Alexander Semin pretty much thinks Sidney Crosby sucks...

Greg Wyshynski, who I frequently see in the press box at Verizon Center and have talked to a couple times (NAME DROP NAME DROP NAME DROP ... I'm sure he couldn't pick me out of a one-person lineup) has posted an interview with Alexander Semin, from Russian to English by way of Sovetsky Sport's Dmitry Chesnokov.

And Semin didn't hold back when it came to everyone's favorite flightless fowl.

What's so special about [Crosby]? I don't see anything special there. Yes, he does skate well, has a good head, good pass. But there's nothing else. Even if you compare him to Patrick Kane from Chicago ... [Kane] is a much more interesting player. The way he moves, his deking abilities, his thinking on the ice and his anticipation of the play is so superb.

I think that if you take any player, even if he is "dead wood," and start promoting him, you'll get a star. Especially if he scores 100 points. No one is going to care about anyone else. No one is going to care whether he possesses great skill. Let's say you put someone in front of the net and let him deflect pucks in, and he scored 50 goals; everyone will say "Wow!" and then hand him a $10 million per year contract. That's what they like here.

Yeah that's also a pretty nice swipe at North American hockey and the NHL in general, but I think us Washingtonians are willing to look past that and commend Sasha Semin for throwing some message board signature material our way.

Read the full interview here. It's worth it.
 

New in the shop: Updated hat trick hats!

Just in time for the '07-'08 Washington Capitals season, I've updated the Beltway Sports Shop's highest-selling item (registering a whopping three sales last season), the Hat Trick Hat!


(And don't worry, that ugly "BeltwaySportsBeat.com" tag isn't on the actual hat.)

That's right, now it's got it all! Not only does it have the new colors and kinda-similar-like number styles, it also includes a whole new player! Because I'm sure I wasn't the only person standing there during Alexander Semin's home-opener hat trick wondering, "Is it not right to throw an A.O. Hat Trick hat for a hat trick scored by someone other than A.O.?"

Problem solved.

The new version has #8 AND #28, and instead of being an "A.O. Hat Trick Hat," is now an "Alexanders" hat trick hat. Smart!

A bargain for just $14.99! Buy yours today! Exclamation points!!!!!!!
 

Capitals Take On The Penguins Tonight

Your nation's Capitals take on the hated Pittsburgh Penguins/Pengwhines/Pengweenies tonight at 7 at the Verizon Center and in front of a national audience on Versus.

It's round five of Alexander Ovechkin vs. Sidney Crosby, with the Penguins taking three of four of last year's meetings.

This year both teams have added another Russian stud to the mix. The Caps have Alexander Semin (12 goals, 12 assists), and the Pens have Evgeni Malkin (14 goals, 14 assists).

A few analysts ('sup, Barry Melrose?) have said that many GMs claim they would have taken Malkin over Ovechkin in the 2004 entry draft. I'm not going to claim that no GMs said that, but I'm going to call them out as the dirty liars that they are. Because before that 2004 draft, Ovechkin going number one was as much of a lock as Crosby going number one in 2005. And even in 2005 some scouts claimed that, had Phil Kessel been available, Crosby just might have been number two on their draft board.

A) Easy to say when it's not your pick.
B) Phil freaking Kessel? He's alright, but he was picked fifth last year. You're fired if you suggest Kessel over Crosby.
C) Sometimes when you have the number one pick, there's a pick you just HAVE TO make. Crosby in '05 was one. Ovechkin in '04 was another. LeBron James in the NBA in 2003. Reggie Bush in the NFL in 2006 ... whoops!

But enough about that crap, because the real talk is Ovechkin vs. Crosby.

And when I say "the real talk," I mean in USA Today, SI.com, ESPN.com, and on the Versus Web site (the network also ran banner ads on NHL.com and washingtonpost.com hyping the game).

So there's your pre-game reading.

Ovechkin's 18 goals lead a group of five Caps already in double-digits less than 30 games into the season. That group also includes Semin (12), Dainius Zubrus (12), Chris Clark (10) and Matt Pettinger (10).

Malkin and Crosby are the only Penguins with more than 10 goals thus far in the campaign.

In other news, is there any chance that Ryan Whitney gets introduced to Donald Brashear tonight? Please?

Terps 8-0, Caps and Wizards End Skids

I don't know what happened last night, but all the planets must have aligned just right because all three local teams playing won their games!

