Caps and Bears make cuts

Yesterday we got word of 7 cuts by the Bears and today we get word of 4 cuts from the Capitals.

First the Bears cuts...

These 5 are off to South Carolina:

• F David de Kostrazza
• F Anton Gustafsson
• F Jake Hauswirth
• G Jared DeMichiel
• D Dustin Stevenson

In addition to those, F Kaleigh Shrock is headed to Fort Wayne of the IHL. And D Wes O'Neill was released from his tryout contract.

No real surprises there. The biggest might be Gustafsson. Former 1st rounder just isn't quite performing to that level. Stevenson had a good camp with the Caps but he is coming from a tier 2 junior league so a little more work is probably good.

Was hoping to see Hauswirth make a claim on a roster spot as I am curious how he uses his size in the offensive end. But Hershey is deep at center right now so he was expendable.

Now onto the Caps cuts...

Mathieu Perreault and Jay Beagle are on their way to Hershey now and Andrew Gordon and Brian Fahey were placed on waivers.

If you have been reading this blog recently you would know that I didn't think Washington would cut Gordon because he is a risk to get picked up on waivers. I figured he would stay in Washington and get the extra forward spot at least to start the year.

So now he has to wait until noon tomorrow to see where he will end up. It is quite possible that Washington knew a while ago that they were going to send him down but waited until this date for a reason. All NHL teams must get their rosters to 23 now so by waiting until all teams are making tough decisions you might be able to slip Gordon through waivers.

Hopefully it works out. As a Bears fan I selfishly want Gordon in Hershey but at the same time if he gets picked up by a team that is going to give him a legitimate shot than I will be very happy for him and his chance.

As for the other two players....I was right. Perry didn't beat out Marcus Johansson and due to MoJo's willingness to go back to Sweden, Perry wasn't going to start the season in Washington.

Beagle...he is a 4th liner in the NHL (at this time anyway) that could potentially develop into a 3rd liner. But Washington already has 5 guys that can play on the 3rd/4th line so Beagle, who doesn't have to worry about waivers, was a long shot to make the club.

I can assure you though that Beagle and Perreault are likely the top 2 recall candidates going into the season.

Bears hockey is only 4 days away!!

It has been a while...

July was a busy month for me and the Bears with lots of signings and even a minor trade.

So let's get caught up...

~ Hershey signed 2 goalies for the upcoming season. Jared DeMichiel and Todd Ford will likely be suiting up in South Carolina for much of the coming season. Both players add depth in case of injury or call up to Hershey's goaltenders.

Ford spent much of 09-10 in South Carolina racking up an 18-7-2 record with a .910 save percentage and a 2.79 gaa in 29 games. He also played 15 games in the AHL for Manitoba and Texas.

DiMichiel just finished up his college career at R.I.T. where he started 38 games last year posting a .921 save percentage and a 2.09 goals against average while going 27-10-1 for the year.

~Elsewhere Hershey officially added Ashton Rome to the 2010-11 roster. This deal was first reported back in May but apparently only became official this past month. Rome played in 26 games for the Bears this past season, recording 5 goals and 3 assists in those games. Mainly seen as a third or fourth line player he showed a willingness to get his nose dirty and play a very physical game.

~ Boyd Kane will return for another season in Hershey as well. Kane recorded a career high in goals last season with 24 while adding a significant veteran presence to the team. He has played 2 seasons in Hershey, winning Calder Cups in both 05-06 and last season.

~ Dylan Yeo resigned with Hershey for 2010-11 as well. Yeo spent much of last season playing for South Carolina where he recorded 14 goals and 16 assists in 49 games there. Not too bad for a defenseman. He did appear in 6 games for the Bears including 2 in the playoffs.

~ Joel Rechlicz will also be joining the Bears this season. The 6'4" 220lb right wing is an enforcer type player. He played last season for Bridgeport and the NY Islanders collecting a combined 155 penalty minutes in 27 games between the two leagues.

~ Not sure if I mentioned this but forward Nikita Kashirsky was also signed by the Bears for the 2010-11 season. He spent most of 09-10 in South Carolina, recording 19 goals and 16 assists in 39 games for the Stingrays. He also played in 25 games in the AHL for Manitoba and Springfield.

~ Also of note was a recent trade. Stefan Della Rovere was traded to the St. Louis Blues by the Capitals in exchange for tough guy D.J. King. Rovere was always going to play the pest role that Pinizzotto plays right now which made him expendable in the eyes of the organization.


