I wasn't able to watch Tuesday's Caps/Panthers match-up, that night. I wasn't able to start it before the kids were in bed, and then crashed right after putting them in bed. Ugh.
But that's why we have DVRs, so I watched it last night. And man, was that a game.
Until it started, I didn't realize how closely matched the teams were likely to be. I assumed the Caps were way ahead of the Panthers in the standings (just based on past history). Well, if so, then one point is the definition of "way ahead".
It didn't start especially well for the Caps. Through the first half of the first period, they weren't allowing a bunch of shots, but also weren't taking them. And they spent entirely too much time in their own end. It was a game featuring a heavily-clogged neutral zone and a lot of hitting.
The Caps weathered the storm after bending a bit on a rough forecheck, though, and by the end of the first, things had evened out a bit. The Caps were ahead on shots (9-6), though I was guessing they were also ahead on blocks. Not so, after checking: Florida was ahead there, 9-2. For those who want to figure full Corsi or Fenwick, missed shots were even, at five a side (WSH CF% 64, FF% 56. Great numbers!).
The second period also didn't start great, with Florida getting an early power play, but the Caps killed it off (painfully; three shots plus one blocked). The Caps got a chance back a minute later when Wilson drew a hooking call on Flash. They weren't able to really get set up, though, and got only two shots off (both by OV).
A few minutes later, the Caps got another chance when Backstrom drew a hooking call. This time, they quickly cashed in. Brouwer's first shot was blocked, and went out to OV. Sasha put it back to Troy, whose second shot was blocked as well, but Brouwer got another shot immediately with the puck right next to the blocking defenseman, and this one not only got through, but went over Luongo and into the top of the net.
It looked like the rest of the period would be played at evens, but Orpik was called for slashing with 2:06 left, forcing an end-of-period kill with a regular PKer in the box. Despite that, it went well, with a successful kill, allowing only three attempts (one wide, two blocked) against.
For the period, shots were even at ten (even at seven, at evens), WSH CF% 46, FF% 48. At evens, 46% and 47%. Not disastrous, but not good.
The third period had a ridiculous amount of cloggage and hitting (hits for the game were 50-48, in favor of Florida), with no penalties or scoring. Play was heavily in favor of Florida, though, with shots 11-3 in their favor. Yuck.
Going to full Corsi or Fenwick doesn't really make things look better for the Caps, either. WSH CF% 27, FF% 29. Wretched numbers. Truly wretched.
The only thing that made it look better was that, at one point, Laich appeared to score. But it was ruled to be kicked in (though I feel like pointing out that it was not a dangerous kick, being sideways by a trailing foot), so it was disallowed. And man, was that a pig-pile in front of the net when it happened. I think there were seven or eight players inside, or next to, the crease.
So, it went into overtime, where the Caps looked a little better. Shots were even, with Washington having the only missed shot (and there were no blocked shots, by either team. Very weird. Makes me wonder how much the percentage generally goes down at 4-on-4).
Overall, WSH ES CF% 49, FF% 46. Definitely a "needs improvement" rating on both of those.
And that's when the game really got interesting. It didn't seem like much when all three shooters, by both teams, were held scoreless. It didn't even seem like much when the fourth shooter from each team scored (OV and Jokinen). It started to seem a little weird when the next two shooters from each team were held out.
And quite a bit weird when the next two from each team scored (Ward and Carlson vs Mackenzie and Bergenheim).
Then things turned downright bizarre as the next five from each team all failed. Surely, someone wants to win, right?
Orpik and Olsen both did, so they cancelled each other out.
Alzner completed the list of options for Trotz, and was kept away. Mitchell (ironic, picking the captain last), similarly.
Backstrom and OV went next, and were each denied (OV beat Lu, but put it over the net). Jokinen was stopped in his second attempt, but Bjugstad ended it with a snap-shot that Holtby couldn't follow.
Yeah, twenty rounds. The Caps have now been involved in both of the longest shoot-outs in league history. I say they should have given the goalies a chance (at least the back-ups) before starting through the line-up again.
