Japers' Rink

Sunday Open Thread

2012-05-27T13:00:34Z

Today marks the beginning of the summer schedule here at the Rink, where the daily Clips post will take Sundays off.

Sunday Clips will most likely return for the draft, Development Camp, and any ~~coach hiring~~ ~~CBA ratifying~~ ~~adorable Ovi and Maria in Paris pictures~~ important breaking news.

Talk amongst yourselves~~, and feel free to use this post as the GDT to discuss (sigh) Game One of the 2012 Stanley Cup Finals~~. Is it October yet?

Update: News of the Chris Bourque-for-Zach Hamill broke fairly late on Saturday, so here's a couple-three links on the subject.

Yes, it's true. The Caps and the Bruins have swapped the rights to pending free agent forwards. [Japers', @WashCaps, @TheAHL, WaPo, NHL.com]

Tim Leone has the reaction from Hershey GM Doug Yingst... [Patriot-News]

...and from C-Bo. [Patriot-News]

So. New guy. Who is he? [Caps Outsider, Bruins Draft Watch]

Son of a Bourque! Our SBNation partner blog had some thoughts. [Stanley Cup of Chowder]

And just because: Adorable Ovi and Maria in Paris pictures [RMNB, PHT]

Finally, it's Chris Felix's 48th birthday.

Capitals Acquire Zach Hamill

2012-05-26T21:23:42Z

The Caps have traded Chris Bourque to Boston for center Zach Hamill. Hamill will be a restricted free agent this summer.

From the team:

The Washington Capitals acquired center Zach Hamill from the Boston Bruins in exchange for left wing Chris Bourque, vice president and general manager George McPhee announced today.

Hamill, 23, recorded 21 points (eight goals, 13 assists) in 41 games last season with the Providence Bruins of the American Hockey League (AHL). The 5’11", 180-pound center tallied two assists in 16 games with the Boston Bruins in 2011-12. In 20 career NHL games, Hamill has collected four assists and has registered 139 points (44 goals, 95 assists) in 256 career AHL games.

The Vancouver, British Columbia, native was originally drafted by Boston in the first round (eighth overall) in the 2007 NHL Entry Draft. Hamill won the Bobby Clarke trophy for amassing the most points (93) in the Western Hockey League (WHL) with the Everett Silvertips during the 2006-07 season.

Bourque, 26, registered 93 points (27 goals, 66 assists) in 73 games with the Hershey Bears in 2011-12. He is set to become an unrestricted free agent on July 1.

Saturday Caps Clips

2012-05-26T12:57:30Z

Your savory breakfast links:

● Matt Hendricks and Mike Knuble are outstanding human beings (not that you didn't already know that). [Dump 'n Chase]

● Yesterday in year-end reviews:

○ ...The forwards, part 2... [WaPo]

○ ... Nicklas Backstrom... [CSNW]

○ ... Joel Ward... [RtR]

○ ... and Troy Brouwer. [RMNB, with this editor's note: I sure am enjoying these reviews]

● What's the Caps' identity these days? [WaPo]

● Tomas Vokoun is only interested in playing in North America, says his North American agent. [WashTimes]

● Speaking of Vokoun, he sat down for a one-on-one with Mike Vogel on his way out of town. [Caps365 (video)]

● Karl Alzner and Alex Ovechkin. One of them tweeted pics of his girlfriend on the clay at Roland Garros, the other pics of his dogs in purple bowties. Guess who's who. [SB Nation DC, NBC4 Washington, and with more on how the Caps are spending their respective summers, hit up RtR]

● Three awesomely terrible goals-against. Relive them now! [KOL]

● If you would like to meet and/or greet Brooks Laich, this one's for you. [RtR]

● The quest for a second straight Memorial Cup is over for Stanislav Galiev and the Saint John Sea Dogs, as they fell 7-4 to the host Shawinigan Cataractes, who will face the London Knights on Sunday in the Final. Stas can look back on a stellar junior career as he prepares to turn pro and begin dishing it out in the Caps' organization. [Station Nation, Buzzing the Net]

● Finally, happy 36th birthday to Matt Herr (collegiate teammate of Knuble, incidentally) and happy 53rd to Pat Riggin.

Saturday Off-Topic Open Thread

2012-05-26T12:54:07Z

Saturday Off-Topic Open Thread

The Noon Number

2012-05-25T16:00:43Z

2 - Number of Capitals (Mike Green and John Erskine) who have had a positive plus-minus for the team in each of the last five seasons.

2011-12 Rink Wrap: Mike Green

2012-05-25T15:00:33Z

From Alzner to Wideman, we're taking a look at and grading (please read the criteria below) the 2011-12 season for every player who laced 'em up for the Caps for a significant number of games during the campaign, with an eye towards 2012-13. Next up, Mike Green.

Mike Green

#52 / Defenseman / Washington Capitals

Height: 6-1

Weight: 207

Born: Oct 12, 1985

NHL Seasons: 7

Contract Status: $5,250,000 cap hit in 2011-12; RFA summer 2012

'10-'11 Rink Wrap: 5.61 rating

'09-'10 Rink Wrap: 7.14 rating

'08-'09 Rink Wrap: 8.33 rating

'07-'08 Rink Wrap: 8.98 rating

	GP	G	A	P	+/-	PIM	PPG	PPA	GWG	SOG	PCT	TOI/G
Regular Season	32	3	4	7	5	12	3	1	1	64	4.7	21:03
Playoffs	14	2	2	4	5	10	1	1	1	27	7.4	23:45

Key Stat: Green has played in just 32 of the Caps' last 102 regular season games (but has played in 22 of the team's 23 playoff games over that span).

