Re-Caps/ Umby

Another scrum at the goal

The CBJ beat the Washington Capitals tonight 4-3 in an Overtime win.  It was pretty ugly.  The veterans skated to not be injured (I thoroughly approve), the young guys hustled, and the Caps tried to pull a Winnipeg on the home squad.

There was plenty of rough stuff, and lots of chirping.   Jeff Carter made his CBJ debut, and seemed to be skating rather gingerly.  Good.  We're gonna need him in the regular season.  Nasher played pretty good when he needed to, as befits a Captain.

Max Mayorov continues his strong bid to make the club, with a goal and 2 assists, and lots of little hustle plays.  Umby was visibly pleased when they paired up for the shorthanded goal.

Adam Payerl continued his strong bid for some sort of contract from the club.  He is a camp invitee.  Lots of hustle plays, but when Matt Hendricks laid a hit on Mayorov's back, knocking him into the boards, he was the one who jumped in, gave him a few punches to let him know he was serious, then basically shook Hendricks like a rag doll.  Its tough to fight a turtle.  Yeah, he drew the double minor, but Hendricks drew a roughing with his cheap shot, and that's the kind of penalty your mates will kill for you every time.




After a 1-1 first period, the CBJ went ahead in the second period on the short handed breakaway by Umberger and Mayorov, taking a 2-1 CBJ lead into the second intermission.

In the third period, good pressure by the CBJ caused the Caps to ignore David Savard, who calmly walked into the slot, got the goal tender moving, and then beat him with a real nice shot.

With about 17 minutes gone in the third period, the referees must have been conferring about their after game dates, when they ignored a blatant trip on Max Mayorov as he skated the puck out across the blue line.  Within a minute, the Caps had their second goal.

Then Grubauer, the Caps goalie made a real sweet 1-2 save on a Nash breakaway to save a possible short-handed goal.  He gave up the rebound on the first shot, and gloved Nash's put-back as he fell backwards.

Washington pulled the goalie, and scored with 1:03 left in the period as the CBJ vets skated around trying to avoid injury and the tying goal.  I approve heartily.  But they let in the tying goal.

Due to time commitments, I didn't stay for the OT (this never happens when it counts), and the box score says Giroux scored in OT to win it.  A fitting end to a decent preseason game.

What conclusion to draw from this game?  Depth.  I thought our AHL guys gave good account for themselves.  We have a wave of them emerging from juniors to play in Springfield.  That's where most of them still need to be, and that's nothing but a good thing.  I think we'll have a strong Springfield club this year.

Max Mayorov is making a bid for this team, and I don't see him getting beat out.  There are some other guys who are real good, but he is making the most of his chance, and they still seem to need some seasoning (e.g. Cam Atkinson).  Mayorov is going to be the most well rounded player.  Cam looks real good, but this is not the year.  Next year though, look out.

I think Payerl deserves some sort of minor league contract.  He's a right shot, physical defenseman.  It would not be bad to have one of those in the organization.  He's had a good camp so far.

Umberger Signs for Five

Rainbow on game day.  The other end is on Nationwide Arena.

Umby signs a five year extension.  And sure as heck, on the drive in to the arena for our first preseason game, we see a rainbow.  The promise of a strong hockey team.  This is a real good signing, and solidifies a strong core for the team.

What a fantastic end to a glorious summer.  It may be a long time before we see another one like this.  Unless there are a lot of pesky parades and that ilk to attend.

But I am getting ahead of myself.

GO JACKETS!!!


Editor's note:  sorry for the lack of labels, links, and the other quasi professional stuff.  I'm on the run.
G-