Time CAPSule - Rebuilding The Blueline

Earlier this season, we posted Alex Ovechkin](https://www.nhl.com/capitals/news/early-times-of-the-great-eight/c-311761890) and another Nicklas Backstrom](https://www.nhl.com/capitals/news/backstrom-takes-center-stage/c-313921356). In the process of crafting those stories and talking to the subjects themselves and many others, we were reminded of how exciting and thrilling the 2007-08 NHL season was in these parts.

It stands as Ovechkin's career year, it was Backstrom's rookie year, Bruce Boudreau took over behind the Washington bench on Thanksgiving Day, and the Caps made the playoffs for the first time in five years, winning 15 of 19, 11 of 12 and seven straight at season's end to come back from a dismal 6-14-1 start to win the Southeast Division title.

That season and that run into the playoffs augured in the "Rock The Red" era of hockey in DC, the beginning of 11 playoff appearances in a span of a dozen seasons. At this time a dozen years ago, the Caps were in the midst of that wild run. With the NHL's 2019-20 season "paused" for the foreseeable future, we're going to spend the next month looking back at the day-to-day of that remarkable late-season run, revisiting some of our coverage at the time with some fresh hindsight mixed in. On the off days between games, we will revisit some events from earlier in that landmark season. Enjoy!

Tuesday, April 8, 2008

During their furious stretch run drive to the playoffs a dozen years ago, defense and goaltending came to the fore. In their final 20 games that season, the Caps yielded just 37 goals. Over that late-season stretch, the Caps' yield of 1.85 goals against per game was stingiest among all Eastern Conference clubs, and second in the league to only Anaheim (1.75).

In finishing last in the Southeast Division with 70 points in 2006-07, the Caps gave up an average of 3.35 goals per game, ranking 26th in what was a 30-team circuit at the time. Washington used a dozen different defensemen that season, and only three of them - Shaone Morrisonn, Brian Pothier and Mike Green - played in as many as 70 games.

In the summer of 2007, Caps GM George McPhee added top six forwards Michael Nylander and Viktor Kozlov via free agency, but ultimately the summer signing of defenseman Tom Poti had a bigger impact, as did the unshackling of Green, whose dynamic offensive instincts were curbed somewhat until Bruce Boudreau took over behind the bench in November.

As Green blossomed, he was given more minutes, which helped alleviate the heavy workload placed on Poti early in the season. As his minutes became more manageable, Poti's overall game improved, and with it, the Washington defense.

When Glen Hanlon was replaced on Nov. 22, 2007, Poti was the only Washington blueliner averaging 20 or more minutes a night; he was averaging 26:01 a night while Green was sixth among Caps defensemen at 17:59. Poti's average ice time was sixth in the league at that juncture, behind guys like Chris Pronger, Nicklas Lidstrom and Jay Bouwmeester.

With the Islanders in 2006-07, Poti averaged a career high 25:43 per game and totaled 44 points, the second-best output of his career. But giving Green more minutes and dialing Poti back ultimately made the Caps' defense playoff worthy.

By season's end, Green was the Caps' No. 1 blueliner in terms of average minutes per night at 23:38 while Poti was just behind him at 23:29. Green played 20 or more minutes twice in the first 21 games of the season. Once Boudreau took over, Green was featured heavily. He skated 20 or more minutes in 58 of Washington's last 59 games and he exceeded 30 minutes in eight of those contests.

Green finished the season with 18 goals and 56 points, and he was third on the team in scoring behind only Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom.

Here's a piece we posted in March of 2008 that detailed the improvement of the Caps' defense that season.

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Beginning in 1995-96 and going through the end of Washington's last playoff season of 2002-03, the Capitals had a remarkable core of defensemen that remained intact and matured here in the District while playing together. That foursome of Calle Johansson, Sergei Gonchar, Ken Klee and Brendan Witt was together on the same blueline in Washington for eight straight seasons, a claim no other NHL team could make at the time. In this era of free agency and free player movement, keeping a group of four defensemen together for eight seasons is a fairly remarkable feat.

The foursome began to go their separate ways after that 2002-03 season, with Witt the last to depart D.C. in a Mar. 2006 trade with Nashville. Only Johansson has retired; the other three are still in the league, all with more than 750 games worth of NHL experience to their credit.

It has taken a few years, but the Capitals once again seem to be on the verge of having a strong blueline corps that can remain intact and together for several seasons in Washington.

"We knew there was going to be some turnover there when we were rebuilding the team," says general manager George McPhee. "It's obviously a really important position because if you have good goaltending and good defense, you're in every game whether you are scoring or not."

