Meeting the New Guys: Dany Sabourin

This is going to be the final player profile of the offseason. I’d appreciate feedback from you guys that have been reading. Let me know if you liked this “Meeting the New Guys” series and/or things you would change, etc. I hope you feel more informed about the team this upcoming season.

Braden Holtby is most likely to be sharing this season’s games with Dany Sabourin, a veteran AHL goalie who has also seen a decent amount of NHL games. Let’s say hello.

Name: Daniel “Dany” Sabourin
Birthdate: September 2, 1980
Hometown: Val-d’Or, Quebec, Canada
Drafted: 1998, 4^th round, 108^th overall by the Calgary Flames
Height: 6’4
Weight: 200 lbs
Catches: left
-Finished the 2009-2010 season with a .50 win percentage, a .915 save percentage, and 2.67 goals against average. He played 56 games and posted 3 shutouts.

I know that many people (myself included) are itching to see Braden Holtby play a game or two in the NHL. And if one of the goalies gets a minor injury, he is likely to be the one they call-up. But if one goalie goes down with a long-term injury or if (god forbid) both are injured, expect to see the team turning to Sabourin to take on the workload. At least until they know they can rely on Holtby.

On July 1, 2010, he signed a one year, two-way contract with the Washington Capitals. CapGeek.com lists his salary as $250,000 in the AHL and $525,000 in the NHL. Taking a look at Sabourin’s professional career, he has played for 6 AHL teams and 3 NHL teams. When he played for the Vancouver Canucks in 2006-2007, he saw playing time during two playoff games, once when Luongo was pulled and once when he needed to…attend to something off-ice. He played a total of 57 games at the NHL level. He averaged a .854 save percentage for those 57 games.

During the 2005-2006 season with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, Sabourin won the Aldege “Baz” Bastien Memorial Award. Every year this award is given to the goalie determined to be the best goaltender in the league. Basically, it’s the AHL version of the Vezina trophy. His statistics for that season included a 2.26 goals against average and a .922 save percentage.

To get a better idea of what kind of goalie we’re looking at, I enlisted the help of Providence Bruins fan and expert, Sarah Connors (of Something’s Bruin):

For Providence fans, last season was an especially frustrating one. Our team didn't make the playoffs for the first time since the late 90's, our scoring struggles were just as drastic as Boston's, and our talent pool was stricken by injury and callups, moreso than usual because of injury to the big club right up I-95.

One bright spot, however, was Dany Sabourin, your future Bears goaltender.

Last year was a record-setting year for Mr. Sabourin's personal statistics. He started 57 games to the oft-injured Kevin Regan's 21, and played over 3000 minutes, something he'd never done before, even at the age of 30. The closest he'd come previously was his year with the Pittsburgh/WBS Pens, in 05-06, when he started 50 games. He's played in 57 total NHL games, and last year often carried the struggling P-Bruins on his back, often making 30+ saves in a night. He's solid in net, and is a good veteran presence; the Bears' younger goaltenders will learn a lot from him.

Fun fact - Sabourin did not lose a game in OT all season. His 28-27-0 record does not reflect how well he played at all - he has Providence's fail of an offense last year to thank for that. In January alone, he went 5-5, but his GAA was 1.94. He'll be good insurance if your defense isn't stellar, and paired with the perennially goal-happy Bears offense, you should be good to go.

Big thanks to Sarah for helping out with this post. Be sure and check out her work at Something's Bruin and follow her on Twitter.


In order to endear him to the Washington/Hershey fans some more, here’s a video of him making a highlight save against Mike Richards during a shootout.



Apparently he’s also a fan of PSP. I ask forgiveness for linking a Penguins video…

Meeting the New Guys: Joel Rechlicz

I've got enough time to do a couple more posts before all the camp mayhem begins, so here we go!

