Recap: Pittsburgh Penguins vs. Florida Panthers (W 4-2) ; vs. Washington Capitals (L 3-2 OT) ; vs. Buffalo Sabres (L 3-2)

Arron Asham fights Jay Beagle (AP)

Forwards:

-James Neal scored 4 goals during this stretch. While they all were not highlight reel goals, he is doing a great job of getting the puck at the net and not overthinking it. His "garbage" goals seem to come with Malkin out of the lineup, but that is exactly what the Penguins need when he is out of the lineup.

-Evgeni Malkin played against the Washington Capitals, adding two assists. From what has been described, he is experiencing some pain from scar tissue in his surgically repaired knee. Some were amazed that he was able to play through that, but his heartfelt concern and sympathy for the victims of the Lokomotiv Yaroslavl plane crash carried him through it. He was not going to miss the night where the focus was on that tragedy's victims and families.

-Arron Asham brought the early part of the season to life with his devastating knockout of Jay Beagle in the Capitals game. As he skated away he made a few gestures which he later described as "classless". The opponents of fighting in hockey have used this a chance to whine about children watching the game having to see such a thing, the fact that it was a "headshot", and anything else possible to compare hockey to Roman gladiators.

Respectfully, I tell these people to watch another sport. Please leave our sport alone. Seriously. If you are concerned about someone getting knocked out by a non-cheap shot then go watch a safe, civil sport like football where there is not any violence and the players are all upstanding citizens.

Fighting has a place in hockey, and hopefully it always will. Asham did not sucker punch Beagle. Until he was knocked out, Asham did not do anything wrong. He was standing up for his teammate, Kris Letang. The offer was put out for a fight and both parties willingly particpated. Beagle does not deserve any ridicule for his part in it, anyone can get tagged with a shot like that. Asham was sincere in his regret over mocking a fallen combatant. That is where it should end. Sometimes people make mistakes in judgment. Most of the people that are critical of Asham fail to mention how when he saw that Beagle was dropping to the ice he stopped from throwing a third right that undoubtedly would have done more damage.

The "holier than thou" attitude of commentators and members of the Capitals, especially Alexander Ovechkin, is what is uncalled for. Hockey has an always been a sport of honor. There have been countless acts that give the sport a bad image when it goes outside of that honor, but this incident was not one of them. Perhaps the WNBA is more your style if you can't handle some good old fashioned agression.

-Richard Park scored his 1st goal in the home opener against the Panthers, a shorthnaded goal. Oddly enough, in his first home opener for the Pens (Park played here to start his career) he had a shorthanded goal.

-Pascal Dupuis scored his 1st goal of the season against the Panthers. While not showing up in the goal column, he was played well.

-Same thing for Chris Kunitz, who still does not have a goal but has added a 2 year contract extension. His cap hit does not change, so you have to like this deal for both the player and team.

Defensemen:

-Paul Martin and Zbynek Michalek looked uncharacteristically bad against the Panthers. Too much flopping and allowing the puck by or behind them.

-Still no word on when Brooks Orpik will return to the lineup. While there's no reason to rush him, you do worry that he may struggle to return to his usual self.

Goalies:

-Marc-Andre Fleury made 32 saves against the Panters and 25 against the Sabres. He missed the Capitals game because of the flu and most likely was still bothered by it on some level against the Sabres. He did not have any noticable gaffes in goal. There was a save he made prior to the Gerbe goal that was very nice, but his momentum took him out of position for the follow up. Nothing he could do about that. At the end of the Florida game, with a 2 goal lead, he resumed his quest for a goal with the Panthers net vactated. Deryk Engelland got in the way so the puck was quickly turned over, but MAF made a nice save on the shot.

-Brent Johnson did not look particularly sharp against the Caps. He made 16 saves

Ups:

-Matt Cooke continues to keep himself out of trouble on the ice. He also knocked in his 3rd goal of the season. Cooke appears to be well aware of keeping his elbows down and when to let up on a guy (as he's turning near the boards or too close to the boards). Hopefully he is able to continue this.

-Penguins achieved 3 of a possible 6 points during this stretch. If you checked in on this blog at all last year, you know that I will always tout that as a success. Getting 1 point a game in your tough stretches is much better than getting none.

