2013 Washington Capitals Season Review

We thought with the lockout would cancel the 2012-13 season and with the bitterness between the players and owners (specifically Donald Fehr and Gary Bettman), that was the likelihood. Sure enough, they agree on a new CBA and the 2013 season was on…which wasn’t good initially for the Caps.

As the season started, the Caps had to know Adam Oates’s system on the fly and as the result, the team struggled from the gate. Instead of thinking about the playoffs, the Caps were in the Popeye Jr. (Defenseman Seth Jones, projected to be the number one prospect of the 2013 NHL Draft) Sweepstakes. As the season went on, the team got use to the Oates system, Alex Ovechkin was onboard, and the Caps won the Southeast.

Although the Caps were coming to the playoffs hot, the Rangers were as hot. Although the Caps had home-ice advantage, and all the home teams won in this series, it was the Rangers who prevail and the Caps with an early exit…again.

Caps fans have to admit this team is the New York Knicks of hockey. The have the offensive flair, some defense, and they prefer to shoot from the perimeter. The only difference is the Knicks are selfish, while the Caps are passive.

This was a team that should’ve learned from Dale Hunter last year to learn about defense and be mentally tough. Instead, it’s the old Bruce Boudreau teams of a high-octane offense, but with little grit. Most people want to blame the players and coaches, which is fair, but I think it’s more of the culture of the team, which starts with owner Ted Leonsis. Yes, the Stanley Cup is the hardest-earned trophy in sports, but it seems Leonsis is satisfied of the business side of the sport than the result. He says he might care, but you have to act on it.

This leads to the GM of the Washington Capitals, George McPhee. He has done a good job shaping the team in the late 90s, early 2000s and rebuilding the team around Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom, and Mike Green (and Alex Semin). Since 2008, the team has made it to the playoffs, but have not passed 2nd round. Although McPhee has drafted and got great talent from free agency and trades, he has focus on talent and not character that can counteract with Ovechkin.

Speaking of Ovechkin, one of the biggest faults for the Caps is making him captain. He is a talented player, but his personality is the culture of this team and fair or not with the passing and the perimeter shooting, he is shaping this team and from the looks of it, he does about winning, he doesn’t know how.

As for next season, there will be a new conference, an actual 82 game season, and new players who can fit in Oates’s system and be the Yang to Ovechkin’s Yin. If we get Oates as the assistant coach who learned about the trapping defense from the New Jersey Devils, the Caps are set for a potential deep run.

Next year will be Ovechkin’s biggest year yet as the Caps will try again to make it in a crowded playoff field with the Devils, Rangers, Flyers, Penguins, Islanders, Hurricanes, and Blue Jackets. In addition, next season is an Olympic year and it is in Sochi, Russia so we might see a motivated Ovi or an uninterested Ovi depending on the result. Marketing wise, of the six outdoor games, none have the Caps, which tells us the Caps have lost their wide appeal.

Next year is very crucial for the Caps in more ways than one. You get the subplots and the players, but the most important question every year since the 1980s is can the Caps stay with the status quo or do they breakthrough? It’s up to them.

If I Were Running A Company…The Mel Kiper Award (January 2011)

If you been reading on my personal blog and if you are new to this site, the Mel Kiper Award is for someone in pop culture (real or fictional) that plays a part in human resources.  Here are the award winners so far if you missed it:

1. Mel Kiper, Jr. (obviously)
2. Johnny Carson
3. Dave Kovic
4. Mr. Krabs
5. Mary Tyler Moore
6. Dave Nelson
7. Mariah Carey
8. George Michael (sports broadcaster)
9. David Simon
10. 1979-1984 New York Islanders

The next recipient is basically copying my life, but he makes it much cooler. Ladies and Gentlemen:

Shawn Spencer

Yes, he has ADD issues and he gets in an argument with his father, but with his gift (he’s hyper-observant, not a real psychic), he has used it to build a successful private agency business by using his people’s skills.

Although he is hyper-observant, Shawn is a great communicator since he asks pertinent questions of suspects and people of interests and has a gentle touch to get the answers from them. There are times you need to play good cop/bad cop, but Shawn has to mention that he’s a “psychic” and people will immediately believe in him.

