With the success of the Washington Capitals of late – local youth hockey has boomed.
There are more rinks; more interest; we have opened and manage Kettler Capitals Iceplex; we sell out every game.
We are in a virtuous cycle right now.
Thank you hockey mom and dads for getting up early and for investing in your sons and daughters hard work and love of hockey.
Read this one in the Washington Post.
We are in this together. Go Youth Hockey – Go Caps!
Florida goes up a point in the standings; they reclaim the lead in the Southeast; we tumble to 9th place.
A good crisp read here on last night’s game.
We have work to do.We get Alex Ovechkin back for the next game on Saturday – against Montreal. We were 1-1 and 1 without Alex during the 3 game suspension. 6 points available; we garnered 3.
I do not agree in any way with the suspension of Alex Ovechkin for 3 games. I support Alex Ovechkin. He is our bedrock player – our Captain; and he and his family know that we are always here to support him.
The decision has been made; and George McPhee will address the media today with our thoughts and concerns about the suspension.
While there is a lot of emotion and concern today – we have a game to play tonight against perhaps the best team in the league and we then have 2 games on the road against division foes, after the All Star game.
Tonight – we will play without Alex Ovechkin, Mike Green and Nick Backstrom. These are our three best players and represent a third of our payroll; there is simply no way short term to make up their productivity unless other players step up – and we must be focused on winning and not on being shorthanded. Our team mentality must and will stay positive.
It is possible that the road trip after the All Star game will also see us play without 3 of our core players as well.
So – it is time for us – truly – to hang together – band together – play as a unit- be supportive; scratch out some wins or points in any way that we can.
There are 35 games left to play this season. 70 standings points to be had.
As this article attests – we have to be productive as to gaining points at home – while playing better on the road. This article maps out the road ahead.
In times of strife and high emotion; it is best to act with clear thoughts and to stay positive.
Go Caps!
And the Capitals. Click here if you have the time.
We play a back to back tonight in Montreal. The team has to shake off its poor performance last night at Verizon Center. We play tonight then Friday against Carolina and Sunday at 12:30 pm against the Penguins in Pittsburgh. Three games in a row on the road in give days. The road hasn’t been kind to us making last night’s loss even more difficult to process.
Four in a row.
We saw terrific play in goal.
We scored fast on a power play.
We killed off all of our penalties.
Alex Ovechkin is on fire of late with another goal and an assist last night.
Mike Green is back. We are undefeated with Mike in the line up, 9-0.
Alex Semin is off the ice with an injury.
See this story from Japers’ on how much time our core of four players has actually played together.
We are now 7th in the East with 44 points and a game in hand on the SE division leader.
We are making progress with more than half of the season left to play. Everyone is still bunched up in the standings but it is positive to see progress on our behalf.
Thanks Caps fans for your loyalty and patience and support in 2011.
4 goals scored; we win 4 to 2. After trailing 2 to 0 – in our fourth game in six days on New Year’s Eve, in Columbus. Back to back games are tough to play.
I am proud of the team; we didn’t pack it in for the holiday weekend; we fought and dug deep, we played hard and we get the two points.
We have now won 3 in a row, and we have games in hand still on the SE division leaders; we are back in the race as we enter 2012. Almost all of the teams ahead of us in the East won last night as well; so the points really mattered to us last night.
Our goal tending was strong; our big guns scored and seem to be untracked.
Have a happy new year; Go Caps!
A good win at home; we needed the two points. Thanks Caps fans for being loud and proud.
We missed several open nets; we could have scored 6 goals; but we are very appreciative of scoring 4 and holding the red hot Rangers to only 1 goal.
Our goal tender was calm and made big saves when necessary and our penalty killing units played really well.
Congratulations to Alex Semin too for a two goal game and to Alex Ovechkin for his two assists; that gives him points in 5 games in a row.
It feels good to win one after two straight losses; thank you – Go Caps!
Thank you – this article is tough – fair and well-articulated. By the Washington Post – a good question and what we are all here to answer? Read this one if you have the time. We are working hard to manage the cap well; to build through the draft and to have upside in the new NBA. We are also working hard to build better team chemistry and adhere to a new, more defensively minded system in this shortened and compressed NBA season; all with 15 players on the roster. We are in rebuild mode – and we unashamed and unabashed about it.
New ownership enters its second season with the team. We have had two off seasons; and two drafts. Of the 15 players on the roster now – 3 were with the team when we bought the franchise and those three – Young, McGee and Blatche were all young players on the squad at the time; just to put things in perspective about the amount of change that has been implemented. (Yes – I know Roger Mason once played for the Wizards too before stints in San Antonio and New York).
And then there is this column – which as one comment notes is about 2 years too early; geesh – what buzz kill. We haven’t even started a new season; and we are already worried about a player leaving us in 3 or 4 years ; filled with back handed compliments; and speculation and angst by the columnist. The new CBA does allow for a player’s team to be more aggressive on a contract extension than another team, that wasn’t noted here as well.
Come on – get in the holiday spirit – enjoy the season that is coming up; worry and communicate if and when the time is right; that would be my comment back. I am sure we will feed the monster amply during the season and during the rebuild; this article was a pre-emptive strike by media – and I had heard it all before specifically regarding the Washington Capitals and Alex Ovechkin. Sometimes media underestimate how great of a fan base we possess; how great our city is and how players are in it together with the fan base and with the plan. Thank you.
It felt good to get a win on the road. The road has been unkind to us of late.
It felt good to see Alex Ovechkin flying around the rink, potting a pretty goal and playing with great energy and passion.And we scored on a power play to take a 5-3 win over Ottawa. As noted scoring on a power play is a big difference maker for our team. Sounds simple.
We still must stay out of the penalty box. We make it hard on ourselves taking so many penalties. The two at the end of the game were troubling and added pressure on our team.
We are back in the playoff equation according to the standings with that win. We play at home on Friday night against Toronto. We look forward to seeing you all at the game. I appreciate your ongoing support. Go Caps!
About the only thing I wanted to post about this weekend was this: thank you to Make A Wish Foundation; and thank you to Ellie Carney – it was a true honor to meet you. Click here for this heartwarming story and video. A big hug to the entire family too – for your courage and your dedication.