Downs:

-The PP failed at the end of the Sabres game in situational hockey. I beleive in winning situations much more than straight percentages. The Pens had a chance to tie with a PP and a faceoff in the Sabres zone with 21 seconds left. Jordan Staal lost the faceoff, then the puck was cleared and that was that for their chance to salvage a point.

-Many outlets are critical of the play of Mark Letestu, pointing out there when Malkin has been out, he starts on the top line. By the end of the game he is playing with the 4th liners, which is an indication that Dan Bylsma and Tony Granato are not seeing what they want from the 2nd year player.

Florida

Jose Theodore (AP)

-Marcel Goc and Tomas Fleischmann both scored their 1st goals of the season.

-Jose Theodore made 25 saves.

Washington

Alexander Ovechkin (AP)

-Alexander Ovechkin scored his 1st goal of the season. Recently he was called out by Coach Bruce Boudreau for his slow start to the season.

-Dennis Wideman scored the GWG on the PP in OT for the Caps. It was his 2nd of the season.

-Tomas Vokoun had a tough to start to the season, but this game settled him in to a groove it seems. He stopped 39 shots.

-Mike Knuble scored his 1st goal of the season. Without checking I blelieve this is at least the 7th straight game against the Penguins that he has scored a goal. Luckily, the 39 year old won't have too many more years left in the league to haunt us.

Buffalo

Jhonas Enroth (AP)

-Drew Stafford had a very nice shot for his 3rd goal of the season.

-Nathan Gerbe had a goal (1) and a very nice assist on the Stafford goal.

-Jhonas Enroth got the start in place of Ryan Miller, who usually has a tough go in Pittsburgh. Enroth made 29 saves.

Recap: Games 76-79

photo courtesy of @pghpenguins

Games: vs. FLA (W 2-1 SO), vs. PHI (L 5-2), @ TB (L 2-1), @ FLA (W 4-2)

Notable Highlights:

-4 of 8 possible points. Nothing that impressive in the wins. Team hit the 100 point mark for the 7th time in Franchise history. If the Penguins win their 3 remaining games, they are the #4 seed. If not, Tampa Bay has to win all of their remaining 4 games to have a chance to pass the Penguins in the standings. There are 3 games left in the season! Expect my next update to be pretty light and mainly stats and any big news since I will be in Nashville for 2 of the last 3. I will be seeing the Preds and Blue Jackets there though, so rest assured I'll be thinking hockey even when I'm away from the Pens.

-Good to see RW Alexei Kovalev get a goal on a 2-on-1 against Philly (16). He has been struggling in a lot of facets of the game to put it politely. He's here to score. When he's not doing that, he really isn't helping the team. On the Lovejoy goal against Florida (game 1), he had an assist. In the Tampa game, there was an assist and then he had a lousy penalty under 5 minutes left in a 2-1 game. That penalty was pretty much a disgrace. A vet should know better.

-Sid was able to fly with the team to Miami for the 2nd Florida game. He will be skating with the team at times, working on dry land sometimes, and at other times only skating by himself. "Symptom free" continues to be a good thing. He will not return during the regular season, if at all this season. You can view the Ray Shero press conference on the matter here.

-C Mark Letestu returned to the lineup against Philly. He had an assist and 14:12 TOI.

-That crazy D Zbynek Michalek must have been playin' 'possum all year. He scored his 4th goal of the season against Florida (game 2). It was the GWG.

Ghastly Lowlights:

-As excited as I was in the last segment with the Philly win, I was even more disappointed with the loss to them in this one. 2 points behind the Flyers. Game in your building. Win and your are tied and anything can happen, including winning the conference. 13 shots after 2 periods. 5-2 letdown. This is why I think the Flyers are the team to beat in the East.

-The 1st Florida game wasn't exactly a treat to watch either. Very slow pace of play. It was like the guys were playing down to the Panthers' level. Zzzzzzzzz.

-FSN (now Root) provided the fact that the Pens have not won this season when trailing after 2 periods. Remember early in the season when I bemoaned the loss of identity and goal scoring? I do. The team of the past 3 season always seemed capable of a comeback. It all can't be blamed on missing Sid and Malkin either, that's excuse making at its finest. There are still plenty of guys on the team. The problem is too much grit, not enough goal scoring. Remember folks, hits aren't goals.