He is also versatile as he has done nearly every job in the United States…literally.

All these “gifts” Shawn has, he would easily do this by himself. However, he realizes he needs some help. He usually asks his father, Henry, for his experience and wisdom, although their personal relationship might be a roller coaster ride.  His best friend and partner of the agency: Gus TT Showbiz…I mean Burton Guster is the “medical expert” and super sniffer (has strong sense of smell). He uses the police station to…well he’s in a relationship with a detective and he does sneak in a lot.

The point is you have all these gifts, but use it to not only benefit yourself, but others surrounding him. Thank you “Psychic Detective” Shawn Spencer for winning the Mel Kiper Award.

If I Were Running A Company…Mobile

I went to the RecruitDC event last week on mobile recruiting, where Michael Marlatt was discussing that businesses need to go mobile since nearly everyone has a mobile device . It was a wonderful discussion and presentation and Michael gave facts for businesses, including the recruiting profession, to push for mobile.  I believe mobile is still in its infancy as a business tool, but in a 24/7 world, mobile will become a potent business tool.

In a mobile world, it is trying to get attention. One amazing stat from the presentation was that SMS texts get a 95% read rate. That’s impressive. Wanna bet businesses want to go into the mobile sector?  Businesses are putting more resources on mobile apps and web sites because it will get a bigger audience, hence the text info and QR codes on the billboards.  You have the attraction, but that’s only the beginning.

After you got the customer/applicant’s attraction, you need them to engage with the business.  You need to know how accessible your mobile strategy is. After that, is your mobile strategy engaging?  The last part is very crucial if your strategy thrives or not.  If you’re strategy is just a bunch of ads, then your spamming.  However, if you communicate with the audience, they might be intrigue on your business. The trick is making your business personable for each individual.  Give them settings that will make the customer/applicant engage to a product or job opening.

The reason mobile will be popular for business because of it’s potential growth and opportunities. In today’s world, people, at a minimum, are taking pictures, shooting video, and text. With our rapid technology development, we can do conference calls and face-to-face conversations on our mobile devices. In the future, we have a device that give 3D imagery, then down the line: holograms, which could lead to a mobile device where a phone scans our body, turns it to molecules and transports us to destinations from 3 or 30,000 miles away.

The reason to have mobile in your business is to reduce the communication gap. It used to be people go to events and mingle. Then, social media help us identify who we want to talk to.  The best way of communication is still face-to-face, but mobile reduces the gap since you can communicate anytime, anywhere. This is what businesses want to see.

If I Were Running A Company…The NHL All-Star Game

Before I moved my HR/Recruiting section of my personal blog to this site, I love writing case studies combining HR and sports.  There are HR sites that focus mostly on basketball (here, here, and here), nearly everyone focuses on football and baseball, but a rare few talk about HR and hockey. That will change soon in a couple of months.

Recently, the NHL and NHL Players Association recently agreed to revamped their all-star format. Traditionally in all-star games, fans vote for the starters for each conference, then the managers/players select the remaining all-stars. In the new format, the fans select six starters (3 forwards, 2 defencemen, 1 goalie, no matter the conference) from the ballot. After the starters are announced, the NHL Hockey operations determines the rest of the all-stars based on performance this season. In addition, they will add 12 rookies to be part of the all-star game. After everything is announced, the fun begins.

On the Friday before the game, the captains pick who they want on their team from the list of all-stars and rookies. Essentially, an NHL All-Star Fantasy Draft. When you look at this, it’s likely to be Team Alex Ovechkin vs. Team Sidney Crosby, but it could be both be on the same team.  No matter who are the captains and which team they play for, it brings intrigue or chaos to the event. Either way, it will be interesting.

What does it relate to HR? Everything!

The captains, who are making a selections, have to decide if they are going to be serious about the game or select a bunch of friends? Add to that, do they want to select their teammates (either from their country or pro team), choose the best hockey player available, or select a need for their team at the time of the draft?  This fantasy draft also could be a great learning tool and could be the next stepping stone to a new career for some players (i.e. Edmonton’s President of Hockey Operations Kevin Lowe, Dallas GM Joe Nieuwendyk, Tampa Bay GM Steve Yzerman, and to some extent, NHL’s VP of Hockey and Business Development, Brendan Shanahan).

