Capital's Media Luncheon

So Hockey Mom was present and accounted for at today's Media Luncheon hosted by the Washington Capitals. As it was my first official foray into the media arena, I have to admit that at first, this "pitbull with lipstick's" knees were shaking like a rookie's. I met several of the other Caps bloggers, including Garrett of Puckhead's Thoughts, along with some other mainstream sports writers.

The day started with a team photo. And go figure, HM had some amazing photos of players and key personnel but my boys used up all of the memory in my camera taking pictures of the CAT! They heard an earful from me when I got home about leaving my things alone without asking to use them...but that's pretty much how my life goes!

We then watched pratice - Ovechkin left practice early but Coach Bruce assured the media that he will playing against the Thrashers on Friday. I am writing this post as I sit at my boys practice (it's all hockey all the time on this channel) and funny that I was just watching the same drills at Verizon several hours ago, only the big guns did them at three times the speed! I did have a chance to speak to Coach Boudreau.He is such a down-to-earth and chatty guy and is excited to be the bench boss starting at the beginning of a full season.

I also got the chance to speak to veteran enforcer Donald Brashear, who seems very mild-mannered in contrast to his on the ice persona. When asked what teams he thinks will be the toughest of the Cap's opponents this year, he noted that because of the way the CBA has worked, all of the teams will tough and folks have high expectations for the Capitals this year. HM also asked "the Donald" his advice to young players. First and foremost, he says to "have fun." (That goes for you too parents - remember it's just a game)! Another interesting thing he talked about was that young players should be encouraged to learn from figure skaters to master edge control. So all of you future NHLers - figure skating lessons are not for sissys (or I dare you to tell Donald Brashear that they are)!

All in all, today was a great learning experience and the entire Capitals organization, from majority owner Ted Leonsis to the players were very open. Hockey Mom will be in the stands as a fan during the home opener on Saturday night and I can't wait!