-On LW Ville Leino's 2nd goal (Philly), both D's Paul Martin and Zbynek Michalek were on the red line or behind it. It was poor positioning and Leino took advantage by getting open for the pass from the end wall area.

-A lot was made about Tampa's 1-3-1 system. This means that they send 1 player in on the forecheck and as the attack comes back to center, 3 players stretch across the ice to make gaining the zone tough. The other player remains back near the defensive zone. To beat this style of play, it takes short, precise passes, hustle, and patience. In the past, the Penguins typically have shown that they want to "play their game" which can work but it can also flop against this style of trap. Those Penguins teams were a lot more skilled than this one though, so maybe all the grit can come in handy in the 1st round of the playoffs.

-Typically, I organize my thoughts for this nonsense in a little notebook and back track through it all and jump around until I feel that I've completed something worth reading. I've done that this point, yet I"m still writing! Why!? Because of my guest blogger's column about Marc-Andre Fleury and the MVP (Hart Trophy). I didn't really want to talk awards, but I want to be clear that I do not view Fleury's performance this season to be MVP-worthy. Balderdash you say? If I had a vote, it would go to Boston G Tim Thomas. He has a .939 save percentage and a 1.98 goals against average and 33 wins. Fleury's save percentage is .918 and goal against average is 2.32, with 34 wins. Boston leads the league in 5-on-5 Goals For/Against Ratio, so yes they do score more goals. It is very rare that a goalie even gets mentioned in the Hart discussion, so I think you need to be out of this world in all categories to get to the final 3. Thomas has done that.

photo courtesy of bvintagegoaliemaskdiscussionpage.runboard

If I was filling out a final 3 for the Hart, it would be Thomas, Anaheim's Corey Perry, and Vancouver's Daniel Sedin. Spucoli Stamkos fell off my list because he has hit a real slump down the stretch. Perry passed him for the "Rocket" Richard Trophy (most goals). Special mention does go out to Chicago's Jonathan Toews. A few weeks back I literally scoffed out loud at the idea, but then I did the research at the nudging of a friend with a Chicago bias. When I'm wrong, I"m wrong...I could see Toews being worthy of being a finalist based on my criteria. I still don't think he should win, but the argument was that he deserved to be a candidate.

Also, according to FSN's Bob Errey, D Kris Letang has 0 goals in his past 20 games. Remember when there was talk of him as a Norris Trophy (best defenseman) candidate? Seems like a lifetime ago. Where has Tang been!? Norris Trophy caliber guys are made up of more than racking up points because Sidney Crosby is on the ice.

Forward Recaps:

-Craig Adams was sporting a new haircut (shown at the top) for no real reason prior to the 2nd Florida game. He cashed in with an empty netter at the end for his 4th of the season. It will be interesting to see if the team goes with a mohawk theme for the playoffs instead of beards (not likely, but possible). Can't say that I think Sid or MAF would look very good that way, but that's the fun of team unity.

-Tyler Kennedy scored his 19th against the Flyers and his 20th against the Florida. Congrats to him for hitting the 20 goal mark for the 1st time in his career! He also has a career high in points.

-Mike Rupp scored his 7th goal of the season against Tampa Bay. Pascal Dupuis got his 14th against Florida (game 2). Give all the credit on the Dupuis goal to Chris Conner. He did some real work down low to set it up.

-James Neal had a very encouraging shift against the Lightning where he showed a burst of the power forward we all hope he will be. He went right at D Victor Hedman and Eric Brewer 1-on-2, tried to cut between them and nearly pulled it off.

Defenseman Recaps:

-Ben Lovejoy scored a beautiful goal against the Panters in the 1st game of this segment for his 3rd of the season. He put the puck up high over G Tomas Vokoun's shoulder. Coach Bylsma even joked that it must have been an "out of body experience" because he didn't think Ben could make that shot. Keep your eye on Benny in the playoffs though. While he's playing with exceptionally high confidence now, the NHL Playoffs can take that away real quick. It's a different game, and this will be his first time in a 7 game series.

-Proving that I'm not right all the time (shocking huh?), Matt Niskanen was the 6th defenseman instead of Deryk Engelland for each game of this stretch. I'm not in favor of the move. At the very least, I think the guys should alternate time. One thing in Coach Bylsma's defense on the decision, is that he may feel Nisky needs time to get comfortable and sitting out won't accomplish that.

