What The New Coach and Center Mean for Semin

The Washington Capitals have acknowledged that Alexander Semin, their second best goal scorer, might leave as an unrestricted free agent this summer. They've publicly accepted the fact. They've taken a "wait and see approach." But they've also made all the right moves to make Washington the most attractive destination in the league for any free agent goal scorers who might be looking. In the last week, the Caps have replaced the defense-first coach who drove Semin to say he's leaving with one of the best offensive minds in the business and upgraded their team to finally provide a second-line center who can get Semin the puck.

In hiring Adam Oates, the Capitals have picked up a coach who understands offense and understands how to run a power play. As a player, Oates turned Brett Hull, Joe Juneau and Peter Bondra into the best goal scorers they could be. As an assistant coach coach, Oates just helped New Jersey take advantage of Ilya Kovalchuk and Zach Parise on their power play and reach the Stanley Cup Finals. Peter Bondra has been quick to praise Oates' defensive understanding as well, but Semin should recognize old friends just being nice to each other.

On the second line, the Caps finally have second center who can dish the puck effectively. He's only coming for one year, perhaps, but Mike Ribeiro is good for forty to fifty assists per season. That means Semin will finally have as many chances at even strength as Alex Ovechkin, without having to leave Washington.

Now, whether the Caps choose to match the offers other teams will make for talented winger is up to them. They've certainly shown that if he wants to stay, he will get the opportunity to play his game and help make a good team into a great one.

"I Enjoyed Working For Bruce, and I Enjoy Working With Dale." -George McPhee

At 6:00 of the above video, George McPhee sums up the difference between his working relationships with the last two coaches he's hired. Gary Bettman asks the Caps' GM to contrast current coach Dale Hunter with recently ousted coach Bruce Boudreau and McPhee unleashes possibly the wittiest remark of his career: "I Enjoyed Working For Bruce, and I Enjoy Working With Dale."

A lot of the Caps teams of the last few years certainly have had Bruce Boudreau's stamp on them in little ways, but for every Hershey success story (by the way, doesn't every team call up the best guys on its farm team?) or previous minor league associate (Joe Corvo stands out as someone whose character McPhee would not have pursued on his own, for whom he also overpaid) who came along, there were certainly also plenty of players on the Capitals who McPhee would have liked in any climate, and who fit into the type of club McPhee was building for years before he hired Boudreau to coach it.

Still, for the general manager to distance himself from his last three division-winning clubs and claim a bigger role in the construction of this year's seventh place Capitals is a very strong endorsement of the current group's playoff chances.

An Open Letter to Discover

Re: this stupid ad: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08bAl2bqb0w

Dear Discover Card,

Please cancel my account. As a proud American, I don't want to be identified with anyone who would pass up a chance to visit the white house over stupid political nonsense, let alone over what appears to be just plain racism.

I understand some of the appeal: Tim Thomas overcame a terrible career as a talentless NHL goalie throughout his prime, and has since put up stellar numbers in his late thirties that would have been impossible without steroids. It's clear that he has no fear of a black rubber hockey puck, or of needles, and I can see wanting to associate your brand with that courage.

However, his fear of a Black president makes him a terrible choice for a corporate representative. Tim Thomas' bigoted, ignorant, rude decision not to visit the White House with his team after the Bruins bullied their way to last year's Stanley Cup championship is a reflection of such low character that it reflects badly upon anyone who uses your card.

Worst of all, Discover's new ad campaign portrays this drug-abusing hatemonger as somehow desirable to women, and I'm afraid that if I take out my discover card in public again, people might think that I, too, hold such a low opinion of women.

Thanks for the tiny crumbs of "cash back" over the years that always felt like such a genuine apology for your usurious interest rates and your always-surprising, cleverly hidden finance charges. Thanks for your purchasing power at a fraction of the stores I wanted to shop at. Thanks for taking a nonexistent risk after reading my credit report to lend me a tiny amount of money at an immense profit. I appreciate all you've done for me. However, this ad campaign is incompatible with my patriotism and my belief in the self-evident truth that all men are created equal.

Goodbye, Dicover. Write to me when you sort out your issues. I hope one day we can be friends, and that one day when I see someone else pull you out in the checkout line, I won't be sick. Until then, please send me my last bill and lets get this over with.

Sincerely,

Eli Resnick

Ridiculous Speculation

By the trade deadline, the Caps will have saved enough salary cap space to finish the season with any player available in the league. New coach Dale Hunter's best alums include Rick Nash, Corey Perry and a few young stars tearing up the NHL.

Reading tea leaves before the drink is brewed, if the standings don't change significantly in the next month the aforementioned stars will be out of playoff contention on teams forced to consider how to rebuild for the future, while the Caps, with the timely return of Backstrom and Green, will be looking to add a key player to take them into the playoffs and carry them deep there.

Of course, Corey Perry is the reigning MVP and isn't getting traded this year, and Rick Nash has publicly stated that he won't exercise the no-trade clause in his contract to stop Columbus if it feels it can make its franchise better by letting him go. So a personal connection is unlikely to make much of a difference in making either trade happen.

However, George McPhee has consistently trusted his coaches' input in personnel matters, and if the Caps were able to somehow land Rick Nash without giving up a significant part of their current nucleus, they would instantly be the deepest team in the East. That said, at twenty-eight years old, Nash's best goal-scoring days are probably behind him, and his contract stays expensive for five more years.

Still, there's a lot to be said for picking a year and just going for it, especially a year when the Caps were already the offseason favorites to win the Eastern Conference and didn't seem to have any room for additional talent. Tomas Vokoun is unlikely to stick around at less than three times his current salary. Dennis Wideman is an All-Star now, and gets a raise somewhere.

In the current standings, the Capitals are out of the playoffs, but on paper, they're still the best they've ever been.