Interesting Stat: With his overtime goal on opening night, Green moved into sole possession of second place in franchise history in career overtime goals with six (Alex Ovechkin, of course, is in first with an even dozen).

The Good: Green started the season strong, punctuating the team's hot start with a two-goal, two-assist game against the Wings in the 7-1 rout that pushed the Caps to 7-0-0, and for much of the season, Green's mere presence in the lineup made the Caps a different team - with him dressed, they went 19-10-3; without him, 23-22-5. His maturation into a solid two-way defender continued, as he finished the season second among the team's blueliners in relative Corsi at even-strength, posted the best on-ice goal differential per sixty and was relatively effective in limited penalty killing minutes.

Green started to look more "Green-like" as the playoffs rolled around, though his scoring numbers don't necessarily reflect it. But of the 29 goals the Caps scored in the post-season, Green was on the ice for 13 of them, second on the team only to Brooks Laich (14), and his plus-seven goal differential was tops on the team, bolstered by the best goals-against per sixty at even-strength of any Caps blueliner (and best among any rearguard who has played more than ten games in these playoffs).

Finally, while it's certainly implied throughout this Wrap, Green deserves kudos for persevering through an injury-riddled season that included uncertainty, surgery, rehab and a return to the ice, if not to form.

The Bad: The offensive numbers were eye-poppingly bad for a player who just two seasons prior led all defensemen in scoring and averaged more than a point per game, the 30-game goal-less drought almost inconceivable for a man who three years earlier set an NHL mark for blueliners by scoring a goal in eight-straight games. Green - who led all defensemen in even-strength goals over the three-year span ending in 2009-10 - didn't have a single one in 32 games in 2011-12, and in 87 minutes of power-play ice time, he managed just a single assist. At even-strength, Mike Green was outscored, per minute, by Karl Alzner. Yeah, it was that bad.

And while Green's defensive numbers, at least, looked good, they came against relatively soft competition at five-on-five, and those penalty-kill numbers were aided by other-worldly goaltending/puck luck (ditto his five-on-five numbers in the playoffs). Mike Green is a better defender than he was years ago, and better than his reputation in some circles... but let's not get carried away.

Of course, the elephant in the room is durability, and Green hasn't been able to demonstrate any in years - he's missed more than half of the Caps' regular season games over the past two seasons, and nearly one-third over the past four. His ability to stay healthy went first, but Green's production wasn't far behind.

The Vote: Rate Green below on a scale of 1-10 (10 being the best) based on his performance relative to his potential and your expectations for the season - if he had the best year you could have imagined him having, give him a 10; if he more or less played as you expected he would, give him a 5 or a 6; if he had the worst year you could have imagined him having, give him a 1.

The Discussion: Despite the persistent injury concerns and decline in productivity, it's hard to envision the Caps and Green parting ways this summer... but should they? In order to keep him, the Caps need to qualify him at $5 million for one year, though the two sides could agree to a deal with different dollars and term - should they pursue a longer-term/lower-dollar deal? Can Green stay healthy, and, if so, what should his role be going forward? Assuming he's still here next season, what will it take for him to earn a "10"?

Friday Caps Clips

2012-05-25T11:30:07Z

Your savory breakfast links:

● Alexander Semin met with his hometown Krasnoyarsk press corps and dropped some hints about his plans as he enters free agency. Or did he? [Transcript via RMNB, video clip via @IgorKleyner, infographic via PuckBuddys]

● Dmitry Orlov met with his hometown Novokuznetsk press corps and reviewed his first year in the NHL. [Sport-Nk.ru via GoogleTrans]

● Yesterday in year-end reviews:

○ ...The forwards, part 1... [WaPo]

○ ...the goalies... [Caps Outsider]

○ ... Nicklas Backstrom... [Peerless]

○ ... Karl Alzner... [CSNW]

○ ... Keith Aucoin... [CSNW]

○ ... and Jay Beagle. [RMNB]

● The week that was in Caps-land. [THW]

● Oh hai there goalie controversy? Michal Neuvirth wants back in. [WashTimes, PHT]

● Non-controversially, Braden Holtby and Joel Ward visited Ronald Brown Middle School in DC. [@WashCaps (video)]

● Traktor Chelyabinsk kicked off The Year of Kuzya by hanging Evgeny Kuznetsov's sweater in the rafters at Traktor Arena on the eve of the KHL Entry Draft, which they are hosting. Also on Traktor's calendar this year: the KHL All-Star Game. [RMNB]

● Stanislav Galiev and the Saint John Sea Dogs will meet the Shawinigan Cataractes tonight for the right to play the London Knights in the Memorial Cup Finals on Sunday. It's a good thing the Sea Dogs have learned how to defend, since Shawinigan dropped six goals on Edmonton last night to eliminate them from the tournament. [NHL.com, Station Nation]

● Finally, we wish WTEM (now ESPN 980) a very happy 20th birthday. WTEM was DC's first full-time sports talk radio station. Steve Czaban and Andy Pollin hosted a 3-hour retrospective yesterday. The don't-miss segments: Steve Kolbe, Ken Beatrice, and Rich "Da Coach" Gilgallon. Related: How can it possibly be twenty years already?

Friday Off-Topic Open Thread

2012-05-25T10:36:34Z

Japers' Rink

Sunday Open Thread

Capitals Acquire Zach Hamill

Saturday Caps Clips

Saturday Off-Topic Open Thread

Saturday Off-Topic Open Thread

The Noon Number

2011-12 Rink Wrap: Mike Green

Mike Green

#52 / Defenseman / Washington Capitals

How do you rate Mike Green's 2011-12 season?

Friday Caps Clips

Friday Off-Topic Open Thread

Friday Off-Topic Open Thread