January 21 - Washington Capitals vs Pittsburgh Penguins (at Pittsburgh)

The only thing better than the Caps winning a game against the Flyers is the Caps winning over the Penguins and last night's game was fantastic. Not only did my Capitals win, they did so convincingly.

Pretty much every player had a great game, even Jose Theodore who gave up a really weak goal at the beginning of the game, bounced back and put in a solid performance with 34 saves. Ovechkin came away with two goals, an assist and a great defensive move - awesome. Knuble did another pound in of an Ovie rebound and scored another great goal. Backstrom had a fancy falling-down goal in the crease, Eric Fher scored on a lucky bounce combined with great positioning on his part and the most beautiful goal was the game winner by Tomas Fleishman with a truly sensational pass from Alex Semin.

The Penguins were good, but really, unremarkable. The Caps kept them in check nearly the entire game. Aah the satisfaction of a 6-3 walloping against the NHL team I hate most. :)

Check back this weekend for photos of the amazing souvenir Neil brought me from Ukraine. (Yes, it's Caps-related)

January 17 - Washington Capitals vs. Philadelphia Flyers

Woo! There are few teams I dislike more than the Philadelphia Flyers and it has been immensely satisfying to see them solidly beat by my Capitals twice this season on home ice.

I went to yesterday's game with my friend Erik, who is a great hockey companion and jumped up and cheered with me for all five Caps goals. This game had it all. At the beginning there was some suspense as the teams traded goals. Then there was the thrill of Brooks Laich's short handed goal of beauty, the kick-ass-ness of Tom Poti's goal tending on a Jeff Carter shot (that's right, Tom Poti's goal tending), the comfort of Jose Theodore's strong performance and finally, the amazingness of Alex Ovechkin converting his first career penalty shot with a skillful deke.

Every time a Capital put a good hit on a Flyer, I felt a bit of joy. Each time the Caps scored (in spite of what some may call uneven refereeing that gave the Flyers lots of power plays) I was elated. When Flyers fans began leaving the arena in droves in the last half of the third period, I was overjoyed. (For such hardcore and often mean fans, they sure did abandon their team in a time of need.) Few things are more satisfying than watching the Caps beat the Flyers.

A funny from the Capitals Insider that needs repeating here:

With a 5-3 win over the Flyers this afternoon, the Caps regained first place in the Eastern Conference by recording five or more goals for the fifth time in their past six games. When they do that at home (and they've done so three times during that stretch) it means fans can redeem their ticket stub for 10 free wings at Glory Days.

Which leads me to the quote of the season. After converting his first career penalty shot (on his sixth attempt) Ovechkin told reporters: "I just wanted to give the fans free chicken wings."

 Amazing.

Here's a post-game photo of me and Eric. I am  looking happy to be victorious and Eric is making his "I'm a bad-ass in my borrowed Caps shirt" face.

When The Canadians Declare It, It's Official and Hockey Players are Tough

Canada's national paper, The Globe and Mail has a great column in today's edition declaring the Capitals "the real deal". Now, I've known this to be true for a few years at this point, but when the Canadian hockey media makes such a bold declaration, that's a good sign. (Thanks to my Canadian friend Lia for pointing this article out to me.)

Another good read from today's hockey news is this story about Islanders defenseman Brendan Witt who was hit by an SUV yesterday and still played in last night's game against Philadelphia. Of course, he was hit in Philly, home of the meanest hockey fans and apparently drivers as well. I watched this game last night and was dismayed to see that the Flyers seemed to have gotten out of their slump. But since the Caps are the real deal, I'm not too worried.

December 5 - Washington Capitals vs. Philadelphia Flyers (at Philadelphia)

Question: What is even better than a strong win over a Southeast division opponent?

Answer: A complete and total walloping of the Philadelphia Flyers!

The Capitals triumphed over the Flyers 8 to 2. That's right eight goals for the Caps! It was pretty amazing to watch from my cozy couch after a snowy day here in DC.

