Sunday, November 23, 2008

One More Stop on this Road Trip for Capitals

What the sam harry hell happened last night in that yucky 7 - 2 loss against the Sharks? The Sharks are a very, very good team - the best in the league right now actually. But I honestly thought that despite the injuries, the Caps would play a closer game. This has been a tough road trip for the men in red, made even tougher with the spate of injuries. And tomorrow's contest against the Minnesota Wild won't be any cakewalk. Nicklas Backstrom will face the other Niklas Backstrom, the Wild goalie who sits in fourth place for save percentage and GAA among the league's leading netminders.

Although the Wild will be without their leading man Marian Gaborik, who is on the injured list, they still have some dangerous playmakers in captain Mikko Koivu, Anti Miettinen and Andrew Brunette. The good thing about this game is that it will be televised at a normal hour - yippee! My kids travel team is the WILD with same colors as Minnesota's. It will be hard to watch the boys take their team photo tonight without growling in anticipation of that other WILD team tomorrow...

Some positive news from this weekend's hockey action to report - the Sedin twins led the Vancouver Canucks to a victory over the Penguins at the Igloo yesterday. As a twin mom and Capitals fan, you have to love that! I'd be interested to glean Alex Semin's thoughts on the Sedins' twin super powers!

And Hockey Mom has a bone to pick with the NHL's inconsistent disciplinary actions. Yesterday, the New Jersey Devils' Mike Mottau was suspended 2 games for an elbow hit to Islander's Frans Nielsen. Nielsen suffered
multiple leg injuries as a result and will be out for 8 - 12 weeks! Once again, HM thinks this suspension is way too lenient. Even though Mottau is not known as a cheap player, the lack of consistency in league-mandated suspension is one of the reasons that certain players will continue to take dangerous shots, especially to the head, which could seriously injure or even end another player's career. Come on Colin Campbell, you guys need to send a much stronger message on what the NHL will and will not tolerate and this suspension just doesn't cut it.

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