Here are some items that caught our eye:
Mark Hale of the NY Post calls him "The Great" Larry Brooks. That's a bit of hyperbole, we will just call him Brooksie. Brooksie's take on the Caps series: it's all about Lundqvist. A great insight Brooksie...
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Brooksie also recaps the season series, Rangers blasted Caps during regular season:- Nov. 9 at MSG: Capitals 5, Rangers 3
- Dec. 12 at MSG: Rangers 7, Capitals 0
- Jan. 24 at Washington: Rangers 2, Capitals 1 (shootout)
- Feb. 25 at Washington: Rangers 6, Capitals 0
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ESPN:Video: Linda Cohn takes on Rangers-Caps --
Lundqvist (27 straight starts), Powerplay (1 for last 27 chances), pucks to the net, pressure, and Marian Gaborik...
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Henrik Lundqvist's thoughts on playing the Caps, from an interview yesterday with Rick Carpiniello, Rangers Report Blog:Does he have to “stand on his head” to win this series?
“We’ll see. Hopefully we’re just going to play a really good team game and I do my job and that will be enough. But we’ll see. …. I know I have to play well for us to beat them, but that’s no secret. You know as a goalie, you have to be on top of your game.”
“It meant a lot personally to make the playoffs. I take a lot of pride in that. And, I mean, it’s a team game. But I took it very personal last year when we didn’t make it. I should be better to help the team to make it. It was a big goal we had going into this year, to bounce back and be back in the playoffs. I think everybody should be proud and feel good about themselves and what we accomplished.”
On the young kids on the team not having playoff experience:
“Well, I bet they had played playoffs before, growing up in different, junior hockey or whatever it’s been. It’s similar. It’s just more now. It’s bigger. It’s more intense. But you still learn from every playoffs no matter where you play it. You have to learn to move on from each game, and have a very short memory.” ...
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The view from Washington. Some Caps' blogs look at the series:Jaspers' Rink:
Capitals/Rangers: Breaking Down the Match-Up --
One of the biggest stories in Washington this year has been the evolution of the team from a once-potent offense dynamo (that often neglected its own end) into a defensively responsible, tight-checking group...Jaspers' Rink:
Tuesday Caps Clips: Green Ready, Knuble Inked --
More predictions:
- Caps in five. [Montreal Gazette]
- Caps in six. [THN, PHT (here because "Caps in 5.67" makes no sense), Examiner (Hoffman), BtN]
- Caps will win the Cup. [NHL.com (Masisak)]
- Rangers will win the Cup. [NHL.com (Lozo)]
Jaspers' Rink:
Get to Know a Ranger: Artem Anisimov --
How the Caps can stop him - With just a 44.5% success rate on faceoffs, Anisimov is a bit of a liability in the dot, and he can be a streaky scorer - prior to his hot March, he had just ten points in 26 games in January and February, four of which came in one game against the Leafs. Gaborik will be the one to watch on that line, but the Caps can't afford to lose Anisimov, or he's likely make them pay.
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On Frozen Blog:Another Rematch with Another Old Rival --
This is a one-versus-eight matchup wherein the difference in talent is marginal, and the MoJo might just be with the underdogs on Broadway: An intangible to this series is that the Rags administered two of the worst beatings the Caps endured this season, 7-0 in Madison Square Garden December 12 and 6-0 at Verizon Center on February 25. But both of those blowouts occurred prior to the dramatic roster alterations made by general manager George McPhee at the NHL trade deadline on February 28, when he secured a difference-making second line center in Jason Arnott and an impact two-way rearguard in Dennis Wideman. Wideman, like Callahan, is out for the entire series with injury.
McPhee’s moves not only addressed glaring vulnerabilities on his roster, but they seem to have ushered in a dramatic change in the atmosphere enveloping the team. The Capitals played their best hockey of the season subsequent to the change in personnel...
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Rock the Red:Faceoff Comparison: New York-Washington --
As a team, the Rangers have not fared well in the faceoff circle this season, and the Capitals have fared well against them in the four games...
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ICINGS:Stick this in your ear ESPN.
SportsJournalism.org:
What Two Owners Didn’t Say --
“In the year 2011, I’m not sure I have a need for beat writers from ESPN.com, Yahoo, or any website for that matter to ever be in our locker room before or after a game,” [Dallas Mavericks owner] Mark Cuban wrote. “I think we have finally reached a point where not only can we communicate any and all factual information from our players and team directly to our fans and customers as effectively as any big sports website, but I think we have also reached a point where our interests are no longer aligned. I think those websites have become the equivalent of paparazzi rather than reporters.” ....
Cuban wrote, “unpaid writers typically [write] as a labor of love and IMHO far exceed the influence or impact of their paid counterparts.”
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