After two disappointing losses in the Eastern Conference Quarter Finals, looks like the Capitals finally got the memo. You know the one - the one that said to beat the Rangers you have to stop taking fancy shots from the perimeter, you keep your s%$# together when Sean Avery gets in your grill, and you do whatever it takes to protect your house. In other words, play like a team, crash the net and keep your cool. And that they did, bringing a breath of new life to the Caps' nervous faithful and silencing the loud MSG crowd equipped with "light sabre" glow-in-the-dark thunder sticks.
Simeon Varlamov was absolutely outstanding - earning a shut out as a rookie 20-year old in the Stanley Cup playoffs is no small feat. Especially when you have Sean Avery's derriere in your face all night! Varly made a stellar 33 saves as the Rangers laid the big goose egg!
The SOB line (Semin, Ovechkin, Backstrom) lit the lamp twice in the first period courtesy of shots by Alex Semin. Ovie added his contribution on the defensive side as well, blocking a breakaway attempt by Lauri Korpikoski and laying his signature glass-rattling hits. It was great to see big Brash back in the line up as well, boosting up the tough factor. And how hard do you think it was for John Erskine to keep his cool after getting cross-checked by Avery? Hockey Mom cheered with glee after #16 finally got tossed for his cheap shot on Varlamov in the final minutes of the game. Caps Chick says it best with these great photo captions that had me laughing my head off!
"Crash the net" - Brooks Laich heard the message loud and clear, getting the puck in the paint with a goal in the second period to make it 3-0 Caps. Tom Poti was the finisher with the last goal in the third as the disgusted Rangers fans fled MSG while throwing crap on the ice (very nice) before leaving the building.
FINAL: Caps 4 - Rangers 0
Tonight we saw the Capitals team we've been watching all season - the guys are back in this thing and HM is breathing a little easier. A fabulous effort all around - let's do it again on Wednesday....
Monday, April 20, 2009
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Game Two: Can the Kid Get it Done?
So as I hustled my way up to the Verizon Center Press Box this afternoon, I found my fellow bloggers and media types abuzz. Bruce Boudreau has surprised the masses and decided to go with rookie Simeon Varlamov in this must-win games against the rival Rangers (who have captain Chris Drury back on the ice). Um, wow - that's all I can muster for now but let's see what the kid can do. My thoughts are that the pressure may not get into his head as much; he's a pretty steely kid.
When Varly's rock n'roll head shot appeared on the jumbotron, the thousands of Caps faithful went wild! The hitting in the first period was merciless with AO trying to annihilate anyone who got in his path, especially Sean Avery (who put on a mini diving show). The Blueshirts got on the board first courtesy of Ryan Callahan. The minute we thought Alex Semin had been rehabbed of his stick infraction issue, he took a hooking penalty but the boys were able to extinguish the Rangers' power play unit quite nicely. The Caps had a few nice attempts, including a breakaway pass from AO to big Viktor Kozlov, who shot the puck way too wide. Mayhem ensued at the end of the first as Kozzie took a cross-checking call and then his mates Tom Poti and John Erskine tangled with Sean Avery (who else?) and his bud Nik Antropov. So going into the locker room at the end of the first, the Rags held a 1-0 lead.
It seems that the saying that the "refs swallow their whistles" during the playoffs is 100 percent true, especially when it came to the Rangers. Apparently John Tortorella's whine fest after Game 1 pulled some of the officials' heart strings as the Rangers saw four power plays by the middle of the second period. Finally, with 3:43 left in the second the refs pulled their whistles out of their esophagus and the men in red got a power play. After failing to convert on the PP opportunity, the Caps got another break as Nik Antropov made a visit to the sin bin on a hooking call. At the end of the second period, the score was still 1-0.
