Bondra looking more like Bondra lately!!

I'm sure you Cap faithful have noticed this as well but from this observers point of view, Peter Bondra is looking more and more like the Bonzai of old....ya think?. Possibly the fact that Hanlon is not messing with his head like Cassidy was consistantly doing and moving Bondra all over the place in the lineup, and simply allowing Bondra to develop some chemistry with his two linemates(Zubrus and Ettman for the past few weeks), is working wonders for Bondras confidence. And its showing in his performance on the ice as he's pretty close to a point per game over the past 3-4 weeks.

I dunno, any insights from you Caps fans on why Bondra seems to be getting back to his old self.....eh?

-Maxie

I'm sure you Cap faithful have noticed this as well but from this observers point of view, Peter Bondra is looking more and more like the Bonzai of old....ya think?. Possibly the fact that Hanlon is not messing with his head like Cassidy was consistantly doing and moving Bondra all over the place in the lineup, and simply allowing Bondra to develop some chemistry with his two linemates(Zubrus and Ettman for the past few weeks), is working wonders for Bondras confidence. And its showing in his performance on the ice as he's pretty close to a point per game over the past 3-4 weeks.

I dunno, any insights from you Caps fans on why Bondra seems to be getting back to his old self.....eh?

-Maxie

Who's Ettman? I think the whole team is performing with more confidence since Cassidy was axed.

Cassidy was a tear down artist kind of coach. If the Caps players felt like Wilson was abrasive, Cassidy was several degrees worse.

However, to be fair to Cassidy he did make Bondra's shots on the power play a priority again after going away from that last year. Bondra in particular and the power play in general are back in the league's elite
as a result.

Who's Ettman? I think the whole team is performing with more confidence since Cassidy was axed.


Oops....meant Eminger.....me bad!!.... ;)


-Max

Cassidy was a tear down artist kind of coach. If the Caps players felt like Wilson was abrasive, Cassidy was several degrees worse.

However, to be fair to Cassidy he did make Bondra's shots on the power play a priority again after going away from that last year. Bondra in particular and the power play in general are back in the league's elite
as a result.


Yeah, getting Bondras shot on the point for the PP was likely one of the few things Cassidy did right....so nice call there TXPD. I guess what I've noticed as well recently while watching him and the Caps on the dish, is that Bondra is going to the net with alot more frequency as of late and getting into the scoring positions that he needs to be in, in order to fire his awesome shot on net. He seems to be creating alot more chances for his linemates as well and on the PP.

I dunno, just seems to me that he,Zubrus and Emminger are developing a nice chemistry together which bodes well for the Caps possibly getting out of this slumber they've been in pretty much the whole first half. Bondra, IMO, is as important to the Caps success as Jagr is and so for him to be playing as well as he has as of late, I think is a good sign for them. Now if only the defense and Kolzig can get their act together, the Caps might actually have a pretty good second half....we shalt see.

-Maxie

I think its much more on the goaltender than the defense.

the islanders loss and the canadiens win were the same game basically.
the caps can score enough to give them a chance to win and did.
the defense is just not good enough, particularly without Witt, to compete down low in their own zone and in front of the net.

44 shots from NYI, 40 shots from Montreal. I think the expect 2 goals against at 40 shots on goal against is too much to ask for very often.

the difference in those games was the goaltender. kolzig couldnt make the difference against the islanders and they lost.

Witt coming back...maybe Johansson coming back might be enough.
A veteran rental or two would be the best fix for that problem.

Oops....meant Eminger.....me bad!!.... ;)


-Max

Eminger is a defenseman, not a winger on the second line. Thinking of Pettinger maybe? :dunno: Grier was there last night. It looked ok.

I'd still like to see Peat and Forbes get a shot, but it's hard to yank someone when the team is playing so well. Maybe if Eminger goes down for more than a game, and Witt isn't back by Saturday, we'll see Peat on the blue line? Or a Cutta call-up? Peat on the blueline would kind of scare me, but he does play it in defense now and then, so it's not like he hasn't played the position at all since juniors. One good point would be that our crease would be a lot less desireable to plant yourself in with Peat defending it.