I think I got everything. If I forgot anyone in this post or previous posts please let me know in the comments section.

Caps Make Final Cuts and Bears Cut 10

Keith Aucoin, Alexander Giroux, Brandon Sugden, and Karl Alzner were reassigned to the Hershey Bears this morning. Aucoin and Giroux will need to clear waivers but should be in Hershey tomorrow assuming they do.

I am sure it was tough for Aucoin and Giroux to hear that they didn't make the team but both will surely be the top call ups this season if they are in Hershey. Alzner really got caught up in a numbers game as the Caps didn't want to keep more than 7 defensemen on the opening night roster. Add that to the fact that Sloan would have had to clear waivers and Alzner didn't made the decision a little easier.

The Aucoin reassignment more than likely means that the Caps aren't planning on doing anything with Michal Nylander right now. Or they haven't been able to as of now anyway. If Nylander ends up getting moved I would expect Aucoin to make the jump up to the NHL but if Nylander stays in Washington then there really isn't room for Coiner.

None of the moves were overly surprising. Laing is a favorite of Boudreau's and Bourque has worked hard to get his chance. Had Fehr and/or Flash been healthy I don't think Bourque would have made it. And he better play his best hockey or he will be in trouble when those guys get healthy.

Check back tomorrow to see if Giroux and Aucoin can clear waivers and report in Hershey before Saturday night's opener.


As for the Hershey end 10 players have seen their final day in Hershey.

Andy Boudreau, Ben Boudreau, Joel Broda, Gavin Morgan, Rick Cleaver, Ben McLeod, Karl Sellan, Scott Langdon, Zach Tarkir, and Todd Ford.

Those cuts and the additions from Washington leaves the Bears with work to do before Saturday's opener. 19 forwards and 10 defensemen remain in Hershey plus 2 goalies. That would equal 31 players and the expectation is that the roster will be at 25 for the opening weekend. So after some simple math you can see that 6 players need to be cut. Those numbers include Sean Collins who technically hasn't been reassigned yet that I have heard and Grant McNeill who is out for a while yet with an injury. So I will say 5 cuts need to be made this week.

Of those 5 I am guessing that 2 will be defensemen and 3 will be forwards. There is no reason to have more than 8 defensemen in Hershey to start the season in my opinion (which lets be honest...doesn't mean much).

I thought the Caps had tough cuts to make for their final roster but the Bears might have it even harder.

My guesses....

On defense I think Patrick Wellar and Zack Miscovic will be headed to South Carolina to start the season.

At forward I think Anton Gustafsson will be headed back to Sweden for another year and Michael Dubuc and Jake Hauswirth will be headed to South Carolina. Dubuc is a great scorer but with Giroux in Hershey he is kind of without a roster spot.

The other players on the bubble are probably Josh Godfrey and Dylan Yeo on defense and Joe Finley and Trevor Bruess at forward.

It will be interesting to see what is decided and what the roster looks like for Saturday night.

Weekend Was Good For Bears, Bad For Penguins

The entire Washington organization is pretty happy today after a successful weekend on the ice. The Capitals won game 1 against Pittsburgh on Saturday, the Stingrays won 2 of 3 (coming back from 3 goals down in game 5) to take a 3-2 series lead, and the Bears beat the Baby Penguins 8-4 in the two games to take a 2-0 series lead.

Not a bad weekend for the organization!

Hershey looked very good but so did Wilkes Barre in my opinion. I think the team owes Michal Neuvirth a very nice dinner after his performance in the first two games of the series. Neuvy must have seen the highlights of Varlamov's incredible because he pulled an "anything you can do I can do better" moment Sunday night as he robbed the Penguins with 2 remarkable saves in the second period.

While the penalty kill did allow Wilkes Barre some life in game 1 they completely shut them down in game 2 which included an extended 5 on 3. The number 1 ranked power play in the playoffs has gone a combined 2 for 12 in the first 2 games of the series.