The Maryland Terrapins men's basketball team held off Illinois for a 72-66 win in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge, despite being without surprise senior standout Ikene Ibekwe. The Terps led by as much as 15 in the first half but watched their lead dwindle while they couldn't get anything going for much of the latter three-fourths of the game on offense.

Freshman guard Greivis Vasquez provided the spark for the Terps, who are now 8-0 and will get another test when they face Notre Dame at the Verizon Center in the BB&T Classic on Sunday.

---

The Capitals snapped their six game slide with a 5-2 win over Tampa Bay. The Lightning chucked 50 shots on Olie Kolzig, but he stopped 48 of them and the Caps took the win.

Alexander Semin scored a goal and added an assist in his first game back after missing four games with a shoulder injury. Alex Ovechkin scored an empty netter for his 16th goal of the season.

The Caps host the Dallas Stars tomorrow in a game that will feature the return of native son and former Caps captain Jeff Halpern. Elliot of Elliot in the Morning says the fans should boo Halpern to acknowledge him, but I think the fans will give him a nice round of applause.

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The Wizards managed to snap their four game skid with a 96-95 win over the Atlanta Hawks. The Wizards were tied with just over a minute left in the game, but they managed to pull out the victory despite Gilbert Arenas getting called for charging twice in the last 90 seconds.

Caron Butler went 15-for-15 from the free throw line, including the conversion of a three-point play to put the Wizards up 96-93, which was enough for the win.

The Wizards hope to build on the victory on Friday when they host Charlotte.

Weekend In Review

Apparently the sporting world has decided it's OK to cheat, as this weekend Detroit Tigers pitcher Kenny Rogers was found using some foreign substance on his hand, for which he received no penalty, and former Maryland Terrapin and current San Diego Charger Shawne Merriman was suspended four games for failing a steroid test.

What frustrates me more than anything in these stories is the relative lack of outrage. Is it too much to ask that professional athletes not cheat? Apparently not.

Now if you'll allow me to dismount this high horse I'll get on to the local stuff...

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D.C. United won 1-0 in the first leg of its first-round playoff series against the New York Red Bulls on Saturday afternoon. The second and final game of the series is set for Sunday at 6 p.m. at RFK Stadium, and all United needs is a draw to advance to the Eastern Conference finals.

MVP candidate Christian Gomez scored the only goal of the match on a sweet give-and-go from Jaime Moreno. Gomez got through the defense and chipped the ball over Red Bulls goalkeeper Jon Conway in the 77th minute.

When watching the game on TiVo I initially thought the shot missed and hit the outside of the net (which, thinking back, would have been almost impossible from where he was shooting). It was a fantastic shot.

---

The Maryland Terrapins avoided choking away a 20-point lead in their homecoming game on Saturday afternoon, holding on for a 26-20 victory over the N.C. State Wolfpack.

The Terps are now 5-2 (2-1 ACC) and are only one win away from bowl eligibility, although that may not be enough to actually get them into a bowl game.

N.C. State beat Florida State and Boston College at home earlier this season, which is a good sign because the Terps still have to face both of those teams (although BC will be in Boston).

The 'Noles come to College Park on Saturday for a 7 p.m. game.

---

Do I really need to comment on the Redskins? No? Good.
 
 
 
 

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The Capitals lost, 6-4, to the Lightning on Saturday night despite two goals from Alexander Ovechkin (although you'll never convince me that the first shouldn't have been credited to Alexander Semin).

In the third period, coach Glen Hanlon played with the lines a little, moving center Jakub Klepis up to the second line to work with Semin and Richard Zednik, displacing Kris Beech who thought he was a good fit on that line.

Now it appears Hanlon will give Klepis a few games with Zednik and Semin to see if they can add some production.

Klepis has no points so far this season, compared to Beech's goal and four assists. Granted, Klepis has been playing on a line with Rico Fata and Donald Brashear.

The other concern, as JP on Japers' Rink pointed out, is that Beech is the fourth best faceoff man in the NHL, while Klepis has lost 60 percent of the faceoffs he's taken.

Ideally when you have two potential big-time scorers like Semin and Zednik on a line, you'd like to gain control of the puck as often as possible.

On a side note, how long can Zednik possibly go without a goal? It seems like he's constantly swarming around the puck, going hard into the corners, making plays and making strong moves to keep the puck in the face of tight pressure from opposing defensemen, yet he hasn't found the back of the net this season. It's only a matter of time.