I'm not a fan of the shoot-out (I think it's a terrible "solution" to the problem of preventing ties, and playing for ties), but that was an interesting one.
The one thing I can't figure out is how Holtby didn't end up one of the stars of the game. For that matter, why wasn't Luongo first star?
Next up is the rubber match against Columbus, tonight at seven. Go Caps!
Showing posts with label florida. Show all posts
Showing posts with label florida. Show all posts
20141218
20140302
Brouwer-power play puts Caps over Cats
I knew that the Caps had a tough schedule coming out of the Olympic break, although I hadn't realized just how quickly it got going. I watched last Thursday's game against Florida after putting the kids to be that night, but missed yesterday's Bruins game until today (part of that was being a bit sick), and almost missed today's Flyer's game entirely.
But first, let's talk about that Cats game.
The Caps started the first period very slowly. In fact, I don't think they managed any offensive zone possession until they got their first power play, five minutes in. Fortunately, they held Florida to only one shot over that time as well (I have no idea how, as the Cats had quite a bit of zone time). Even worse, Grabo was injured in that time, and was out for the rest of the game (and maybe the season? I need to find out).
But things went well on that power play, with several quick shots resulting in Brouwer pocketing a rebound to give the Caps a lead. Two and a half minutes later.... the Caps scored again, as Orlov jumped a pass and fired it ahead to OV for a 2-on-1 with Laich. That ended in Laich's nicest goal of the season, as he rifled the pass behind Thomas to double the lead.
Play went back and forth for the rest of the period, with a small edge to Florida in possession, but the Panthers did manage to score on a very pretty pass from Winchester in the corner to Flash out front.
The second period started pretty slow for the Caps as well, with Florida scoring in the first minute to tie the game up. But Washington retook the lead three minutes later on an innocuous-seeming play that finished with Erat shooting it into Thomas, and Backstrom cleaning up the rebound into an unguarded goal.
Washington looked pretty good, with play going back and forth for much of the rest of the period. But they got another power play with a minute and a quarter left, as Jovo-cop had to trip Brouwer to keep him getting in alone behind the defense. That resulted in another power play goal half a minute later, with Brouwer tipping in OV's shot to get back to another two-goal lead.
The third period didn't seem to start with a big lull like the first two periods, but there still wasn't much happening for quite a while. Unfortunately, when something did happen, it followed Holtby accidentally putting the puck over the glass, and Shore found the back of the net on the resulting power play. Just over a minute later, Boyes also found the twine to tie the game up again (ugh!).
Thanks largely to several more power plays, the rest of the period went largely in Florida's favor, although Washington did manage to score again when Backstrom sprung Laich and OV on another 2-on-1 and OV scored on pretty much the mirror of Laich's earlier goal.
One bit of fun in there came half a minute earlier as Green was sprung coming out of the box on one of those penalties, and got a clean breakaway. His subtle move actually got Thomas to trip himself, but Tim stayed with the play and got his glove on the final shot (oh, to have gotten that shot up just a little bit) for the save. Very disappointing.
But the Caps did hold on for the win, happily. It wasn't impressive looking (though Fenwick 5-on-5 close did favor the Caps, slightly), but they got the job done.
Holtby looked pretty good; it was hard to fault him for any of the goals scored, although that delay of game penalty certainly didn't help.
The power play was certainly cooking. They got two goals in less than a minute and a half of total man-advantage time, after generating ten shot attempts (eight (!) on net). Gotta love that!
The penalty kill looked pretty good at first glance, with only the one goal in almost ten minutes of time short-handed. But that was with twenty-two shot attempts (eleven on net), which is far too many. So we'll have to chalk the results up to good luck and good goaltending.
Overall, the only thing to be upset about was that they twice failed to hold two-goal leads, which is not exactly a new situation with the Caps. The old trope about it being "the most dangerous lead in hockey" is certainly crap, but it didn't feel like it in that game.
