The First One's the Hardest: Washington Capitals (NHL 2K8)

[Gauntsghost]

The Washington Capitals dabbled in the Free Agent market, pulling Peter Forsberg out of Sweden and back into the NHL. George McPhee, moving just about everybody in an attempt to build his team into a contender. Players like Mike Commodore made temporary appearances in Washington, winning the Stanley Cup over the Flames in 6 games. Captain Michael Peca led the team in the locker room, but it was Alexander Ovechkin who bested everyone in the stat sheet. With 51 goals and 102 points in 82 games, Ovechkin was just 7 points short of winning the Art Ross trophy, though he would be 11 goals short of taking Iginla's Rocket Richard.

The offseason saw the Capitals losing goaltender Olaf Kolzig to Free Agency, though they would gain Ilya Bryzgalov, Samuel Pahlsson, Chris Phillips, and Tim Gleason via trades and signings.

Opening day, and the Capitals won in spectacular fashion. A 5-2 Win over the Rangers left the Broadway Blueshirts grasping for something to build off of, though it would pale in comparison to the 6-2 display of offense the Capitals unleashed on Carolina just two days later. Ilja Petrov, the 30th overall pick of the 2008 draft, scored 2 goals to help lift the team up.

Since that point, however, the Capitals have been nothing but a .500 team. Going 5-5-0 in their last 10, the Capitals are in 7th place with a 6-5-0 record. Ovechkin leads the team in points, with 15 points (11G, 4A) in 11 games. Second is Alexander Semin with 13, then Forsberg with 12.

Lines:

Alexander Ovechkin - Peter Forsberg - Ilja Petrov (Rookie)
Alexander Semin - Michael Nylander - Aleksey Morozov
Matt Pettinger - Michael Peca - Chris Clark
Brooks Laich - Samuel Pahlsson - Eric Fehr

Danny Markov - Filip Kuba
Tim Gleason - Chris Phillips
Jeff Schultz - Mike Green

Ilya Bryzgalov
Brent Johnson

With the season already in progress, the Capitals move on to Atlanta to face the Thrashers for the third time so far this season.

[Gauntsghost]

Re: The First One's the Hardest: Washington Capitals (NHL 2K8)

Inside Look: Coach Brian Oliver

A rare coach, his first season resulting in a Stanley Cup ring, Brian Oliver runs a neutral 1-1-3 Forecheck as a building block for the offense. His 1-2-2 zone defense system leads directly into a creative, free flowing breakout. The center (as the top player in the 1-2-2) runs a pure puck possession route giving the wingers time to blow past him on either side for quick entry to the zone, and then to the slot. The system is built around winger success and minimal point possession. Working best on the rush as opposed to setting up in the zone, the players (and system) can quickly adapt to a slow tempo by using the half boards and back of the net to draw players down low, find the open point man, and look for rebounds and deflections.

The Powerplay has just recently taken a different look, with a solitary player screening the goalie while the high octane wingers shoot from the circles and the slot. The mix of deflection skill and screens from the low player will hopefully look to maximize the cannons on the wings, moving the puck to bombers Mike Green and Danny Markov on the point on occasion to throw the penalty killers into disarray. Currently at 17.5% effectiveness, the new system could make or break the Capitals' hopes at another playoff berth.

[Gauntsghost]

Re: The First One's the Hardest: Washington Capitals (NHL 2K8)

The Capitals suffered just one setback in an 8-0 shellacking of the Atlanta Thrashers: Alexander Ovechkin was injured. The superstar will be out for 4 weeks with a broken foot, though he could return in two. Taking his place in the roster for now is Jakub Klepis, the 24 year old Center. Capitals coach Brian Oliver stated that to keep chemistry loss at a minimum, Klepis will be inserted into the second line while Semin assumes Ovechkin's duty on the top line. Statistically, the loss of Ovechkin drops the Capitals' offensive potency from about 90 points to around 75.

[derrickthomas58]

Re: The First One's the Hardest: Washington Capitals (NHL 2K8)

Good stuff, going to be tough without AO though.