All kind of moot though because all rumors are pointing towards both Witt and Eminger being ready for Saturday vs. Buffalo. Wonder if they'll send Zinger down... would rather he goes back to Portland (where they need defensemen as bad as we do) and play than sit in the press box every night here in Washington. If Kiwi does get a game or two suspension, Zinger will get a bit of a reprieve, but IMO, no way in hell Kiwi deserved that spearing major, much less any suspension.

Speaking of which, I remember way back when Dale was playing for us, he and Reekie did one of those clinics on the Caps report with Al Koken. Was about a 4 minute clip of Dale and Joe teaching how to pin people against the boards and how to position yourself along the boards to control and protect the puck. Kiwi's little stick jab to the back of Koivu's knee was one of the things that Dale taught in that clinic. Was kinda funny because as they're demonstrating, he's saying "one of the things I like to do as we're coming into the boards is give them a little chip right here *pokes Reekie in the back of the knee* and that puts them off balance as we go into the boards *cuffs Reekie in the back of the head* so I can take the puck." Reekie was just laughing and shaking his head probably thinking "I can't believe Dale is teaching this stuff on TV, where kids will be picking this up." Seeing Kiwi do that last night brought back that memory. I didn't think he had something like that in him. I did like to see the fact that he was willing to agitate a top guy with tactics like that, as well as drop the gloves (granted it was with Koivu) when challenged, instead of turtling. I hate to say it, but Kiwi is getting better (or maybe I'm just getting more tolerant).

I remember that segment, too. Had me cracking up.

The whole team seems to be skating more since Hanlon took over, and that plays to one of Bondra's strengths (though he has seemed to lose a step in the past few years, he's still faster than a lot of the league). Halpern is playing better, as well.

I thought the misconduct on Kiwi was more or less baloney.

And yes, as it pains me to admit it, Kiwi is playing better. Doig seems to be regressing, though.

Thank goodness that Eminger's okay. That would have put a wrench in things.

Eminger is a defenseman, not a winger on the second line. Thinking of Pettinger maybe? :dunno: Grier was there last night. It looked ok.

I'd still like to see Peat and Forbes get a shot, but it's hard to yank someone when the team is playing so well. Maybe if Eminger goes down for more than a game, and Witt isn't back by Saturday, we'll see Peat on the blue line? Or a Cutta call-up? Peat on the blueline would kind of scare me, but he does play it in defense now and then, so it's not like he hasn't played the position at all since juniors. One good point would be that our crease would be a lot less desireable to plant yourself in with Peat defending it.

All kind of moot though because all rumors are pointing towards both Witt and Eminger being ready for Saturday vs. Buffalo. Wonder if they'll send Zinger down... would rather he goes back to Portland (where they need defensemen as bad as we do) and play than sit in the press box every night here in Washington. If Kiwi does get a game or two suspension, Zinger will get a bit of a reprieve, but IMO, no way in hell Kiwi deserved that spearing major, much less any suspension.

Speaking of which, I remember way back when Dale was playing for us, he and Reekie did one of those clinics on the Caps report with Al Koken. Was about a 4 minute clip of Dale and Joe teaching how to pin people against the boards and how to position yourself along the boards to control and protect the puck. Kiwi's little stick jab to the back of Koivu's knee was one of the things that Dale taught in that clinic. Was kinda funny because as they're demonstrating, he's saying "one of the things I like to do as we're coming into the boards is give them a little chip right here *pokes Reekie in the back of the knee* and that puts them off balance as we go into the boards *cuffs Reekie in the back of the head* so I can take the puck." Reekie was just laughing and shaking his head probably thinking "I can't believe Dale is teaching this stuff on TV, where kids will be picking this up." Seeing Kiwi do that last night brought back that memory. I didn't think he had something like that in him. I did like to see the fact that he was willing to agitate a top guy with tactics like that, as well as drop the gloves (granted it was with Koivu) when challenged, instead of turtling. I hate to say it, but Kiwi is getting better (or maybe I'm just getting more tolerant).

Peat was dmen for the hitmen right? It might not hurt to experiment with him on the blue line b/c really how worse it can get...you cant fault these guys all the time, granted they make some glaring mistakes EVERY game but you gotta also realized they were pretty much thrown to the wolves

I honestly dont see calle jo coming back, he's missed too much already

Zubrus has shown chemisty with every player he's played with on the caps roster...if he continues to develop like he is this season, its easy seeing him being the go to guy in all situations for the caps

Honestly, the only time I've seen Peat appear to look comfortable in portland was when he played on d for a few games due to injuries. He seemed to still have the instincts to play the position. I'd try him on D in a heartbeat..what do you have to lose. If not in Washington, ship him to portland on a 2 week conditioning stint to work him out on defense.

