The Boys are Back in Town!

No need to tell Caps fans that today kicked off the start of training camp for veterans and rookies hoping to earn a spot on this season's roster! After an early morning Pee-Wee game, HM loaded the stinky boys in the car and smelly gear in the trunk and headed down to Kettler Capitals Iceplex.

There were lots of Caps fans in the house to welcome back the boys. The first group to hit the ice included vets Alex Ovechkin, Viktor Kozlov, Matt Bradley, Tom Poti and rookies Chris Bourque and Simeon Varlamov. For a period we sat behind "Papa" Ovechkin who seems to have the same mischievous and playful streak as his offspring. He kept tapping the shoulder of the young boy sitting in front of him and then looking away when the lad turned around. The young fan finally caught on but Papa O. found it quite amusing!

Gabby (Coach Bruce Boudreau) was putting them all through some tough drills and HM witnessed several nice pad and glove saves on the part of young goalie Simeon Varlamov.



Over on the other rink, Assistant Coach Dean Evason was running the show and fans got their first glimpse of new goalie, Jose Theodore. Theodore looked to be on his game as he faced a barrage of shots from Alex Semin, Boyd Gordon, Brooks Laich, Donald Brashear and Sergei Fedorov.

I missed seeing Chris Clark and Michael Nylander hit the ice for the first time in quite awhile after both suffered season-ending injuries last year. They were in the third group along with Mike Green. HM and her posse had to rush back to our home rink for yet another pratice. But we got our Caps fix so it was a great day!

Lest you think this hockey marathon day comes to a close - we stayed for another hour at the rink to watch a friend's son play at the U-18 level. I gotta tell you, that was one of the most chippy games I've ever seen. For you new fans, "chippy" is when there's a lot of unnecessary pushing, shoving and other extracurricular activity. I haven't seen so much hard hitting since the Caps/Flyers playoff series. At the closing buzzer, one player decided to knock an opposing player into the goal's crossbar. I seriously thought they were going to come too blows towards the end. Very exciting to watch though!

So the hockey extravaganza comes to an end for today and we get to get up with the chickens tomorrow morning and head to Maryland for a travel game. What a great day for a hockey fan though....yessiree, fall is finally here folks!

Let's Get Ready to Rumble!

Hockey Mom has been employed in the marketing field for many years now and this is one of the most exciting e-mail campaigns I've seen. A big high-five to the Capital's marketing team for this phenomenal e-mail campaign that would make even the most sports-challenged couch potato want to get in line at the box office!

Check this out - this will get you ready for the season for sure! Go buy those tickets - single game tickets go on sale tomorrow starting at 10 a.m. and I'm sure several games will be sell-outs...

No Rest for the Weary...

It's almost Friday and looks like another on-the-go weekend for Hockey Mom and the boys. No sleeping in on weekends when you're involved in this sport - no sir! Saturday morning will see us up at 6:15 a.m. for a game at 7:45, then down to Kettler for the first day of Caps Training Camp (yippee!) and back to our rink for a 2 p.m. practice. Sunday morning will be more of the same with a 9:15 game at a rink an hour away. And so it goes...

HM won't be getting any rest anytime soon, but new Cap's goalie Jose Theodore puts rest high on his list of fave things to do when he's off the ice. I caught a bit of Theodore's interview this morning with D.C.'s hockey ambassador of the airwaves, Elliot in the Morning on DC 101. When Elliot asked Jose if he hung out with some of the younger "party animals" on the team, he replied that he'd rather rest during his off-time than hit the D.C. club scene. Maybe HM could have Jose talk to my two about the importance of "rest" before a big game. It doesn't matter how early we have to get up in the morning for a Sunday game, I always get "But it's Saturday night - why can't we stay up late?" Jeez, like the 12-year olds are missing some rockin' 3-kegger frat party because they have to go bed by 10!

There was definitely no rest to be had for the Philadelphia Flyers rookies today as they were routed 7-0 by the Capital's rookie squad. Way to go Caps!

The Flyers are returning home to even more bad news as veteran defenseman Derian Hatcher has suffered a potentially career-ending knee injury. Though I am so not a fan of the Flyers, I hope we'll see Derian healthy and back in their lineup. But for the Flyers rookies, bet it was a long ride home!