The third period saw some sloppy passes from the Caps' 'D' but Varlamov had a few stellar stops in net. The boys got yet another opportunity when Scott Gomez took a tripping call and Ovie missed a tip in goal by mere inches. Minutes later Alex Semin took exception at a check from Ryan Callahan and went in the box for roughing. In the end, the final score stood at 1-0 Rangers. And the kid wasn't able to get it done, but it wasn't for lack of trying after stopping 23 shots. He did a great job under the bright lights on the playoff stage.
That pretty much wrapped it up on a disappointing loss for the Caps, who seemed to be pretty flat for most of the game. Now they have to go into a hostile Madison Square Garden and try to make the biggest comeback since last season's sensational run. But it seems that the boys are lacking the tenacity they displayed in last year's series. And it's been said over and over in the last week, but the only way to beat Henrik Lundqvist is to create pure havoc in front of the net. Maybe it's time to get Brashear back in there?
Hopefully the boys can rally back. Yes, it has been done before - there are lots of stats and percentages floating around on teams who've done it. But at this point, all that matters is how much the Caps want to fight for it and doing whatever it takes to beat the Blueshirts at their game. HM for one is not ready to throw in the towel by any means....
When Varly's rock n'roll head shot appeared on the jumbotron, the thousands of Caps faithful went wild! The hitting in the first period was merciless with AO trying to annihilate anyone who got in his path, especially Sean Avery (who put on a mini diving show). The Blueshirts got on the board first courtesy of Ryan Callahan. The minute we thought Alex Semin had been rehabbed of his stick infraction issue, he took a hooking penalty but the boys were able to extinguish the Rangers' power play unit quite nicely. The Caps had a few nice attempts, including a breakaway pass from AO to big Viktor Kozlov, who shot the puck way too wide. Mayhem ensued at the end of the first as Kozzie took a cross-checking call and then his mates Tom Poti and John Erskine tangled with Sean Avery (who else?) and his bud Nik Antropov. So going into the locker room at the end of the first, the Rags held a 1-0 lead.
It seems that the saying that the "refs swallow their whistles" during the playoffs is 100 percent true, especially when it came to the Rangers. Apparently John Tortorella's whine fest after Game 1 pulled some of the officials' heart strings as the Rangers saw four power plays by the middle of the second period. Finally, with 3:43 left in the second the refs pulled their whistles out of their esophagus and the men in red got a power play. After failing to convert on the PP opportunity, the Caps got another break as Nik Antropov made a visit to the sin bin on a hooking call. At the end of the second period, the score was still 1-0.
The third period saw some sloppy passes from the Caps' 'D' but Varlamov had a few stellar stops in net. The boys got yet another opportunity when Scott Gomez took a tripping call and Ovie missed a tip in goal by mere inches. Minutes later Alex Semin took exception at a check from Ryan Callahan and went in the box for roughing. In the end, the final score stood at 1-0 Rangers. And the kid wasn't able to get it done, but it wasn't for lack of trying after stopping 23 shots. He did a great job under the bright lights on the playoff stage.
That pretty much wrapped it up on a disappointing loss for the Caps, who seemed to be pretty flat for most of the game. Now they have to go into a hostile Madison Square Garden and try to make the biggest comeback since last season's sensational run. But it seems that the boys are lacking the tenacity they displayed in last year's series. And it's been said over and over in the last week, but the only way to beat Henrik Lundqvist is to create pure havoc in front of the net. Maybe it's time to get Brashear back in there?
Hopefully the boys can rally back. Yes, it has been done before - there are lots of stats and percentages floating around on teams who've done it. But at this point, all that matters is how much the Caps want to fight for it and doing whatever it takes to beat the Blueshirts at their game. HM for one is not ready to throw in the towel by any means....
Friday, April 17, 2009
It's Good to be Ovie!
Courtesy of the fun folks over at ESPN, here's a preview of their E:60 show airing next Tuesday which will spotlight the Great Eight:
E:60 Alex Ovechkin Preview from ESPN Communications on Vimeo.
