For your weekly planning purposes, here is the official First Round playoff schedule along with media outlets that will be broadcasting all the fun, courtesy of the Caps' PR department:
Capitals Eastern Conference Quarterfinal Schedule Versus New York Rangers
Game 1: Wednesday, April 15 - 7 p.m. at Washington (Comcast SportsNet, TSN, WJFK, WCBM)
Game 2: Saturday, April 18 - 1 p.m. at Washington (NBC, TSN, WJFK, WCBM)
Game 3: Monday, April 20 - 7 p.m. at New York (Comcast SportsNet, VERSUS, TSN, WJFK, WCBM)
Game 4: Wednesday, April 22 - 7 p.m. at New York (Comcast SportsNet, VERSUS, TSN, WJFK, WCBM)
*Game 5: Friday, April 24 7 p.m. at Washington (Comcast SportsNet, VERSUS, TSN, RDS, WJFK, WCBM)
*Game 6: Sunday, April 26 - 2 p.m. at New York (NBC, TSN, RDS, WJFK, WCBM)
*Game 7: Tuesday, April 28 - TBD at Washington (Comcast SportsNet, VERSUS, TSN, RDS, WJFK, WCBM)
*If necessary
P.S. In case you missed it, the Rangers won over the thugnasty Flyers yesterday, scoring the only short-handed goal the Flyers have allowed all year. Bring it!
Monday, April 13, 2009
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Huh? Mike Mibury Said What? Playoff Preview
So there's obviously not a whole lot to say about last night's Capitals' non-showing against the non-playoff bound Florida Panthers. Except that I hope the excuse is "we were looking forward to playoffs next week" and we now know that the boys will be facing a new and retooled New York Rangers team.
Hockey fans did have the chance to see one of the most exciting games HM has witnessed in a while in the NCAA Divsion 1 Men's Hockey Final between Boston University and Miami of Ohio. After holding a 2-1 lead up until the third period, BU made an exciting comeback in the final minute of the third, scoring two goals to tie the game. Cap's d-man Tom Poti (who we hope to see back in time for Game 1), a former BU Terrier, must have been beside himself watching his alma mater's rally! The game went into overtime and the Miami Red Hawks lost an absolute heartbreaker as a BU goal took a flukey bounce right off of the very defender who laid his body down to block it - right into the top shelf of the Miami goal. There was not a gosh-durn thing in the world that could have been done to stop that one but congrats to Boston University on adding another national title to their impressive resume.
So back to the long-anticipated playoffs...the Capitals haven't seen the Blueshirts since the addition of new coach John Tortorella, Nik Antropov, Derek Morris and of course the drama king himself, Sean Avery, who spent last season with the Dallas Stars and was later relegated to bad behavior boot camp for offensive comments. If nothing else, waiting to see what kind of tricks Avery pulls out of his sleeve will make this series one to watch! I wonder what nail polish color the eccentric and fashion-conscious #16 has chosen for the series - he's been known to be a fan of Chanel black (dude - that is so last year).
The buzz has already started around all of the playoff matchups, but HM almost fell out of her seat today as Pierre McGuire and Mike Milbury were discussing the various teams in the first round (as I was watching the Stanley Cup champion Red Wings get trounced by the youthful Chicago Blackhawks). Caps fans are all too familiar with Mike Milbury, who has had frequent bouts of "foot in mouth" disease after calling Ovechkin a dog last year. But miracle of miracles, it seems Milbury has joined the millions on Capitals' bandwagon predicting the Blueshirts to drop out of the first round in five games...
Now we wait for the official game schedule so that we can all plan our week's events around what we've been waiting for all season - PLAYOFF HOCKEY! Stay tuned for updates and lots of other fun stuff...
Hockey fans did have the chance to see one of the most exciting games HM has witnessed in a while in the NCAA Divsion 1 Men's Hockey Final between Boston University and Miami of Ohio. After holding a 2-1 lead up until the third period, BU made an exciting comeback in the final minute of the third, scoring two goals to tie the game. Cap's d-man Tom Poti (who we hope to see back in time for Game 1), a former BU Terrier, must have been beside himself watching his alma mater's rally! The game went into overtime and the Miami Red Hawks lost an absolute heartbreaker as a BU goal took a flukey bounce right off of the very defender who laid his body down to block it - right into the top shelf of the Miami goal. There was not a gosh-durn thing in the world that could have been done to stop that one but congrats to Boston University on adding another national title to their impressive resume.
