Monday Musings

Well the holiday hoopla and the Winter Classic win is behind us - it's back to work, back to school, back to the grind. To ease the transition, there just happens to be some excellent hockey viewing on the telly tonight in the form of USA versus Canada in the IIHF World Junior Championship. Tomorrow night, the Capitals return to action and face a streaking Lightning team who just acquired veteran goaltender Dawyne Roloson from the Islanders. Roloson is expected to get the nod against Washington tomorrow night. The super swift Martin St. Louis leads the Bolts (and sits atop the league) in assists, while superstar Steven Stamkos has 56 points and has lit the lamp 31 times. Bad boy Steve Downie, who has been sidelined by injury, may suit up for the first time since early December against their division rivals.

Other hockey happenings on this January Monday:

• A Hockey Mom high-five to Semyon Varlamov, for being named First Star of the Week by the NHL. Varly is the first Capitals goaltender to be first star or player of the week since Olie Kolzig on 2/22/04. Varlamov stopped 55 of 56 shots in backstopping the Capitals to a pair of victories,
  including the 2011 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic. He began the week stopping 25 shots for his second shutout of the season in a 3-0 victory over the Montreal Canadiens Dec. 28. Varlamov recorded 32 saves in Washington's 3-1 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins in front of 68,111 outdoors at Heinz Field Saturday night. The 22-year-old improved his career regular-season record to 26-8-8 in 45 appearances.
• More Winter Classic notes - Saturday's Caps/Pens showdown was the most-viewed NHL regular season game in 36 years with an average of 4.5 million watching in primetime.
• A big stick tap to one of my fabulous Twitter tweeps (@elizamcgraw) for sending me this terrific piece on the joys of being a hockey parent, especially watching your kid fall in love with the game.