Someone Said It Better Than I Did Last Night

Check out this awesome post by Dan Steinberg of the Washington Post about Matt Bradley's amazing game last night. He's got some bloody pictures from Bradley's first period fight and some amazing quotes from Bradley and others about the crazy goal he scored that won the game for the Caps.

Clearly I was too tired to be so clever last night, plus, I didn't have game photos or players to get quotes from.

Enjoy!

November 17 - Washington Capitals vs. New York Rangers (at NY)

Woo! Great game! Neil and I watched from the comforts of home tonight and it was fantastic. Ovie is back and scored a goal, Coach Boudreau got his 100th NHL victory as a coach, Matt Bradley scored a sweet breakaway goal (and as I have stated before, I love games when Matt Bradley scores), and the Caps beat the Rangers in regulation in Madison Square Garden.

Unfortunately, Quintin Laing may have suffered a broken jaw when he blocked a shot. The Caps are really running through the injuries and Laing has some unfortunate luck. I hope he heals fast and is back in the lineup soon.

The game looked a bit like a playoff game with both teams playing hard and neither making many mistakes. It was really good to see the Caps pick up their defensive game and go crazy with the forechecking.

Can't wait till they come home again on Friday night. Man, I love this team.

November 14 - Washington Capitals vs. New Jersey Devils (at New Jersey)

This game was too depressing to write about. :(

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.

November 11 - Washington Capitals vs. New York Islanders

This game certainly had me on the edge of my seat until the 11th round of the shootout when the Caps finally prevailed.

Ovie was in the box above us again. I didn't take any pictures this time because I left the camera at home. It was still cool to be able to look up and see him on occasion during the game, but I hope he's back on the ice next time the Caps are home.

The energy in the arena was pretty good. I was concerned that since it rained all day in DC yesterday and was cold and icky out, people might not show up, or if they did, they'd be too soggy to cheer. Nope. Alexander Semin got things started by scoring a goal eight seconds into the game and the crowd was excited from then on.

I felt bad for Jose, because it didn't seem like those goals were totally his fault, but after letting in 3 goals on 5 shots, he was pulled. Varly was pretty awesome, especially in the shootout. That may have been the most insane shootout I've seen. 11 rounds! I was starting to wonder what happens when they go through every player? Is it like baseball? Do they all try again? Luckily, Semin and Clark scored and the Caps won.

It's great to see all this success even with Ovie injured. Sure, it was a close game, but the Caps won and that's the most important part.

A Trip Into Enemy Territory - Mr. Rogers Rocks The Red

This weekend, Neil, Andy and I went to (gasp) Pittsburgh. While our trip was completely non-hockey-related - we were there to tour Mr. Rogers' neighborhood of make believe - reminders of the fact that we were in enemy territory were everywhere.

There were sports paraphernalia stores packed with Steelers and Penguins gear, the newspaper dispensers had Penguins ads on them and Penguins fans were all over town showing their Penguin pride. Interestingly, there were quite a few Penguins fans waiting in the same long line as us to see the set from Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood.

 It was the last time the set will be on display before being put into storage and Pittsburgh residents came out in droves. We waited for about two hours and I had plenty of time to spot all the enemy fans in the crowd.

First I noticed a man with a sweatshirt tied around his waist.

Then there was the kid in the ridiculous third jersey.

What are the Penguins' colors anyways? Black? Gold? Powder blue?

Next I saw a man with his jacket tied around his waist.

He may have noticed me taking the photo.

We were beginning to feel outnumbered. But I had my Caps gear hiding in my bag.

There were some guys in T-Shirts.

And a guy who looked like he might kick my butt if he saw me at a game.

And then there was a very confused fan. Clearly, she loves hockey, but which team?

All these hockey fans waited for hours to see the set from Mr. Rogers. Hmm...

We finally made it inside and it was cool to see familiar scenes from my childhood.

We tried to blend in among the Penguins fans. No need to rock the boat, or create animosity among fellow Mr. Rogers fans. We were in enemy territory, after all.

But don't worry. Mr. Rogers was rocking the red.

My Favorite Video For The Moment

This video from Mike Green's site is amazing. Before you do anything else, watch it.