The Caps start a four-game Western Conference road trip Wednesday when they take on the Avalanche at 9 p.m. Eastern.

I'll Have a Couple More of Those Five Goal Periods, Please

The Capitals sure came out firing last night. They scored five goals in the first period on route to a 5-2 win over the Panthers and accomplishing the goal of six points in the first five games.

The goal scorers for your nation's Capitals were:
Alexander Semin (from Richard Zednik)
Chris Clark (from Brian Sutherby and Steve Eminger)
Jamie Heward (unassisted)
Kris Beech (from Semin and Zednik)
Matt Bradley (unassisted)

Semin scored his sixth goal of the year, so here goes...

Alex Watch: (5 games in)
	G	A	Pts	SOG	+/-	ATOI
Ovechkin	2	2	4	34	0	21:24
Semin	6	2	8	20	5	16:26

(SOG = Shots on Goal, ATOI = Average Time On Ice)

It would be hard to figure out just how much time they've been on the ice together (mostly during power plays), but given that the Alexes are on separate lines you've got to figure the Caps have at least one of them on the ice for about half of every game. Caps fans have got to love that.

The Capitals travel to Atlanta to take on the Thrashers at 7:00 tonight.

---

Something I forgot to mention yesterday when talking about D.C. United was that Fulham Football Club Manager Chris "Cookie" Coleman (no one really knows about the nickname) was seen at RFK a couple weeks ago during the United match against the New England Revolution.

Fulham is an English Premier League team (my favorite, for that matter).

There's no telling who he was scouting, but there have been some rumors in the past that Fulham has had interest in Freddy Adu -- although that could just be meaningless fan speculation. New England's Clint Dempsey was the other name tossed about by Fulham fans, but can I throw the name Christian Gomez into the mix? He is a finalist for the MLS MVP award, but at almost 32 he's probably too old to attract much interest from a major UEFA club.

New England also has Taylor Twellman, the 2005 MLS MVP who has supposedly received some interest from a couple of other Premiership clubs despite being snubbed by Bruce Arena for the 2006 U.S. World Cup side.

Fulham already has two Americans, Brian McBride and Carlos Bocanegra, both of whom play significant minutes.

2006-07 Washington Capitals Preview

Can I really call this a preview when the season's already two games in? Isn't it just a "view"? Doesn't matter. Enough with semantics.

By now, if you've been paying any attention whatsoever to the 2006-2007 edition of the Washington Capitals, you know that there's some things to be excited about. Obviously Alexander Ovechkin tops the list, but Alexander Semin announced his return on Saturday night with a hat trick.

2006-07 Capitals Toolkit Schedule Roster Team Stats: 2006-07 | 2005-06 Washington Post Capitals Section Major Departures: Jeff Halpern - C (Dallas)    44 points in '05-'06, team captain Brian Willsie - RW (Los Angeles)    19 goals, 22 assists in '05-'06 Mathieu Biron - D (Sharks AHL affiliate)    52 games played, -11 in '05-'06 Key Arrivals: Alexander Semin - LW (Russian League)    10 goals, 12 assists in '03-'04 Richard Zednik - RW (Montreal)    299 career points, three 20+ goal seasons Brian Pothier - D (Ottawa)    5 goals, 30 assists in '05-'06 Donald Brashear - RW (Philadelphia)    2,169 career PIMs, 179 career points Media Previews: • ESPN.com Washington Capitals season preview • Inside Hockey Washington Capitals season preview • ESPN.com: Southeast could be most talented division in NHL

Most Caps fans didn't need that performance to be excited about Semin's return, because in the 2003-04 season he scored 10 goals and added 12 assists in 52 games while proving he had the potential to be one of the league's most dynamic young players.

When the lockout rolled around Semin went back to play in Russia, but when the NHL started up again, Semin either wouldn't or couldn't (depending on who you believe) return to Washington. The Caps sued him and his agent but were unsuccessful in forcing him to come back, but eventually Semin and the Caps reached a deal that brought him back to the team.

Semin was a skinny 19-year-old in his first stint with the Caps, registering at 6'0", 174 lbs., but anyone with eyes can see he's added some muscle in his two years away from the team. The Caps' Web site now has him listed at 180 lbs., but other sites have him listed as high as 6'1", 187.