But first, let's talk about that Cats game.
The Caps started the first period very slowly. In fact, I don't think they managed any offensive zone possession until they got their first power play, five minutes in. Fortunately, they held Florida to only one shot over that time as well (I have no idea how, as the Cats had quite a bit of zone time). Even worse, Grabo was injured in that time, and was out for the rest of the game (and maybe the season? I need to find out).
But things went well on that power play, with several quick shots resulting in Brouwer pocketing a rebound to give the Caps a lead. Two and a half minutes later.... the Caps scored again, as Orlov jumped a pass and fired it ahead to OV for a 2-on-1 with Laich. That ended in Laich's nicest goal of the season, as he rifled the pass behind Thomas to double the lead.
Play went back and forth for the rest of the period, with a small edge to Florida in possession, but the Panthers did manage to score on a very pretty pass from Winchester in the corner to Flash out front.
The second period started pretty slow for the Caps as well, with Florida scoring in the first minute to tie the game up. But Washington retook the lead three minutes later on an innocuous-seeming play that finished with Erat shooting it into Thomas, and Backstrom cleaning up the rebound into an unguarded goal.
Washington looked pretty good, with play going back and forth for much of the rest of the period. But they got another power play with a minute and a quarter left, as Jovo-cop had to trip Brouwer to keep him getting in alone behind the defense. That resulted in another power play goal half a minute later, with Brouwer tipping in OV's shot to get back to another two-goal lead.
The third period didn't seem to start with a big lull like the first two periods, but there still wasn't much happening for quite a while. Unfortunately, when something did happen, it followed Holtby accidentally putting the puck over the glass, and Shore found the back of the net on the resulting power play. Just over a minute later, Boyes also found the twine to tie the game up again (ugh!).
Thanks largely to several more power plays, the rest of the period went largely in Florida's favor, although Washington did manage to score again when Backstrom sprung Laich and OV on another 2-on-1 and OV scored on pretty much the mirror of Laich's earlier goal.
One bit of fun in there came half a minute earlier as Green was sprung coming out of the box on one of those penalties, and got a clean breakaway. His subtle move actually got Thomas to trip himself, but Tim stayed with the play and got his glove on the final shot (oh, to have gotten that shot up just a little bit) for the save. Very disappointing.
But the Caps did hold on for the win, happily. It wasn't impressive looking (though Fenwick 5-on-5 close did favor the Caps, slightly), but they got the job done.
Holtby looked pretty good; it was hard to fault him for any of the goals scored, although that delay of game penalty certainly didn't help.
The power play was certainly cooking. They got two goals in less than a minute and a half of total man-advantage time, after generating ten shot attempts (eight (!) on net). Gotta love that!
The penalty kill looked pretty good at first glance, with only the one goal in almost ten minutes of time short-handed. But that was with twenty-two shot attempts (eleven on net), which is far too many. So we'll have to chalk the results up to good luck and good goaltending.
Overall, the only thing to be upset about was that they twice failed to hold two-goal leads, which is not exactly a new situation with the Caps. The old trope about it being "the most dangerous lead in hockey" is certainly crap, but it didn't feel like it in that game.
20131214
Round and round and round and round and round...
Last night's Caps/Panthers tilt was definitely one of fits and starts. When it started, and they showed the goalie stats (Gru's save pct ten percent (not ten points, but actually ten percent) higher than Clemmenson's, I commented to my wife that the Caps ought to win by three, just based on that. Of course, I was forgetting how small the sample on Gru's stats is (mostly due to not noticing it being Gru until a moment later)).
Anyway, the game started out, and that seemed reasonable. Greenie had a goal disallowed when Erat tripped over Clemmenson's foot a second before the shot (although I think I watched it three times before I saw the contact, which says something about how disruptive it was). A minute later, the whistle was blown when the puck was on the ice behind Clem (OV tapped it in, not that it mattered).