The Washington defense is young (average age: 25.5 years) and sizeable (average size: 6-foot-3, 214 pounds). It's made up of home-grown talent (Steve Eminger, Jeff Schultz and Mike Green) and imports from other organizations (Shaone Morrisonn, Brian Pothier, John Erskine, Milan Jurcina and Tom Poti).

With more than 650 regular season games played, Poti is the most experienced of the youthful bunch. Pothier and Morrisonn are both approaching 300 games played, but neither figures to reach that milestone this season.

The Caps' defense has been in a state of transition since the start of the 2003-04 season. After drafting Witt in 1993 and developing him as a solid NHL regular, the Caps were unable to draft and develop another legitimate NHL blueliner for a decade. Free agent singings and minor trades failed to address the concern, and the problem began to manifest itself on the ice during that 2003-04 campaign when the Caps surrendered 253 goals, the most allowed by a Washington team in a decade.

When the overpaid and underachieving '03-04 Caps dropped to the bottom of the NHL standings and with the 2004-05 lockout looming, McPhee began to rebuild the Washington roster. A series of in-season trades brought in several young prospects and draft picks, but only one defenseman (Morrisonn came from the Bruins in the deal that sent Gonchar to Boston).

Beginning with the 2004 draft, the Caps have been diligent about drafting defensemen. Between Witt (11th overall in 1993) and Eminger (12th overall in 2002), the Caps drafted and signed only one defenseman in the first round. That was Nolan Baumgartner (10th overall in 1994), who played just 18 games in a Washington sweater.

In the last six drafts, Washington has chosen six defensemen in the first round and three more in the second round. Among those nine defensemen are Eminger, Schultz and Green.

"It wasn't an easy process," says McPhee. "We're getting to the point where we're happy with our defense. We don't give up much anymore. They're active, they've got size, they move the puck well, they defend well, they generate offense. It's what you have to have if you want to be a good team. It's comforting going into games knowing that it's not going to be chaos in your own end of the rink. These guys are not only talented enough but experienced enough now to do the right things to keep the puck out of our zone or when it is in our zone to get it up the ice quickly."

The 2005-06 Caps surrendered 306 goals, the most by a Washington team since 1981-82. That number was trimmed to 286 last season and figures to shrink significantly in 2007-08. With a dozen games remaining, the Caps have allowed 205 goals. Washington's recent performance has been even more impressive. After allowing an average of 3.12 goals per game during their first 52 games, the Caps have allowed just 2.39 goals per game during the last 18 contests. Discounting empty-net tallies, Washington has surrendered three or fewer goals in 17 of its last 18 games.

"In fairness to these guys, they were put in situations early on where maybe they didn't deserve to play as much as they did," says goaltender Olie Kolzig. "That was the situation we were in, that's what management wanted to do. They wanted to get these guys in and play them, put them in good and bad situations and make them learn. I think because of the experience they've had the last couple years, they're legitimate defensemen now. It's the second toughest position to jump right in and play, with goaltending obviously being the first. It's not just about handling the puck. It's reads, it's being physical, it's knowing when to 'go,' it's chemistry with your partner. These guys are finally starting to get a handle on it."

With the relative youth of the defensemen currently on the club, the Caps may have the nucleus of the next long-term defense core here in Washington.

"In five, six years, it could be one of the best D in the league again, both defensively and offensively," says Morrisonn. "I think that's one of the things that's been missing the last five years here, the cohesion on the back end. It's chemistry with the D, the D having chemistry with the forwards and everybody getting to know everybody and what they're going to do in certain situations. Now we've finally got six guys who have played the majority of the year together, and we're playing a lot better defensively. It might not show as far as the goals against, but we are."

McPhee echoes Morrisonn's thoughts on chemistry.

"We've sort of stabilized our team now and they're all playing well," says the Caps' GM. "You have to underscore the value of experience and being able to play together and communicate and knowing the tendencies of your partner and the other guys you are playing with. The slightest miscommunication leads to turnovers and leads to scoring chances. The value of having guys playing together can't be emphasized enough."

While communication and chemistry with one's partner play a part in the maturation of young defensemen, those traits all stem from the most basic element: experience. Just the act of lacing up the skates for the game, and then getting out there and playing generally makes for better defensemen, although there are certainly growing pains along the way.

"The more games you play the more comfortable you get out there and the less pressure you feel," says Schultz. "I remember when I first came in, I was putting a lot of pressure on myself to live up to expectations. Now I've played so many games and I'm more comfortable. Things come more naturally now."

