Wsh Capitals Monthly Report (October)

The NHL Season is officially off & running & with one month in the books, we will take a look into the Washington Capitals 08 Season so far. The Capitals are 5-3-1 & are currently 2nd in the South East 1 point behind the Carolina Hurricanes, & are ranked 8th in the East. When the Capitals enter the 08 season there were some questions that everyone wanted to know the answers for, How good is Jose Theodore exactly? Can the Caps repeat with a Divsion Crown, & go father this year? Nick Backstrom/Mike Green real deal? or one hit wonders? Will Karl Alzner make this team? Can Alex the great reach 60 goals? So many questions and with only 9 games in the books we can only answer or even better yet SEMI answer these questions. For starters Karl Alzner did not make the Caps opening night line-up, most were shocked, most also say it was because the Capitals are in a Salary Cap Crisis right now. Backstrom equals Sophomore slump so far through 9 games, Green on the other hand has been the back bone for the Capitals D, & also logging the most minutes on the team night in night out. For Theodore very shakey in the beginning, lately he has come into his own so only time will tell if Jose is the real deal or not. As for Ovechkin, yes he is struggling right now, he isnt one of the greatest players in the NHL right now for nothing, he will break out of this funk, when he does watch out, With him Semin, Green, Backstrom, Feds, Nylander and Theodore in net the Capitals are a deadly team in the East, in my opinion a dark horse to win the EAST!

Player Grades for October...

_Goalies_

Johnson = B very good/reliable back-up so far thru the season, wants more games

Theodore = C shakey in the beginning, starting to find himself now

_ Defence Man_

Pothier = Injured, no time table set yet for his return

Green = A Green means Go & all systems are a go right now for "Game Over Green"

Schultz = A Steady/Reliable DMan very sound, mistake free youngster

Poti = recently injured, is the veteran anchor for the D-Man thoe

Jurcina = D Wouldn't be here if the Caps didn't have Salary Cap issues right now

Morrison = C slow start so far, needs to find himself & become Greens wingman

Erskine = C need to see more toughness/body checks out there on the ice

_Forwards_

Ovechkin = C slow start, possibly due to his sick grandfather

Semin = A Malkin like, when Crosby went down putting Caps on his shoulders

Clark = C grinder needs to grind more and possibly add more points

Laich = C must score more goals this year, so far not so good

Fleischman = B must score more goals this year, so far so good

Nylander = B Injury free, very good points producer addition to the Caps

Federov = A Can play Forward & D he can do it all very good player for his age

Kozlov = recently injured, must be healthy is Ovechkins wingman

Steckle = B 2 shorthanded goals in season, must be better at playing D

Backstrom = D Sophomore Slump? came 20 pounds heavier into camp this year

Gordon = C solid face off man, penalty killer, goals would be a huge upside

Brashere = D very few fights, hand got injured recently, wheres Crash & Brash at?

Fehr = D going down from being a prospect to a suspect path real quick

Bradley = B Energy guy, team guy, has does everything ask of so far

Next in line...

Bourque, Laing, Alzner, Lepisto, Varlemnov, Aucoin, & Sloan

There you have it so far so good for the Capitals this year, Semin is a very pleasant suprise, Ovechkin needs to turn it on, once he does this team is a deadly team in the East, sights on the East Conference finals wont be to far away or out of the question this year, Rock the Red, and Go Caps

_ZackAttack_