Then it appeared things were going really well, as the Caps got a power play. But it was a pretty poor effort, as they were unable to maintain any zone time. And the next twenty minutes was pretty much all Florida, as they completely dominated possession. Actually, you could really say that the rest of the game was all Florida, as I don't think there was more than a shift or two for the rest of the game where the Caps really dominated.
Fortunately, Grubauer was killing it, and stopping just about everything. Despite shots being 16-7 in the first, the score was only one-nil. The second period was almost as bad, at 13-8, but thanks to some pretty wild penalties, the score ended up tied at two. And the third period didn't have a whole lot going on, as both teams were largely playing for the loser point (but still, shots were 9-6) and nobody managed to score.
That took it into overtime, which was end-to-end firewagon hockey (seven total shots on net), but again, no one was able to tickle the twine.
Which put the Caps back into a position with which they're very familiar: the shootout. It started out well for the Caps, as Fehr opened with a score, while Barkov was stopped. But then OV was also stopped. After that, the next five shooters scored. Then eleven (!) in a row were stopped before Kopecky won it for Florida.
All in all, a miserable game in which the Caps didn't deserve the standing point they got. It wasn't their worst of the season, by 5v5 Fenwick close, but it was probably their third worst (I can definitely think of two, anyway, although one of those was worse by less than a point).
And honestly, I'm a little surprised it was as close as it was. Gru had a fantastic game, and likely should have gotten the star of the game (thirty-nine stops). Dima might be the only skater for Washington to have had a good game (at least, he looked really good to me). Backstrom was also decent, as was Ward.
But the main point, of course, is that the Caps need to play more in the other end of the rink. They spent far, far too much time in their own D-zone, and had a lot of trouble clearing. Maybe those two good games really were just a mirage.
Things get a little tougher now, as a home-and-home against the Flyers in next. First, at home tomorrow at three. Go Caps!
Anyway, the game started out, and that seemed reasonable. Greenie had a goal disallowed when Erat tripped over Clemmenson's foot a second before the shot (although I think I watched it three times before I saw the contact, which says something about how disruptive it was). A minute later, the whistle was blown when the puck was on the ice behind Clem (OV tapped it in, not that it mattered).
Then it appeared things were going really well, as the Caps got a power play. But it was a pretty poor effort, as they were unable to maintain any zone time. And the next twenty minutes was pretty much all Florida, as they completely dominated possession. Actually, you could really say that the rest of the game was all Florida, as I don't think there was more than a shift or two for the rest of the game where the Caps really dominated.
Fortunately, Grubauer was killing it, and stopping just about everything. Despite shots being 16-7 in the first, the score was only one-nil. The second period was almost as bad, at 13-8, but thanks to some pretty wild penalties, the score ended up tied at two. And the third period didn't have a whole lot going on, as both teams were largely playing for the loser point (but still, shots were 9-6) and nobody managed to score.
That took it into overtime, which was end-to-end firewagon hockey (seven total shots on net), but again, no one was able to tickle the twine.
Which put the Caps back into a position with which they're very familiar: the shootout. It started out well for the Caps, as Fehr opened with a score, while Barkov was stopped. But then OV was also stopped. After that, the next five shooters scored. Then eleven (!) in a row were stopped before Kopecky won it for Florida.
All in all, a miserable game in which the Caps didn't deserve the standing point they got. It wasn't their worst of the season, by 5v5 Fenwick close, but it was probably their third worst (I can definitely think of two, anyway, although one of those was worse by less than a point).
And honestly, I'm a little surprised it was as close as it was. Gru had a fantastic game, and likely should have gotten the star of the game (thirty-nine stops). Dima might be the only skater for Washington to have had a good game (at least, he looked really good to me). Backstrom was also decent, as was Ward.
But the main point, of course, is that the Caps need to play more in the other end of the rink. They spent far, far too much time in their own D-zone, and had a lot of trouble clearing. Maybe those two good games really were just a mirage.
Things get a little tougher now, as a home-and-home against the Flyers in next. First, at home tomorrow at three. Go Caps!