The biggest headline of the game other than the phenomenal score is probably Dan Carcillo, a Flyer who sucker punched Matt Bradley, getting himself expelled from the game and giving the Caps a nine-minute power play during which the Caps scored three times. Carcillo was suspended for four games for the move, and rightly so. I don't recall seeing anything quite that egregious in any game I've watched. Luckily, after some (more) stitches, Bradley is apparently ok.

The rest of the game was pretty amazing. Fleishman and Green each scored twice. The other goals came from Laich, Backstrom, Clark and the final goal went to David Steckel who had yet to score this season. I was hoping he'd get one and in the final few minutes of the game, he finally did.

The Flyers were playing their first game with a new coach and have been having a tough time lately. Everyone expected them to be on fire for their first opportunity to show off for the new man in charge. Not so much. Any fire that was there was quickly extinguished by the Caps.

The Caps keep roaring through their games, even without Ovechkin. Ovie should be back tomorrow night when the team plays Tampa Bay. I hope Matt Bradley is back, too.

Too Many Ovie Haters

Hockey blogs (and, briefly, my Facebook page) are ablaze with anti-Ovechkin sentiment today after his knee-on-knee hit in last night's game.

I know we love to hate the hockey players that we love to hate. I can go on for a while about my dislike for Sidney Crosby. But I know he's a good player and I don't wish for him to be injured.

I know I am a major Capitals fan and that fandom was sparked by the pure joy for life that Ovie plays with. But, still, I wonder how so many people can cast him as the villain in their minds. I am positive that Ovie didn't mean to hurt anyone. I know that he just wants to play good hockey and he never hits to be mean or to injure. He has done too many things in his time as a Capital that show his good character. His coaches and the team owner attest to him being a good person. I have seen him interact with fans, with teammates and with opponents and he has been nothing but kind. You just can't fake that. He may be overly aggressive or reckless at times and I hope he will play with a bit more caution from here on out, but he's not the bad guy.

He's losing a chunk of money for his two game suspension - nearly $100,000. I doubt that matters too much to him, but it's still significant. His statement on his suspension speaks for itself:

"I regret that this has happened. I'm glad that Tim wasn't injured because I never ever want to see anyone get hurt. I am disappointed to miss these games and I can't wait to get back on the ice next week to help my team."

My question to fans of other NHL teams who are so down on Ovie: Would you be wishing for long-term suspensions and season-ending injuries if Ovie were on your team?

Let me answer that for you. If the Penguins let Crosby go and he became a Capital, only an idiotic Caps fan would keep up the hating. I would welcome him with open arms. Hell, I'd buy his jersey. He'd never be my favorite player, Ovie's got that one locked up, but I'd be happy to have him on my team. Who out there really wouldn't be happy to have Ovie on their team?

Maybe, just maybe the hockey fan community should wish health for all the players in the NHL so that they can keep playing great games and entertaining us for another 5 months (hopefully more like 6.5 for my Caps).

November 13 - Washington Capitals vs. Minnesota Wild

Another great game with Ovie in the press box. The Caps took more than 40 shots, the Wild's goalie was by far the best player on his team and we won 3-1.

I can't believe there's not another home game until next Friday! That seems like an eternity to wait. Hopefully by then Ovie will be back on the ice.

Mike Knuble broke a finger last night, which is really unfortunate and will require surgery and keep him out for three or four weeks. The Wild seem to be really into hitting and that was basically their only skill. (that and goaltending).  One of them hit Knuble into the net and he jammed his finger.

There were a surprising number of Wild fans in attendance. There was one family all wearing Wild PJ pants. I only got one of the PJ-pant-clad clan on my camera, but it will give you the idea.

Check out the slippers! And this was the mom. There were two kids with her in PJs as well.

I also saw the fan of the game on our way in. He had not yet been declared such, but I had a feeling. Later he won a gift certificate to Clydes and was featured on the Jumbotron. Here, he's waiting to get his drink on.

                                

I wish I had that kind of creativity and bravery when dressing for Caps games. Alas, perhaps I am not destined for fan of the game distinction. The cameras rarely make it to section 419 anyways.

Overall, I am encouraged by how well the team is playing without Ovie. It only means great things for when he's ready to play again. Tonight, the Caps play in New Jersey and I hope they can keep up the winning streak.

