Was It Worth It?

With the trade deadline looming, lots of fans and pundits are quick to speculate on the Capital’s needs for players to support them as they try to get into and through the playoffs for yet another year. This got me to thinking about two trades in previous years that still kinda bug me and make me ask, were they worth it?

First up, Tomas Fleischmann, who was traded to Colorado for veteran defenseman Scott Hannan on November 30th of 2010. At the time, Flash wasn’t having a great start to the season; he had only scored 4 goals and 6 assists in 23 games and his ice time was down to 14:17 during that same period. But, the previous season, Flash scored a career-high 23 goals, so the skilled forward was certainly trade bait for GMGM. Hannan was to bring grit and experience to the team, especially to help the progress of John Carlson and Karl Alzner. So how did they each finish out their seasons? Flash played 22 games for Colorado, with 8 goals and 13 assists. Hannan played 55 games for Washington, with 1 goal and 4 assists. But, here is where it gets interesting, Fleischmann, now on the Florida Panthers currently has 20 goals and 25 assists, and may be having his best season ever if he continues with this success. Was it worth it?

The next trade that still sticks in my craw; David Steckel. While I wasn’t Flash’s biggest fan, I really was a fan of Stecks, (aka Ohio State). On February 28th of 2011, the Capitals traded Stecks to New Jersey for veteran center Jason Arnott, just moments before the deadline ended (oh, and a 2nd round draft pick was involved in there as well). Steckel is a skilled center with a great faceoff percentage and is willing and able to crush opponents against the boards whenever necessary. (Not to mention, accidently hitting the Caps fans most hated player; Sidney Crosby.) And, Arnott (aka The Sasha Whisperer); while a good acquisition; really didn’t have as much impact in the stats. With only 11 games for the Caps, Arnott tallied 4 goals and 3 assists, but his leadership in the locker room was well documented. Maybe that in itself was worth it? Anyway, neither Steckel nor Arnott had the best finish to their season in 2011; maybe those trades shook them up a bit. And while Arnott seems to be thriving a bit better on the St Louis Blues with 13 goals & 14 assists so far, Steckel doesn’t seem to be doing as well. Poor Dave has only 7 goals and 1 assist so far with the Toronto Maple Leafs, and that assist stat is really one of his worst in his career. Maybe he misses good old DC? (hmm, I wonder if he would come back?) Overall, yes, we did trade a center for a center, but, since we seem to be in need of a center now, was it really worth it?

The most interesting thing that both Hannan and Arnott said after their trades to Washington? They both were willing to come to a team with the chance to win a Stanley Cup. That worked out well, didn’t it? Another interesting thing? All of these players only lasted on their respective new teams one season. All four of these players were really just rentals. Kinda think that wasn’t what any of them wanted either.

So, IF GMGM does do any trades before the deadline ends tomorrow, I really hope they are worth it, because no matter who gets traded, I’m sure there are going to be more than a few Caps fans who will be disappointed, one way or another. And, if it does happen, I really really really hope none of the new guys say they look forward to playing for a team that stands a chance to win the Stanley Cup. I’m kinda tired at laughing at that joke-turned-jinx.

Penalties by the Replay and the Rule Book

If you watched theCaps game against San Jose on Monday, you may have noticed two occurrences thatwere a little out of the norm for a regulation NHL game. One that seemed totake forever and one that happened in the blink of an eye.

The first was thegoalie interference penalty against Joel Ward that was delayed for almost oneminute of play. Here’s how it began: Two minutes into the first period, JoelWard crashed into the Sharks goalie Thomas Greiss. (Speculation from Caps fanswas that Ward was actually pushed into Greiss by Sharks center Logan Couture;at least it looked like that to the Caps faithful watching the replay.) So, atthe 18:00 minute mark on the clock, the ref raises his arm to signal a penaltywill be called. So, why didn’t he just blow the whistle then instead of waitinguntil the 17:03 mark? Here’s why.

Perthe NHL rulebook:  Should an infractionof the rules which would call for a minor, major, misconduct, game misconductor match penalty be committed by a player of the team not in possession of thepuck, the Referee shall raise his arm to signal the delayed calling of apenalty. When the team to be penalized gains control of the puck, the Refereewill blow his whistle to stop play and impose the penalty on the offendingplayer or goalkeeper.