20131104
Cat-astrophe averted
I watched the Caps game Saturday night, almost live. I must admit, though, that I was paying a lot less attention than I usually do.
The lineup was the same as on Friday, with OV still out, which was disappointing, if not surprising.
What I did notice, while watching, was that the Panthers were generally doing better. What makes the stats look better (for the Caps), is that the Cats spent a lot more time on the power play, and the Caps blocked a lot more shots (23-11, which is actually closer than I thought). What those mean are that many (twelve) of the Cats shots don't show up in '5-on-5 even' analysis, and that the blocked shots don't show up in Fenwick.
The result of that is that the Fenwick, 5-on-5 evens number was slightly in the Caps favor (52.5% for Caps), but Corsi was wildly negative (41.7% for Caps). And all-situations analysis doesn't work in the Caps favor, for either Fenwick or Corsi. Not promising.
But the problem with looking too narrowly at that is that the Cats were on the power play so much because the Caps were mostly chasing them. And if blocked shots are that uneven, it means that the team doing all the blocking is spending way too much time defending.
So, the end result, the win, was good to see (even if it took a shootout, thanks to a nice goal from Campbell and Flash with a couple minutes left).
And I'm almost glad to see that, thanks to that late goal, the 35-ish straight penalty kills streak was broken. I always thought that was pretty fragile, and it is quite a tribute to both Holtby and Neuvy that it happened, but I felt like it was masking some serious weakness in the Penalty Kill. I hope that more attention gets paid to the shots they're allowing. It's still too many.
Unsurprisingly, without OV, the power play did look less powerful, although Fehr did do a credible job of taking OV's position there. But the play seemed a bit less cohesive. Again, no big surprise there.
Ok, what were the good parts? Well, I'd like to say something about playing from ahead, instead of behind, because that's definitely preferable. But that was mostly due to superior goaltending (really, Neuvy had a fantastic game, with several "how did he do that?" saves, and careful reading of above shows he saved eleven of twelve penalty kill shots, which is also great), not due to superior skater performance. What was good was that a) they didn't let up and give up a goal right after scoring and b) they responded to Florida's first goal with their own goal. And Latta and Schmidt both looked good.
But it still feels like they're spending too much time chasing the other team; they need to start being the ones driving play.
I'd like to make an excuse of OV being gone leading to driving play happening less, but the last two games have been half of the team's games on the season with positive 5-on-5 close Fenwick differential. So OV coming back isn't going to do it, all by itself.
I think a lineup shakeup is needed, particularly among the forwards. And the defensemen need to play better, both offensively and defensively, in their own end. And that includes the three at the top of the lineup; I don't think any of the three of them are playing to their abilities. I think the bottom three there have been about as good as one could realistically hope.
But I still don't understand the line combinations, outside of the top line. Well, the "third" line has looked very good, so I wouldn't mess with that. But I think Laich and Brouwer need to be separated (unless you're going to make it a straight checking line, which would be a waste of Erat's talents), and would like to see Fehr moved out of center (Latta looks perfectly serviceable as a checking line center).
Anyway, I think the whole thing's a bit of a mess, and I hope that part of it is that Oates is running experiments to figure out optimal lines.
And, of course, part of the driver with this was the shuffling done to keep Wilson up at the beginning of the season. Backstrom, Grabo, Perreault, and Latta/Beagle would have been one heck of a center group. And that was sacrificed in favor of giving $1.3M Wilson seven minutes a night? Well, water under the bridge, I guess, but seeing Perreault getting a point a game, and killing it in Fenwick, continues to be irritating.
Ah well, need to stop sounding like a broken record, and hope things improve. Next chance is tomorrow night against the Islanders. One odd tidbit for that one; neither team has yet scored an overtime goal, so bet on a shootout if they get to overtime. At least the Caps have superior goaltending; go Caps!
The lineup was the same as on Friday, with OV still out, which was disappointing, if not surprising.
