The Caps have been without a real tough guy enforcer since Brashear left in the off-season. Earlier today it was announced that they traded away Captain Chris Clark (4g, 11a) and Milan Jurcina (0g, 4a) for Columbus Blue Jackets enforcer Jason Chimera (8g, 9a). He won't play in tonight's game against Carolina, though he will reportedly be in attendance.
There are some interesting implications in this trade for the Capitals. First and foremost is that they are now without a team captain. Part of me believes that this might be so that they can name Alex Ovechkin as captain, possibly to level some of the ground between him and Sidney Crosby, who has been the Penguins captain for a few years now. Now, personally, I don't think Ovie is captain material, but then I don't think Crosby is either. I'm not sure who I would name as captain, but I could see a guy like Knuble stepping up to the job.
The loss of Jurcina is a bit more significant to the team, even though his numbers might not show it. He's a solid defenseman, which the team is really lacking in, but he also hasn't been getting much ice time this year. He's the kind of player who is good, but you don't really notice him that much.
Chimera has a decent offensive track record, but his real contribution to the team is his ability to scrap and rough players up. Ovechkin is capable of taking care of himself, but I'm sure the Caps management would like to see him take less risks with his body, so a semi-dedicated enforcer to the team is an important addition. And, to help prove that point, it's worth noting that Chimera was the player responsible for the fight in November that resulted in Ovie missing a few games with an injury.
Weird symmetry there.
Also worth factoring is that Jurcina and Clark have a combined salary of around $4 million while Chimera comes in at a relatively paltry $1.87 million. This, alongside finally freeing up Michael Nylander's $5 million salary earlier, gives the Caps some significant wiggle room with their salary cap -- space that is sorely needed if they are going to maintain the powerhouse Ovechkin/Backstrom/Semin line for years to come.
Either way this trade has to come as a bit of a blow to both Clark and Jurcina who have been with the Caps for five and four years respectively, and Clark has been the team captain for four years. The Caps are currently the number one team in the entire league with 54 points while the Blue Jackets are third from the bottom with 35 points.
While not as bad as the playoff with debacle long-time Cap's staple Olaf Kolzig from a few years back, this is still a bit of a sad way to pay respects to some dedicated Cap's veterans. Ultimately the NHL is a business, and the management has to make decisions that will earn them the most money, but it's still a depressing move when you look at it from a legacy point of view.
Monday, December 28, 2009
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Baltimore/Nashua Update
The ongoing trials with Daniel Webster continue, but this time for the better. I spoke with my advisor for a good fifteen minutes or so earlier and he updated me on what the school was working on (which was news to me since I haven’t heard a damn peep from them until now). Their proposal is actually significantly more reasonable than I had expected, but we’ll see if they can push it past the registrar. If they do then the chances of me remaining in Nashua will skyrocket up to near-certainty levels – but that’s still dependant on what gets through. What my advisor proposed is around 40-45 credits, some of which are trivial (basic college calculus? Pffft), which I consider acceptable (12-15 credits per semester… that’s what most college kids do anyway). But if the registrar wants any more than 45 then that’s the end of the story, and if any of those 45 are unnecessarily hard (and non-major related) then that’s also a killer.
We’ll see, I may have an answer as early as tomorrow.
(P.S. Thanks for breakfast Qt and Kay :D)
We’ll see, I may have an answer as early as tomorrow.
(P.S. Thanks for breakfast Qt and Kay :D)
Saturday, December 19, 2009
Skycatcher
Airplane developer Cessna reported earlier that their first Cessna 162 Skycatcher was delivered today to Rose Pelton, the wife of the CEO of Cessna. Certainly an interesting first 'buyer' of the brand new Light Sport Aircraft (LSA), but I guess Cessna wanted to send a positive message after losing the first two 162 prototypes crashed after induced spins (the pilot escaped safely both times).
Cessna is famous in aviation circles for their easy to fly, so-called trainer aircraft like the Cessna 172 (which is what I personally learned to fly in, as well). Simple to fly and virtually impossible to lose control of (you practically have to force it to stall, and you do have to force it to spin), the 172 is a great little airplane. The 182 is positioned as an intermediate plane with more power and performance capabilities of the 172, and upgraded avionics packages by default. The 162 is a step back in that regard, as it is a smaller, slower airplane (as per LSA rules) meant for training and short hops. I think Cessna is hoping that people who have their pilots license and want a plane of their own, but can't afford the standard prices, would love to have their hands on a plane they know they can fly and afford (starting price is $100,000 versus $250,000-$400,000 for a 172 or 182).