So back to the long-anticipated playoffs...the Capitals haven't seen the Blueshirts since the addition of new coach John Tortorella, Nik Antropov, Derek Morris and of course the drama king himself, Sean Avery, who spent last season with the Dallas Stars and was later relegated to bad behavior boot camp for offensive comments. If nothing else, waiting to see what kind of tricks Avery pulls out of his sleeve will make this series one to watch! I wonder what nail polish color the eccentric and fashion-conscious #16 has chosen for the series - he's been known to be a fan of Chanel black (dude - that is so last year).
The buzz has already started around all of the playoff matchups, but HM almost fell out of her seat today as Pierre McGuire and Mike Milbury were discussing the various teams in the first round (as I was watching the Stanley Cup champion Red Wings get trounced by the youthful Chicago Blackhawks). Caps fans are all too familiar with Mike Milbury, who has had frequent bouts of "foot in mouth" disease after calling Ovechkin a dog last year. But miracle of miracles, it seems Milbury has joined the millions on Capitals' bandwagon predicting the Blueshirts to drop out of the first round in five games...
Now we wait for the official game schedule so that we can all plan our week's events around what we've been waiting for all season - PLAYOFF HOCKEY! Stay tuned for updates and lots of other fun stuff...
Friday, April 10, 2009
One Proud Hockey-Loving Family...
As much as my twins drive me crazy at times, I know that I am beyond blessed to have happy and healthy kids, especially since they were born prematurely. Each year, countless babies are born prematurely, which can lead to debilitating health issues and even death.
Which brings me to this amazing story. Hockey Mom is proud to know this year's 2009 March of Dimes Ambassador, little Katelyn Hall. Katelyn was born at 25 weeks and weighed less than one pound. She was hospitalized for several months and her family endured many health scares and precarious surgeries for their precious daughter. I know her parents Ashley and Michael, who are both avid hockey fans and players in their own right. I've seen Ashley play on a men's team and as Craig Laughlin would say, "she is one tough customer!" The Halls now devote their time to successfully raising funds and awareness for the March of Dimes to fund research, awareness and education to help families have healthier babies.
And I'm happy to report that Katelyn is a happy five-year old who will be traveling the country as the fabulous official Ambassador to the March of Dimes. To read her incredible story and to donate to this tremendous cause, click here.
Keep up the great work, Hall family and see you at the rink!
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Thursday Night Hockey Extravanganza
In addition to the Capitals/Lightning game, there was lots of other on-ice action tonight with many games having some serious playoff implications. On the subject of playoffs, I have to give kudos to the Columbus Blue Jackets, who've made the playoffs for the first time in franchise history. Carolina's hot streak ended tonight at the hands of the Buffalo Sabres in a 5-1 loss. And the Florida Panthers defeated the Thrashers by one goal. Things start getting wild and wacky in the last week of the regular season, especially for those clubs clawing for that #8 seed!
Back here in Washington, the Cinderella story has unfortunately come to an end as Bemidji State lost tonight against Miami University in the Frozen Four semi-finals. As Hockey Mom doesn't have a dog in the show, I'd kind of adopted Bemidji State Beavers as my team to cheer on.
As the Caps wait to see who they'll dance with in the first round, they played their second to last game of the regular season against a Lightning team decimated with injuries. Minus the dashing Vincent LeCavalier, the Bolts managed to get on the board fast and furious courtesy of Tampa's numero uno draft pick Steven Stamkos. Stamkos blew one past Theo at only 36 seconds into the first period. But in the second period and beyond, it was all Caps! Brooks Laich lit the lamp twice and David Steckel scored on an assist from Matt Bradley to give the boys a 3-1 advantage going into the third. The Lightning tightened the score to 3-2 late in the third with a fluky deflection goal. But Game Over Green rocketed a puck into the empty net to take the 4-2 win and clench the second spot in the East (loud cheers and applause from the crowds)!
