HERSHEY, Pa. -- Washington concludes a three-game preseason road trip on Tuesday night when it faces the Flyers in Philadelphia. The Caps bring a 1-1-1 exhibition record with them to Philly, where goaltender Olie Kolzig is expected to make his second straight start and third of the preseason.
Fresh from a 3-1 loss to the Devils at Giant Center here on Sunday, the Capitals took to the ice for a Monday morning practice session that lasted about 90 minutes. Just prior to the practice, the Caps reassigned forwards Peter Vandermeer and Chad Wiseman to their Hershey affiliate in the AHL. The roster trim leaves the Capitals with 27 players in camp: two goaltenders, nine defensemen and 16 forwards.
After practice, Caps coach Glen Hanlon stated that both defenseman Jamie Heward and center Dainius Zubrus are close to returning to action. Neither has played in the Capitals’ first three preseason games.
“Hewie is likely going to play [Tuesday in Philadelphia] and Zubie will likely end up playing the last couple of [preseason] games,” said Hanlon. “They’re ready to play.”
Hanlon also intimated that the Caps would likely start the season with seven defensemen and 13 forwards on the roster, but also said that the team would do whatever is necessary to protect the club’s assets, meaning that it might keep a 23rd player on the roster rather than try to pass a player through waivers and risk losing him in an attempt to send him to the minors.
Left wing Alex Ovechkin practiced on Monday, skating on a line with Richard Zednik and Jakub Klepis. Kris Beech centered for Matt Pettinger and Alexandre Giroux, while Zubrus was flanked by Alexander Semin and Chris Clark.
“It seems like Klepis and Zed have had a good chemistry going there, so I didn’t want to break those two up,” said Hanlon. “So I kept them together. Beech and Pettinger have played together [in junior hockey] before, and I wanted Kris to feel comfortable with somebody, so that’s why I started them [together] at the start of training camp.”
When Zubrus returns to the lineup for Friday’s game against the Flyers at Verizon Center, Hanlon said the club’s forward lines will start to resemble what they might look like for the Oct. 5 season opener against the Rangers in New York.
“Starting after [Tuesday], you’ll have a better idea of where everyone is going to be,” said Hanlon.
No further roster cuts are expected on the trip. The Capitals will return to Ashburn Ice House for Wednesday’s practice with the 27 players currently on the team’s training camp roster.
After a 2-1 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins in London, Ont. on Saturday, the Flyers are 1-3 during the preseason.
The line of Jeff Carter, Mike Richards and Kyle Calder has been Philadelphia’s best in the preseason. That trio has combined for four of the team’s nine goals and has ammased a total of 10 points. Carter leads the way with two goals and four points.
Just before camp began, veteran center and Flyers captain Keith Primeau announced his retirement. A gritty and classy veteran, Primeau’s career was cut short by a concussion. He played in just nine games with the Flyers in 2005-06, and tried diligently to return to action for the last 11 months. Primeau skated in 909 regular season NHL games, but may be best remembered for his game-winning goal midway through the fifth overtime of an Eastern Conference Semifinals game against Pittsburgh in 2000, a game that stands as the longest in modern NHL history.
Having lost Primeau to retirement and having dealt center Michal Handzus to Chicago for left wing Kyle Calder, Flyers GM Bob Clarke is in the market for some help up the middle. Clarke signed Vancouver center Ryan Kesler – a 10-goal scorer a season ago – to a one-year offer sheet for $1.9 million. But the Canucks matched the offer for the restricted free agent pivot, leaving Clarke to look elsewhere.
The Flyers announced last week that they had signed head coach Ken Hitchcock to a three-year contract extension. Hitchcock has a 130-77-39 regular season record as the Flyers’ head coach. He is 19-18 in playoff games with Philly. Overall, Hitchcock has a 407-243-99 regular season record as an NHL head coach. He is 66-51 in the playoffs and helped lead the Dallas Stars to the 1999 Stanley Cup championship.
This message has been edited by marc_mehdi on Sep 26, 2006 9:52 PM
If you leave in the Philadelphia area, watch the game online:
Flyers to Webcast Preseason Game Tonight
The Flyers will air their preseason game vs. the Washington Capitals tonight at 7:00 p.m. from the Wachovia Center live on the internet brought to fans by B2-Networks. Check back here at game time for the link to the webcast. Please note, per NHL regulations, the webcast can only be viewed by those in the Philadelphia broadcast area.
I am still totally against the Caps signing of Brashaer.
Interesting note- at practice on the 17th, Giroux got into it with Brashear, and got the best of him somehow- semi-headlock, and got DB's helmet off and cut his forehead. Next shift, DB came back out and showed Giroux how the big boys play- crushed him cleanly against the boards, and left him staggering. I think DB will be all right for this season, but I don't think he'll be here much longer than that.
Second best moment of the day, to Ovechkin getting another pie in the face (right in front of us- we saw it coming, but he didn't.....).
Current Topic - Preseason Game 4 at PHILADELPHIA (W 6-1)
