Details on a Michigan bank suing Sergei Fedorov

From Tarik-El Bashir of the Washington Post:

Sergei Fedorov is being sued by a Michigan bank that says the Washington Capitals center has failed to pay more than $2 million in loans taken out four years ago.

According to a lawsuit filed Monday in Macomb County (Mich.) Circuit Court, Fedorov owes Citizens State Bank more than $2.1 million on two separate loans -- one for $1.75 million and another for $500,000. The first loan was made in December 2004, the second in April 2005.

Read the entire article here.

Why on earth was Sergei Fedorov taking out loans???????????

Theodore excited to be in Washington

From Tarik El-Bashir of the Washington Post:

"When I saw things weren't progressing with Cristobal, I knew there was going to be an opening," said Théodore, whose name is pronounced Joe-Zay Thee-O-Dore. "So I didn't want to sign too quickly in Denver."

"This was my first choice," he added. "They [also] have the best player in the league."

Read the entire story here.

I still don't like this move by the Capitals. Theodore will be left out to dry in their offensive system, and I'm not sure he'd even do the trick with a defensive system in front of him.

Capitals re-sign Brooks Laich and Fedorov

From Tarik El-Bashir of the Washington Post:

Forward Brooks Laich has avoided arbitration and re-signed with the Caps for three seasons. Laich will earn $1.7 million, $2.1 million and $2.4 million.

Read the entire report here.

From TSN:

The Washington Capitals have re-signed forward Sergei Fedorov to a one-year $4 million contract.

Read the entire report here.

Laich's contract seems like a reasonable deal for both sides, but how on earth did Fedorov net $4 million for one season? He hasn't been even close to his former self for about five years now and produces at a level that would warrant something a lot closer to $3 million.

Has Fedorov re-signed in Washington?

From Katie Carrera of the Washington Post:

AOL Fanhouse has posted a quote from KHL President Alexander Medvedev's who says Sergei Fedorov is not joining the Kontinental Hockey League because he will resign with Washington today. Such a report is premature according to Captials officials, though, who said the team is still in negotiations with Fedorov, that an agreement has not yet been reached and an there is no expected announcement.

Read the entire entry from Capitals Insider here.

Both sides seem adamant on getting a deal done. So, although the deal isn't official, it seems as good as done.

Len Barrie predicts division title

From Damian Cristodero of the St. Petersburg Times:

"I'll predict right now, Tampa Bay will win the division," he said of the
Southeast. "That's how much we like our team."

Read more from Lightning Strikes here.

You have to like Barrie's passion, but this move only puts unnecessary pressure on his team. Sure they have added a lot of talent this off-season, but the team will still face intense division competition from Washington and Carolina.

Bruce Boudreau on Jose Theodore

From Katie Carrera of the Washington Post:

He's looking forward to having Jose Theodore, who's expected in Arlington sometime this week, join the team. "He had a great year in Colorado. If you look what he did, they had so many injuries to top-notch players and still made the playoffs and to still play as well as he did. I wish Cris the best of luck in the world... but he's on a different team now, so we're not worried about him."

Read more on the Capitals here.

I'm not so sure Boudreau will love Theodore when he stops 60 shots one night and then can't stop a beachball the next night. The Capitals are a fairly young squad, so the netminder's inconsistency could be an issue next season.

Capitals summer camp observations

From Katie Carrera of the Washington Post:

Sorry for not getting this up sooner, trying to get a handle on stories for tomorrow. But here are some of my earliest observations.

--Karl Alzner looks good and the thing that stood out the most is how polished he is. He's bigger than I remember him looking last year and he's living up to his billing as a calm on-ice presence. If you get a chance to visit Kettler, watch him skate. His footwork is a lot more fluid than some of the choppy styles you'll see from other defensemen. You'll be able to read more about Alzner in my story for tomorrow's paper.

Read more from Capitals Insider here.

Last check, I thought it was early July...

Capitals want Fedorov back

From Tarik El-Bashir of the Washington Post:

"We've talked to Sergei," McPhee said. "He wants to come here and is
willing to wait until some of the dust settles. We'll continue to talk to him,
but we're pretty confident that we'll get something done here."

Read the entire article here.

