Happy Hockey New Year!

Hockey Mom wants to wish all of you great hockey fans out there a very happy (and safe) New Year! New Year's Day has traditionally been a day dedicated to college football, but in HM's household the day is all about hockey.

We kick off New Year's Day with the highly-anticipated NHL Winter Classic at Wrigley Field in Chicago. I absolutely love this idea of outdoor hockey - taking the game back to its roots. I hope that one of the Winter Classics in the coming years might feature our own Washington Capitals! Obviously it's not cold enough in D.C. to host it here but I'm not averse to traveling to a cold climate (heck, I spend half my life in an ice rink)!

Then at 7 p.m., the Caps will see another visit from division rivals Tampa Bay. Note to self: For an example of how to run a professional sports team into the ground, just google the Tampa Bay Lightning's new owners Len Barrie and Oren Koules.

But unlike the Lightning, Caps fans had much to be thankful for in 2008. Here's just a look at some of the highlights in the past year:

• Caps won the Southeast Division championship last season and has a 10-point lead in the division this year


• The Capitals reached the Stanley Cup playoffs for the first time since 2003


• The team posted a 31-6-3 home record at Verizon Center with 14 sellouts


• Alex Ovechkin has scored 60 goals in 2008 (10 more than any other player), posted 113 points (second only to Evgeni Malkin, 124), won four major NHL awards, received the Key to the City of Washington, D.C., signed a new 13-year contract, played in the NHL All-Star Game, led Russia to a gold medal at the World Championship, won NHL First Star of the Month three times and launched his own designer clothing line


• Bruce Boudreau was named NHL coach of the year and was selected for induction in the AHL Hall of Fame


• Nicklas Backstrom played in the NHL YoungStars Game and was named to the NHL All-Rookie Team


• The team recorded three winning streaks of five games or more


• The organization retired Mike Gartner’s No. 11

So 2008 was a record-breaking and exciting year for the Capitals and their great fans - Hockey Mom can't wait to see what 2009 brings for the team.....

Caps Break the Streak in Buffalo

HSBC Arena hasn't been historically kind to the Washington Capitals, where the team is 1-7-0 in their last eight visits to the land of Buffalo wings. But alas, the Caps set the record straight against the Buffalo Sabres with a solid victory in front of a bummed-out home crowd.

Brooks Laich continued on his smoking hot scoring streak, notching the first Capitals' goal in the first period. And a huge Hockey Mom toast to Chris Bourque, who scored his first NHL goal tonight - I'm sure his dad was sporting a huge smile! Nicklas Backstrom netted the third goal to make it a 3 - 0 contest into the third period. Net minder Jose Theodore, whose game seems to be improving as the season goes on, had another fine showing. Theo rendered the Sabres scoreless until late in the third when a shot by Adam Mair took a lucky bounce off the post (ping!) to make the score 3 - 1.

HM was eager to see Sabres' prospect Nathan Gerbe suit up for the opposition. Gerbe was the MVP of last year's Frozen Four and led Boston College to the 2008 NCAA Men's Ice Hockey Championship. All of this, and he stands a mere 5'6. You know how Hockey Mom is always rooting for the little guys - especially in the NHL where the average player is 6 feet tall or over!

A flurry of action broke out with under 60 seconds in the third period, as Boyd Gordon scored on a short-handed empty net goal and then the Sabres' Clarke MacArthur slid the puck in on Theodore. So the Caps end 2008 with another win (final score: 4 -2) and head home for a string of games at the Verizon Center, where they've outscored opponents 59-31. Not a bad way to kick off 2009!

AO Notches Another Star

A big Hockey Mom high five to Alex Ovechkin, who earned the NHL's First Star of the Week for his highlight-reel performances last week, which have helped propel the Caps to the number two spot in the Eastern Conference! The boys are playing some good hockey and need to keep it up as they'll face a Sabres team looking for a win on home ice tonight.

And speaking of stars, check out Corey Masisak's piece on possible All-Star game nods for some popular Capitals players. Call me crazy, but the NHL should be put in the penalty box and feel shame for not including the League's MVP Alex Ovechkin in the All-Star game's starting lineup...