Goalie Recaps:

-Marc-Andre Fleury was exceptional against the Panthers (game 1), stopping 37 pucks and all shootout attempts. He looked very bad against Philly, with 19 saves and 5 goals against. he was so-so against Tampa with 22 saves, but was outshined by 'Ning G Dwayne Roloson's 36 saves and let in a cruddy goal to Marty St. Louis.

-Brent Johnson played against Florida (game 2), getting the win and stopped 28 shots.

-Brad Thiessen was returned to Wilkes-Barre Scranton. He did not see game action during his time up.

Opponents:

-Florida

-Bizarre moment for the Panthers in the 1st game of this set. G Tomas Vokoun was forced to leave prior to the OT due to injury. G Scott Clemmensen had to come in for the OT and shootout. Tough situation for him to be put in to. He did the best he could with it.

-Clemmensen made 30 saves in the loss of game 2.

-Philadelphia

-D Kimmo Timonen was caught pinching the wall in the neutral zone a bit too hard twice in this game, leading to both Penguins goals. He'll likely take the blame for both of them, but on the Kovalev goal, RW Jeff Carter went to the bench when it appeared the puck was going to go deeper. Since it didn't and shifted back to the Flyers end, it left them in a bad spot.

-Carter scored his 35th goal of the season.

-RW Claude Giroux scored his 25th of the season with a real nice shot from the slot. As of that moment, he lead the Flyers with 71 points. He also has 5 goals against the Pens this season.

-LW Ville Leino scored 2 goals (18, 19).

-Tampa Bay

-I didn't fully hear the stat provided by FSN's (now Root's) Paul Steigerwald, so if this is wrong I apologize. Nearly certain he said that Steven Stamkos (aka Spucoli) had 4 goals in his past 24 games. That will take you out of the Hart Trophy discussion real quick.

-LW and Upper St. Clair's own Ryan Malone returned from injury. He missed 21 games. It is of note that he wears #6 this season, having given the #12 to new teammate LW Simon Gagne.

-RW Martin St. Louis scored his 30th goal of the season.

-The win clinched a playoff birth for the 'Ning. While I may have missed on a few teams in or out of the playoffs, I'm pretty proud that I had them making it in my Eastern Conference previews. Go ahead. Look it up. I'll wait here.

Recap: Games 34-36

Games: vs. PHO (W 6-1),  vs. FLA (W 5-2), @ WAS (W 3-2 SO)

Notable Highlights:

-6 out of 6 points, but there are actually some items for me to harp on. That's what I call the best of both worlds for a Pens fan/wildly unpopular blogger.

-The goal off the faceoff near the end of the 1st period of the Phoenix game was unreal. Sid went forward with it after somehow lulling his opponent to sleep by letter him "win" the draw. From there an easy tap of to Evgeni Malkin and the Coyotes had to go to the locker room pretty dejected. That was a huge goal. The difference between being down 1-0 and 2-0 at the break. That may not sound like much, but, to steal the Pensblog phrase, they were "stunned".  (I'm done referring to him by his full name every time by the way. It's stupid. If you don't know who I mean, you won't be here for long anyways.)

-Scoring continues to come from multiple sources on the team. It's exciting when everyone contributes, mainly because it allows the starts to not feel burdened, yet at the same time it probably gives the role guys a sense of accomplishment and belonging to the team.

-Power Play went 3 for 5 against Phoenix. You wish there were more nights where it clicked this easy. If you don't, I sure do.

-C Sidney Crosby's scoring streak has reached 23 games. If he doubles his current streak, he will tie Mario Lemieux's club record. From there it would "only" be another week or two to glory. I've done some pretty loud scoffing at the notion that Sid could compare to Gretzky or Mario, but as I said before I'm a numbers guy. If he even gets this streak in to the 30s, it could be the most impressive thing Penguins fans have seen since the return of Lemieux himself. While the chance of breaking any streaks are still very low, the way Crosby is playing has even made a skeptic like me a giddy fan. If there was any doubt he has entered his "prime". The next five years should be pretty entertaining. It will be intersting to see what the Canadian reaction is, if such a scoring streak scenario plays out that he could actually challenge a record of the Great Gretzky.