October 27 - Washington Capitals vs. Philadelphia Flyers

There are few better feelings than walking out of Verizon Center after the Capitals beat a team from Pennsylvania. Neil and I have a debate about which team we hate more, the Flyers or the Penguins. For me, I think it might be a tie, but the Flyers were the first team I hated as a sports fan and there's something a little special about that.

Last night's game was amazing. It started off as sort of a question mark. The first period was scoreless and the vibe in the arena was muted. I wondered if it was because of the rainy weather or the fact that the game was on a Tuesday. Normally at Flyers games, the Caps fans are amped up and out for victory. The first period, probably because there were no goals and lots of chances for us to be scored on, everyone was nervous. Some raucous Flyers fans started "Let's go Flyers" chants and Caps fans responded appropriately with "Flyers suck", but I was hoping some loud "Let's go Caps" chants would get going. They were few and far between.

Period two started out with disappointment. The Capitals continued to struggle on the power play and not score and the Flyers scored two goals. Now, I am the eternal optimist when it comes to many things in life and the Capitals are no exception. I always know they can come back. I always think they are going to win. I believe in them. But, when they didn't score on a 5 on 3 power play that was more than a minute long, I was feeling discouraged. Then, the magic began to happen. Ovie scored off a sweet pass from Backstrom, then Backstrom scored a convincing goal on the power play and the game was tied again.

The third period goal by Semin was a thing of beauty and made me very happy he's back from his injury/illness. The poor Flyers goalie slumped over in defeat when Semin scored and I had a good feeling about the outcome when I saw that. After gaining the lead, the Caps played hard and Jose Theodore sealed the win. I'm going to say it, Jose is one of my favorite players. I know he has had some spotty performances and isn't always the most popular, but I really can't think of many times when he's let us down terribly. He has real heart, he's fun to watch and last night he was a magician. He made something like 20 saves in the third period alone. AND he stopped a penalty shot. We needed the goals, of course, but Jose is the reason the Capitals won the game.

Of course, by the end of the second period the crowd at Verizon Center was into it and by the third period there was no hint of weeknight exhaustion or rainy day blues -  the arena was loud and you couldn't hear the Flyers fans anymore.  In 419, the cowbells were ringing and Neil and I were jumping up and down by the time Ovie scored the empty netter in the final minutes. 

Last night, the team I love played like the team I love and sent the Flyers home without any points. Awesome.

The Flyers Come to Town

Tonight's game against the Flyers promises to be entertaining. Since I loathe Philadelphia (particularly their sports teams), I really hope the Caps can come up with a convincing win.

Ovie has had a tough couple of games. If you go by the Jasper's Rink assessment, it's been almost dire: "The six shots on goal AO was credited with last week were as many or fewer than in any of his previous half-dozen games. Two hits in two games, a fine, and a team 0-for-11 on the power play (including two shorties against) also speak to a rough week for the best player in the world."

Yeesh!

So, in the hopes of boosting his karma, here is my photo with the Great 8! Yes, I paid $20 for this at the Capitals Convention and waited in two long lines. No, it's not the most awesome photo of me ever taken, but it's still one of the coolest things ever. It took the team a while to get it to me. The photo was taken on Sept. 26th and the team emailed it to me in mid-October. Now I am unveiling it to the blog-reading public:

Several things went through my mind while waiting in line and having my photo taken with Ovie.

• I watched everyone walk up onto the platform and shake his hand and I began to worry intensely about H1N1 and other infectious diseases. This is a common worry of mine. I do not want my Capitals getting sick.
  
• I wondered what I could do or say to let him know that I am cooler than your regular fan, that he should, in fact, be friends with me... I simultaneously realized that there was nothing I could say and that I am not actually cooler than other fans. 
• I watched a woman a few people ahead of me give Ovie a hand-crocheted doll of himself complete with a #8 stitched to the back of the red jersey. I then watched Ovie look at it in a slightly puzzled way and hand it to a team staff member which is when I thought about how glad I was that I didn't do something like that to distinguish myself. That doll must have taken her hours.
• I saw a girl, probably a teenager but she may have been in her 20's, begin to have a panic attack in line. She was so excited to meet Ovechkin that she was having trouble breathing and eventually began sobbing. This made me feel a little better about my fluttering heart.
• I was relieved to see that crying girl pulled it together in time for her photo.
• The marketing professional in me noted the fact that the background was kind of terrible for pictures. It was way too busy and too shiny for the flash. I think the team should hire me, I really do.

