Rockin' The Red! - A Washington Capitals Franchise (NHL 10)

[Bure10Beezer34]

by Owen Ridley

There's A New Sheriff...Cop In Town!

Just days before the start of the season, General Manager George McPhee continues to put his stamp on the Washington Capitals. “I’ve been working the phones all preseason trying to free up salary cap space but at the same time hoping to strengthen our club,” McPhee explained. And his hard work has indeed paid off. McPhee orchestrated two huge trades this afternoon. The first one sending goaltender Jose Theodore, center Michael Nylander and defensive prospect Patrick McNeill to the Phoenix Coyotes for defensemen Ed Jovanovski and center Robert Lang. “We were able to free roughly $1.8 million and Lang will be a free agent next year clearing his salary off the books. We didn’t want to just give Theodore and Nylander away. Jovanovski’s salary is huge but he’s a veteran, solid on both ends of the ice and really helps are team right now. Lang will be heading to Hershey if he clears waivers,” McPhee said. It’s been a known fact for quite sometime that Nylander has been in Boudreau’s doghouse. Theodore had a very poor playoff run last year and did not receive any starts in the preseason. Rumors were swirling around that he was possibly injured but now it has become quite apparent that he was not part of the Capitals plans this year. Kudos to McPhee for getting anything in return for these players but getting two quality veterans is a job well done.

The surprise of the day though, was the trading away of veteran and team captain Chris Clark. There were no indications during the preseason of any issues. Clark saw plenty of ice time in the preseason playing in four games. He has held without any points and was very ineffective. “Chris Clark has meant a lot to this organization and we truly appreciate his service to the Capitals. With the emergence of RW’s P.J. Tait and Pavel Bure shaking off the rust quicker than anticipated, there was really no room on the roster for Chris. Most nights he would have probably been a healthy scratch and we just can’t afford to pay someone $2.6 million to watch games from the press box,” McPhee said. Clark was sent to the Dallas Stars in return for center Toby Petersen, freeing up over $2 million. Pertersen, along with Lang have cleared waivers and will be joining their teammates in Hershey. Now the Capitals are without a captain. “We have a few guys in mind but I’m going to leave that to Coach Boudreau. He knows the leaders in that locker room better than I do and I’m sure he’ll pick someone that will lead the club this year,” McPhee continued, “What is most important with these trades is freeing up cap space. I was serious when I said in the off-season that I wanted to make sure we have a fighting chance to resign Backstrom and Semin. They are a huge part of this franchise going forward and we don’t want to lose them. We’re going to do everything in our power to keep them for a long, long time!”

[Bure10Beezer34]

I will hopefully post preseason wrap ups and the seasons starting line ups on Friday. Then maybe I can start the season!

[SinisterAlex]

Hurry up lol! Start the season!

[Bure10Beezer34]

Quote: Originally Posted by AtomicLegend

Hurry up lol! Start the season!

Seriously I know! I appreciate everyone that is following and anticipating the start of the season. I got slammed at work this week and I haven't been able to start the season. It happens a lot in my line of work. I'm really sorry but hopefully tomorrow won't be so bad

[SinisterAlex]

Sweet looking forward to it.

[bashbros30]

As am I

[Vipers2k9]

Like how your doing both teams games. I'll be following

[Bure10Beezer34]

Quote: Originally Posted by Vipers2k9

Like how your doing both teams games. I'll be following

Quote: Originally Posted by bashbros30

As am I

Quote: Originally Posted by AtomicLegend

Sweet looking forward to it.

Thanks guys....I just hope it lives up to the hype!