You can definitely start to feel playoff fever - though it hasn't even begun to spike! On the way home from the gym today, I passed two cars (not including mine of course) that were flying their Capitals flags with pride. My friends like to call mine my "pizza man" flag as my red car with the red flag flying usually speeds by so fast, it can be easily confused for the Domino's delivery dude. You know us hockey moms have places to go and people to see!
So we wait to see who we're paired with: the Montreal Canadiens (who are not without Mathieu Schneider - playa was on the ice tonight against the Bruins)or the New York Rangers who have rallied under new coach John Tortorella. Time to start growing those playoff beards gents and let's get this party started!
Back here in Washington, the Cinderella story has unfortunately come to an end as Bemidji State lost tonight against Miami University in the Frozen Four semi-finals. As Hockey Mom doesn't have a dog in the show, I'd kind of adopted Bemidji State Beavers as my team to cheer on.
As the Caps wait to see who they'll dance with in the first round, they played their second to last game of the regular season against a Lightning team decimated with injuries. Minus the dashing Vincent LeCavalier, the Bolts managed to get on the board fast and furious courtesy of Tampa's numero uno draft pick Steven Stamkos. Stamkos blew one past Theo at only 36 seconds into the first period. But in the second period and beyond, it was all Caps! Brooks Laich lit the lamp twice and David Steckel scored on an assist from Matt Bradley to give the boys a 3-1 advantage going into the third. The Lightning tightened the score to 3-2 late in the third with a fluky deflection goal. But Game Over Green rocketed a puck into the empty net to take the 4-2 win and clench the second spot in the East (loud cheers and applause from the crowds)!
You can definitely start to feel playoff fever - though it hasn't even begun to spike! On the way home from the gym today, I passed two cars (not including mine of course) that were flying their Capitals flags with pride. My friends like to call mine my "pizza man" flag as my red car with the red flag flying usually speeds by so fast, it can be easily confused for the Domino's delivery dude. You know us hockey moms have places to go and people to see!
So we wait to see who we're paired with: the Montreal Canadiens (who are not without Mathieu Schneider - playa was on the ice tonight against the Bruins)or the New York Rangers who have rallied under new coach John Tortorella. Time to start growing those playoff beards gents and let's get this party started!
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Caps Win in Blueland: Capitals 4 - Atlanta 2
First I must offer my apologies for not posting any new updates on the team we all know and love since the Buffalo downer on Friday. As the Capitals have defeated the Atlanta Thrashers twice since then, Hockey Mom has been busy entertaining my sister and her family (up from Atlanta no less) during the kids' Spring Break.
So as you great sports fans out there already know, Sunday's game finally saw the secondary scoring the Capitals have been waiting for. And tonight's 4-2 win saw the return of Flash (Tomas Fleischmann) who tallied a goal and an assist, along with his team mates Alex Semin, Viktor Kozlov and Sergei Fedorov. The Caps also saw a fabulous effort from young Simeon Varlamov, who stonewalled Ilya Kovalchuk and proved that he might be ready for primetime should his skills be required during the playoffs.
So now we just have to wait and see how the first round teams will match up. The New Jersey Devils lost to Toronto tonight, giving the Caps a solid hold on second place in the East. And talk about losing, HM thought they were showing NBA scores when I saw the Canes/Islanders final - Carolina shut out the Isles 9-0!
Next up for the Capitals, the Tampa Bay Lightning (again?) on Thursday. The Bolts will be minus some big guns on their roster as Vinny LeCavalier just had wrist surgery and Ryan Malone has a broken hand. Let's keep adding to that 106 points, huh boys?
During our tour of the great city of Washington today, I was lucky enough to run across the now infamous Caps fan Walter - a homeless gentleman who follows the team on the big screen outside of the Verizon Center. Walter was recently the subject of a post by Dan Steinberg of DC Sports Bog. We shook hands and he was so excited to tell me that he is always rocking the red, proudly displaying his Capitals sweatshirt that he says he "never takes off." That was quite a moment for my both myself and my boys as it really brings the plight of the homeless to light. And Walter with all of his enthusiasm and love for the Caps actually puts a face to the countless number of homeless men, women and children - who are increasing by the day as a result of the economy. I hope that my boys realize how lucky we are and that we all need to do our part to put an end to homelessness in this country.