-G Marc-Andre Fleury turned in a spectacular performance against the Capitals. I felt that most of the game the Caps had way better chances, and the Penguins were fairly sloppy at times. His save on Caps Dman/Vespa owner Mike Green gained the team an extra point. Without Fleury, this could have been a laugher for Ovechkin and the boys in red. How rough would that be to watch on HBO?

Ghastly Lowlights:

-Power play was 0 for 5 against Washington. They were up 2-1 with under 11 minutes left in the game and did not convert on either chance they had. A 3-1 lead on either chance would have ended it. Instead, they floundered and gave up a shortie on the later of the PP's. It's fun to woop it up when we're handing Phoenix their hats, but in April and May teams like Washington and Philadelphia will be in between the 4th Stanley Cup and a disappointing season. Didn't need a 3 for 5 performance, just a goal in the 3rd period of a close which if you've been reading this season, I have pointed out time and time again as a shortcoming.

-F Matt Cooke's roughing penalty when the team was already down a man was ill-advised, but it wasn't dirty. Don't get me wrong it was illegal. It is one of the types of hits the NHL is trying to eliminate. When Cooke hit Phoenix D Keith Yandle he made contact to the head, which also resulted in contact between Yandle's head and the glass. This was illegal, but not dirty. It's a play that's just about instinctual for Cooke and many throughout the league. If he was looking to hurt Yandle, there are plenty of other ways he could have attempted it.

-The discipline of the team seemed a bit off during this stretch. Multiple two-man disadvantages, stupid penalties, and even a sequence where the Pens where down two men and D Brooks Orpik was in the box just waiting for his time to even begin. This is troubling, but if "24/7" has shown me anything, it's that Coach Dan Byslma and GM Ray Shero will be discussing it and addressing it. At least the PK killed 16 of the 17 chances, including 8 of 8 against Phoenix, and more importantly 5 of 6 against a Washington team that just can't struggle forever.


Forward Recaps:

-Matt Cooke had 2 goals and a strange penalty. He flipped the puck nearly the entire length of the ice on a penalty kill against Washington. It flung all the way in to the netting behind Caps G Michal Neuvirth. Never saw that happen before.

-Evgeni Malkin had 5 point against the Coyotes and looks very healthy, very strong on the puck, and very motivated. Somebody has to get it through to him that his penalties and the things he doesn't get called for (like moving a fallen stick of a Capitals player while on the PP) are not agressive, "power forward" penalties that you can live. They are stupid. He's better than that.

-Mark Letestu had a hell of a goal against Florida. Last time I praised him in his role as a grinder. It's no co-incidence that he is playing well with Tyler Kennedy and Chris Conner (who also had a goal in this stretch) within his role, and all of the sudden the puck and great chances are finding him as opposed to when he was in a top 6 role and had to attempt to produce these chances himself to some extent.

Defenseman Recaps:

-Deryk Engelland has become a dangerous fighter in this league. He put Coyote Taylor Pyatt on his back with a wicked right. At this point, there aren't many tough guys out there that aren't aware of this, so for him to continue to get in good shots is pretty impressive.

-Ben Lovejoy bounced back from his tragic game with a good performance versus the Panthers. He scored his first NHL goal and had an altercation. I call it that, because I'm not sure that he landed a punch (he may have connect on a backhand though). I don't like to dedicate two defense recaps to fighting, because fighting isn't on my list of reasons the Penguins will or won't suceed this season. I do it in Lovejoy's case, because it does stand for something. He isn't going to be that kind of player in the NHL, but at the moment he is a #7 defenseman on a team that is playing well. Him getting in to a scrap shows that he is not satisfied to milk that role. He wants more and is doing what he can to warrant the chance.

Goalie Recaps:

-Amazingly enough, nobody has called for the trade of Marc-Andre Fleury lately. Six weeks ago, it was as if he was spotted urinating on a Christmas tree on the Incline. He's second in all-star ballot for goalies and is sure to be a feature point of the Winter Classic. What a difference a few weeks, some faith from the coaching staff, and a few wins under his belt has made in his performance and fan perception. I guess you really never are as good as your best day or as bad as your worst day, even if Yinzers don't agree.

-Brent Johnson was injured in the game against Florday. John Curry has been called up from Wilkes-Barre until Johnny can get right. I would like to see Curry get a game before then. He didn't fare very well last year in his games. I'm rooting for him to have a decent game at this level.

Opponents:
-Phoenix  They looked uninterested and I'm uninterested in writing about them. It's hard to believe this team is staying in Glendale, AZ.