The fantasy draft is the same approach recruiters and HR pros do everyday about their staff on how to make their organizations better. They have to decide what direction their organization want with the hirings and if they maximize their bottom line.  The same approach goes to the NHL format.

Although the NFL, NBA, and MLB are more popular, the NHL is the most innovative sports league and are willing to take chances to enhance their product. I can’t wait for the upcoming NHL All-Star Game, although it’s unlikely to havePaul Bissonnette as an all-star, which is a shame.

Jizz Cares

Ever since Matt Bradley was quoted that Alex Semin “doesn’t care” about last year’s playoffs, most of the Caps fan defended Semin, although everyone agrees he needed to step up when the stakes are higher.

This season, people have started the “Semin Cares,” “Sasha Cares” tweets and chants and it is getting old very quickly. Those chants should be only reserved for the playoffs and one other occasion.

That one occasion is “Give to the Max Day.” “Give to the Max Day” is a fundraising drive in the DC, Maryland, and Northern Virginia nonprofits and charities in a 24-hour span. The fundraising event in DC is on November 9. This is where nonprofits step in.

On November 8, the Washington Capitals face the Dallas Stars. When Jizz does something during the game, I will donate money to a charity/nonprofit the following day at “Give it to the Max” Day.  Here’s the breakdown:

• JIZZ!!! (Whenever Alex Semin scores a goal): $100
• Jizz on the assist (Semin assist on the goal): $50
• Jizz in the Box (Semin gets a penalty): $25

Bonus: If Jizz is one of the stars of the game:

• 3rd Star: $100
• 2nd Star: $150
• 1st Star: $250

Rules:

The first charity/nonprofit/nonprofiteer to retweet whenever I tweet when Jizz does something, gets the donation. Your nonprofit must be in the DC Metro area (DC, Northern Virginia, Southern Maryland) participating and have a page on the “Give it to the Max” website to be eligible.

So nonprofits/nonprofiteers, root for Jizz on November 8 to do something and your charity/nonprofit will get something in return from me. Let’s hope Jizz is “Giving it to the Max”…but not the bad kind

2010 Washington Capitals Development Camp and Fanfest

I attended the last day of Caps Development Camp just to see the scrimmage, get a couple of stuff, and meet other Caps Tweeters.  If you’re looking for a comprehensive report of Caps Development  for the week… I’m not that guy. If you want to, go to these Caps sites:

• On Frozen Blog
• Russian Machine Never Breaks
• Japers’ Rink
• Washington Examiner  - Caps
• Caps Snaps
• RocktheRed.net
• Corey Masisak
• Capitals Insider

As for the game I saw, the guys did look pretty tired after a long week and it showed, but this unit had more bite and intensity in this game.  Here are a few observations:

• Dmitri Orlov is simply the next Andrei Markov if he can improve on the defensive side.  If he does that, he will be a perfect complement to Mike Green, if they’re ever teammates.
• Joe Finley seems like a late bloomer to me.  He has the skills and tenacity and is literally Hal Gill 2.0.  However, he hasn’t translated to the rink yet.  He’s tall, physical, and can fight, but he needs to bring it altogether if he can make it to the Hershey roster.
• The Finley-Pisano fight was terrible, but the Della Rovere-Bruess was an epic fight and both will be in the NHL and I think the Caps needs those characters now, but they’re not ready yet.
• Almost 3000 came to see the scrimmage and the last day of Caps Development camp. Check that, 2500 people saw the scrimmage, while 500 people were waiting for Brooks Laich autograph and blow…tires.
• After the shootout ended, the refs were still in World Cup mode. Look at the video below.
• While the depth at Center for the current Caps roster has not been solved, the depth here at Caps Development Camp with Buress, Cody Eakin, Evgeny Kuznetsov, and Marcus Johansson has a lot of potential.  All this talk about Johansson is going to be a second line center should need to settle down.  He is going to be great for the Caps, but this is his first time on North American ice and coaches should be patient. If I were Boudreau, he should start in the 3rd Line at best and work his way up. You never know when he’ll hit the rookie wall. Cody Eakin showed that he can physical, which is a good thing, and Kuznetsov has tons of skill, but needs to mature and don’t choke under pressure.