I look forward to seeing you again Walter during the playoffs - you rock the red well!
So as you great sports fans out there already know, Sunday's game finally saw the secondary scoring the Capitals have been waiting for. And tonight's 4-2 win saw the return of Flash (Tomas Fleischmann) who tallied a goal and an assist, along with his team mates Alex Semin, Viktor Kozlov and Sergei Fedorov. The Caps also saw a fabulous effort from young Simeon Varlamov, who stonewalled Ilya Kovalchuk and proved that he might be ready for primetime should his skills be required during the playoffs.
So now we just have to wait and see how the first round teams will match up. The New Jersey Devils lost to Toronto tonight, giving the Caps a solid hold on second place in the East. And talk about losing, HM thought they were showing NBA scores when I saw the Canes/Islanders final - Carolina shut out the Isles 9-0!
Next up for the Capitals, the Tampa Bay Lightning (again?) on Thursday. The Bolts will be minus some big guns on their roster as Vinny LeCavalier just had wrist surgery and Ryan Malone has a broken hand. Let's keep adding to that 106 points, huh boys?
During our tour of the great city of Washington today, I was lucky enough to run across the now infamous Caps fan Walter - a homeless gentleman who follows the team on the big screen outside of the Verizon Center. Walter was recently the subject of a post by Dan Steinberg of DC Sports Bog. We shook hands and he was so excited to tell me that he is always rocking the red, proudly displaying his Capitals sweatshirt that he says he "never takes off." That was quite a moment for my both myself and my boys as it really brings the plight of the homeless to light. And Walter with all of his enthusiasm and love for the Caps actually puts a face to the countless number of homeless men, women and children - who are increasing by the day as a result of the economy. I hope that my boys realize how lucky we are and that we all need to do our part to put an end to homelessness in this country.
I look forward to seeing you again Walter during the playoffs - you rock the red well!
Friday, April 3, 2009
Sneaky Sabres Still in the Race: Buffalo 5 - Capitals 4
The Buffalo Sabres entered the red-rockin' Phone Booth tonight with their playoff hopes on the line. They came out with a vengeance (not to borrow the Flyers' lame tagline or anything) and got on the board twice in the first period against rookie net minder Simeon Varlamov.
But they also neglected to read the memo about giving the Caps power play opportunities and the men in red retaliated with three power play goals - one in the first and two in the second. One of those three tallies included a Russian rocket from just beyond the blue line from Sergei Fedorov, who moved up to the first line in this game. The other two goals came from the two Alexs: Ovechkin (probably still ramped from his meeting with NBA superstar LeBron "King" James last night) and his pal Alex Semin. Fedorov lit the lamp for a second time in the third period on a wicked even strength goal and gave the home team a 4-3 lead.
The Sabres played a physical game but took some serious penalties - at one point in the second there were three Buffalo players in the sin bin! Reminded me of one our last Pee Wee games where there were five kids in the box at once. And man was big boy Jeff Schultz throwing that humongous frame of his around - he had some sweet hits against the boards. And nice move in the third, throwing himself in front of the Sabres' Maxim Afinogenov's shot that would have been a certain goal! Afinogenov was fit to be tied after the guys in stripes negated his goal which would have tied it up - as he made incidental contact with Varlamov.
Ovie took a seat midway through the third, much to the loud disapproval of the Caps' faithful, after he was bogusly called for goalie interference after sliding into Ryan Miller at full speed. Miller proceeded to duke Ovie in the mouth with his blocker, which in my humble opinion should have drawn a penalty as well. Afinogenov tied the game again at 4-4 in third.
This hard-hitting, high-scoring matchup went into OT at 4-4. That's where Buffalo's Jason Pomminville took advantage of an errant pass (from Feds of all people) and quickly took it to the net against Varly and the Caps to capture the win and stay in the playoff race.
