Hockey Mom wants to wish all of you great hockey fans out there a very happy (and safe) New Year! New Year's Day has traditionally been a day dedicated to college football, but in HM's household the day is all about hockey.
We kick off New Year's Day with the highly-anticipated NHL Winter Classic at Wrigley Field in Chicago. I absolutely love this idea of outdoor hockey - taking the game back to its roots. I hope that one of the Winter Classics in the coming years might feature our own Washington Capitals! Obviously it's not cold enough in D.C. to host it here but I'm not averse to traveling to a cold climate (heck, I spend half my life in an ice rink)!
Then at 7 p.m., the Caps will see another visit from division rivals Tampa Bay. Note to self: For an example of how to run a professional sports team into the ground, just google the Tampa Bay Lightning's new owners Len Barrie and Oren Koules.
But unlike the Lightning, Caps fans had much to be thankful for in 2008. Here's just a look at some of the highlights in the past year:
We kick off New Year's Day with the highly-anticipated NHL Winter Classic at Wrigley Field in Chicago. I absolutely love this idea of outdoor hockey - taking the game back to its roots. I hope that one of the Winter Classics in the coming years might feature our own Washington Capitals! Obviously it's not cold enough in D.C. to host it here but I'm not averse to traveling to a cold climate (heck, I spend half my life in an ice rink)!
Then at 7 p.m., the Caps will see another visit from division rivals Tampa Bay. Note to self: For an example of how to run a professional sports team into the ground, just google the Tampa Bay Lightning's new owners Len Barrie and Oren Koules.
But unlike the Lightning, Caps fans had much to be thankful for in 2008. Here's just a look at some of the highlights in the past year:
- Caps won the Southeast Division championship last season and has a 10-point lead in the division this year
- The Capitals reached the Stanley Cup playoffs for the first time since 2003
- The team posted a 31-6-3 home record at Verizon Center with 14 sellouts
- Alex Ovechkin has scored 60 goals in 2008 (10 more than any other player), posted 113 points (second only to Evgeni Malkin, 124), won four major NHL awards, received the Key to the City of Washington, D.C., signed a new 13-year contract, played in the NHL All-Star Game, led Russia to a gold medal at the World Championship, won NHL First Star of the Month three times and launched his own designer clothing line
- Bruce Boudreau was named NHL coach of the year and was selected for induction in the AHL Hall of Fame
- Nicklas Backstrom played in the NHL YoungStars Game and was named to the NHL All-Rookie Team
- The team recorded three winning streaks of five games or more
- The organization retired Mike Gartner’s No. 11
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1 comment:
Happy New Year, HM.
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