This leads me to the overall viewpoint of the Caps offseason.  The future is bright as for the Caps as they have immense talent in Hershey and South Carolina.  However, do they players ready for the NHL now? No. Will some move up the NHL in a couple of years? Yes. Do I expect the Caps to resign all their UFAs next year? No.  I repeatedly said this, but it’s a critical year for the Caps next season.  They must advance far in the playoffs and stop going to Game 7s and stop getting eliminated early.  I expect one last hurrah for the current Caps team and hopefully a trade is in the works so they can get to the Stanley Cup Finals with this team before they have to make a decision.  From today, this group of players has a bright future and will be with the Caps for a long time (5 years in salary cap terms).

*Before you see the pictures and videos below, just want go off the board and tell you that the Hockey Foundation needs your help.  They need to raise $15,000 to send equipment and people to Ladakh.  If they reach their goal, one lucky person who donated $50 or more can be entered to win a trip to the Ladakh to assist handing out equipment to kids and play hockey over there.  For more details, go here: http://www.hockeyfoundation.org/active-contests/

Pics outside the scrimmage:

The game in its entirety:

If I Was Running A Company…Another Mel Kiper Award (July 2010)



I haven’t done this for a long time since I’ve been busy working, networking, tweeting, and catching up on stuff.  I’m also thinking about this heat wave that DC has been in for almost a month.  I would love it that the terrible blizzard earlier this year would return.  I can’t do that, but there is one recipient that will remind us of winter in summer.  Ladies and gentlemen, your next recipient of the Mel Kiper Award:

The 1979-1984 New York Islanders

Between 1979 to 1984, the New York Islanders won 4 straight Stanley Cups.  They were the dynasty of the early 1980s with players like Mike Bossy, Ken Morrow, Denis Potvin, Billy Smith and others; and Al Arbour giving instructions behind the bench.  What made this team special was not the players, the coach, Long Island. They were remembered for two words: PLAYOFF BEARDS!!!

The Islanders were credited of creating the playoff beards and the rest is history.  The playoff beards did four things:

Tradition

Before the 1979 season in 1976-1978, the Islanders were a great regular season team.  However, they were eliminated in the semifinals in those years and people were wondering if they can ever win a big series.  In the 1979-1980 season, they only had 91 points, but won the Stanley Cup that year.  All it took was a change in culture (or in this case, hair growth on the jaw line) and when a few players grew their beards, the Islanders won Stanley Cup after Stanley Cup for 4 seasons.

Motivation

By growing their playoff beards, the Islanders players look at Ken Morrow and others that when the playoff beard is growing, it starts to get serious.  This gave the Islanders an incentive to play harder each game and series so they want to see their own players grow their beards until they touch the Stanley Cup.

Legacy

After the Islanders dynasty ended, teams were trying to do their own traditions: The Winnipeg Jets did the whiteout, teams didn’t touch the conference trophies, playoff mullets, mohawks, you name it.  All these superstitions gave belief that one day, they can touch the Stanley Cup. Not only the playoff beards spread the NHL, it has spread to other sports leagues believing by growing their playoff beard, they have a shot at a title.  Fortunately for the New York Islanders, they won 4 straight and 19 straight playoff series, which will never be accomplish again in our lifetime in any sport.

Community

The New York Islanders sole purpose of growing the beard was winning the Stanley Cup and have achieve that, but the playoff beard had a life on its own.  Teams and the NHL itself, encourage players and fans to grow their beards to not only support their team, but do it for a real cause.  A few years ago, the NHL started a Beard-A-Thon for fans to grow their beards during the playoffs and to donate money to various charities.  In 2010, the Beard-a-Thon raised over $300,000 to the NHL team charities.

If it weren’t for the playoff beards, would we talk about the New York Islanders being a dynasty in the early 1980s?  We would never know and gladly don’t have to because the playoff beard change history and fate for the Islanders and for that: Thank you, New York Islanders.

