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Evgeni Kuznetsov defends the play. (Photo by Neil Greenberg)
With the exception of Braden Holtby, not one of the members of Capitals Development Camp had logged even a minute of action with the pro team. Tell that then to Washington Capitals fan, who in mid July, filled Kettler Ice Plex to beyond bleacher capacity, 40 minutes before the final scrimmage of Development Camp even began!
The passionate support was not lost on Bruce Boudreau, who spoke to reporters afterwards. “It’s fabulous. I can’t picture another team in our league with 3,000 people to attend a Development Camp game.”
As for the game, it was a good one, as Andy Miele, (more on him later) scored in the shootout to give White team a 3-2 victory. Before that went down though, Capitals prospects treated fans to back-to-back fights, excellent goaltending and some very physical play.
Below is a recap of what we saw. Check for our player interviews with Marcus Johansson and Stanislav Galiev, and most importantly we have Neil Greenberg photos from the game.
· Marcus Johansson was certainly a factor, but unhyped Andy Miele was the most creative and shifty Capitals prospect during this last scrimmage. Miele offered up around eight different head fakes before stuffing the puck past Holtby for the game-winning shootout goal. He also accounted for the first goal of the game, cunningly beating a defender for a pass inside of the Red zone and with little space, completely deeking German goalie prospect Philipp Grubauer out of his net before sliding the puck in. This kid may have a future.
· Joe Finley played well in this scrimmage, but he still has a few too many holes in his game.
· It really surprised me to see how much speed Cody Eakin had. He is a Whirling Dervish down the ice and don’t be surprised if you see him in Hershey in a couple years.
· In terms of weight, Dustin Stevenson was the second biggest guy at Caps Development Camp, and boy did he play like it. If Stevenson was on the ice, and the opponent had the puck in the corner, more often than not Stevenson was the guy hitting him. I loved the physicality I saw from him on Saturday. We’re talking about hits than not only shook the other skater up, but often knocked him down.
· The biggest agitator among the prospects? It’s gotta be Stefan Della Rovere, who on Saturday showed us he is also a more than capable fighter. (check our last story for that)
· Bruce Boudreau indicated that he felt Dmitri Orlov arrived in camp out of shape, but I didn’t think he played terribly. He should have showed us a little more though.
All photos by Neil Greenberg
White celebrates the win
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Stanislav Galiev makes his move in the shootout.
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Capitals prospect Joel Lowry tries to lay on a check.
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Jake Hausworth tries to avoid the check
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Andy Miele scores the first goal of the game for white.
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Greg Burke tries to score in traffic
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More photos from Neil in our slideshow.
Afterwards I was able to ask a few questions of 2009, 1st round draft pick, Marcus Johansson, who at this camp, more than lived up to the hype.
Michael Hoffman: How do you think you did at camp overall?
Marcus Johansson: I think it was better and better as the week went on. You know it was a good experience and hopefully I can bring it to the next camp in September, so it felt okay.
Michael Hoffman: If you were going to talk about what your biggest strength is and what you need to work on, what would you say it is?
Marcus Johansson: Probably my skating and my carrying the puck. (strengths) And I gotta improve everything. It’s the best league in the world and I gotta improve everything.
MH: Folks are talking about the possibility that you might be a second line center. Do you welcome those raised expectations or is it a little added pressure for you.
MJ: No, it feels like they believe in me and gives me a little confidence but I still gotta go out and play my game and not just go out there. You gotta go out and give your best every night and be the best hockey player you can be.
MH: Nicklas Backstrom has publicly praised your game, what does that mean for you?
MJ: He’s a great guy and a great hockey player, he’s one of the best. To be able to play with him and just watch him every day is going to be a great thing for myself and to just learn from him and learn as much as I can.
After reading up on him, I knew I had to speak to Russain prospect Stanislav Galiev, whom the Caps drafted in the third round this year.
Michael Hoffman: I was reading that your favorite team, even before you got drafted was the Caps, is that true?
Stanislav Galiev: Yeah, that’s true.
Michael Hoffman: What made you like the team?
Stanislav Galiev: Style of how they play. It’s a physical game, everyone is quick, I like it.
MH: And I was reading that your favorite player is Alexander Semin, is that right?
SG: Yeah, that’s true.
MH: What about his game?
SG: He’s dangerous. He have a great shot, good skills.
MH: I know some players when they look up to somebody try to pattern their game to them. Are you trying to pattern your game off anyone on the Caps or are you doing your own thing?
SG: No, I just want to my best on the ice and work hard.
MH: Unlike a lot of other Russian’s we see out there, you went to America at a younger age than most. Can you talk about that process and just getting used to the language and the style of play.
SG: When I came first time I didn’t speak English a lot, and it’s pretty hard first time, you miss your friends, miss your parents. Sometimes you know you’re shy, you don’t understand anybody ,but when you go on the ice you forget everything, you’re just working.
MH: You feel more comfortable now?
SG: Yeah, right now I would.
MH: Also, is this your first time in DC? What did you think?
SG: Oh, it’s a great city, I like it.
In terms of areas he needs to improve on, Galiev told me he needed to bulk up a little bit and improve his defensive play. Very nice kid, good luck to him.
Comments
Journalism today is becoming a joke even in sports. You say you are a die hard caps fan but couldn't be anything further from it.We just had one of the best camps the caps have had in yrs without high picks. You wanted " Mcphee to just plunge into free agency after most of the good players were gone in 5 days . It takes nerve to criticize Mchpee and Boudreau in the media they took a team from last place 2 yrs ago to a dominant contender. It amazes me that a die hard does not recognize that we have gone from one of the weakest hockey towns to 1 of the best. That is no quiencidence it is because from ownership down we are strong. Now,we have # 1 1st line/power play in nhl, and players who take cap hits to become a better team. After Galiliev performed so brilliantly(CAMP), we have a second and 3rd line centers (Johhanson, Perrault,Galiliuv.. George has 8 recruiters and the media has the answers.SOLD-OUT3YRS-MEDIA. YET YOU CONTINUE TO SELL OUT THE CAPS(NO MENTION OF LEBRON- NO CHAMP.
Sean, thanks for the comment. I hope you read my second paragraph again where I happily acknowledge how great the crowd was Saturday and how proud Bruce was to see such a high level of fan support. I hope you also go back and read some of my prior articles on just how great Caps fans have been in supporting the team.
It's also far to early to know if McPhee's picks were good. They certainly look good but we need more than one camp to judge them. Johansson certainly does seem to be developing well but we haven't seen him yet in the NHL.
You are absolutely entitled to, and I'm glad your shared your opinion that I am wrong about the Caps needing to be aggressive in the free agent market. I have to disagree with your view though that McPhee is beyond reproach. Building a regular season winner into a playoff winner is a much different thing and we haven't seen that yet. Having the #1PP doesn't matter if we don't see it in the playoffs.
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