 I hope to meet Ovie again someday in a less insane environment. This means I will probably have to turn into a stalker at practice or get lucky and wind up in the same place as him by chance. Hopefully, I'll have a camera when it happens.

Side note: I have done a small amount of shameless promotion of my little blog and it is starting to work. Caps owner Ted Leonsis added The View from 419 to his blogroll under Favorite Sports Blogs! Thanks Ted!

And with that, let's go Caps!

October 24 - Washington Capitals vs. New York Islanders (at NY)

Places I have checked the score of Capitals games on my cell phone:
- In the theater during a Broadway Play
- During family dinners
- At a party
- In the movie theater

It's Saturday night in DC and the Caps were away, so I made plans to go to a movie. When I made the plans, I wasn't exactly looking at the hockey schedule, so I found myself refreshing the ESPN page on my Blackberry throughout the previews. Then I settled in and watched the movie and when it was over, the Caps had come back, the game was tied 2-2 and the overtime was about to begin!

I just read the game story in the post and it sounds like much of the same. I wonder what it will take for the Caps to begin playing with the intensity that I know they have?

I do like that Keith Aucoin. He may be tiny, but when he's on the ice, he's like a little spark plug and he is always working. Whenever he's called up from Hershey, I really enjoy watching him play and now, he's been directly responsible for two goals in two very close games.

I am glad the team has been winning, but these close wins can't feel quite as good as that win over San Jose did. I hope they pull it together in time to crush Philadelphia on Tuesday, because you all know how I feel about the state of Pennsylvania.

October 6 - Washington Capitals vs. Philadelphia Flyers (In Philly)

Bummer. I had a rough day at work, came home completely exhausted with a list of things to do that was a mile long and put everything off to don my Capitals sweatshirt and settle into the couch for some hockey. The game was hugely entertaining after the nonscoring first period. But then we lost in overtime. :(

Notable from tonight's game, Brooks Laich has some catching up to do if he wants to keep pace with Ovie on the scoring. Semin's first goal was a thing of beauty. Varly's meltdown in goal was too bad, but doesn't seem insurmountable to me. The Caps got a point for going into overtime - yay.

And finally, I really really really hate the Flyers.

I have not spent much time in Pennsylvania, but it is a state filled with enemy hockey teams that make my blood boil with hatred and so, I have an anti-Pennsylvania policy. I have friends from the state, sure, and it doesn't make me want to no longer be friends with them,  but we do have to be very careful when discussing their homeland - especially if they have a fondness for their hometown hockey teams. When people bring up Philly or Pittsburgh in casual conversation, it takes all my willpower to restrain myself from saying things I might regret.

The Flyers, in their orange jerseys, give me an automatic headache and they are just so mean. I love the Capitals because it's a team of good guys, guys you'd want to hang out with. Sure, some of them are more like the bad boys I liked in high school, but you know they're still nice behind their fast driving and multiple tattoos. The Flyers are like the bullies, they're a bunch of high school football players in the wrong uniforms. I. Don't. Like. Them.

It's ok. We'll beat them next time.

Before the game, I walked by a store that I pass daily. It is a fancy clothing store that uses all natural and organic fabrics and makes flowy skirts and dresses. I think the target is wealthy, middle-aged, environmentally-conscious women. I went inside once and realized that I could not afford a thing in there and if I were to wear any of it, I would instantly look 45 years old. Yet, I really like the store. The reason I like it is that ever since the Caps were in the playoffs two years ago and lost to the Flyers (boo) in ovewrtime of game 7, Pua Naturally has had a hockey stick in their window display. It's tucked into the corner, but it's there and everytime I pass by, it makes me smile.

Today, the window display was greatly improved with one of the mannequins proudly wearing a Caps t-shirt! I smiled the rest of the way home after taking these photos.

 

Awesome!