Yep - it's pretty good to be Ovie! Let's hope Alex and friends light it up with a vengeance tomorrow in Game Two. Some odds and ends on tomorrow's contest: Jeff Schultz is "out with an injury" - hmmmm; Rangers' captain Chris Drury skated with the team today having been out with an undisclosed injury; and Gabby is keeping mum on who will get the job in goal tomorrow. HM thinks you gotta go with with Theo - he's made some major comebacks before with his former Montreal and Colorado clubs in the playoffs. And goodness knows, all the flak he's catching should at least fire him up if nothing else!
I love the comments on the various blog message boards insinuating that the Caps should have kept Christobal Huet. Two items of note to those naysayers:
1) Huet isnt' even starting in the playoffs for the Blackhawks, having lost out to the "old guy" Nikolai Khabibulin and 2) Huet didn't want to stay here.
So c'mon guys, get your game faces and focus on and plant your butts in front of 'King Henrik's' house tomorrow!
E:60 Alex Ovechkin Preview from ESPN Communications on Vimeo.
Yep - it's pretty good to be Ovie! Let's hope Alex and friends light it up with a vengeance tomorrow in Game Two. Some odds and ends on tomorrow's contest: Jeff Schultz is "out with an injury" - hmmmm; Rangers' captain Chris Drury skated with the team today having been out with an undisclosed injury; and Gabby is keeping mum on who will get the job in goal tomorrow. HM thinks you gotta go with with Theo - he's made some major comebacks before with his former Montreal and Colorado clubs in the playoffs. And goodness knows, all the flak he's catching should at least fire him up if nothing else!
I love the comments on the various blog message boards insinuating that the Caps should have kept Christobal Huet. Two items of note to those naysayers:
1) Huet isnt' even starting in the playoffs for the Blackhawks, having lost out to the "old guy" Nikolai Khabibulin and 2) Huet didn't want to stay here.
So c'mon guys, get your game faces and focus on and plant your butts in front of 'King Henrik's' house tomorrow!
Thursday, April 16, 2009
More Playoff Schtuff..
So the buzz has already started about whether or not Gabby will give Simeon Varlamov the nod in goal for Saturday's Game Two after Theo's not-so-spectacular performance last night. Me thinks he may want to put Brian Pothier in place of Jeff Schultz as well as long as we're talking about mixing things up a little. Bruce Boudreau loves his film (as we learned during his Hockey & High Heels session) and you'd better believe he'll be reviewing every play today to see where the boys needed to patch up those holes - too bad he can't do anything about the officiating but such is life...
In other playoff goings-on, the first game of the Battle of Pennsylvania (or as I'm dubbing it: The Battle for the Lesser of Two Evils) went to the Pittsburgh Penguins who saw scoring from both Cindy Crosby and Hart winner Evgeni Malkin. It certainly did not help the hated rough and tumble Flyers that Scott Hartnell spent a total of 16 minutes in the sin bin (Hockey Mom feins shock and surprise!) - for which he was called out after the game by Coach John Stevens. It was a big win for the Pens, who rolled over the visitors with a final score of 4-1.
Out west, Vancouver's Daniel Sedin of the fabulous Sedin twins made his contribution to the team with a goal against St. Louis Blues' net minder Chris Mason. The Sedins are gunning for a new contract (and wherever they end up, it's both of them or nothing; as a mom of twins, HM thinks that's amazing that after all these years they don't want to be split up). Whoever gets the Dynamic Duo however, will end up taking a pretty big hit against their salary cap. But for now, the Canucks went on to win Game One by a score of 2-1.
As we wait eagerly for Game Two on Saturday, Caps fans mark your calendars for some good reality t.v. on April 21. ESPN sent me a press release yesterday on an upcoming feature spotlighting Alex Ovechkin on their E:60 program:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 15, 2009
NHL Star Alexander Ovechkin To Be Profiled on ESPN’s E:60
ESPN's award-winning primetime newsmagazine E:60 will profile National Hockey League star Alexander Ovechkin in the episode airing Tuesday, April 21, at 7 p.m. ET. The program, which launched in October 2007, combines investigative reporting, in-depth profiles of intriguing sports personalities and features on emerging star athletes. These stories are presented in a fresh and innovative format that incorporates producer/correspondent meetings.
