Washington Capitals 2010-2011 ongoing thread

[mooby]

I like that Alexander Semin has gotten off to such a great start this season, but like everybody else is saying, I need to see better from this team in the playoffs. They are still doing good in the regular season, and I do like that we are seeing more from the rest of the team when the big guys get shut down, but I still can't get out of my mind how completely shut down guys like Semin and Mike Green were in the playoffs last year.

[RobH4413]

Semin is probably the most gifted offensive player on the team, even more so than Ovechkin. He's got the finesse goal scoring skills that no-one else in the league has.

He's also kind of a pussy.

YouTube - Semin fights M. Staal - first slap...

Any team that gets him will get a solid goal scorer throughout the season, but they better have some enforcers to protect him. The guy is kind of a brat, gets moody, and plays inconsistently. I love him, and I'd love to have him on our team... but there's just no way we can afford him after this season.

That being said, we've got some hungry talent looking for time on the ice... we've definitely got some replacements chomping at the bit for a chance to play.

[Dirtbag59]

Originally Posted by mooby

I like that Alexander Semin has gotten off to such a great start this season, but like everybody else is saying, I need to see better from this team in the playoffs. They are still doing good in the regular season, and I do like that we are seeing more from the rest of the team when the big guys get shut down, but I still can't get out of my mind how completely shut down guys like Semin and Mike Green were in the playoffs last year.

This is a very different Alex Semin. On top of his usual goal scoring and puck handling the coaches have praised his commitment to the defensive end. This year he's moving his feet more on top of taking less penalties though I will admit they haven't been eliminated yet (he has a tendency to hook and slash when going for the stick lift, a technique he uses frequently).

He's also a fixture on the PK unit as well. Hopefully they win the cup this year so everyone can move on. Otherwise we'll have to wait for the Caps next wave of young talent (Johanson, Carlson, and Evengy) to fully develop and thats about 2 or 3 years down the road.

I wonder though if they'll keep putting him out there with Ovechkin. They're certainly doing it a lot more then last year to the point where it's almost a regular thing.