First Round Playoff Schedules Set

And after a long, thrilling season of incredible achievements, both for individual players and the Capitals organization as a whole, the reason for the season is finally here. Round One of the Stanley Cup playoffs officially kicks off this Wednesday. The Capitals begin their final journey for Lord Stanley's Cup on Thursday in front of their thousands of Cap-crazy and dedicated fans, who make the Verizon Center one of the toughest places in the NHL to play! After securing home ice advantage, the Capitals will face the Montreal Canadiens in Game 1 on Thursday at the Phone Booth.

Here's the rest of the schedule courtesy of Nate Ewell and the rest of the team's outstanding PR staff:

SERIES A TIME (ET) #1 Washington vs. #8 Montreal


Thursday, April 15, 2010
 7 p.m. - Montreal at Washington

Saturday, April 17, 2010
 7 p.m. - Montreal at Washington

Monday, April 19, 2010
 7 p.m. - Washington at Montreal

Wednesday, April 21, 2010
 7 p.m. - Washington at Montreal

*Friday, April 23, 2010
 7 p.m. - Montreal at Washington

*Monday, April 26, 2010
 7 p.m. - Washington at Montreal

*Wednesday, April 28, 2010
 TBD - Montreal at Washington

(* if necessary )

And while our beloved Alex Ovechkin missed earning the Art Ross and Rocket Richard trophies by the slimmest of margins, HM would like to offer her congrats to this year's winners (it's all about good sportsmanship folks; at least that's what I tell my boys). A Hockey Mom congrats to the phenomenal youngster Steven Stamkos of Tampa Bay and to Sidney Crosby (yep, we know this guy all too well) from Pittsburgh for tying for the Rocket Richard honors. And my readers know about the special place in my heart for the Sedin wonder twins - those guys are just darn scary good. Honestly, I have my own twins watch their highlight reel goals where they make crazy no-look passes to each other. Hey, a mom can always dream big right? A big HM high five to Henrik Sedin for becoming the first Vancouver Canuck to ever win the Art Ross trophy with an incredible 112 points on the season.

Look for a breakdown of the competition and details on the Capitals Beard-A-Thon contest to come shortly. Meanwhile, NHL.com has the league's television playoff schedule available so you can start marking your calenders and setting that DVR. I just love this time of year!