Name: Joel Rechlicz (pronouced wreck-lihj)
Birthdate: June 14, 1987
Hometown: Brookfield, WI
Drafted: Undrafted
Height: 6’4
Weight: 220 lbs
Position: Right Wing
Shoots: Right

He has played 21 NHL games so far, 17 in the 2008-2009 season and 6 in the 2009-2010 season. And, in those 21 games, he’s fought, um, EVERYONE. I’m not kidding. Just one YouTube search of his name and you’ll find more than 10 pages of his fights. He even takes on the big guys like Wade Brookbank, Riley Cote, Georges Laraque, Zenon Konopka, and our very own John Erskine. You can find a couple of said videos at the end of this post. As you might expect, he doesn’t score very many goals…pretty much none, in fact.

But let’s focus on the positive! Much like the Caps adding D.J. King, we’ve got an enforcer for Hershey! Nicknamed “Wrecker,” he had 128 penalty minutes in just 21 games with the Bridgeport Sound Tigers. In the 2008-2009 and 2009-2010 seasons, he got 68 penalty minutes and 27 penalty minutes, respectively, while with the Islanders.

Rechlicz signed a one-year, one-way contract with Hershey on July 29, 2010. In 2008, he signed a 3-year contract with the New York Islanders. However, this past summer, they mutually terminated the contract and he was placed on waivers and became a UFA. When he signed with the Islanders, he became the first player from the International Hockey League to make it to the NHL.

I’ve got to say, for being a “tough guy” he can be a bit of an…interesting fighter. While watching a lot of his fights, he makes this pawing-like motion during the moments before the first swing. And, while pawing away, he and his opponent circle each other for quite some time. Sometimes it ends up just being more of a hug than a fight, but that happens to the best of us. Or maybe he’s just trying to hug it out? In all seriousness, he packs a good punch and can stand his own, even against the NHL veteran enforcers.

I love me some hockey fights. Here we go, Joel Rechlicz, everybody!

Rechlicz and a pretty decent fight against Tom Kostopolous.



Rechlicz even fought Brashear while Brash was in Hartford, so that's fun.



And finally Rechlicz fights Michael Rupp and does some gymnastics.

Meeting the New Guys: Brian Fahey

When you look at the current roster on the Capitals website, you can’t help but notice that it looks like one guy snuck himself in. That guy is defenseman Brian Fahey. On July 7^th, 2010, it was quietly announced that he had signed a one year, two-way contract with Washington. He didn’t even get his own announcement; it was split with the signing of forward Kyle Greentree.

Name: Brian Fahey
Birthdate: March 2, 1981
Hometown: Glenview, IL
Drafted: 4^th round, 119th overall by the Colorado Avalanche
Height: 6’1
Weight: 216 lbs
Position: Defenseman
Shoots: Right

I have to admit that my bleeding heart wants him to get a call-up this season. At 29 years old, he’s an established AHL veteran but he has yet to play a game in the NHL. Last season, he was called up by the Colorado Avalanche in November but was sent back down two weeks later without dressing for a single game. He was called up again for depth during playoffs but the Avalanche were eliminated before he was needed.

Hershey lost a few veterans this off-season and will probably lose their prodigies, Karl Alzner and John Carlson. I think he’ll be an excellent addition to Hershey. He adds to the defense and brings years of experience to the team. He helped lead the Chicago Wolves to a Calder Cup Championship in 2008, getting ten points in the post-season. CapGeek.com lists him as making $500,000 in the NHL and $105,000 in the AHL. As John Walton says, “Hershey doesn’t rebuild, they reload.”

However, Fahey isn’t new to Hershey but he is new to Washington. He played 12 games for the Bears in 2002-2003 while they were still Colorado’s affiliate. In those 12 games, he had no goals and one assist. That same season, he spent most of his time playing in the ECHL for the (now defunct) Atlantic City Boardwalk Bullies. Fahey was named to both the WCHA and the ECHL All-Rookie Team during his career.

Fahey also brings the kind of attitude teams like to see in their veterans. During the 2006-2007 season with the Chicago Wolves, he was awarded the “Tim Breslin Unsung Hero Award.” This award is given to the player on the Chicago Wolves “who best typifies Breslin’s on-ice spirit and team-first attitude.” In Lake Erie, he wore an ‘A.’ Coaches seem to feel comfortable giving him a bit of responsibility and he seems to feel more comfortable having that responsibility.

