You the Man - Alex Chases Down the Canes

So once again Hockey Mom had kid hockey obligations (which included digging through the rink's Lost & Found for a lost jock - um, that was nasty) which caused me to miss half of the first period's telecast of Caps versus Canes, Round 2. I'm happy to report that we found the funky missing jock and that by the time I turned on my telly, the Caps were up by 3 with tallies from Semin, Ovechkin and Green (hmmm, looks just like the NHL All-Star ballot)!

Alex Semin - you the man! 4 points already and not even into the third period yet! Perfection is not without its flaws, however, he had a few too many needless hooking and tripping penalties. That said, huge high five to Alex for continuing to lead the league with his scoring prowess.

It was good to see Viktor Kozlov back too. Unfortunately, Brent Johnson left the ice in the second period after a traffic jam of Canes players in the net took some liberties in repeatedly whacking at his leg. No word yet on the extent of Johnny's injuries.

It was also great to see Carolina's Brandon Sutter back in their line up after suffering a concussion a few weeks ago. I have to say I was surprised to see him back so soon. If you haven't seen the hit from Islander's Doug Weight (which was ruled a legal hit), here it is:



For all of you hockey newbies, one of the first things coaches tell you when you're old enough to start checking is to "keep your head up." Unfortunately in that instance, Sutter had his head down in reaching for the puck and got sideswiped. So you can from the sheer force of the check he took why it's so great to see him back....

So the Caps continued to put the hurt on the Canes with additional goals from guess who - Alex Semin and a first this season from young Nick Backstrom to wrap it up with a final score of 5 - 1.

Next up, our Pee Wees hit the ice at the Phone Booth at 3 p.m. this Friday followed by the Caps/New Jersey game. I'm looking forward to getting my Bruce Boudreau bobblehead to add to my growing collection of Caps collectibles -my favorite is still the Caps Mr. Potato Head. It's all hockey all the time in my house - but I wouldn't have it any other way!