sjogren, inconsistent and small Mathieu Perreault, and jack-of-all-trades Brooks Laich.  The one player almost assured of playing one of those center slots is second-year pro Marcus Johansson. 

Read Mo about MoJo!

Last week, this little question was asked:

Will Alex Ovechkin score 50 goals again?

Last summer, it wasn't much of a question. Coming off a string of seasons with goal totals of 52, 46, 65, 56 and 50 (in only 72 games), it was a foregone conclusion that Ovechkin would hit 50 if he stayed healthy. Then, with a rather pedestrian 32 goal season in 2010-11, questions about Ovi’s goal scoring future popped up like Alex Semin trade rumors. Was 50 Goal Ovi a thing of the past?

Several writers have presented statistics to show that odds are Ovechkin will have trouble ever hitting the magical 50 goal mark again. Others have presented different scenarios in which it can be done, which often include changes to the power play and curtailing Ovechkin’s physical presence. They’re all well researched, well thought-out ideas with convincing numbers to prove the point. As an engineer, I love numbers. Bring them on.

But when it comes to hockey, I'm a bit of a purist; I almost never look at the numbers. Sure, most of the time a 50 goal guy or a 100 point guy is obviously a well above average hockey player. But when I’m watching a game, I’m not using spreadsheets to figure out who the good players will be. I’m doing something much more simple, something that seems to have been lost in the shuffle.

I’m using my eyes.

If my eyes tell me Alex Semin is an elite talent, why don’t his stats back that up? Because stats don’t count on intangibles, such as drive and desire. They don’t show how close a player’s 30 goal season was to a 40 goal season, they merely say ’10 goals’. Sure, there are dozens of nifty stats out there that attempt to identify these things, but none of them are as good as a set of eyes.

My eyes told me that something was wrong with Alex Ovechkin last season. My eyes said he wasn't taking slapshots. My eyes said he was missing his spots and hitting the goalie and defensemen more often. Sure, the stats backed up what I (and all of us) witnessed. What the stats didn't explain was why it happened; why Ovi wasn’t finding the back of the net.

My eyes also told me that passes weren't making it to him when he was open. On the powerplay, my eyes told me Ovi didn't want to (or couldn't) take one-timers. What my eyes never told me was that this was the best Ovechkin had to offer. My eyes said he was in good position, had good speed and still looked the part of a dangerous goal scorer. He was simply missing by inches.

Yes, I've heard that goal scoring is down in the NHL. I've heard that Ovechkin is older and his body is getting beat up. I’ve seen the stats about how players Ovechkin’s age start to drop off in their production. But my eyes tell me last season was an anomaly. They tell me that a healthy Ovechkin will indeed finish in the neighborhood of 50 goals.

My eyes tell me numbers aren't everything.

Dear Washington Capitals Fans,

The Caps Blogosphere is abuzz with the recent news of John Walton’s call-up to the Big Club.  There are tons of articles and blog posts out there telling you how deserving this promotion is, and how it was only a matter of time before John realized his dream.  This is not one of them.

As a long-time Hershey season ticket holder and die hard fan, I’ve had the pleasure of listening to John call the Hershey Bears away games for years (never the home ones, as I’m always there).  What you’re getting in Mr. Walton is not just good, it’s amazing.  And we Bears fans want to make sure that you appreciate the gem you’re receiving in the radio booth.

You see, Bears’ games are not televised (unless they’re deep into the playoffs).  If you can’t get to the game to see it in person, you can either drop some money to watch online, or listen to the radio (or stream the audio broadcast on the internet).  What many of us in Hershey have known for years is that you don’t need to watch the game to know what’s happening.  With John Walton behind the mic, you can visualize each pass, stride, goal, and even fight on the ice as its happening.  Mr. Walton has a rare gift for being able to keep up with the play, paint a full picture of the action, and yet keep his diction and pronunciation flawless, crisp, and easy to follow (even the older, hard of hearing fans will attest to that).  In fact, it’s not uncommon to find fans scattered in the seats of the Giant Center with headphones – listening to John’s broadcast as they’re taking the game in.  Yes, Greater DC area, you are certainly getting the best of the best.

