By Mark Mix
Home day care providers would be forced into unions
That the Rangers may be a smidge better is not arguable. Five-oh better? No way. That a tight series became a laugher in the finale can be, in part, blamed on the Caps' ugly playoff past. There's not an elephant in that room. There's a herd of them in there and it is not an easy thing to clear out.
In 16 games since Johansson began skating with Nicklas Backstrom and Alex Ovechkin going into Thursday night at the Ottawa Senators, the 22-year-old Swede had four goals and 12 assists.
When Troy Brouwer, Mathieu Perreault, Jack Hillen and John Carlson celebrated, it was like the Caps had won a playoff game, and Cheshire Cat smiles on the bench greeted Chimera on his way back.
The Los Angeles Kings traded Simon Gagne back to the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday for a conditional draft pick, sending the struggling left wing back to the city where he had his greatest NHL success.
Friday night's game against the Philadelphia Flyers was no work of art, even though it was an improvement from some previous outings. The difference was that the Caps got a victory this time, 3-2 over the Flyers at Verizon Center.
Knuble has one assist in three games for Philadelphia, playing in all situations. He's expected to start Friday night's game at the Caps on the second line with Matt Read and Sean Couturier.
He got chances with the Washington Capitals, including last season, but now Aucoin isn't just a call-up. Claimed off waivers by the Islanders, he has three goals and an assist in six games this year and is starting to show the kind of offense he can provide at the NHL level if given the chance.
These were the words hockey fans were waiting to hear for the first 100-plus days of the NHL lockout. Commissioner Gary Bettman delivered them early Sunday morning.
Roman Hamrlik this past week became one of the loudest voices of the NHL lockout. "Disgusted" with the process, he questioned NHL Players' Association head Donald Fehr and called for a vote of 700-plus to get back on the ice.
They can't be this stupid, this short-sighted, this selfish, this greedy. Hockey fans are wondering that as an NHL lockout could cancel an entire season for the second time in nine years.
As the NHL and its players association trade proposals and barbs back and forth in the process of negotiating a new collective bargaining agreement, John Carlson skates. The Washington Capitals defenseman is doing what hockey players often do best: Thinking about hockey.
For the likes of Mike Knuble, the waiting isn't the hardest part. It might be not knowing how long he has to wait.
George McPhee flashes a deft poker face often, not willing to share his plans for the Washington Capitals before he makes a big move. That could be the case this offseason, or the general manager could be calmly blunt about not wanting to spend a lot of money in free agency.
George McPhee had conversations, but the NHL draft wasn't quite the trade bonanza many expected. Jordan Staal joined his brother with the Carolina Hurricanes, and naturally the Washington Capitals weren't consulted by the rival Pittsburgh Penguins.
It was obvious from the outside and even more so to Mike Knuble that he wouldn't be back with the Washington Capitals next season. Perhaps it was clear when he was a healthy scratch in the middle of the season and leading up to the trade deadline, but the veteran right wing knew long before that.
"The fact is there's still 40-plus games left and so both teams have time to really get things going, and you're not that far out of things," Knuble said. "You get a decent win streak and we're all back in."
"I think I'm smart enough to know I'm just going to be for everything: move up, then move down, move around," Knuble said. "And hopefully be able to play some different roles for them and fill in some gaps that they feel they have."