The Capitals liked the way Fedorov fit into their team late last season and would like to bring the former star back for another season. Whether another team gives Fedorov more money than the Caps is another story. I suspect he will return to Washington for the 2008/09 season, but wouldn't be shocked if he landed elsewhere.

Matt Cooke done in Washington

From Tarik El-Bashir of the Washington Post:

Left wing Matt Cooke, as expected, will not be returning to Washington. The signing of Matt Bradley made Cooke expendable/redundant. "Obviously, Matt Bradley has been with us longer and was committed to us," McPhee said. "You can't keep everybody."

Read more from Capitals Insider here.

Cooke was a solid addition to the Caps' roster at the trade deadline but the qualities he brings to the table--energy, physical play and speed have been deemed replaceable by the Caps management. I'm sure Cooke will catch on in a third/fourth line role with another squad.

Brooks Laich to receive offer sheet?

From Tarik El-Bashir of the Washington Post:

In other news that could be related to this move, I heard from a source late last night that Brooks Laich, a 25-year-old restricted free agent, and the Caps remain far apart on a new contract. I was also told that Laich has been fielding offers from other teams who are interested in possibly signing him to an offer sheet. When I asked if Laich was close to signing a sheet, I was told by the source, "You're barking up the right tree."

Read more from Capitals Insider here.

The fact is, only one offer sheet has ever not been matched. That was, of course, Dustin Penner's offer sheet last season. I don't expect the Capitals to let Laich go for a pick that will almost certainly not be a first rounder. He became one of the team's most reliable and productive forwards at the end of last season.

Capitals sign Theodore

From TSN:

Washington signs UFA G Jose Theodore to a 2 year deal (undisclosed)

Here is the link to the TSN report.

One question: Why? Theodore is a downgrade from Cristobal Huet and is not consistent enough for a young team. His inconsistency was better managed by the veteran Avs last season. I don't particularly understand this signing.

Capitals sign Mike Green to 4 year deal

From TSN:

The Washington Capitals have agreed to terms with restricted free agent defenceman Mike Green.

Sources tell TSN it's a four year deal with an average annual salary of $5.25 million.

"Mike has developed into an impact defenceman in the short time since we drafted him, and he will be a key part of our team moving forward," said Capitals vice president and general manager George McPhee. "We look forward to his further contributions as we continue to improve the hockey club."

Read the entire story here.

Green has played all of one NHL season so far in his career, so $5.25 per season isn't cheap by any means. That being said, Green possesses tremendous puck skills, is a good skater and is a terrific point man on the power play. The Capitals are paying him based much more on expected future performance than they are on past performance and there really isn't anything wrong with that. Additionally, by signing Green before he became a RFA, the Caps avoided any possible offer sheets from other teams.

Fedorov apparently asking for $4 million per season

From Tarik El-Bashir of the Washington Post:

It's believed that Fedorov is seeking around $4 million per year, which is about
$2 million more than the Caps are comfortable offering. There could be some
bonuses involved (one a year deal) in order to close some of the gap.

Read the entire article here.

If anyone pays Sergei Fedorov $4 million per season, they should be drug tested immediately.

Playoff Preview: Capitals vs Flyers

Head to head regular season record: 2-2

Capitals:

Superstar Alex Ovechkin has lead the Capitals to their first postseason birth since 2003. Arguably the most exciting player in the NHL lead the league in points (112) and goals (65). The Caps arrive in the playoffs scorching hot winning their last seven and were 11-1 in the final 12 games. The hiring of Coach Bruce Boudreau along with midseason acquisitions of starting goaltender Chris Huet (1.63 GAA in 13 games), Matt Cooke and Sergei Fedorov have moved this team from the basement to the playoffs. Ovechkin loves the spotlight and should shine in the postseason. Ovie combined with Semin, Kozlov ,and Backstrom will provide the offensive firepower. If the Caps can carry their end of season hot streak into the playoffs, they should be a force to be reckoned with.