But that’s not all.  John has always been incredibly accessible to Bears Nation.  Whether it be through Facebook, Twitter, Email, blogs, or around town – he always takes the time to respond to questions from curious fans.  He was a key player in starting up the Old Barn Hockey Show, The Saturday night post game fan call-in radio show, and the Hershey Bears directives in Social Media.  It’s only fitting that this fan-friendly media guru would be called up to continue those roles with the NHL organization that holds the same beliefs and mindset regarding new media and the involvement of grassroots blogs.

So embrace what you have, Caps fans.  Listening to the radio just got a whole lot more exciting.  And if you take nothing else from this, please remember this key piece of advice – if you choose to listen to a broadcast while driving, the high energy and excitement of John calling a short-handed, come from behind, game tying goal may cause you to suddenly veer off the road (I know this from experience).

Now on to try and figure out my new dilemma… mute Joe B. & Locker to listen to John Walton, or just watch the CSN broadcast?  In a 3 period game, it’s hard to decide how to evenly distribute fair listening time to all of the quality broadcasters covering the Caps…

As the madness of the draft, free agency, and development camp slowly winds down, many Caps fans, including myself, are still wondering about how DC will get under the salary cap for next season.  The most obvious answer, to me and many others, is still to get Tom Poti's money off the books, but some fans are calling for something else - trading defenseman Mike Green before the season starts.  I understand the reasoning behind this from a salary cap perspective. Green's cap hit for the upcoming season is $5.25 million, certainly pricey, and it stands to reason that he will demand more when he becomes a restricted free agent next summer.  Trading him would, without a doubt, lessen the strain Washington has on the cap and make it easier to both get new players, if needed, at the trade deadline and spend the necessary money next summer to keep key guys on board.

In addition, however, a growing number of fans think that trading Green will be a double bonus - that the Capitals will be able to not only dump salary, but dump an overrated player who makes too much money.  Wait, What?

READ MORE...

Washington Capitals General Manager George McPhee provided journalists and hockey-deprived fans alike a bevy of personnel moves to discuss during the typically dull and agonizing hockey-free summer months of the off-season. The headlines were rightfully focused on topics such as the Semyon Varlamov and Eric Fehr trades, free agent acquisitions of Joel Ward, Jeff Halpern, Roman Hamrlik, Tomas Vokoun, and successful negotiations that brought key players like Karl Alzner and Brooks Laich back into the fold.

Easily lost in this fray is the amount of retooling the Caps and their AHL affiliate have done to help usher the Hershey Bears back into the discussion of preseason favorites for an AHL-record twelfth Calder Cup Championship. Along with the return of some familiar faces like goaltender Darren “Cheeser” Machesney, Graham Mink, Chris Bourque, Mathieu Perreault and Francois Bouchard, the Bears have added further depth with the signings of Ryan Potulny, Matthew Ford, and Jacob MicFlikier.

It was another depth signing for the Caps and Bears that caught my eye – a one-year, two-way contract with free agent center and Pennsylvania native Christian Hanson.

Read more about Hanson's "Slap Shot" connection!

With the Washington Capitals over the salary cap already and a new deal for restricted free agent defenseman Karl Alzner imminent, it is time to see what he is worth so we know how much salary the Caps will need to move to make room. Alzner made a base salary of $875,000 last season on his entry-level deal, meaning the qualifying offer tendered to him by the Washington Capitals is for at least $918,750.  Judging by other young defenseman around the league, Alzner should earn quite a bit more than that as a top-pairing defenseman, likely a 4-year deal worth $2.75 million per season.

Read more about Alzner's expected new income!

#27 Karl Alzner

Many Caps fans are rejoicing this morning at the news that former Washington Capitals goaltender (and fan favorite) Olaf Kolzig is rejoining the team as associate goaltending coach. In the years since his departure, there has been a lack of stability at the goaltending position in DC with five netminders sharing starting time since 2008. On a more personal level, the fans never felt it was right to have Kolzig's last game at Verizon Center come in a Lightning jersey. Finally, Olie the Goalie is back home.

Top ten reasons Olie Kolzig is back with the Washington Capitals, after the jump.

Now that the dust has settled on another disappointing Washington Capitals postseason and ledges have been backed away from emotions have been brought into check, Caps Fans have begun to take a look at the team and where it stands for next season. Questions linger concerning potential Free Agents, career threatening injuries and possible line-up and coaching shake-ups. Throwing our two cents into the ring, we've come up with 10 changes to hopefully make the 2011-2012 Washington Capitals a little bit better.

Opinions, after the jump.