Glen Hanlon Lands in Finland

Joining the ranks of others making the leap "across the pond" to play or coach, former Capital's bench boss Glen Hanlon is headed to coach in Finland. Check it out...Hockey Mom certainly wishes him well! I've also heard rumors that former Southeast rival Atlanta Thrasher's coach, Bob Hartley, may be headed to the KHL. Wonder what kind of crazy money they are offering him? I'm a fan of Bob's though - he runs a great hockey camp up in Pennsylvania, Hartley Hockey, and is super involved with the kids!

Speaking of coaches, Cap's head coach Bruce Boudreau has to be excited to see what kind of future talent he has in the wings during tomorrow's Rookie Game at Kettler Capitals Iceplex! Speaking of Gabby (Bruce's nickname, appropriately earned for his gift of gab), I'm sure he'd be incredibly honored to know that he now has an adorable namesake: HM and her hockey boys' 6-week old kitten, Gabby. I need to get her a Cap's collar so hopefully the NHL can produce some pet gear soon (along with a better selection of Capital's clothing for women).

The Rookie Game is sold out but the gang at On Frozen Blog will be blogging live to give all you puckheads not able to get away from the office (myself included) your pre-season hockey fix!

Now You Too Can Have a Caps Car!

The Capitals just announced that Caps fans in Virginia and Maryland will soon be able to take their spirit "on the road" with a Caps-branded vehicle license plate - just the perfect finishing touch for Hockey Mom's little red car! Applications for both states are now being accepted on the Capital's Web site. Maryland fans can sport their team loyalty starting as early as November 2008 with their shiny new plate brandishing the Cap's "Weagle". Design for the Virginia plates is currently underway and plates will be available for the 2009-2010 season. And the other great thing is that some of the proceeds from license plate sales will go to Washington Capitals Charities.

Speaking of my little red car, I opened the trunk today and literally almost passed out in the Target parking lot! My boys left their bags in the trunk after the game yesterday (which they lost 7-1 but they put up a good fight against a higher-ranked team). Needless to say, it was 93 degrees yesterday and that wet equipment just got funkified in there. And my fellow Hockey Mom friend just pointed out the sock hanging from my chandelier (how did that get there?)...oh, the many joys of hockey mom-hood!

Ovie Clothes - Just in Time for Camp!

Several posts ago, HM was dissing about the unavailability of the Ovechkin Streetwear clothing line to those who hold the Great 8 near and dear to their hearts - Capitals fans. My fellow gal blogger pal of Love the Game, Don't Like Puck Bunnies informed me yesterday that the Pro Shop at Kettler Capitals Iceplex just got in a small inventory of Ovechkin Streetwear, just in time for training camp. So Caps fans, stock up now - I have the feeling this stuff will be flying out of the store!

Training Camp Rosters are Out - Hockey Season is Upon Us!

In between driving back and forth from the rink today (two practices - one in the morning and one in the afternoon, sort of like training camp), I recieved a press release in my inbox announcing the Washington Capital's training camp roster. Rookie camp starts next week and the highlight of the week will be the rookie game between the Caps and Flyers on Thursday afternoon. Then on Saturday, the big boys hit the ice and we'll get to check out new goalie Jose Theodore up close! Hockey Mom hopes Nick Backstrom is icing that sprained ankle...wish I knew some magic hockey mom remedy to get that fixed right up....

HM plans to be in the house - the house of Kettler Ice Complex, that is - on Saturday to see the guys for the first time since the last playoff game I attended last season. It's been a long, hockey-less summer and I know my fellow puckheads are marking the days off the calendar as well!

As for me, our season kicks off tomorrow. My guys got their new jerseys today and since they are twins, it's a darn good thing one wears a single digit number and the other is a double digit. Two different game jerseys and sets of socks for each kid means more "schtuff" I get to try and keep straight. They are expected to come to games with the correct color jersey on a hanger. Funny, can't get them to put their clothes at home on a hanger! Many of the northern travel team players come to games in a collared shirt, tie, nice pants and dress shoes (which I understand is also done in Canadian junior hockey). I'm all over that - shows respect for the game (and also makes them look oh-so-handsome!)

So here's to Game One of HM's season and counting down to NHL season kickoff!