When the comfort level is there, offense often follows. This year's bunch of defensemen has already contributed 32 goals (more than half of them from Green) and 125 points to the Washington cause. That goal total is already the most amassed by a group of Caps defenders since 2001-02. Washington blueliners are on pace to record 146 points this season, which would be the most by any Caps blueline corps since the 2000-01 bunch put up 147. The 1999-00 bunch totaled 148 points and the Stanley Cup finals edition of 1997-98 totaled 151, the most of any group of Caps rearguards in the last decade. The current group is not far off those numbers, and could exceed them in 2008-09, if not this season.

"I don't know what it is," says Caps coach Bruce Boudreau of the defense corps' offensive resurgence. "I haven't said, 'go,' I just haven't said 'stop.' If they've got a chance to go and they're in position to go, [then] go.

"Brian Pothier is an offensive defenseman. Why stifle him? Mike Green, if you stifle him from being offensive, then you're not using his abilities and his assets. With Schultzie, we've just got to find the right guy for him to ricochet the puck off of. It's not anything that we're doing special, except we're allowing them to jump into the play. We're not saying, 'Don't jump into the play.'"

Green's 17 goals are the most by any Caps defenseman since Gonchar bagged 18 in 2002-03.

"I think it's just the mindset," says Green. "When Bruce came here he made it very clear that we were going to start scoring goals. We were losing games by one or two goals when if we would have done simple things to score goals like we're doing now and playing a system, we would have had a lot more points.

"I think it's also just confidence. Guys feel like their role as fourth-line guys isn't just to go out and hit guys. They're playing the system and they're getting opportunities to score. It's all about creating offense. Bruce has really instilled this in us: if you play this way, you're going to score goals. So we just go out and play that way."

While the group's defensive maturation and improvement has come about in the season's second half, the Caps' blueliners began producing at the other end months earlier. That's something Washington is actively seeking from its rearguards.

"First and foremost, you want defensemen that know how to defend," declares McPhee. "You have to be able to do that before anything else. But you're team is a lot better off is they can defend and be part of the offense as well. That's what we've been trying to emphasize here. We still have guys like Morrisonn and Jurcina who can do more offensively. Schultz has gotten the message. Poti can do it, Pothier can do it and Green can do it. If a couple more guys can generate some offense, then it would be a real terrific crew."

The Caps also have the not-unpleasant problem of carrying eight defensemen all season. While it has made for a difficult campaign for Eminger, who has played in just 16 games to date, it's a better situation than being short of NHL defensemen.

"We want to play all of them," says Boudreau. "When you have six, seven, eight defensemen playing well, you've got assets. There aren't a lot of teams in this league that have that many good defensemen. So it's great for them and if it shows up on the scoreboard, it's great for us."

There are eight defensemen here this season, and more are climbing the ladder and could arrive as early as next season. Sami Lepisto, a third-rounder from 2004, has had a tremendous first pro season in North America with the Hershey Bears. He has gotten a taste of the NHL, getting into three games with the Caps.

First-rounders Karl Alzner (fifth overall in 2007) and Joe Finley (27th overall in 2005) could turn pro by training camp of next season as could Josh Godfrey, a second-rounder from 2007. The defensive largesse also enabled the Caps to deal Theo Ruth, a blueliner chosen in the second round in 2007, to Columbus for veteran center Sergei Fedorov at the trading deadline. Washington was able to deal away a solid defense prospect without feeling the pinch, a luxury it has not had for quite some time.

"You look around the room and we've got Greenie and Schultzie and Jurcina, Emmy and Erskine and then soon Alzner and Godfrey," says Morrisonn, forgetting to mention himself. "We're all young defensemen and I think it's important to have a solid D and have depth on defense."

Because the core of the current group of defensemen is so young, they could be patrolling the District blueline for a while together. The intricacies of the new collective bargaining agreement and the league's salary cap system make it difficult to keep a good team together in the NHL these days.

"I'd love to be here for a long time with the same guys," says Morrisonn. "You get such great chemistry with your partner, even all six guys and that makes a difference on the ice, just knowing all their tendencies. You understand the system and each other. I think that's really important. For forwards, when you're always switching lines, it's hard to build chemistry. It's the same for defense. If you're playing with the same guys over the years then you build relationships, not only on the ice but off the ice. I think it's very important. With Witter and Gonch and those guys, there was obviously chemistry."

That chemistry may ultimately lead to longevity and stability. Those characteristics would be a welcome change from the previous three seasons when 29 different defensemen skated for the Caps. Only nine defensemen have been needed this season, and most of them expect to be around for next season and beyond.