The University of Wisconsin graduate played with the Lake Erie Monsters last season. He finished with 11 goals and 14 assists in 71 games. He got a lot of time on Lake Erie’s power play unit: 6 of his 11 goals were power play goals. While not a fighter, he does seem to have a bit of a physical playing style. He accumulated 97 penalty minutes in the last season.

As always, I end this with a video. It’s good to know that literacy is important to Fahey.

Meeting the New Guys: D.J. King

Today it was announced that D.J. King was traded the Washington Capitals, after signing a two-year extension with the St. Louis Blues. In return, the Blues received Stefan Della Rovere.

I will admit that I was never a big Della Rovere fan but I’m aware that Caps Nation seemed to consider him a favorite. And, for this particular trade, I personally think we ended up with the better deal. Della Rovere still has a lot of growing to do and is a bit of a question mark to me. We know what we’re getting with King: a fighter. Plain and simple. And, when it comes down to it, I’d rather have a “veteran” fighter than a prospect pest. But I do thank Delly for the only quality fight at Development Camp this year. So let’s meet the newest Capital!

Name: Dwayne “D.J.” King
Birthdate: January 27, 1984
Hometown: Meadow Lake, Saskatchewan
Drafted: 6^th round, 191st overall by the St. Louis Blues
Height: 6’3
Weight: 230 lbs
Position: Left Wing
Shoots: Left

Immediate impression? We’re looking at a few injury problems as of late. He played one whole game in the 2008-2009 season before a shoulder injury took him out. He only played 22 games in the 2009-2010 season because of a finger injury. He’s also a big dude. 230 pounds coming at you in a fight? Not too shabby. And I’ll be the first to admit that he won a part of me over with the following quote (after being told the less than kind words Max Talbot had for Ovechkin):

"Wow. I guess that's not going to be happening too much longer."

And this, of course, raises the question about whether a Stanley Cup contender requires an enforcer. I, personally, say no, it’s not a requirement. Although you can’t argue with the benefit of having some muscle around.

It’s good to have some protection although he does not produce much of anything offensively. He could end up just being a frequent healthy scratch. His contract has him earning $625,000 in 2010-2011 and $675,000 during 2011-2012. All things considered, it could be much worse.

He got in five NHL fights last season. Not bad, considering he only played in twelve NHL games. To celebrate our new fighter, I bring you some of my favorite fights of his:

Versus Krys Barch:

Here he fights Cam Janssen (who later became his teammate) during the Memorial Cup.

Versus a billy goat, oh wait that’s Scott Parker.

In conclusion, welcome to the family, D.J. King. Matt Bradley’s papery skin is glad to have you around. And let me know your thoughts on our newest addition.

Meeting the New Guys: Jared DeMichiel

This entry is the first in the series where I will introduce you to and look into the newest Caps signings and draft picks. To open, we’re taking a look at goalie, Jared DeMichiel, who signed a one-year contract with the Hershey Bears this July.

And I’m incredibly pleased to announce that Jared DeMichiel himself was nice enough to do an interview with me. What a way to start this blog with a bang! But first, we’ll start off with some basic statistics about this RIT Tiger.

Name: Jared DeMichiel

Birthdate: April 16, 1985
Hometown: Avon, CT
College: Rochester Institute of Technology, #33.
Major: Business Management, double minor in Marketing and Communications
Height: 6’1

Weight: 190 lbs

Catches: left
-Finished the 2009-2010 with a .724 winning percentage, a .921 save percentage, and 2.09 goals against average. He played 38 games and posted 6 shutouts.

(Picture courtesy of Southcreek Global Media)

A quick look into his RIT bio will show you that he has a wide range of musical tastes (from 50 Cent to Kenny Chesney) and that his favorite NHL team is the Hartford Whalers. In my exclusive interview with him, we find out all the work he’s been doing in

the off-season (hint: it’s a lot) and the interesting story behind his number.

How long have you been playing hockey for? Have you always been a goalie?

I started skating when I was around 4 years old. I started playing organized hockey as a forward when I was 7 and when I was 10 I decided to switch to goalie for Pee Wees.

What kind of training and conditioning have you been doing in the off-season?

