Federov on D?

It appears Boudreau may be considering using Federov as his 7th defensemen for the Capitals to start the season.

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This is an interesting idea from Bruce. With 6 full time defensemen he could dress them for each game and use Federov as an emergency d-man if there is an injury and he can't get someone called up in time for a game.

That could potentially mean that Karl Alzner would start the season in Hershey. Which would really crowd up Hershey's roster even more.

It is a good idea in my opinion. Alzner hasn't played defense in the pros other than a couple preseason games and could use some time in Hershey. The Caps would be fine because they still have 6 d-men to use nightly. And Federov would be able to step in and play a game here or there to give someone a rest. Or the Caps could just call up Alzner, Lepisto, or Sloan.

They want Alzner to play every night. The question is, do you want him to play every night in the NHL against the best players in the world right away or do you want to give him a couple weeks or months in the A against a little easier competition to get his feet wet?

Thats what Bruce is trying to figure out.

And either the way the Bears are going to be a deep team this year. Deep enough that with the guys that are going to be sent to South Carolina should be able to win that league as well. The Stingrays are going to be very good this year as well.


Other news:

Neuvirth was hit in the head with a puck during yesterday's practice and is apparently questionable for tonight's preseason game. The Bears recalled Bobby Goepfert from South Carolina yesterday.