Off Wing Opinion

Came across an interesting graf in Phil Mushnick’s column at the New York Post over the weekend:

Even post-Dick Ebersol, the “NBC Sports Report” inserts remain comically dishonest. Saturday, anchor Julie Donaldson, in order, reported: LPGA results (the LPGA is now largely seen on Golf Channel, an NBC property), NHL (an NBC property) results, a promo for an Indy car race (to be seen the next day on NBC Sports Net), and news that fired Illinois basketball coach Bruce Weber had been hired by Kansas State.

While Mushnick might be right, I’m having more than a little trouble working up any bile over something like this. Last time I looked, it’s 2012, and spots like the “NBC Sports Report” are hardly the only source that exists for breaking sports news when we’ve overserved by multiple national and regional cable sports networks, sports talk radio and that whole Internet thing the youngsters are so enthusiastic about.

As for Muchnick’s complaint about NBC using the spot to promote its own broadcast properties, excuse me if I stifle a yawn. ESPN’s own SportsCenter, which was once rightly termed, “a thinking man’s version of World News Tonight,” has devolved into nothing more than a vehicle to promote its own programming — endless coverage of Tim Tebow and Bret Favre even in the NFL offseason being an object lesson. And never forget, some folks have actually accused ESPN of actively working to destroy sports leagues that it doesn’t air.

Bottom line: all’s fair in love and ratings.

When it comes to Major League Baseball these days, it’s hard for me to pay close attention to any team other than my New York Mets (middle age will do that to you). Which is exactly why I missed this news over the long weekend:

During the fifth inning of the Seattle Mariners’ 1-0 loss to the San Diego Padres on Saturday, Padres center fielder Cameron Maybin(notes) drew a walk on what everyone in the ballpark believed to be a full 3-2 count. The only problem was that Mariners pitcher Doug Fister(notes) had only thrown three balls in the at-bat.

[…]

The three-ball walk to Maybin was costly for the Mariners, as he eventually came around to score on an Alberto Gonzalez(notes) single. That ended up being the game’s only run, as the Seattle lineup only mustered two hits against Cory Luebke(notes) and three Padres relievers.

After Maybin scored, word began to buzz around the field and press box that a mistake had been made. But since no one protested and play kept going, the umpiring crew had to wait until the game had ended to review the play. Sure enough, they discovered that the count should have been 3-2 when Maybin was given the walk.

As embarrassing as this may be, there’s a very simple solution, and one that MLB has already established a precedent for. The only choice is to call a do over and replay the entire game from the incorrect call of ball four.

So what’s the precedent? Does anyone else besides me remember the pine tar incident?

Again, while I might be coming it late, let me add my voice to the chorus singing the praises of Matt Bradley as he departs D.C. for Florida after six solid seasons with the Caps. The move was pretty much telegraphed when Bradley’s agent let everyone know before the free agent signing period that Washington hadn’t offered him a new contract. It’s sad, but business is business, and from the looks of things last season, the team was more than happy with the emergence of Matt Hendricks, a player who stepped in and more or less stole Bradley’s role on the team for himself.

For me, lasting memories of Bradley will have to include his two-goal game against the Rangers in Game Five of a first round playoff series in 2009—a game that helped the Caps stave off elimination on their way to winning in seven games. But over and above that, I’ll just remember the incredible bravery and toughness he displayed time after time when he had to drop the gloves. You’ll recall that the team had declined to re-sign Donald Brashear after the 2008-09 season, which meant that the responsibility for taking on the other team’s heavyweights fell primarily to Bradley.

In the two seasons since Brashear left via free agency, Bradley piled up 15 fights, more than any other Caps player (though it should be noted that Hendricks piled up 14 majors in 2010-11, four more than Bradley last season). Perhaps his gutsiest moment came in the 2007-08 season when he had no choice but to drop the gloves with Boston’s Milan Lucic:

Normally, you’d think that Lucic would have sought out Donald Brashear. After all, according to the tale of the tape, Lucic has at least 30 pounds on Bradley. As fighters, they’re not even in the same class. If you follow "The Code," Bradley ought to have been able to decline Lucic’s invitation, but it’s pretty clear he didn’t want to let down his teammates even though he was clearly overmatched.

That’s the sort of bravery and guts Matt Bradley still has right now. The Florida Panthers are lucky to have him. Best of luck to Brads, who only did everything that was asked of him while he was in a Washington Capitals uniform.

Unlike other folks who were watching the free agent news like hawks, on a holiday weekend, it was a little while before I discovered that Caps GM George McPhee had pulled off what looks like the coup of the free agency period by signing goalie Tomas Vokoun to a one-year, $1.5 million deal.