-Florida  I can't remember the last time I saw G Tomas Vokoun look so shaky, but the last time he did it was against the Penguins at the Civic Arena. He was pulled, which marked the second straight game the Pens got to chew through a starter to the backup.

-Washington  Most of the game, the Caps had the better of the chances. Alex Ovechkin is having a subpar season, with only 12 goals to date. He had as many hits on Evgeni Malkin in the first period as he does Power Play Goals this season...maybe that's part of the problem. At any rate, just like when I would say don't judge the Penguins too harshly by their slump, I'd like to say the same on behalf of the Capitals. It's December. Nothing they do between now and the playoffs matters. They want to be an elite team, their bread will be buttered or not in April, May, and June if they are deserving. If not, that's when it's time to gloat. Not now.

Pourquoi y a-t-il de l'hockey dans les sud encore? or Why is there hockey in the South again?

In the event that anybody ever reads this blog (unlikely), or we have any readers from Canada (highly unlikely), I would like to apologize to them for the sins of the NHL father. On Saturday, October 2nd, over 60,000 fans gathered in some area of Quebec City called the Plains of Abraham to show their support, nay, their demand that local authorities spend nearly $400 million to produce and NHL ready arena with the intention of returning hockey to its rightful home.

I'm sorry. What am I sorry for? Being an American hockey fan, that's what. Somewhere along the lines in the 1990s, the NHL braintrust felt it was a good idea to throw caution to the wind and expand in to the Sun Belt and relocate teams from supportive markets (hockey's version of drill baby, drill).

Teams spouted up in San Jose, Anaheim, Dallas (via relocation), Atlanta, Miami, Tampa, Phoenix (also via relocation), and the gravest of errors Raleigh (good night sweet Whalers). The other night I was watching the NHL Network, and there were two giant X's on the Sharks ice. It honestly took a minute for the realization that it was to commemorate the 20th season in Sharks history. After I finished crying over where my life went, I was looking for an excuse to get my point of view out there. Sure, I have a medicore (at best...) blog, and I'm the type of narcissist to think my thoughts on this subject matter...but where was the convenient excuse?

Enter the rally in Quebec City. They lost their team years ago to Denver. It really had to be horrible to watch them raise the Cup years later with the core of their players still intact. Fans in Harford have felt the same horror, and Winnipeg has to feel worse than any of them because nobody in Phoenix seems to a) care about or b) be able to afford supporting the former Jets.

It is my hope and belief that the NHL will eventually come to their senses. The  experiment has gone alright in certain markets, and I'll concede its gone well enough to continue. San Jose has done well. Cities like Tampa, Dallas, Anaheim, and Raleigh (under protest) get a pass from me because they have lifted a Cup. I give this pass to them because at some point I'm sure many felt Pittsburgh wasn't worth having a hockey team, but I know first hand what seeing the Cup raised did for people in my age group and all those after it.

With that being said, that leaves Atlanta, Phoenix, and Florida as teams that probably should start the treck north. Florida could go to Quebec City, Winnipeg obviously has the right of first refusal on Phoenix, and Hamilton can have Atlanta. I think that would be pretty satisfying for everyone involved and while I take no pleasure in taking another city's team away from them, it seems likely that nobody in those areas would notice anyway. Now if we could just find a team for Hartford, and keep Kansas City distracted long enough to get them there....

2010-11 Preview: Florida Panthers

2010-11 Prediction 14th Eastern Conference



The Panthers hope to have better days ahead, as GM Dale Tallon has publically stated he hopes to replicate the success he had in building Chicago's roster here in south Florida. In the meantime, on-ice success figures to be few and far between as this team has been on the cusp of a playoff spot the past few years, but just haven't been able to get it done. I see no reason that this will the season they turn that around. There are some bright spots for anyone that understands hockey in Miami. David Booth (returning from injury), Stephen Weiss, and Michael Frolik lead the group of forwards. Bryan McCabe leads a no-name defense, and will also continue to wear the "C" for this group. Between the pipes, Tomas Vokoun gives this team a puncher's chance to win every night, but in the end it seems that Florida will miss the playoffs again. That surely will make Dale Tallon happy, as the key to his plans lay in the high picks of the next few drafts.
 
Player to Watch: LW David Booth