What I did notice, while watching, was that the Panthers were generally doing better. What makes the stats look better (for the Caps), is that the Cats spent a lot more time on the power play, and the Caps blocked a lot more shots (23-11, which is actually closer than I thought). What those mean are that many (twelve) of the Cats shots don't show up in '5-on-5 even' analysis, and that the blocked shots don't show up in Fenwick.
The result of that is that the Fenwick, 5-on-5 evens number was slightly in the Caps favor (52.5% for Caps), but Corsi was wildly negative (41.7% for Caps). And all-situations analysis doesn't work in the Caps favor, for either Fenwick or Corsi. Not promising.
But the problem with looking too narrowly at that is that the Cats were on the power play so much because the Caps were mostly chasing them. And if blocked shots are that uneven, it means that the team doing all the blocking is spending way too much time defending.
So, the end result, the win, was good to see (even if it took a shootout, thanks to a nice goal from Campbell and Flash with a couple minutes left).
And I'm almost glad to see that, thanks to that late goal, the 35-ish straight penalty kills streak was broken. I always thought that was pretty fragile, and it is quite a tribute to both Holtby and Neuvy that it happened, but I felt like it was masking some serious weakness in the Penalty Kill. I hope that more attention gets paid to the shots they're allowing. It's still too many.
Unsurprisingly, without OV, the power play did look less powerful, although Fehr did do a credible job of taking OV's position there. But the play seemed a bit less cohesive. Again, no big surprise there.
Ok, what were the good parts? Well, I'd like to say something about playing from ahead, instead of behind, because that's definitely preferable. But that was mostly due to superior goaltending (really, Neuvy had a fantastic game, with several "how did he do that?" saves, and careful reading of above shows he saved eleven of twelve penalty kill shots, which is also great), not due to superior skater performance. What was good was that a) they didn't let up and give up a goal right after scoring and b) they responded to Florida's first goal with their own goal. And Latta and Schmidt both looked good.
But it still feels like they're spending too much time chasing the other team; they need to start being the ones driving play.
I'd like to make an excuse of OV being gone leading to driving play happening less, but the last two games have been half of the team's games on the season with positive 5-on-5 close Fenwick differential. So OV coming back isn't going to do it, all by itself.
I think a lineup shakeup is needed, particularly among the forwards. And the defensemen need to play better, both offensively and defensively, in their own end. And that includes the three at the top of the lineup; I don't think any of the three of them are playing to their abilities. I think the bottom three there have been about as good as one could realistically hope.
But I still don't understand the line combinations, outside of the top line. Well, the "third" line has looked very good, so I wouldn't mess with that. But I think Laich and Brouwer need to be separated (unless you're going to make it a straight checking line, which would be a waste of Erat's talents), and would like to see Fehr moved out of center (Latta looks perfectly serviceable as a checking line center).
Anyway, I think the whole thing's a bit of a mess, and I hope that part of it is that Oates is running experiments to figure out optimal lines.
And, of course, part of the driver with this was the shuffling done to keep Wilson up at the beginning of the season. Backstrom, Grabo, Perreault, and Latta/Beagle would have been one heck of a center group. And that was sacrificed in favor of giving $1.3M Wilson seven minutes a night? Well, water under the bridge, I guess, but seeing Perreault getting a point a game, and killing it in Fenwick, continues to be irritating.
Ah well, need to stop sounding like a broken record, and hope things improve. Next chance is tomorrow night against the Islanders. One odd tidbit for that one; neither team has yet scored an overtime goal, so bet on a shootout if they get to overtime. At least the Caps have superior goaltending; go Caps!
20130720
Standing your ground?
I was listening to NPR yesterday, and they were talking about people boycotting Florida (refusing to vacation there, for instance). They brought on someone to defend the bill, who was saying how it was supposed to protect people visiting the state, in case of someone invading their hotel, say.
I was a bit surprised; after all, the bill is only about saying that you don't have to try to leave when you can. I wonder how he thinks people can leave when someone invades their hotel room.
