Sandpaper: The Continuing Story of Mike Knuble

Before I start, let me just list Knuble's line for the year.
GP G A PTS +/- PIM
69 29 24 53 23 59

While playing on one of the most offensively minded teams in recent history (and highest scoring since the 95-96 Penguins squad who boasted Super Mario and Jagr) he was able to rack up 29 goals. But this is not where his true value resides. His worth is much more than what shows up on the scoresheet, though you can pencil him in for 25-30 goals a year.

In the post-lockout era most coaches have changed the status-quo from a hook/hold brand of hockey to a fast-paced, sharp passing game. One of the things that has fallen by the wayside is the guy willing to go hard to the net and stay there; notable exception being Scott Hartnell. Knuble's true value is that sandpaper quality that the Capitals so desperately needed after a heartbreaking defeat at the hands of the Penguins last spring. The Caps didn't necessarily need a traditional enforcer (See Boogaard or Carcillo), they needed someone not afraid of a little facewashing after the whistle; what better place to look than to a former Flyer.

What sets Kn00b apart from the rest of the pack in the NHL is his grit, that intangible quality most present in hockey players for the grind lines of the 70s and early 80s. You can just picture him mucking it up in the crease for the Broad St. Bullies of old.

He will rarely, if ever, score a highlight reel, Ovechkin-style goal as most will come from the top of the paint, and I believe only one or two of his 29 goals have come from past the top of the faceoff circle.

As upset as I am that Knuble is no longer a Flyer, I am extremely happy that he is playing for a team that is a serious contender for the Cup (cause lets face it Flyer fans... Boosh is like a ticking time-bomb...). At $2.8 million dollars the Capitals have found a veteran mix of leadership and sandpaper that has more than outweighed the cost of his contract.

All of which makes Mike Knuble one of the best free agent signings in recent memory.

This Evening in Life

I made a cake. It was a lemon cake. It has a butter cream frosting. MMMM. Yum.

In other news the Nats won 3-1 tonight, continuing an 11 game string of consecutive wins then losses. The Clip and Save came into full effect after another masterful performance by Livan. Tonight's offensive standout would be Ian Desmond who managed to go 2 for 4 with 2rbi and 2sb. Well done.

I was able to catch parts of the Red Wings-Coyotes game. Ouch. Throw The Snake didn't work so well...

On the TonyPlushAllStars (my fantasy team...) I had Ubaldo Jimenez going, who was amazing, Zack Grienke, who was amazing but won't pick up a win, and Edwin Jackson who was absolutely dreadful. That sucked.

Tomorrow I am going to be out most of the day, recap of the Motion City Soundtrack concert to come. In the morning I am going to post a profile of one of my favorite hockey players. Stay tuned.

Lineups - An Ever-Changing Dynamic

To start off. I love Jim Riggleman. He is the Anti-Acta. He has a fantastic fire about him, will defend his players regardless if they are wrong or right, and he can motivate his young squad to be a 500 club.

That being said... Can we please go 2 games in a row with the same lineup? I did a little bit of research cause I figured that it just seems like we haven't gone 2 games in a row with the same 1-8 hitters. Turns out, we haven't.

Let me say that again. ZERO times.

This season we have not had the same 1-8 hitters in 2 straight games.

Granted we have had a couple injuries(*), I understand that. But c'mon Riggs?

*(How does anyone on our training staff still have a job? For the past 3 years all it has been is the dreaded Day-to-Day for about 5 days and then we will have to put someone on the DL. We did it with Morse already this year, we are doing it with Zim now (granted he had that amazing Kirk Gibson-style PH HR), and to some extent Willie Harris. We are playing with a depleted bench and it is going to end up biting us in the butt.)

How in the world is our team supposed to have quality defense if people are either not playing everyday and/or playing a different position everyday like Kennedy, Guzman or Harris.

Which leads me to my next point. We are not going to win this year. Lets face that. We will be competitive; but we will not contend for a title or the wild card.

We took a chance with Desmond starting; I loved it. We sent JMax down at the beginning of the season cause of a dreadful spring. But instead of filling that opening in the OF with a young stud who had a fantastic spring (Bernadina) we filled it with infield single monster Willy Taveras; great guy, but really?

We brought up Bernadina earlier this year after Morse went down, he was up for 5 days but only got in 1 game with 1 AB. How in the world is sitting on the bench better for his development as opposed to playing everyday at AAA?

Its time we let our young guns sink or swim.

But more importantly, lets let our starters start and let our bench players get acclimated to being defensive replacements and role players.

Mac.

Welcome

If you are coming to this blog I thank you.

You might not agree with what I say, that's fine.

People said they would read stuff I wrote so here it is.

Here is a little bit about me:
I have been a die hard nationals fan for their entire existance.
I have a soft spot for the mariners.
I voted for Obama.
Music is my passion.
Yuengling is my beer of choice.
I am both shocked and ecstatic that the Flyers moved on to the 2nd round.
My favorite hockey player of all-time is John Leclair.
My favorite baseball player of all-time is Rickey Henderson.
I want to live on the West Coast - partly because I could watch sports from 10am to midnight.
You can follow me on twitter @CraigMac
I like pepsi-cola over coke.
I just learned what FTW and FML mean.
I hate pittsburgh sports.
Peter Angelos hurts my soul.
Rob Dibble makes me laugh.
And there are few sights in this world funnier than Jim Bowden on a segway.

I am going to write random things - some short and some probably long. I hope you enjoy them. Tell your friends.