Around the Capitals Rink (9/11)

I know many of our readers are just hungering for news on the Washington Capitals, but folks, it is just hard to find until next week. Here is what we scraped up for you.
Found this interesting in a small Fantasy hockey article at Hockey News. These guys seem pretty high on Caps young D Sami Lepisto. Rightfully so. I though Lepisto did a fine job last year. He was called up off and on and when he did play, he was physical and in control. He had an outstanding + / – rating in Hershey, an impressive, +29 in 55 games. He scored 4 goals and had 41 assists.
Here is the deal with Lepisto for 2008/09. First, he is not the top defensive prospect in the system, that belongs to 2007 first round pick Karl Alzner. In fact, he is likely not Top Three, because you also have 2007 second rounder the Caps are very high on, Josh Godfrey, and 2008 first rounder John Carlson. Alzner should have no problem cracking the 2008/09 Caps roster. If the Capitals plan to carry 7 defenseman, Mike Green, Shaone Morrisonn, Tom Poti, and Jeff Schultz are likely locks. Add in Alzner, you have five right there. If they carry 6, then only one spot remains and you still have two left over from last year, Milan Jurcina and John Erskine. In other words, Lepisto has an uphill battle to make the Caps roster. That’s given to that there is not a surprise roster make, from say, Godfrey or Carlson. Guess, we’ll see soon, because hockey is right around the corner!

BizJournals reports the Caps have scored more Hi-Def time. For Hi-Def fans like me, woooohoooo!

The Washington Capitals will have 73 of the team’s games broadcast on television by Comcast SportsNet during the 2008-2009 season, including 50 games in high-definition.

That is a record number of high-definition productions for a Capitals season. They will be aired on Comcast SportsNet HDTV. Coverage begins with the October 10 regular season opener at Atlanta.

Overall, Comcast SportsNet will televise 73 of the 82 Caps games, of which, those 50 will be Hi-Def. Got my Caps covered either way. Have both Direct TV NHL Center Ice plus XM Radio, which provides all NHL games.
An update from Tarik at the Washington Post. Thew news on Eric Fehr is particularly exciting to me.

Fehr also said that his back/hip injury is 100-percent, which is an improvement over the end of the last season, when he said it felt about 90 percent.

“It feels great,” Fehr said. “I got a chance to strengthen it over the summer, so that helped.”

I think Fehr can be a dangerous scorer for the Capitals. He possesses the stuff a top scorer needs. He has the go to the net mentality with a good, strong wrist shot and handles himself well in traffic. The question is not the talent Fehr has, but the durability. His mysterious back injury had sidelined him for nearly two years, but came back last season and got back in the groove. Fehr could be the Brooks Laich of 2008/09 putting up impressive numbers in DC. keep an eye on Fehr.
Found a season preview from the Rangers Review. First off, kudos to them, they picked the Capitals to win the Southeast. They start off with praise for the caps front office for standing pat during free agency, something that was positive. Essentially, getting Chris Clark and Michael Nylander back is like gaining two free agents.

They saw a team with 4 absolute studs all in their prime in AO, Semin, Backstrom, and Green, and figured, why should we screw with that? And right they are. This was the team I predicted to win their division last year, and now, I think they do it with a legitimate championship caliber team.

High praise indeed.
On Jose Theodore …

The signing of Jose Theodore has been scoffed all across the blogosphere, personally, I think it is a coup-de-tat. I think these guys got a guy on the right side of a bounce back career. I honestly think Jose Theodore has a chance to backstop this team to a championship.

Concur. Yeah, I was a bit pissed when Cristobal Huet decided to spurn the Caps for Chicago, but hey, that’s his free agent right to do so. Theodore was impressive last year and posted a 2.24 GAA and a 12-4-1 record over the last 18 games. His big year last year he credits to straightening out some things in his personal life. The move to DC and playing with a guy Like Alexander Ovechkin should keep Theodore focused, and when he is focused, he can be damn good.
Caps fans — Join our Sea of Red Forum for the Capitals and get that Forum Pumping with excitement for a great 2008/09 season ahead!