Ovechkin is electrifying, eccentric and a highlight reel waiting to explode. The reigning MVP, Ovechkin has taken the NHL by storm since bursting onto the scene in 2005. With his hot shot and even hotter persona, the Washington Capitals left winger is already being mentioned as a potential all-time great player.
E:60’s Rachel Nichols has an all access pass inside the life of this megawatt hockey god who is equal parts everyman, equal parts rock star. In this revealing portrait, viewers see what makes Ovie run 100 miles per hour on and off the ice: his unabashed joy and enthusiasm, his love of fast cars, his simmering rivalry with the other name on the NHL’s marquee, Sidney Crosby, his hell bent for leather style of play that leaves defensemen swiveling their heads, and his burning desire to turn the nation’s capital into a hockey mad city.
The Great One himself, Wayne Gretzky, NBA star LeBron James, Caps owner Ted Leonsis and iconic hockey commentator Don Cherry are among the voices in the feature.
Can't wait to hear Sour Grapes Cherry weigh in...
In other playoff goings-on, the first game of the Battle of Pennsylvania (or as I'm dubbing it: The Battle for the Lesser of Two Evils) went to the Pittsburgh Penguins who saw scoring from both Cindy Crosby and Hart winner Evgeni Malkin. It certainly did not help the hated rough and tumble Flyers that Scott Hartnell spent a total of 16 minutes in the sin bin (Hockey Mom feins shock and surprise!) - for which he was called out after the game by Coach John Stevens. It was a big win for the Pens, who rolled over the visitors with a final score of 4-1.
Out west, Vancouver's Daniel Sedin of the fabulous Sedin twins made his contribution to the team with a goal against St. Louis Blues' net minder Chris Mason. The Sedins are gunning for a new contract (and wherever they end up, it's both of them or nothing; as a mom of twins, HM thinks that's amazing that after all these years they don't want to be split up). Whoever gets the Dynamic Duo however, will end up taking a pretty big hit against their salary cap. But for now, the Canucks went on to win Game One by a score of 2-1.
As we wait eagerly for Game Two on Saturday, Caps fans mark your calendars for some good reality t.v. on April 21. ESPN sent me a press release yesterday on an upcoming feature spotlighting Alex Ovechkin on their E:60 program:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 15, 2009
NHL Star Alexander Ovechkin To Be Profiled on ESPN’s E:60
ESPN's award-winning primetime newsmagazine E:60 will profile National Hockey League star Alexander Ovechkin in the episode airing Tuesday, April 21, at 7 p.m. ET. The program, which launched in October 2007, combines investigative reporting, in-depth profiles of intriguing sports personalities and features on emerging star athletes. These stories are presented in a fresh and innovative format that incorporates producer/correspondent meetings.
Ovechkin is electrifying, eccentric and a highlight reel waiting to explode. The reigning MVP, Ovechkin has taken the NHL by storm since bursting onto the scene in 2005. With his hot shot and even hotter persona, the Washington Capitals left winger is already being mentioned as a potential all-time great player.
E:60’s Rachel Nichols has an all access pass inside the life of this megawatt hockey god who is equal parts everyman, equal parts rock star. In this revealing portrait, viewers see what makes Ovie run 100 miles per hour on and off the ice: his unabashed joy and enthusiasm, his love of fast cars, his simmering rivalry with the other name on the NHL’s marquee, Sidney Crosby, his hell bent for leather style of play that leaves defensemen swiveling their heads, and his burning desire to turn the nation’s capital into a hockey mad city.
The Great One himself, Wayne Gretzky, NBA star LeBron James, Caps owner Ted Leonsis and iconic hockey commentator Don Cherry are among the voices in the feature.