It's certainly a valid option, but I'm keeping my eye on the Salder Aircraft Vampire LSA (despite the shitty name of "Vampire" it's quite a good plane) as a potential plane for myself, though not any day soon (since it is not available yet, and I couldn't afford it even if it was :D)
Cessna is famous in aviation circles for their easy to fly, so-called trainer aircraft like the Cessna 172 (which is what I personally learned to fly in, as well). Simple to fly and virtually impossible to lose control of (you practically have to force it to stall, and you do have to force it to spin), the 172 is a great little airplane. The 182 is positioned as an intermediate plane with more power and performance capabilities of the 172, and upgraded avionics packages by default. The 162 is a step back in that regard, as it is a smaller, slower airplane (as per LSA rules) meant for training and short hops. I think Cessna is hoping that people who have their pilots license and want a plane of their own, but can't afford the standard prices, would love to have their hands on a plane they know they can fly and afford (starting price is $100,000 versus $250,000-$400,000 for a 172 or 182).
It's certainly a valid option, but I'm keeping my eye on the Salder Aircraft Vampire LSA (despite the shitty name of "Vampire" it's quite a good plane) as a potential plane for myself, though not any day soon (since it is not available yet, and I couldn't afford it even if it was :D)
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
The Airliner of Your Dreams
It was a big day for Boeing today as their brand new 787 Dreamliner took its maiden flight this morning. The oft delayed 787 (originally planned to enter service in 2007) has taken its first critical step towards certification and entering service with the commercial companies. They’re now aiming for a late 2010 commercial introduction, which is really fast for first flight to implementation, but we’ll see if their intensive testing will be up to the task (for the record, I hope it is… but I’m still leery).
The 787 is designed largely to be a replacement for the 767 and a competitor for the Airbus 330 (and, to a degree, the Airbus 350, which is also still in development). The 787 is built entirely out of composites, which makes it far more fuel efficient than it’s competitors. There’s already a huge market demand (677 sold by July 2007) for it, and the consumer demand will follow (it’s a very “green” aircraft for its size.
We haven’t heard much from the Airbus 350 in a while, so it will be interesting to see how Airbus responds to this initial flight test.
The 787 is designed largely to be a replacement for the 767 and a competitor for the Airbus 330 (and, to a degree, the Airbus 350, which is also still in development). The 787 is built entirely out of composites, which makes it far more fuel efficient than it’s competitors. There’s already a huge market demand (677 sold by July 2007) for it, and the consumer demand will follow (it’s a very “green” aircraft for its size.
We haven’t heard much from the Airbus 350 in a while, so it will be interesting to see how Airbus responds to this initial flight test.
Thursday, December 10, 2009
That Silly Northwest Flight
You've probably heard about that silly Northwest flight that went out of radar contact for 77 minutes and overshot their intended landing field by 150 miles. They claim they went "NORDO" (FAA speak for no radio contact) because they were on their laptops at the time (whether or not that's true, we'll probably never know). Now, as part of their efforts to reclaim their revoked pilots licenses, they've accused ATC of being at fault for not coordinating properly with Northwest Dispatch (for those not in the know: commercial planes tend to have two or more radio frequencies open at all times, one on their local ATC and one to their company's private dispatch line; generally they'll also have two or three other open frequencies as situations require).
There may be a certain degree of merit to their assertions here since the 7110.65 (ATC Bible) is a bit fuzzy on coordinating with air carrier operation HQs. In the world of ATC even minor deviations from the 7110 can result in serious repercussions for the controllers involved, so this is a very serious accusation these pilots are making. But, setting that aside, let's look at this logically for a moment. The pilots were NORDO not just with ATC, but also with their own company. No amount of ATC/NWA cooperation was going to change who these pilots were or were not listening to. It was a flight attendant, making her own observations, who finally got through to the pilots, not somebody on the ground.
The FAA, unfortunately, does not have a good track record for backing up their controllers though, and tend to be very fast to point the finger of blame at anyone who is not an FAA executive. Of course, in this case the FAA has almost no role to play at all, but you can bet they'll still do everything they can to shift even the slightest hint of blame from themselves to the most convenient target. Fortunately, the most obvious target is the pilots for being nimrods, but it will be interesting to see if ATC comes out of this unscathed now that the finger has been pointed.
There may be a certain degree of merit to their assertions here since the 7110.65 (ATC Bible) is a bit fuzzy on coordinating with air carrier operation HQs. In the world of ATC even minor deviations from the 7110 can result in serious repercussions for the controllers involved, so this is a very serious accusation these pilots are making. But, setting that aside, let's look at this logically for a moment. The pilots were NORDO not just with ATC, but also with their own company. No amount of ATC/NWA cooperation was going to change who these pilots were or were not listening to. It was a flight attendant, making her own observations, who finally got through to the pilots, not somebody on the ground.
The FAA, unfortunately, does not have a good track record for backing up their controllers though, and tend to be very fast to point the finger of blame at anyone who is not an FAA executive. Of course, in this case the FAA has almost no role to play at all, but you can bet they'll still do everything they can to shift even the slightest hint of blame from themselves to the most convenient target. Fortunately, the most obvious target is the pilots for being nimrods, but it will be interesting to see if ATC comes out of this unscathed now that the finger has been pointed.
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