Brief demotion gets Schultz’s attention

Jeff Schultz admitted yesterday he probably was a little too comfortable about his place on the Washington Capitals entering training camp.

Schultz, a 21-year old from Calgary, played 38 games for the Caps during the second half of last season and earned coach Glen Hanlon’s trust as a dependable, stay-at-home defenseman.

“Maybe after the games that I played last year I had that mind-set that I was penciled into the lineup,” Schultz said. “It is just as much work to stay at this level as it is to get to this level.”

When training camp concluded, Schultz stayed with the team but was inactive for the first three games before being assigned to Hershey. He only played one game because of the Bears’ quirky schedule before being recalled yesterday.

He likely will replace John Erskine in the active lineup tonight when the Caps play host to the New York Islanders.

“We felt Jeff was OK in training camp, but we thought John Erskine had a great training camp,” Hanlon said. “As a staff, we thought he outplayed him, and we told our players coming into camp if you play well, there were some spots up for grabs.

“We won our first three games, and we weren’t about to change a winning lineup. The message to Jeff was ‘you are better off playing in Hershey than you are sitting for us.’ ”

Semin, Gordon hurting

Alexander Semin did not practice yesterday, and Boyd Gordon did not finish the session at Kettler Capitals Iceplex. Semin, who has missed all but one game this season because of a sprained ankle, was placed on injured reserve to make room for Schultz.

The move was retroactive to last week, so Semin can be activated when he is ready.

“It is just a matter of letting this thing settle down and get some strength back in the area,” Hanlon said. “He’s frustrated, and we are anxiously awaiting [his return]. It is one of the reasons you see different sweaters almost [all of] the days that we practice here.”

Gordon missed two games this past weekend with back spasms. He said after practice his daily rehab regimen includes stretching, lots of heat and a visit from the chiropractor.

“I don’t really have an answer right now, but I will just keep doing what I am doing, and it is improving every day,” Gordon said. “That is the most important thing.”

More line dancing

It was another day of practice and another day of juggling lines for Hanlon. Recent call-up Joe Motzko spent his second consecutive practice with Alex Ovechkin and Viktor Kozlov; Tomas Fleischmann shifted to the second line with Michael Nylander and Nicklas Backstrom; and Brooks Laich took Gordon’s place between Matt Pettinger and Chris Clark.

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