Can't wait to hear Sour Grapes Cherry weigh in...
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Caps Come Close But No Dice in Game One
The Washington Capitals came out swinging tonight in Game One against the New York Rangers, exhibiting the energy and physicality that was missing the last few weeks of the regular season. It was great to see Boyd Gordon and Tom Poti back on the bench, though Brash was a healthy scratch. Captain Chris Clark may return before series end as well.
Though both teams remained scoreless throughout the first period, the Caps played hard and fast, leading the Rags in both shots on goal and hits (including a wizbanger of a hit from Professor Matt Bradley who gave one of the blueshirts his own version of a physics lesson)! Defensively, the boys tightened it up as well in the first.
But come the second period, things started getting really interesting. The men in red got on the board first, with a goal from Ovie that was eventually credited to Tomas Fleischmann. But less than a minute later, the Caps' defense allowed an unassisted goal from the Ranger's Scott Gomez. And of course Sean Avery was up to his old tricks which included slewfooting Mike Green and cross-checking Jose Theodore (after the whistle no less).
I have to add a sidebar on Avery here. HM has long been an admirer of sportswriter Sally Jenkins and she summarized the "Avery factor" perfectly in today's Washington Post. And good on the home team for not playing into Avery's head games and taking foolish retaliation penalties. But some of the officiating was seriously questionable - I thought Don Koharski retired last week?
The Blueshirt's trade aquisition Nik Antropov got on the board next for the visitors, followed by former Vancouver Canuck (and Sedin twins' team mate) Markus Nasland.
But big man Viktor Kozlov lit the lamp for his first playoff goal of his NHL career to cut the Ranger's lead to 1 goal. Fellow sniper Alex Semin, assisted by Ovie and the hawk-rocking Green, tied the game at 3-3. Jeff Schultz unfortunately made a gaffe of killer proportions late in the third as he coughed up the puck to youngster Brandon Dubinsky, who scored the game-winning goal for the Rangers.
Overall, it was a strong effort for the home team. They are going to have to crash the net (that's you Brooksie) and take some serious advantage of rebounds to beat the guy with the big pads Henrik Lundqvist. And in his post-game press conference Gabby said that some changes are a'coming for Game Two - we'll have to wait and see.
Though both teams remained scoreless throughout the first period, the Caps played hard and fast, leading the Rags in both shots on goal and hits (including a wizbanger of a hit from Professor Matt Bradley who gave one of the blueshirts his own version of a physics lesson)! Defensively, the boys tightened it up as well in the first.
But come the second period, things started getting really interesting. The men in red got on the board first, with a goal from Ovie that was eventually credited to Tomas Fleischmann. But less than a minute later, the Caps' defense allowed an unassisted goal from the Ranger's Scott Gomez. And of course Sean Avery was up to his old tricks which included slewfooting Mike Green and cross-checking Jose Theodore (after the whistle no less).
I have to add a sidebar on Avery here. HM has long been an admirer of sportswriter Sally Jenkins and she summarized the "Avery factor" perfectly in today's Washington Post. And good on the home team for not playing into Avery's head games and taking foolish retaliation penalties. But some of the officiating was seriously questionable - I thought Don Koharski retired last week?
The Blueshirt's trade aquisition Nik Antropov got on the board next for the visitors, followed by former Vancouver Canuck (and Sedin twins' team mate) Markus Nasland.
But big man Viktor Kozlov lit the lamp for his first playoff goal of his NHL career to cut the Ranger's lead to 1 goal. Fellow sniper Alex Semin, assisted by Ovie and the hawk-rocking Green, tied the game at 3-3. Jeff Schultz unfortunately made a gaffe of killer proportions late in the third as he coughed up the puck to youngster Brandon Dubinsky, who scored the game-winning goal for the Rangers.