HM will never hear the end of this one as one of the boys' Spring hockey coaches is THE biggest Sabres fan I've ever met. Despite the loss, it was a great effort on the part of the home team where there was some science experimenting going on with the lines. So the the guys earn their second consecutive Southeastern Conference title (faint clink of champagne glass in the background) and will meet the Atlanta Thrashers (who've been thrashing their opponents of late) on Sunday in the Caps' last regular season game on home ice.
But they also neglected to read the memo about giving the Caps power play opportunities and the men in red retaliated with three power play goals - one in the first and two in the second. One of those three tallies included a Russian rocket from just beyond the blue line from Sergei Fedorov, who moved up to the first line in this game. The other two goals came from the two Alexs: Ovechkin (probably still ramped from his meeting with NBA superstar LeBron "King" James last night) and his pal Alex Semin. Fedorov lit the lamp for a second time in the third period on a wicked even strength goal and gave the home team a 4-3 lead.
The Sabres played a physical game but took some serious penalties - at one point in the second there were three Buffalo players in the sin bin! Reminded me of one our last Pee Wee games where there were five kids in the box at once. And man was big boy Jeff Schultz throwing that humongous frame of his around - he had some sweet hits against the boards. And nice move in the third, throwing himself in front of the Sabres' Maxim Afinogenov's shot that would have been a certain goal! Afinogenov was fit to be tied after the guys in stripes negated his goal which would have tied it up - as he made incidental contact with Varlamov.
Ovie took a seat midway through the third, much to the loud disapproval of the Caps' faithful, after he was bogusly called for goalie interference after sliding into Ryan Miller at full speed. Miller proceeded to duke Ovie in the mouth with his blocker, which in my humble opinion should have drawn a penalty as well. Afinogenov tied the game again at 4-4 in third.
This hard-hitting, high-scoring matchup went into OT at 4-4. That's where Buffalo's Jason Pomminville took advantage of an errant pass (from Feds of all people) and quickly took it to the net against Varly and the Caps to capture the win and stay in the playoff race.
HM will never hear the end of this one as one of the boys' Spring hockey coaches is THE biggest Sabres fan I've ever met. Despite the loss, it was a great effort on the part of the home team where there was some science experimenting going on with the lines. So the the guys earn their second consecutive Southeastern Conference title (faint clink of champagne glass in the background) and will meet the Atlanta Thrashers (who've been thrashing their opponents of late) on Sunday in the Caps' last regular season game on home ice.
Thursday, April 2, 2009
The Green Machine Keeps Rollin'...
After a (HM stifles huge yawn) sluggish start against the bottom-feeding New York Islanders, the Capitals managed to rally back in the third period to capture a 5-3 victory last night at the Phone Booth. Before the rally, the Caps lack of energy and multiple giveaways resulted in three goals from the Isles courtesy of Kyle Okposo, Franz Nielsen and Richard Park. But fear not faithful Caps fans, as the Green Machine wrapped up the "V" and marked a few more historic milestones along the way! The first goal from #52 set the record for most power play goals in a season by a Washington defenseman. The second tally notched him 30 big ones on the season, making him only the 17th NHLer to ever score 30 goals in one season. He joins an impressive list of former players, including the legendary Bobby Orr. So Hockey Mom joins the throngs of Caps fans in congratulating Green for his incredible accomplishments and we hope to see much more of the Green Machine's magic touch in the playoffs!
And let us not forget last night's hard hat recipient, Keith Aucoin, who was rocking that red hard hat after netting his first NHL goal of the season! More great news for Aucoin today as he was named to the AHL's First All-Star Team, along with team mate Alexandre Giroux.
Last night's win gave the Caps a total of 101 points on the season -giving them a solid hold on second place in the East. The New Jersey Devils, who previously had the second place stronghold, are in a bit of a stretch slump to say the least! They had a horrid 6-1 loss last night at the hands of the new and improved Pittsburgh Penguins.
So high-fives all around, especially to Mike Green. Let's hope that the boys can bring that energy from the first face off so we don't see another come from behind against the Sabres tomorrow (whose playoff chances are fading fast)!
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