A few minutes after, they gave a portion of a floor speech by a Democratic lawmaker (I missed his name), talking about repeal. I forget exactly what he said, but I could hear a subtext in his words of, "I can't freakin' believe I have to say crap like this to people who would label themselves 'pro-life'. Do they have any self-awareness at all?"
The whole thing just seems amazingly stupid, unless your goal is to increase homicides. After all, the whole point of the bill is to escalate hostile encounters. Inevitably, that will lead to people dying, as we saw with Trayvon Martin.
I hadn't realized there were already thirty states with 'stand your ground' bills. At that point, the federal government really needs to step in, because that's some mighty widespread insanity.
Actually, there was one surprise with this. Virginia, gun-loving state that it is, is not one of the 'stand your ground' states. Let's thank heaven for that.
I was a bit surprised; after all, the bill is only about saying that you don't have to try to leave when you can. I wonder how he thinks people can leave when someone invades their hotel room.
A few minutes after, they gave a portion of a floor speech by a Democratic lawmaker (I missed his name), talking about repeal. I forget exactly what he said, but I could hear a subtext in his words of, "I can't freakin' believe I have to say crap like this to people who would label themselves 'pro-life'. Do they have any self-awareness at all?"
The whole thing just seems amazingly stupid, unless your goal is to increase homicides. After all, the whole point of the bill is to escalate hostile encounters. Inevitably, that will lead to people dying, as we saw with Trayvon Martin.
I hadn't realized there were already thirty states with 'stand your ground' bills. At that point, the federal government really needs to step in, because that's some mighty widespread insanity.
Actually, there was one surprise with this. Virginia, gun-loving state that it is, is not one of the 'stand your ground' states. Let's thank heaven for that.
20130715
He's guilty, guilty I tell you...
I heard, last night, about the verdict in the Zimmerman trial down in Florida being handed down. Frankly, it's nauseating that someone can get away with killing an unarmed kid like that. I saw a couple of interesting takes, one pointing out that a police officer doing something like that would probably lose his badge (and it takes a lot for that to happen, given who does the enforcing, and such). Another mentioned that two armed people could easily end up in a duel, where both are just standing their ground. Crazy.
Of course, this is the same state that, in a badly executed anti-gambling law, defined a slot machine as anything that can be used to play a game of chance for money. Wonder how many cell phones and computers have been seized already, pursuant to that.
I wish I had something deeper to saw, but I'm frankly shocked. The idea that an armed man can initiate an encounter, and then kill someone without repercussions is absolutely horrifying. I suspect it'll take an undercover officer getting killed to get rid of the law.
Anyway, I hope there will be an appeal to overturn it. We'll see.
Update: This Tom Tomorrow comic is brilliant.
And the Daily Show was killing it (no pun intended).
Of course, this is the same state that, in a badly executed anti-gambling law, defined a slot machine as anything that can be used to play a game of chance for money. Wonder how many cell phones and computers have been seized already, pursuant to that.
I wish I had something deeper to saw, but I'm frankly shocked. The idea that an armed man can initiate an encounter, and then kill someone without repercussions is absolutely horrifying. I suspect it'll take an undercover officer getting killed to get rid of the law.
Anyway, I hope there will be an appeal to overturn it. We'll see.
Update: This Tom Tomorrow comic is brilliant.
And the Daily Show was killing it (no pun intended).
20130216
Where are we now?
I previously mentioned that I spent two weeks in Hong Kong. I wasn't able to watch any games while I was there (heck, I even missed the Super Bowl. Forgot about it, actually, despite being reminded a day or two before); heck, their play before leaving didn't exactly inspire me to try GameCenter Live or look for illicit streams.
But I did still check on the stats of the games... well, at least the scores; I only looked at the full box score once or twice. Man, was it depressing.
We did get back just in time (technically, a few minutes late, but the DVR was still running) for the Caps/Cats matchup on Saturday. Despite not sleeping on the plane (16 hrs of flight. ugh), I still managed to stay awake to watch it.
