TSN thinks Mike Green is the leader in the midway point for the Norris Trophy. We agree. Why didn’t he make the Canadian Olympic team again?
And Alex Ovechkin is the leading candidate for MVP. Imagine if Alex hadn’t missed eight games to date. What would his stats be right now?
Thank you. This is very kind and we are very humbled. Click and enjoy.
Wow. I took a quick family vacation; stopped blogging; and a lot happened while we were away.
We had just come off a two game winning streak at the Caps beating both NJ and Buffalo in convincing fashion. All felt right in our little corner of the world.
Then we made a trade - a smart one for our team - that added a big left winger and cut some salary for us to have “optionality” at the trade deadline and for future use to keep our young core of players together. But we did trade a great man; a great player; and our captain. We then played Carolina and got spanked. I think the team was over confident playing Carolina at home and we were still a buzz around the trade. I will miss Chris Clark and thank him and his family for everything they did for our franchise.
Then while the league was gearing up for the wonderful Winter Classic, we went out on a crazy two game West Coast swing over New Year’s break. We were as far away from Boston as possible, weren’t we? And Mike Green was left off the Canadian Olympic team which I think was the wrong decision by their team management. I believe Mike Green is a unique and spectacular talent and one of the top D men in the NHL. We have Mike’s back. We believe in him. I know this snub will motivate Mike for the rest of the season. We as a franchise sometimes don’t get the respect we have earned yet but the only way to right that wrong I believe is to win a Stanley Cup. We get the joke. We have collective chip on our shoulder. And I guess I will be rooting harder now for the USA team and for the Russian team to light up the Canadian team at this year’s Olympic Games.
Alex is being treated like a rock star in Vancouver. Check out these articles to see for yourself. This is deservedly so. Alex is two-time reigning MVP; has great charisma; and is a First Team NHL All-Star. I love the photo montage of him at practice. Wow.
On the other hand, Mike Green, who is also a First Team NHL All-Star, was hit in the head by an Avalanche player who did not receive a suspension by the NHL. See Jim Kelley’s piece here. Thanks Jim and please get well soon. See these articles as well.
What a tough schedule we have tonight and tomorrow night, back to back games again. Wish us luck. Go Caps!
Click here to read a very nice and endearing piece on Mike Green and his family. Wish Mike the best during these try outs for Canada’s Olympic team.
So Mike Green was a First Team All NHL All-Star along side Zdeno Chara. He was second in the Norris Trophy voting. He had a historic season scoring more consecutive goals than any D man in NHL history. His plus/minus rating was in the 50’s. He scored more than 30 goals and he missed more than a dozen games with injury. He played hurt and he didn’t complain.
He is all about team. He is considered one of the young stars in our league. He and Alex BOTH made First Team All Stars in the entire NHL this season. He made the World Cup All Star team too. He is 24 years old.
Yet some folks who are our fans disrespect him. Check out this thread on our message boards. A friend sent me this link with a note and said “Tough Room!” I have to agree. This headline and thread made some people take notice.
Twas great to see that BOTH Alex Ovechkin and Mike Green were named first team All Stars by the Sporting News. Click here to see the voting and lineup. I don’t think the Washington Capitals have ever had two players in the top six first team All Stars in the league in our history as a franchise — so kudos to our young core of players for being recognized by the experts and the league itself.
This vote follows on the news of Alex Ovechkin being voted NHL player of the year in the NHL — which I provided a link to the story last week. (more…)
Mike Green is having an amazing year, isn’t he? Despite missing 14 games, he has now scored 30 goals and has 70 points. This is bordering on a historic season as he also broke the NHL record for most goals scored in consecutive games for a defenseman. To put 30 goals in perspective for you, that is as many or more goals as scored by Sidney Crosby; Pavel Datsyuk; Jason Spezza; Henry Zetterberg; Vinnie Lecavalier; Mike Richards or Ryan Smyth.
And Nicklas Backstrom ain’t too shabby either. He is now 10th in the NHL in scoring with 82 points.
Oh yeah. Alex Ovechkin now has 54 goals scored. He leads all goal scorers by a dozen goals.
Enough about individual stats. On to the playoffs and being all about team.
Lost in all of the noise over a goal scoring celebration is that Alex Ovechkin is in historic company scoring 50 goals in three of four seasons. He is one of only three players to ever have achieved this milestone. This is truly amazing consistency from Alex. In his ”off year”, he scored 46 goals. He leads all goal scorers in the last four years.
Mike Green is closing in on a big mark too getting 30 goals for a defenseman is simply amazing in today’s NHL. Mike has as many goals as Sidney Crosby as an example. It also puts into perspective how gifted Bobby Orr was as a player. Can you imagine in today’s NHL having a defenseman lead the NHL in scoring?
The Caps are closing in on a 100 point season. To me, 100 points garnered is a big milestone for regular season play. I would love for this team to get to a 50 win milestone as well. We have 45 wins with 8 games left to play.