What this breaks downto is this; when the penalty against the Caps occurred, San Jose was inpossession of the puck, and upon review of the game footage, kept possession ofthe puck for another 57 seconds. It wasn’t until San Jose made an attempt ongoal that was deflected by Braden Holtby and Roman Hamrlik, that the puck was finallyno longer in San Jose’s possession. Yes, it seemed like the delay lastedforever. I actually rewound the DVR several times just to make sure my eyesweren’t playing tricks on me. So, while we all may disagree with the penaltyitself, the delay of the penalty for 57 seconds was by the book. The NHLrulebook, that is.

The second out of thenorm occurrence was the 10 minute misconduct penalty called on Joel Rechlicz.How can a guy who only played on the actual ice for 1:30 do something worthy ofa 10-minute penalty? To explain that, you need the replay and a little history.Joel “The Wrecker” Rechlicz is a right wing on the Hershey Bears and is knownfor the enforcer role he plays. (He even dropped the gloves with DonaldBrashear back in 2010 when Wrecker was playing for the Bridgeport SoundTigers). Apparently, Coach Hunter brought Rechlicz up from Hershey for thisSharks game to keep Brad Winchester from being a factor in the game, as he hadpreviously when he was penalized for charging on Alex Semin in January. PerDale Hunter after practice on 2/14, “The Wrecker eliminated any effect fromWinchester”; so, job well done.

But, as to the misconductpenalty, we really have to go back to the replay, because if you blinked – youmissed it. At the 16:23 mark in the second period, Ovechkin is skating alongthe boards when he comes in contact with Ryan Clowe. “Contact” meaning theusual forceful body hit from Ovi that sends Clowe flying. A few seconds later,Clowe tries to return the favor by slamming Ovi into the wall along the Capsbench. Now, you have to watch really closely to what see happens next. While thesetwo hits occur, you can see Rechlicz standing up from his seat on the bench.Just after the hit from Clowe, Rechlicz appears to take offense to Clowe’s hitand seems to be having words with him. Before you know it, the commentatorsannounce Rechlicz and been removed from the bench for a 10-minute misconductpenalty, and nobody seems to know why.

So, what constitutes amisconduct penalty?

Per the NHL rulebook:

75.4 Misconduct Penalty - Misconduct penalties shall be assessed under this rule for thefollowing infractions:

(i) Any player who persists in using obscene, profane or abusivelanguage directed towards any person after being assessed a minor or benchminor penalty under this Rule.

(ii) Any player who deliberately throws any equipment out of theplaying area. At the discretion of the Referee, a game misconduct may beimposed.

(iii) Any player who, after warning by the Referee, persists in anycourse of conduct (including threatening or abusive language or gestures orsimilar actions) designed to incite an opponent into incurring a penalty.

(iv) Whena penalized player challenges or disputes the ruling of an official after hehas already entered the penalty bench and play has resumed. 



(v) In general, participants displaying this type of behavior are assessed a minorpenalty, then a misconduct penalty and then a game misconduct penalty if theypersist.

While fans may neverlearn the full story of what exactly transpired, we could probably assume (iii)was the reason why.  But what may be moreimportant here is the affect The Wrecker had on the game. Looking back, tenminutes in the locker room isn’t too big a price to pay to ensure theopposition knows who and what they are dealing with.

Ladies, What Do You Want?

As some of you may know, I occasionally write posts for Scarlet Caps. Once again, they have asked me for a post submission. Knowing how a majority of my followers feel about the website and its posts, I thought I'd give y'all a chance to let me know what you would actually like to read on the Scarlet Caps blog. And, if you've never read any of the blog posts there, what would send you there for the first time?

So, serious question: Is there a topic you really want to know about? I'd love to hear any and all suggestions. I'd like to write a post for them that you all would actually read and maybe even comment on! If you really couldn't care less about the blog posts on Scarlet Caps, I totally understand, no problem, carry on. Just one thing though, as a writer for Scarlet Caps, I do not get any insider information, personal access to players or private interviews. It has to be about something I can research for you or something you always wondered about in regards to hockey, stuff like that.

And if you're thinking I'm being lazy about coming up with a topic myself, all I can say is...maybe.

So, since my usual signoff on posts is a sarcastic "Any questions?” this time I would really love some actual questions from you. Hit me with your ideas/suggestions/questions/comments in the comments, or on Twitter at @Caps_Girl or on Facebook (if you came here through there), or by email if you have my address, whatever. If Scarlet Caps is really about hockey from a woman's perspective, let's make it happen.