Yeah, getting Bondras shot on the point for the PP was likely one of the few things Cassidy did right


I give Cassidy no credit at all on this...it took him a WHOLE SEASON to make this move.....he had a guy that was a league PPG leader and moved him away from that for pretty much an entire season......

thats taking too long to correct your (Cassidys) mistake IMO.....

I give Cassidy no credit at all on this...it took him a WHOLE SEASON to make this move.....he had a guy that was a league PPG leader and moved him away from that for pretty much an entire season......

thats taking too long to correct your (Cassidys) mistake IMO.....

I can't argue with you there. Bondra's use on the PP last year was a major source of displeasure.

I honestly dont see calle jo coming back, he's missed too much already

Zubrus has shown chemisty with every player he's played with on the caps roster...if he continues to develop like he is this season, its easy seeing him being the go to guy in all situations for the caps


I dunno... just recently McPhee said in the press that "if Calle wished to come back, he'd welcome him." Forget which paper, but it was either the Post or the Times... and sometime in the past 2 weeks. I think Calle would be a welcome veteran addition on our blue line. He's old and a lot slower, but he's ALWAYS played well with young defensemen. Witt used to call it "a calming effect." It would kind of throw a monkey wrench into the pairings though. I wouldn't even want to guess who'd be scratched... but it'd probably be Berry unfortunately... unless Hanlon is as disappointed in Doig as the rest of us seem to be.

And as for Zubrus... I think you could argue that he already is the go to guy in all situations. He's #1 PP, #1 PK, and 2nd line center behind one of the hottest players in the league. Of all the players on our team, I'm the most pleased with the play Zubrus.

I saw the mcphee quote that you are talking about. I think what he said was, "if he calle wants to come back, we will open the door for him".
which is very interesting. the caps leaked thru "unnamed sources" that mchpee's conversations with johansson were more about calle adjusting to being retired and sort of blew it off. that apparantly was for cassidy's
consumption.

additionally, mcphee would not say that calle was welcome back unless he knew that calle was coming back. otherwise addressing the issue like that would appear as a failure of false hope for an infusion of veteran help on defense.

Its possible that Johansson could be back in the lineup before Nylander is.

i think describing zubrus as the go to guy in all situations is not accurate really. yes he is on the top pp and pk units, but he is not a primary player on the power play. he is actually the 5th option behind Lang, Jagr, Bondra, and Gonchar. his status on the pk and the move to make the 2nd line the caps shut down line with zubrus taking that responsibility is a key change and upgrade for zubrus.

zubrus is on his way to 25 goal season and would become a higher priority on the power play if jagr were to be traded.

i think describing zubrus as the go to guy in all situations is not accurate really. yes he is on the top pp and pk units, but he is not a primary player on the power play. he is actually the 5th option behind Lang, Jagr, Bondra, and Gonchar.

99% of the league would be the 5th option on a PP with those other 4 guys on it. The ice time Zubrus has been logging since Hanlon was installed as coach shows that he clearly is a go to guy in every respect. His 6 PP goals, the same as Lang and Jagr each have and only 2 less than Bondra's team high 8, shows that he is a key member of that star studded PP.

Nobody is arguing that Zubrus is having anything less than a great season and that he is anything less than valuable.

All I am saying is that I would not describe him as the "go to guy". When the Caps need a tying or winning goal, I am not looking at Dainius Zubrus first when there is Lang, Jagr and Bondra on the same roster.
That's all and I think that is a reasonable comment.

Nobody is arguing that Zubrus is having anything less than a great season and that he is anything less than valuable.

All I am saying is that I would not describe him as the "go to guy". When the Caps need a tying or winning goal, I am not looking at Dainius Zubrus first when there is Lang, Jagr and Bondra on the same roster.
That's all and I think that is a reasonable comment.

I think that's fair. I guess I'm describing him as "a" go-to guy, not "the" go-to guy. Zubrus is on the ice when we're in a critical situation just about everytime... that to me is a go-to guy. Sure they don't run the PP through him everytime, but he's going to be one of the guys on the ice when it's :20 seconds left and we're down by 1.