The Caps Offseason

There is a huge split among Caps fans about how they’re doing in the offseason.  It’s the sports version of Team Jacob vs. Team Edward (and I can’t believe I typed that).  One half of Caps fans love the Caps silent approach, while the other half want something to be done in the free agent frenzy.  There is no right or wrong method but there are two strong, valid points of view.

The Quiet Approach

Fans have love this team for almost 5 years (after the lockout) and the team has got better each year (except this past season, but that can be debated).  Why not ruin success, just have the same team and hope they get better.  Also, adding Alzner, Carlson, and Neuvirth full-time will make a team younger and one of the defensive pairings set for a long time with Alzner-Carlson.  Just add one more piece and the team could contend again for the Cup.

The Impact Approach

Since the Caps went out in the first round, people are asking for an impact player.  Caps went for not as Paul Martin and Zbyněk Michálek went to Pittsburgh, Dan Hamhuis went to Vancouver, and the stake that drove some Caps fans hearts, Anton Volchenkov signs a $4.25 Million deal with the Devils.  Some thought Volchenkov was one of the two missing pieces to Cup title run for the Caps.  By that, fans were in an uproar and asking for McPhee’s head (and took it to Ted Leonsis’s email).

In my opinion, it is alright to keep a team the same…if they’re close to a Cup or won the Cup, which the Caps are nowhere near.  To me, the Washington Capitals are the Phoenix Suns of the NHL: exciting to watch, but can’t win championships.  It was telling that Bruce Boudreau mention last year they were “5 to 6 passengers.”  I can accept 1 or 2, but 5-6 is insane.  It’s either the coach or the players to blame. In this case, the coach did not have a “playoff” philosophy, while most of the players did not perform under pressure, hence blowing a 3-1 to Montreal.

If the players won’t change, how about a philosophy for more grit on this team? Do you believe all 23 players will change for a more “playoff-ready” philosophy?  There will be some who like it, but don’t expect all to follow, which people should be more concerned about.  This is where I like this report from ESPN’s Pierre LeBrun:

The Washington Capitals have to re-sign several restricted free agents who filed for arbitration Monday, including Tomas Fleischmann, Eric Fehr and Jeff Schultz. This might be crucial because, as the Washington Post writes, “Some teams, including the Caps, have a reputation for being ruthless in their arguments.”

There was some previous speculation that the Caps could shop Fleischmann but, unless talks go sour, it doesn’t look like that’s happening. However, we know the Caps will look for a defenseman in the free agent or trade markets, so there might be some kind of move coming soon.

The biggest move, however, would be an Alexander Semin trade. Yahoo Sports’ Dmitry Chesnokov previously tweeted that Caps may be actively shopping Semin.

If that’s the case, I hope we trade Jizz to the Stars for Brad Richards on the high-end or trade him to a couple of St. Louis Blues players (Oshie, Berglund, Backes, Brewer since all of them are free agents next year), the Kings for Handzus, or any other combination and the team looks very different before the season starts.

I have patience with Ted and George on these moves and they know what to do since they have all the information and if free agency is dry, so be it.  However, don’t tell me keeping the same roster is an option before the season starts. The mindset has to change from opening night and can be altered during the season. McPhee can say, “We got 121 points last year because we’re a pretty good team and we don’t really need a lot.” That’s fine, but D.C. doesn’t want a good team, D.C. wants a champion.

#TWTRCON DC 2009

Last Thursday, I attended #Twtrcon in DC. Twtrcon is a conference for businesses that have applied Twitter in their business strategy, so no novices here.

The main reason I went to Twtrcon is to meet people I met before and finally see the faces of the people I met through Twitter the past year so they wouldn’t think I’m a fake  I can say I have reach double digits meeting the HR/Recruiting people, although I have 700 HR/Recruiting pros to meet.

Twtrcon had several sessions throughout the day. The ones I was most anticipated were Michael DiLorenzo of the NHL on real-time branding since if you go to my all-around Twitter feed you know I’m a bit “devoted” to the NHL.  I also wanted to listen to Jessica Lee and Kerry Noone’s presentation on Twitter for Recruiting since that’s my area of expertise. Both were great discussions on how to use Twitter.