The fact that the Caps were kicking butt (and getting a bit of puck luck) certainly helped with the staying awake part. I don't really remember a whole lot, beyond Perreault having a good game and the team generally getting all the breaks. No complaints (to be clear, without the luck, it probably would have been a 3-1 game, rather than 5-0; the team was still doing a lot of things right and Florida wasn't).
I had to watch Tuesday's game against Florida as well, of course, though I might remember even less of it. It certainly amazed me that they came back from being two goals down; nice to get that kind of surprise, for once. My hazy recollection has them playing well for most of the game, with some terrible puck luck (what are the odds Erskine would deflect TWO shots into his own goal?). I do remember thinking that Holtby had actually had a pretty decent game, despite all those goals. There was some fluky stuff in there (although at least one fluke, Florida managing to not get a shot on goal on a 4-on-1 (those exist?!?) did go the Caps' way).
Thursday's game was excellent, though. They came at Tampa hard, took it to them, and dominated the game solidly (well, except for a five minute stretch of the third, where they had some breakdowns). Perreault again looked excellent, with some very nice assists (although what that left defenseman thought he was doing on the last goal is an interesting question). Fehr, finishing two of those assists also looked very good. OV looked good, mostly avoiding trying to do too much. And I loved the shot differential for the team as a whole.
You'll notice I haven't talked about Brouwer or Ribeiro, who have both been excellent for the whole season. Brouwer tried to get his third consecutive game-winning goal, but had to settle for just having the first. Ribeiro continued his trend of getting whacked in the face with a stick, and the other guy not getting a penalty. It's really irritating (more so for him, I'm sure).
Anyway, that's about enough for now. Now that I'm caught up, hopefully I can write a little more constructively when I'm only writing about one game. And hopefully I can get started writing about the trip, which was great.
But I did still check on the stats of the games... well, at least the scores; I only looked at the full box score once or twice. Man, was it depressing.
We did get back just in time (technically, a few minutes late, but the DVR was still running) for the Caps/Cats matchup on Saturday. Despite not sleeping on the plane (16 hrs of flight. ugh), I still managed to stay awake to watch it.
The fact that the Caps were kicking butt (and getting a bit of puck luck) certainly helped with the staying awake part. I don't really remember a whole lot, beyond Perreault having a good game and the team generally getting all the breaks. No complaints (to be clear, without the luck, it probably would have been a 3-1 game, rather than 5-0; the team was still doing a lot of things right and Florida wasn't).
I had to watch Tuesday's game against Florida as well, of course, though I might remember even less of it. It certainly amazed me that they came back from being two goals down; nice to get that kind of surprise, for once. My hazy recollection has them playing well for most of the game, with some terrible puck luck (what are the odds Erskine would deflect TWO shots into his own goal?). I do remember thinking that Holtby had actually had a pretty decent game, despite all those goals. There was some fluky stuff in there (although at least one fluke, Florida managing to not get a shot on goal on a 4-on-1 (those exist?!?) did go the Caps' way).
Thursday's game was excellent, though. They came at Tampa hard, took it to them, and dominated the game solidly (well, except for a five minute stretch of the third, where they had some breakdowns). Perreault again looked excellent, with some very nice assists (although what that left defenseman thought he was doing on the last goal is an interesting question). Fehr, finishing two of those assists also looked very good. OV looked good, mostly avoiding trying to do too much. And I loved the shot differential for the team as a whole.
You'll notice I haven't talked about Brouwer or Ribeiro, who have both been excellent for the whole season. Brouwer tried to get his third consecutive game-winning goal, but had to settle for just having the first. Ribeiro continued his trend of getting whacked in the face with a stick, and the other guy not getting a penalty. It's really irritating (more so for him, I'm sure).
Anyway, that's about enough for now. Now that I'm caught up, hopefully I can write a little more constructively when I'm only writing about one game. And hopefully I can get started writing about the trip, which was great.
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