Rule of Eights, Part 5

Keeping things in perspective: Divide the season into 10 8-game blocks (plus two "bonus" games); score 10 points per block for 100 points and a trip to the playoffs.

5th 8: 7-1-0, 14 pts. Six-game win streak, seven of last eight, 13 of last 15 -- fastest start in team history. Fifty-five points total at the halfway point of the blocks.
4th 8: 6-2-0, 12 pts. Injured stars return, sparking a four-game winning streak.
3rd 8: 3-4-1, 7 pts. Grueling road trip produces enough injured Caps players to form an All-Star team.
2nd 8: 6-1-1, 13 pts. Semin sizzling, Ovechkin-Backstrom getting hotter, and two, count 'em, two No. 1 goalies ... got our 10, plus 3 for the "bank."
1st 8: 4-3-1, 9 pts. Injury-scrambled lines and a Backstrom-Ovechkin "dead zone" ... coming up 1 point short isn't too bad an effort.

TillyCaps Fan for CK

Panthers in Prague?

Some news about the 2009-10 European games is surfacing with notions that the Florida Panthers and Chicago Blackhawks might meet in the Czech Republic to kick off their seasons.

"According to a report by Chris Kuc in the Chicago Tribune on New Year's Day, the Chicago Blackhawks and Florida Panthers have been invited to open the 2009-2010 season in Prague, Czech Republic. Blackhawks President John McDonough said the NHL has invited the Blackhawks to open in Europe, where the team's stable of emerging, young players like Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews will be on display to a European hockey audience."

Per NHL.com

I could think of a few other matchups that would be more interesting for the European market. One immediately comes to mind: Capitals vs. Penguins and try to hold it in Moscow.

Although I wonder if the KHL might prevent the NHL from ever attempting to put a game in its territory.