Flyers:

After suffering their worst season last year, the Flyers have had the quickest rebuilding phase in recent history. Suffering through Antero Nittymaki, Roman Chekmanek, and Robert Esche in goal, they have finally found their #1 in Marty Biron, who is going through his first taste in the playoffs as a starter. He posted a 2.59 GAA this season along with 5 shutouts. Additions of Daniel Briere, Kimmo Timmonen, Scott Hartnell, along with the emergence of Mike Richards, Jeff Carter, Joffrey Lupul and RJ Umberger the Flyers should have no problems putting some points on the board.

As always, special teams will be a factor in this series,

Power play
Flyers 21.8% (2^nd in league)
Capitals 19.0% (7^th in league)

Penalty Kill
Flyers 83.2% (10^th in league)
Capitals 80.5% (25^th in league)

Philadelphia has averaged 17.9 penalty minutes this season making them the number one penalized team in the conference. Washington is the second least penalized team with 11.9 per game.

Washington in six: Last fall Colorado Rockies of the MLB showed us what a hot streak can do, I expect the Capitals to continue that hot streak into the playoffs. They have the best player in Alex Ovechkin and have received superior goaltending. In the end, I feel the Capitals speed and creativity will cause too much havoc for an average Philadelphia defense, and that will be the difference for Ovechkin and friends.

Prediction: Capitals in Six

For Illegal Curve, I'm Michael Remis

Nightly Recap

Montreal 4 - NY Islanders 1: Chris Higgins, a native of Long Island had a goal and an assist and Steve Begin had 2 goals. Cris Huet stopped 44 of 45 shots in the win. (Wow!)

Philadelphia 6 - Carolina 3: Danny Briere had three goals and one assist, and Mike Knuble had one goal and two assists. Marty Biron stopped 32 of 35 in the win. Matt Cullen had 3 points for the Hurricanes, who now have lost three of their past four.

Florida 5 - Columbus 2 - Rosti Olesz had two goals and an assist, Nathan Horton and Stephen Weiss each had two assists for the Panthers. Tomas Vokoun made 34 saves in the win. The Blue Jackets have now won one in their last eight games.

Atlanta 5 - Washington 1 - Ilya Kovalchuk continues to be a monster for the Thrashers, he put up two goals and two assists tonight, he has 11 points in his past four games. Rookie Tobias Endstrom had three assists and Marian Hossa had two. Washington has now lost five consecutive games.

Buffalo 4 - Ottawa 1 - Buffalo got three first period goals from Michael Ryan, Ales Kotalik and Derek Roy, and that was it . Roy and Thomas Vanek each had two points on the night for the Sabres. It was Ottawa's fourth loss on the season.

NY Rangers 2 - Tampa Bay 1 - Henrik Lundqvist was 16 seconds away from his fifth shutout but it was spoiled by Michel Ouellet. Vinny Lecavaliers eight game streak of multi point games was snapped tonight. Fedor Tyutin and Colton Orr scored for the Rangers.

New Jersey 2 - Pittsburgh 1 - Zach Parise scored two powerplay goals for the Devils, while Martin Brodeur earned his 501st career win . Pittsburgh has now lost six of their past seven. New Jersey leads the season series against Pittsburgh 3 - 1.

Detroit 3 - St Louis 0 - Chris Osgood made a whopping 12 saves to earn his 44th career shutout. Henrik Zetterberg scored his 15th of the year. The Blues snapped their 4 game win streak.

Vancouver 4 - Minnesota 2 - Markus Naslund was in top form tonight, netting a hat-trick. The Sedin Twins had two assists each. Marian Gaborik scored both goals for the Wild, fantasy owners rejoiced.

Dallas 2 - Anaheim 1 - Mike Smith stopped 17 of 18 for the Stars in the win. Mike Modano was honoured in pre-game ceremonies for passing Phil Housley for most points by a US born player. He responded by scoring his 513th career goal, also a record for American born players.

Phoenix 4 - Los Angeles 1 - Mike York scored two goals for the 'Yoters. Ilya Bryzgalov won his second game in a Phoenix uniform, defeating the Kings for the second time.

Tomorrow's Games (all times Eastern)
7:30pm PIT@OTT
8:00pm DET@NSH
9:00pm CHI@CGY, COL@EDM

Happy Thanksgiving to all of our American readers.