That gives the Caps two powerful goal-scoring Russians anchoring their offense, but the big question mark, like last season, is defense.

The Caps gave free agent defenseman Brian Pothier a deal worth a reported $10 million over four years. Pothier (pronounced Poth-ee-air, not Poth-ee-ay or Poitier) previous played with Ottawa and impressed the Caps with his quickness and ability to move the puck -- traits that are highly valued in the "new NHL." On the opposite end of that spectrum they signed hulking 6'4" defenseman John Erskine, formerly of the Islanders, although he seems set to receive limited playing time.

The Caps cut ties with struggling defensemen Nolan Yonkman, Ivan Majesky and Mathieu Biron and promoted 21-year-old Mike Green (21 today, actually -- happy birthday Mike! ... as if he reads this drivel) from the AHL champion Hershey Bears.

Coach Glen Hanlon also moved Ben Clymer from wing to defense to help bolster the young defensive squad.

The Caps signed one of the league's best enforcers -- and piano players -- in Donald Brashear. Between Brashear and Erskine, the message is clear: Mess with Ovechkin, Semin or Dainius Zubrus and you're going to face the consequences. Ryan Whitney better watch himself.

Offensively, the caps dealt for a familiar face in right wing Richard Zednik, who scored more than 20 goals each of the three seasons before the lockout but only netted 16 last season. The Caps have also promoted some offense from the championship Hershey squad, including center Kris Beech, who the Caps dealt to the Penguins in the Jaromir Jagr trade in the summer of 2001 and got back in last season's deal that sent Brendan Witt to Nashville. Beech has been working on a line with Semin and Zednik. Center Jakub Klepis, right wing Boyd Gordon and center Brooks Laich are all on the big club this year as well, although one of them may get sent down when left wing Matt Pettinger comes off the injured reserve.

In goal, the Caps still have the best goalie in the history of the club, Olie Kolzig, manning the nets, although he may get spelled for more games this season by backup Brent Johnson, who posted a .905 save percentage in 26 games (23 starts) for the Caps last season.

While most of the pundits are still predicting the Caps to land in the bottom two of the Eastern Conference again, Caps fans are hoping for more, but with a team as young as the Caps it's hard to know what to expect.

While the playoffs are seemingly unlikely, solid numbers from guys like Beech, Laich, Zednik and Pettinger complementing Ovechkin and Semin on offense, coupled with solid defense from Pothier, Green, Shaone Morrisonn, Steve Eminger could give the team a fighting chance.

After messing with the lines a little bit for the season opener at the Rangers, Hanlon went back to the top line that was so successful last season. From here on out look for Zubrus to center a line with Ovechkin and new captain Chris Clark.

The second line is the biggest improvement, with goal scoring wingers Semin and Zednik centered by, for now, Kris Beech.

While Hanlon will probably mix up the lines a little bit over the course of the season, they'll likely tend to look something like this:

Offense:
Ovechkin, Zubrus, Clark
Semin, Beech, Zednik
Pettinger, Brian Sutherby, Laich
Rico Fata, Klepis, Matt Bradley
(Extra: Brashear - LW, Gordon - RW)

Defense:
Pothier, Morrisonn
Clymer, Eminger
Jamie Heward, Green
(Extra: Brian Muir, Erskine)

The Caps play the Wild in Minnesota tonight at 8 p.m.

And Me Without My Hat

So my experience as a Washington Capitals "partial plan holder" got off to a real nice start on Saturday night as the Caps took a 5-2 win over the defending Stanley Cup champion Carolina Hurricanes by scoring three third period goals.

Alexander Semin scored his second, third and fourth goals of the season and the hats went on the ice. Not only did I not wear my A.O. Hat Trick Hat ($14.99 at the Beltway Sports Beat Shop), but it was a different Alex doing the scoring anyway, so it wouldn't really have felt right to heave it onto the playing surface.

I'm thinking I need to fix that hat so it just says "HAT TRICK HAT" or "ALEXANDER HAT TRICK HAT" with an 8 and a 28 on it. Not that anyone's buying them. (Come on people. Only a couple months before the holidays.)

I think this is where I rehash my idea about selling a hat for $5 at Verizon Center concession stands that just says "Hat Trick Hat," bring 'em out when someone has two goals, sell them for five bucks, then sweep 'em up, throw 'em through the wash and sell 'em again! These are the kinds of visionary ideas I should be paid for.

