Once Friends, Now Foes

A night after absorbing their first home-ice loss of calendar 2010, most of the Capitals were back on the ice here at Kettler Capitals Iceplex preparing for tomorrow’s game with the Carolina Hurricanes. The Canes were the last team to hand the Caps a regulation loss at home; that was a 6-3 Carolina win back on Dec. 28.

Scott Walker played for the Hurricanes in that Dec. 28 game. He obviously didn’t know it then, but he would play only two more games for Carolina before the trade that brought him to Washington last Wednesday. Tomorrow night, he and ex-Canes teammate Joe Corvo will face their old friends and former teammates from Carolina for the first time since the deal.

“I wasn’t in Carolina a super long time but obviously it’s a close-knit team and they welcomed me there,” says Corvo. “I think most hockey players are able to put it aside and play, and that’s what I’m going to have to do.”

The Canes got off to a dismal start this season, but have pulled within shouting distance of what passes for .500 in the “modern” NHL.

“They were in last for a long time,” says Walker of the Hurricanes. “Teams start to take them for granted, but they’re a good team. [They have] a lot of skill, but things weren’t clicking and weren’t working right at the beginning. All that skill is coming out know and if you take them for granted, you’re going to wind up at the wrong end of the [score].”

Walker doesn’t plan to spend much time thinking about facing his old friends between now and Wednesday’s opening face-off.

“To be honest with you, I’m still trying to just get accustomed to the systems here,” says the veteran right wing. “I just [want to] concentrate on what we’re doing and what we’re playing. Obviously playing against guys you’re familiar with is always interesting and sometimes tough. There are a lot of great people and great friends over there but still I’m trying to learn and play the game. We’ll talk after.”

Walker scored two goals in his first game with the Caps, a 5-4 win over the Lightning last Thursday. He sat upstairs and watched as his new Capitals teammates poured 52 shots on Dallas goaltender Marty Turco on Monday, only to come up on the short end of a 4-3 shootout decision. Watching a game from the press box should help Walker assimilate the Caps’ systems.

“I sat up in the press box and everybody will say it looks easier [from up there], but it’s also easier to watch,” says Walker. “You can watch guys and watch systems and try to figure that out. That’s exactly what I did; Just trying to get it in your mentality, playing out as if you’re the right winger off each face-off or each certain thing and see what they’re doing and just try to keep that in your mind so that it becomes second-nature instead of having to think all the time.”