This off-season I've been training with some NHL, AHL, ECHL, and D-1 college hockey players in Rochester. We lift 4 days a week and skate around 3-5 times a week. We start every morning with a skate at 7am. After the skate we go outside and do some speed, quick feet, and cardio work on the track. When we are done on the track we head in to the weight room and lift weights for over an hour. We rotate the days that we lift upper body and lower body. When we are done lifting the weights we finish with some core and medicine ball exercises. I'll do some stretching for around 20-30 minutes when we are done. I'm focusing on getting a strong and explosive lower body and core; at the same time, I'm trying to gain some strength in my upper body to gain some weight. On my days off I'll do some racquetball to work on hand and eye coordination. Golf is also great for days off from lifting!

What are your personal goals for the upcoming season?

First off, I would like to win as many games as possible and obtain a championship whether it's with Hershey or South Carolina. Secondly, I would like to continue to get better between the pipes and work as hard as possible to work my way up the Capitals organization. Lastly, I want to have as much fun as possible! I love playing hockey and if I'm working hard and having fun this should lead to success on the ice.

Do you pattern your game after any goalie?

I do not pattern my game after any particular goalie, but I enjoy watching Ryan Miller play. I like how he is athletic, but technically sound at the same time. He aggressively challenges when needed and he also stays deep in his net depending on his read of the play. He is efficient using his stick and he plays the puck adequately to help his team.

Do you know what equipment you will be using this upcoming season?

As of right now I am not sure of what gear I will be wearing next season. I'm leaning towards wearing Reebok gear because that's what I wore the past two seasons at RIT. I'm thinking of getting a split paint job on my mask of Hershey and South Carolina. If anyone has cool ideas for a paint job, I am all ears!

Favorite memory at RIT?

Favorite memory at RIT was this past season when we made our run to the Frozen Four. It was a great experience for all of the players and the entire school.

You played with current Hershey Bear, Steve Pinizzotto in 2006-2007. What do you remember from playing with him?

I remember Pinner being a great player for RIT. He was the total package for us in 06-07. Pinner did a great job getting points and making those around him better. He scored clutch goals, but also made some great passes when needed. Pinner played tough every game as he would take the body consistently which set the tone for the game and gave our team energy. Pinner and I have stayed close over the years and I look forward to seeing him at the Caps camp in September!

Cameron Burt was at the Capitals development camp a week ago. Have you two been in contact about possibly playing for the same organization?

Cam and I played 1 year of junior together and we were roommates this past season so we are pretty tight. I was extremely excited for him when he told me he was going to the Cap prospect camp. I texted him during the camp to see how things were going and he seemed very happy with his play. We have been lifting together all summer and it would be a great experience if he was going to sign with the same organization as me. Hopefully Cam continues to work hard and the Caps sign him to a nice contract.

Any significance behind your number?

Former NHL player Jim McKenzie who won the Stanley Cup with the New Jersey Devils (editor’s note: McKenzie also played for the Caps in 1999-2000) is a close family friend of mine and he always wore 33. I wear the number to pay respect to him as he has been a great role model to me. I also like the number because Larry Bird used to rock the 33!

If you make the team in Hershey, do you have any plans on visiting Chocolate World, the Hershey's chocolate tour?

I for sure want to check out Chocolate World and everything that Hershey has to offer. I'm extremely excited to be a part of a great organization and I plan on making the most of my situation. I cannot wait to get to Hershey and see the city!

You can also get to know DeMichiel a little better through these videos.

First a highlight reel (including a couple flashy glove saves). He has a fun, energetic goaltending style. A very interesting video.

Join SportsZone as they follow DeMichiel around for a day. He tells us that he’s a big Superman fan and a big Ryan Miller fan (I thought they were the same person…). Techno is his preferred pre-game jam.

And finally, I love goalie tricks and this is no exception. I think anyone would love watching this:

DeMichiel has been invited to Caps training camp and I’m very excited to see more from this new member of our team. At RIT, he got better with every year and I look forward to seeing him in action. He will be competing against the likes of Braden Holtby and Dany Sabourin for the job in Hershey. Again, a huge thank you to Jared for helping me out with this post.