Overall, it was a strong effort for the home team. They are going to have to crash the net (that's you Brooksie) and take some serious advantage of rebounds to beat the guy with the big pads Henrik Lundqvist. And in his post-game press conference Gabby said that some changes are a'coming for Game Two - we'll have to wait and see.
Rock it Loud Caps Fans!
The fever is rising and the moment we've ALL been waiting for is almost here: Game One against the New York Rangers. Unfortunately, Hockey Mom won't be in attendance tonight as (shocker!), one of the boys has lacrosse practice and it's my turn to carpool. Amen for XM Radio to keep me up on the precious minutes (I drive fast) I'll miss picking up the crew...
Surprisingly enough, God's gift to fashion and hockey (at least in his own world), Sean Avery, isn't doing a whole lot of pre-game trash-talking - yet. According to Larry Brooks of the NY Post, all Sean had to say today was "All I've got are clichés, man." Let's hope that the boys and the red-roaring crowd make Avery and his blueshirt pals a cliché in four!
And not that it needs reiterating but HM is making a personal plea to all the fabulous Caps fans out there to be exceptionally loud as my big mouth will be missing from the thousands of screaming Caps' faithful. Not that this is new news or anything but you all are giving the Phone Booth quite a reputation! Check out this little snippet from Adam Muir of Sports Illustrated:
Another key factor is home ice. The Rangers couldn't buy a road win down the stretch and have won just once at the Verizon Center since 2004. The boisterous crowds have turned the Phone Booth into one of the league's toughest rinks to visit. Look for that support to help the Caps to their first series win since 1998.
So unleash that fury people and let the flipping puck drop already!
Monday, April 13, 2009
Stanley Cup Playoff Traditions Run Deep
Most hockey fans know that one of the most fun traditions to watch during playoff season is the practice of players not shaving their faces during the team’s entire playoff run. Thus when the Detroit Red Wings hoisted the Cup last year, it looked like a team made up of Kris Kringle-meets-Grizzly Adams-meets-The Geico Caveman on ice! This playoff ritual was believed to have been started by the New York Islanders back in the 1980s.
The Washington Capitals are embracing this tradition and encouraging fans to participate in the Capitals Beard-A-Thon, along with several local media celebrities. Fans may elect to grow a beard themselves or make a financial donation in support of a Capitals player or a fan that has elected to grow a playoff beard, with proceeds going to Washington Capitals Charities. Hockey Mom is putting her money on Nick Backstrom to grow the best beard – now that will be a sight to see! P.S., Nick if you start looking anything like Sidney Crosby did with his pencil-thin mustache during last year’s run, I’m sure you’ll get a pass!
Now when I first heard of this fantastic contest, my first thought was “what about the ladies”? Never fear fabulous female Caps fans, I have an idea for a new tradition just for us that I’ll share later!
Many of the playoff traditions are fan-centric, like the “red out”, "white out" or the tradition of the Red Wings fans throwing slimy octopi on the ice. The Wings even have a guy who specializes in “twirling” the sea creature before flinging it onto the rink! This tradition started back in 1952, after two brothers threw an octopus onto the ice with each leg representing one of the team's eight playoff wins. The octopus is one of my very favorite traditions (other than the Caps’ recent initiation of the “red out”) of course and I always wonder how the heck they get those slithery things through stadium security (especially those big monsters)!
But players adapt playoff rituals as well in addition to the beard growth, as hockey players can tend to be a superstitious breed, especially around playoff time! A long-time superstition among NHLers is that it may be bad luck to touch Lord Stanley’s Cup before your team has officially won the coveted trophy.
So it will be interesting to monitor the Caps’ playoff beard progress – I personally hope they all look like the guys from Z.Z. Top at the end, which will mean a great long playoff run!
And as for us gals who can’t grow beards, I say we create our own form of a red out and rock the red lipstick (think Madonna circa 1983) and red nail polish throughout the Caps’ run. I’ve even found the perfect lip tint for every skin color – aptly named Russian Red (how perfect is that)!
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