While I find myself having a hard time adding anything that Ryan Lambert hadn’t already written at Puck Daddy, there is one important parallell that needs to be pointed out, namely, how McPhee has played the market so masterfully that he’s been able to create an absolute strength in net without having to pay a blockbuster price. Better still, it’s an advantage that’s going to exist for at least a few seasons into the future.

Next season, the combination of Vokoun and Michael Neuvirth in net will cost Washington just a shade over $2.6 million, with Braden Holtby stashed in Hershey for a little under $650,000 per year. So, in 2011-12, the past, present and future in net for the Washington Capitals will cost just $3.2 million, with a little less than a fifth of that cost (the Holtby contract) not counting against the salary cap. Compare that to Philadelphia, who will be paying just a shade above $5.6 million next year for Ilya Bryzgalov alone.

Let’s say next season that Vokoun takes the starting job and leads Washington to a Stanley Cup? If that’s the case, Washington will still have Neuvirth and Holtby under contract for the 2012-13 season for about $1.7 million. So, if Vokoun earns one last huge contract, and Washington decides it doesn’t want to pay, they can easily let Vokoun go and insert the tandem of Neuvirth and Holtby—something the team was prepared to do in the 2011-12 season in any case. And even if the converse occurs, the Caps are still set in goal for the forseeable future both in terms of personnel as well as the salary cap.

At bottom, it looks a lot like the situation that Red Wings GM Ken Holland has created in Detroit—one that’s given him the flexibility to fill out the roster in front of his very affordable goaltending. I’m having a hard time thinking of a better model in the NHL to emulate.

When Washington Capitals owner Ted Leonsis said his team was going to be busy on the opening day of free agency, he wasn’t kidding. In just a few hours, three new players were added to the lineup, another was traded and another left Verizon Center voluntarily. Let’s take a look at how it all shook out.

Welcome Back Halpern: When I saw this deal pass over Twitter I couldn’t help but gasp. While others might not recall, Jeff Halpern’s departure from the Capitals wasn’t exactly on the best of terms. Not that anyone could really blame Halpern. At that point in his career, it looked as if it would be years before the Caps were a contender again. It was just as clear that he would be able to fetch a higher price on the open market than he would have had he re-signed with the Capitals.

So, he was off to Dallas, and well, while nothing was really said out loud, somebody around here wasn’t happy about it. The evidence: when the Stars came to Verizon Center the next season Halpern got the start for Dallas, ostensibly so he could get a nice hand from the locals on his first visit back home. Conincidentally, it was also the only time I can ever remember when the Caps failed to introduce the starting lineup of the visiting team.

Now, clearly all is forgiven. Unfortunately, welcoming back Halpern means saying goodbye to long-time good guy Boyd Gordon. His hard work all these years in a Caps uniform earned him a modest raise in Phoenix, one that the locals would soon not be able to afford.

The Varlamov Exile: The owner made it pretty clear today that he wasn’t terribly happy with the way Semyon Varlamov and his agent were playing games in the press, but something tells me that Varlamov’s agent played this the best way he could. Simply put, there is only space for a pair of goalies on an NHL roster. Unfortunately, the Caps had three who could legitimately lay claim to a starting job. Varlamov, who saved Washington’s bacon in the playoffs two seasons ago against the Rangers, wanted the job for himself along with a requisite raise. Management, however, clearly had other ideas with cap space at a premium.

When you look at it that way, it’s a little easier to understand why Varlamov and his agent made so much noise with the KHL option. The Caps made it clear they couldn’t guarantee what he wanted, at least not right away, and the games began. Which is right around the time that General Manager George McPhee found a dance partner in the Colorado Avalanche—a team that apparently had draft picks to spare. Boom! Problem solved, with Washington picking up two picks in next year’s draft, with one that could be from the lottery.

Fill and Patch: Neither the signing of Joel Ward nor Roman Hamrlik will go down in history as transformative deals for the Caps. Both players fill a need, and are doing it for reasonable prices. Ward seems to be a younger version of Matt Bradley, (a man who will find work elsewhere after good work here in DC) albeit with a little more scoring touch. As for whether or not Ward can kick it up a notch in the playoffs again as he did with Nashville last Spring, I’m not sure I’d count on that just yet. As for Roman Hamrlik, he’s better in his own end than you might imagine, salted with just enough offensive talent to keep most folks happy. Who knows, with a lefthanded shot, he might just be able to step in on the point opposite Mike Green and let Alex Ovechkin move down to the halfboards on the power play.

So what’s next? According to Cap Geek, the team has a little more than $2 million of cap space left with Troy Brouwer, Karl Alzner and Braden Holtby still needing to be paid. Long story short: expect some bodies to be moved shortly. As fast as this offseason started for the Caps, it doesn’t look over yet.