So in two games Semin has amassed 40 percent of his previous NHL total of 10 goals, all scored in his rookie campaign (and only prior season in the NHL) in 2003-04 when he played 52 games for the Caps.

This Alex and Alex combo is going to be nice.

Yes, it felt good to be back at the phone booth. The pregame ceremony was fun, including some sweet graphics on the ice and a cool team introduction (minus some flubs between the announcer and the AV team), and the team followed with five goals in a winning effort.

The crowd collectively held their breath when 'Canes defenseman Tim Gleason gave Ovechkin a low hit to the legs, leaving the Caps star on the ice in a heap for several minutes, but he got up, got a Band-Aid and didn't miss a shift.

Maybe it didn't help that Chris Clark leaped to Ovie's aid by jumping Gleason ... with both of them landing right on top of Ovechkin. But you like to see the new captain standing up for his star player.

Plus it's nice to think that on November 9, Timmy Gleason should have a face full of Donald Brashear.

Great game, great experience, and I've still got tickets to 10 more!

Time permitting I'll do a full Caps preview, hopefully between now and the next game, Thursday night at Minnesota.

10 Random Midweek Thoughts

1. The Sun says Jay Gibbons doesn't want to DH next season, but realizes that Nick Markakis has successfully taken his spot in right field. That's fine with me. He came up as a first basemen and he never was that good an outfielder. The O's forced him into the outfield because they've had Conine and Palmeiro manning first base, so Gibby has only played 86 of his 657 career games at first. No time to learn like the present. The O's are out of it (sorry to ruin it for you, but it's not like I'm telling you there's no such thing as Santa Claus) and they should start giving him time at first so he has in-game experience. The O's two biggest holes are first base and left field, and plugging Gibbons into first base allows them to go find a cheap slugging designated hitter, which are much easier to come by than cheap slugging first basemen. For example, Frank Thomas has an OPS of .885. He makes $500,000. Olmedo Saenz, trapped in the National League even though he's more suited to be a DH, has an .892 OPS to show for his $1 million salary. Those are both far better than Jeff Conine, Kevin Millar and Javy Lopez who have been rotating between DH and 1B (except for Javy who's caught a few games and hasn't played any 1B). It also allows the Orioles to focus their money on signing a star right fielder and a front-of-the-rotation starting pitcher. Of course the success of all this depends on Jay Gibbons staying healthy...

2. This video of Alexander Semin is pretty amazing. I can't wait to see him and Alexander Ovechkin on a team together.

3. I don't think the Nationals will sign Alfonso Soriano in the offseason. John Kruk thinks they will. I just can't see it unless he takes a huge hometown discount. Read Team President Stan Kasten's comments in The Washington Post and tell me how optimistic they make you...

4. You have to have a lot of My Coke Rewards points before you can get anything cool.

5. The Orioles could fall bass-ackwards into something they couldn't make happen before the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline: a trade! Javy Lopez wants out, and in the most brilliant stroke of luck for the Orioles, Red Sox catcher Jason Varitek hurt himself on deadline day and will be out for at least a month. Now it looks like Boston will get Javy and the O's will get something small in return while also picking up a portion of his contract, unless another team claims him and the Orioles just let him go knowing they won't have to pay him anymore. Either way, mission accomplished.

6. The Mystics have clinched a spot in the 2006 WNBA playoffs with six games to go in the regular season. If the playoffs started today the Mystics would play the first-place Connecticut Sun (what an awful name) in the first round, but they could still move up in the standings with some help. The 'Stics take on the West's fourth-place team, the Seattle Storm, tonight at 10 p.m. I would insult the WNBA here but that's really cliche.

7. The new Gym Class Heroes CD is really good, which by itself isn't that unbelievable, but what is surprising is that the indie-rock-inspired rap group created a dead ringer for a Strokes song with the CD's 12th track, "On My Own Time."

8. D.C. United advanced to the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open Cup with a sloppy 2-1 overtime win over the Columbus Crew on Tuesday. The win earns them a matchup with Atlantic Cup "rival" Red Bull New York (or the New York Red Bulls, depending on whether you are going by their logo or every other reference on the team's Web site). I personally prefer Red Bull New York. And I like to drink Red Bull. But I want D.C. United to beat them on August 23 at RFK Stadium.

9. This is one of the funniest things I've ever seen on the Internet (and it's loosely related to local sports).

10. Football season still hasn't started.