[Ed. Note: Welcome to VentureCapitals, a new weekly series by Greg Wyshynski covering the Washington Capitals and the National Hockey League. Wyshynski is an editor with The Connection Newspapers of Northern Virginia, and has been writing about hockey for several publications over the last 10 seasons. VentureCapitals will publish once a week on SportsFanMagazine.com and DCSportsDay.com, or more than once when there is a key game, breaking news and developing stories. E-mail Greg at jestersquart@hotmail.com with any questions or comments.]

WASHINGTON, DC - The Washington Capitals are too young to win now. They have too many relatively inexperienced players trying to fill vital roles on a team that missed the playoffs by 22 points last year. They are a team waiting for next year, when everyone's a bit older, the Zetterberg-in-waiting playing over in Sweden is ready for primetime, and the playoffs are a realistic aspiration.

By the end of training camp, winger Donald Brashear had heard all of these theories about the Capitals' upcoming season.

And he had finally heard enough.

"To tell you the truth right now, I'm sick of hearing this crap - we're a young team, this and that. Even though it's true, I don't care," he said. "'They're a young team, they have young players,' but they have some older players, too."

Brashear is one of six players over the age of 30 on the Capitals' roster as the team opens its 2006-07 season at the New York Rangers on Thursday night. That includes two players - captain Chris Clark and winger Richard Zednik - that are on the cusp at age 30.

Although that roster is peppered with unproven talent, there is deceptive experience in the 30-and-unders. Center Matt Bradley has 277 games under his belt, converted-defenseman Ben Clymer has 372, center Dainius Zubrus has 610 - and each of these three has playoff experience as well. Winger Matt Pettinger (214) is in his sixth season, and defenseman Shaone Morrisonn is entering his fifth, although last year was his first full NHL season.

But more important than NHL experience to the Capitals' fortunes this season is experience playing in Washington. The holdovers from last year's team (29-41-12, fifth in the Southeast Division) have committed themselves to playing a more effective defensive system for Coach Glen Hanlon and in front of goaltender Olie Kolzig.

"[The system's] been stressed since Day One of the preseason, and the guys have done a pretty good job," said Kolzig, who pointed to the success the team had in its 3-2-1 preseason, holding opponents to 15 goals against in six games. "Holding Philadelphia to 25 shots was a pretty good accomplishment. The signs are there."



The Capitals allowed 306 goals last season, second-worst in the NHL. If that's been remedied, if winger Alex Ovechkin can come close to his offensive output as a rookie, and if revamped special teams can improve on some ghastly numbers from last season, it's not unreasonable to think that the Capitals could be in the playoff hunt in a Southeast Division that never ceases to produce postseason surprises.

"I think you're going to find a real quiet confidence [in our guys], in what they need to do and what they're going to accomplish," said Hanlon. "I have the utmost faith in every single one of these players."

RANDOM THOUGHTS

* Expecting Alex Ovechkin to reproduce his 52-goal, 106-point season may be as realistic as expecting certain members of the Canadian hockey media to stop crying that Sidney Crosby deserved the Calder. But is there a chance Ovechkin could be even better this year?

Sure, opposing defenses are going to clamp down on him like Bill Daly on a salary cap violation, but it's not like Ovechkin didn't slice through a few shadows during the second half of last season for his goals. Plus, Ovechkin scored 21 goals on an anemic power play last season; how many can he net with Alexander Semin, Zednik and free agent defenseman Brian Pothier added to the unit?

Kolzig said anyone expecting Ovechkin to surpass his historic rookie season needs to proceed cautiously. "The second year is always the toughest year, not matter what sport you play," he said.

"What he accomplished last year is going to be tough to duplicate - he set the bar. The key for him is to just go out and play. Not feel like he has to carry the organization or feel like he has to top what he did last year."

Kolzig expects the attention Ovechkin will no doubt receive from other teams will allow more offensive chances for players like Pettinger, Zednik and Semin. "You know what? [Ovechkin] might not score as much as he did last year. But he's going to have so much attention put on him that it's going to open up things for other guys," said Kolzig.

* THE SHAONE MORRISON OFFENSIVE EXPLOSION WATCH: Last season, defenseman Shaone Morrisonn didn't score his first goal until April 7 against Carolina. What will happen in 2006-07? Check back frequently for updates on this developing story.

* Brashear admitted that playing under the new rules last season was an adjustment, especially since the physical style he had played since coming into the NHL in 1994 has been seemingly legislated out of the game.

"I've never felt I'm too slow to play this game," said the 34-year-old winger. "I have to anticipate more, to gain a second. The quicker players, they don't have to worry about that."

Just don't count him among the pugilistic relics that have hung up their sparring gloves in a faster league with less fighting. Brashear said he used to look around at the other enforcers in the league several years ago and wonder how many would still be in the NHL if the league shifted to a more wide-open style.

One of the players he expected to stick was the recently-retired Tie Domi. "Personally, with Tie, I thought he'd still be around. But there's other guys I didn't think would," he said.

Brashear indicated that age and economics loom just as large as the NHL's refined style of play. He said teams are using younger players to fill the enforcer roles, squeezing out veterans who make well above the league minimum.

Cheap labor may be the motivation, but Brashear's reported one-year, $1 million deal proves that there's still a market for intimidation.

* The Capitals open at the Rangers on Thursday, Oct. 5. Their home opener is Saturday, Oct. 7, at 7 p.m. against the Stanley Cup champion Carolina Hurricanes. There are fan festival activities planned around the Verizon Center leading up to face-off. As of Thursday morning, tickets were still available for the game, although many of the more affordable sections ($10-$22 tickets) had sold out.

Washington travels to Minnesota on Thursday, Oct. 12 before hosting Atlanta on Saturday, Oct. 14.

* All 82 regular season games will be televised locally. The Capitals also ended speculation that they would move to The Washington Post's radio network by re-upping with Clear Channel's WTEM SportsTalk 980-AM and sister station WTNT 570-AM. The broadcasts will include a 15-minute pregame show and a 60-minute postgame show. WTEM has come under fire from Washington hockey fans for frequently dismissing the sport on its afternoon drive-time programming.