Other observations from the first 2 games:

• Rookie John Carlson has looked very good so far. He has played in both games and scored his first professional goal in game 2 (the game winner actually). Not sure why some people are so surprised by this as Carlson had a great camp and (rumor has it) could have played for the Caps this year but the organization decided to be patient and sent him to juniors. Bears fans....enjoy him and Alzner while you can because both players will be full time Capitals next season more than likely.
• As mentioned above Neuvy was phenomenal. He made 35 saves Saturday night and added 24 saves on Sunday night to complete the weekend with a 93.7 save percentage. That is pretty good.
• The big question heading into game 3 is who starts in goal for the Pens? John Curry was pulled after giving up 3 goals on 9 shots in the first period of game 2 in favor of Adam Berkhoel. Berkhoel played very good in the second and third period of game 2. Will the Pens do what the Phantoms should have and play their backup? It is a tough call that I am glad I don't have to make.
• Tyler Sloan and Karl Alzner were held out of the lineup Sunday night due to what the team called "an illness". Well it turns out the "illness" was a case of callup-itis as the Caps have recalled both players due to injuries to Erskine and Schultz. I would expect Alzner to remain with the Caps for a while but Sloan could be back as early as Wednesday.
• The refereeing this weekend was pretty bad in my opinion. I don't think they made the worst calls (although Giroux for diving??) but they let plenty go while at the same time calling other things that were less severe. Basically it comes down to consistency and I think both refs failed in that regard this weekend.
• Staffon Kronwall has been one of the best players on the ice so far and to think he was supposed to be out 2-4 weeks and was only gone for about 10 days. Pretty impressive.

My Three Stars of the Weekend:

1. Michal Neuvirth - 59 saves on 63 shots is a very good two game stretch
2. Andrew Joudrey - Penalty killing and defensive zone genius in both games
3. Mathieu Perrault - Probably the best puck handler on the team had a great weekend

Grading the Performance:

• Offense - B+ - They scored plenty on John Curry but when Berkhoel came in they seemed to struggle some. If he plays that well on Wednesday the Bears will need to be more effective in the offensive zone. Some of the goals Curry let in were pretty soft too.
• Defense - B+ - Wilkes Barre played very well at times and the Bears struggled to clear the puck multiple times. Plenty of blocked shots and timely saves by Neuvy kept the Bears in the game.
• Goaltending - A - That was quite an impressive display of goaltending on Sunday. The two saves on the Pens power play in the 2nd period was huge. Neuvy has been nothing short of dominant in the postseason to date.
• Power Play - B - On Saturday the unit was great with 2 goals on 3 chances. Sunday they struggled a bit and went 0 for 6. They have been solid the postseason and surely will be again soon.
• Penalty Kill - A - A little struggle in the first game as they allowed 2 for 6 on WB chances. The second game was much better as they forced the Pens into an 0 for 6 game. They have slowed down and controlled the league's best power play unit.
• Overall - B+ - 2-0 after 2 games against the rival Pens puts the Bears in pretty good shape moving forward. The Pens would now have to win 4 of 5 to advance in the playoffs while the Bears only need 2 more games. The next three are in Wilkes Barre and if the Bears win 1 of those games they would return to Hershey next Sunday up 3 games to 2.

LET'S GO BEARS!!

Caps and Rays Having Success

I am working on a couple posts for Thursday and Friday/Saturday but they aren't quite ready. So instead let's take a little look around at some news and notes today.

• The Washington Capitals won in game 7 last night and advanced to the second round where they will face the Pittsburgh Penguins beginning Saturday afternoon at 1. Honestly the Caps had no right to win that game last night. The Rangers dominated the first two periods but I believe the depth of the Caps bench made the difference. For the entire game Bruce Boudreau went with 4 lines while the Rangers only had 3. That kept the top lines for the Caps fresher when it mattered most. Congrats to the Capitals and I am excited about watching the Washington organization eliminate the Pittsburgh organization in the second round!
• The South Carolina Stingrays are also in the playoffs in the ECHL. They won their first round series by winning four straight after dropping the first 2. In the second round they are up against the Florida Everblades and they have split the away games in Florida. The series heads to the North Charleston Coliseum for games 3,4, and 5 this Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.
• Staffon Kronwall could be back as soon as mid second round but there is no definitive timetable as of yet. He had his cornea scratched and his eye was bleeding after taking a stick to the eye against Philly.
• Could John Carlson play in Kronwall's place? Not sure if Woods will do that or not but it is a possibility. Carlson and Kronwall are very similar players as both are legitimate offensive threats. Carlson finished the regular season for the London Knights with 16 goals and 76 points and then had 7 goals and 22 points in 14 playoff games. Not too bad.

More to come later this week including a look back at the season series between the teams and a look forward at the upcoming series.

Federov on D?

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

Click here for article.

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.