Twtrcon also provided a few memorable quotes:

• “Free the Nerds”
• “People should tweet, not brands”
• “There is no social media expert”
• “Twitter is a sushi conveyor belt moving at 100 mph”
• “Twitter: blogging for lazy people”
• “If you aren’t failing you aren’t trying”
• “What wine pairs up best with bacon?”

The presentation that had everyone’s attention was Scott Harrison’s charity: water. Scott showed video and stats of how much people have donated and how their donations help in Africa. Almost everyone agreed that it was a powerful presentation, although some question that his presentation has nothing to do with Twitter. In hindsight, I agree that it wasn’t focusing on how Scott was utilizing Twitter, but I really think Scott made the point that if you have a powerful message, it can be transmitted anywhere, no matter the source. 

There are some things I want to change for Twtrcon like the 5 minute real-time tools “ad”.  I found it more promotional than informative and I wouldn’t mind if they gave us 30 minutes to walk around the area to see the new products for Twitter, which for the most part, are very useful.  Another adjustment Twtrcon should make is have a screen in front of the speaker or panel to see what questions arises, they can answer it, although if they put a screen outside the Grand Hyatt to let everyone see what people are tweeting about, that will be much better.

Overall, I thought the sessions were useful, but Tonia Ries made the greatest point in the beginning of Twtrcon that the conference is for the people to share their ideas and network with other tweeple and this conference drive that point.

This brings me to the future of Twtrcon if it is going to continue when Twitter’s popularity fades.  I remember 5 years ago people were holding local MySpace parties and everything thought it was a great idea.  Then, MySpace is off of anyone’s radar (except for the creeps).  What Twitter brought that no other social media did is involve anyone who wants to contribute of anything.  While Facebook, Linkedin and other social media do have some barriers, Twitter is making a small world even smaller.  Case in point: I met a guy who is a patient of my brother.  However, the world and technology is going fast and Twitter will eventually be in the bottom of the totem pole.  That said, there will be conferences about social media or any speciality involving social meadi and its impact.  This year is Twitter;  next year, there will likely be a Google Wave Conference;  and 5 years from now, there’s going to be a Hologram conference where people stay at their homes and bring their holographic self.  Either way, all of these conferences have one thing in common: the people, which the conferences should always be about.

Resources:

Pictures from ReadySetDC
Twtrcon Presentations
Official Twtrcon Site

Super Saturday

I had a busy Saturday and I want to share it because I felt like it and so many stuff to tell.

It begin with what suppose to be a trolley tour to George Mason to see the old and new buildings.  Apparently, the trolley broke down on Braddock Avenue, so instead, they replace it with a tour bus that had disco lights and wine glasses.  It was a nice tour and my favorite part of the tour was the new MasonVale, where it’s 1950s sitcom style of housing and faculty live there.

After getting some grub and getting attack by bees and caricature artists, I went to a session on Being Green and actually learn something from it.  Actually, I did my own Eco FootPrint Test and actually tested well…except for food.  Apparently, if I become a vegan, I save one whole planet.  That is not going to happen. anytime soon…unless it’s Lent.

After the Green session, I headed to Jim Larranaga’s session and easily was one of the better sessions as Larranaga told stories from GMU’s teams of past, present, and future, why he came here, and the Mike Morrison story, which was hilarious.  After the George Mason School of Management Silver Anniversary Reception (since I’m with the Board of Directors), it was time to head to DC.

Initially, I didn’t have tickets for the game since it already sold out, but luckily one of my Caps Twitter friends had some tickets available.  I was able to afford it and got to go to the Caps season opener.  There were two main reasons I wanted to go to the game: hockey, and tweetups.  The hockey action was great…for the first two periods with the Caps scoring 6 goals in that span and had control of the game from the start.  Also, there were a lot of red uniforms in the stands and this is slowly becoming a hockey town.  If you don’t believe that, ask Elliotte Friedman of CBC, and yes, Pierre McGuire.

The other main reason I want to go is see my other #Caps tweeters in action and catch up on what they did over the summer.  It was like a family reunion or a Caps Hockey Thanksgiving, but we have to pay for our food.  I met the usual gang and finally met the prominent Caps Tweeters for the first time and wish I could do more of these over the season and concludes in raising the Cup in D.C.

So, how was your weekend?

Photos from Super Saturday