Tonights Recap: Great Goaltending Goes Unrewarded

Tonight's games were headlined by goaltenders who had to stop a high number of shots but still managed to lose due to their team's inability to generate offense. The Hurricanes doubled the Sabres in shots; Cam Ward stopped 19 of 21 and Ryan Miller stopped 37 of 43, with four of the goals being scored in the third period. Flyers' netminder Martin Biron stopped 38 of 42, while his counterpart Thomas Vokoun needed to stop only 20 of 23. In Detroit, Roberto Luongo stopped 36 of 39 shots, while at the other end of the ice Dominik Hasek only had to face 15 shots in the entire game (he stopped 13).

Vancouver scored two goals tonight, Buffalo two and Philadelphia three. All of those teams have All-Star caliber goaltenders, but if they continue to allow an abundance of shots, and are not able to generate any offense, it is likely that they wont win many games having to rely so heavily on their goaltenders.

On to the Recap:

• Cam Ward continued his stellar play and improved his record to 6-0 for the 'Canes as they defeated the Sabres 6 - 2. Bret Hedican and Eric Staal had 3 points each for Carolina and Justin Williams continued his hot start with two more points. This season Carolina has earned points in 9 of 10 games and has only one loss in regulation play. They are looking very good early on in this young season. Ryan Miller made 37 saves for Buffalo in the loss.
• Washington 5, Tampa Bay 3. After losing 4 in a row, Captain Chris Clark was moved back up to the first line with Alexander Ovechkin. He responded with four goals to snap the Caps' losing streak.
• Olli Jokinen became the career leader in goals and points for the Panthers organization tonight, passing long-time Panther Scott Mellanby. The big Finnish center scored two goals leading Florida to a 4-3 victory over Philadelphia. Flyers' goaltender Martin Biron continued his excellent play, stopping 38 shots, in a losing.
• Dominik Hasek stopped 13 of only 15 shots faced as the Detroit Red Wings were victorious over the Vancouver Canucks 3 - 2. Long-time Red Wings' winger Tomas Holmstrom scored two goals for the Wings. Canucks' netminder Roberto Luongo was bombarded with 39 shots, turning aside 36 of them, in a losing cause.
• Flames 5, Wild 3. Jarome Iginla and Alex Tanguay continue to produce offensively as they both recorded 3 points apiece.

Tomorrow's Games (all times Eastern)
7:00pm CHI@BOS, NJ@NYR, STL@CLB,
7:30pm TOR@PIT, PHI@TB,
8:00pm ATL@NSH,
9:00pm MIN@EDM
10:00pm PHX@ANA
10:30pm DAL@LA

EURO CURVE

Euro Curve takes a daily look at the latest international hockey news.

- Can't get enough Alexei Cherepanov? Russianprospects.com provides a detailed scouting analysis of the New York Rangers 2007 1st Round draft pick during his most recent game for Avangard (Omsk). The author of the article Alessandro Seren Rosso says the talented winger looked sluggish but cautioned that Cherepanov is still recovering from an injury suffered during the recent Super Series against Canada.

- New Jersey Devils Prospect Nicklas Bergfors may start the season with the Lowell Devils of the American Hockey League. The 20-year-old Swede had 2 points in 9 games during the 2007 World Junior Championships in Leksand, Sweden. He spent most of the 2006'07 season in the AHL, his second, scoring 13 goals and 19 assists in 60 games played.

- Josef Boumedienne may start the season with the Hershey Bears of the American Hockey League but will surely get a second look from the Washington Capitals if any of their current defensemen fail or go down with injury. Boumedienne had 2 goals and 2 assists in 18 games last season with Kärpät of the SM-Liiga. He last played in the NHL with the Washington Capitals during the 2003'04 season. Boumedienne was drafted by the New Jersey Devils in 1996 (4/96).

- The Sports Network and Pittsburgh Tribune are reporting on the possibility of an NHL regular season game between the Pittsburgh Penguins and Tampa Bay Lightning being hosted by the city of Prague, Czech Republic to start the 2008'09 season. The Anaheim Ducks and Los Angeles Kings opened the 2007'08 season in London, England over the weekend, playing two regular season games at the 02 Arena.

For Illegal Curve, I'm Ezra Ginsburg.