If you didn't catch the buzz earlier, there was an uproar over the rumor that the Montreal Canadiens fans were "stuffing the ballot boxes" via automated computer voting when the voting first opened to the public. I'm no mathematical genius (which is why I work in marketing) but it doesn't take a rocket scientist to question why the Hab's Alexei Kovalev sits at third place for All-Star forwards (with a record of 9 goals, 19 assists and 28 total points on the season) while Alex the Great is in fifth place with 25 goals, 24 assists and 49 points! You do the math and tell me if that makes a lick of sense...

Welcome Home Mike Gartner

Photo courtesy of Washington Capitals

As Hockey Mom's hockey boys are off the ice for the weekend, I am at the Phone Booth to celebrate the retirement of former longtime Capital and Hockey Hall of Famer Mike Gartner's number 11. This is my first retirement ceremony (and unfortunately Hockey Mom's retirement is light years away) and I have a great view of all the festivities from the press box.

Gartner is only the fourth Cap to have his number retired and it is a well-deserved honor for a player who ranks second in Capitals history in goals (397), assists (392) and points (789). And did I mention he had a slap shot that could take your head off? Many of Gartner's former team mates including Wes Jarvis, Yvon Labre and Rod Langway came out on the red carpet to honor this notorious and much-loved former Capital. To commemorate this momentous occasion, the current Caps all donned white retro jerseys bearing number 11 during pre-game warm ups. He was also presented with a several momentos of his fabulous career. After Gartner expressed his gratitude and thanked his family, the Caps organization and the great Caps fans, Mike Gartner's number 11 banner was ceremoniously raised to the Verizon Center rafters.


If you've never been to a game against the Toronto Maple Leafs, I have to warn you that folks from Leafs Nation are some of the rowdiest hockey fans you ever want to meet. And apparently there were several bus loads of then on hand to help celebrate with Mike Gartner. The whooping and hollering from the blue and white faithful started before the two clubs even hit the ice.

Of course AO had one of the first shots on goal but was denied by Leafs goalie Vesa Toskala. The opening minutes saw lots of hard hitting, despite the absence of Leafs agitator Ryan Hollweg who was a scratch. And great news for Caps fans, both Jeff Schultz and Mike Green are healthy and back on the ice! Speaking of Green, one of prettiest scoring chances at 5:52 in the first period came from a #52 slap shot that came short of crossing the red line - but it was wicked regardless.

Unfortunately, the Leafs fans are raising all sorts of cain in the seats below me as their team scored first on a goal from Niklas Hagman. And a first for Hockey Mom, I have never witnessed a goalie get a misconduct penalty in a professional game (not that is doesn't happen - just that I've never seen one). But that's exactly what happened to Jose Theodore as he got cited for diving. So at the end of the first period, the score is 1 - 0 in favor of Toronto.


Early second period saw a Maple Leafs power play as a result of an interference call against the Caps but Jose Theodore made some pretty sweet saves to avert pending disaster. Brooks Laich (also recognized in the locker room as the Caps' reigning ladies man) netted his ninth goal of the season to tie the score at one apiece.

Captain (Chris) Clark took offense with the Leaf's Jonas Frogren late in the second period and a bout of very animated pushing and shoving ensued. Clarkie and his Leafs pal went to the sin bin and moments later, a fired-up Alex Ovechkin scored yet another of his beautiful goals to give the men in red a 2 -1 advantage. And yes, sports fans, you can use the terms 'pretty' and 'beautiful' to describe hockey plays. I have to add a feminine touch somehow as I am one of the few women on this side of the press box tonight (besides the lovely Lisa Hillary of course - who Hockey Mom would love to interview soon).

There was yet another diving call (c'mon guys - this isn't the Summer Olympics) in the third period from the Leafs' Andre Deveaux and the Caps' Sean Collins took an interference penalty, resulting in a 4 on 4. Meanwhile, Chris Clark seems to have returned full-strength to his physical, gritty style after returning from the injured list.


Brooks Laich lit the lamp for his second tally of the evening with an unassisted goal with about 3:10 left in the third, earning himself the team's red hard hat for the evening. Just to make sure no loose ends were left untied, Alex Ovechkin made the empty net goal for a final score of 4 - 1 in favor of the Caps.

Accompanied by my veteran blogger pal with Storming the Crease, Hockey Mom made her first foray into the Capitals' locker room post-game (I'd previously only been in the visitor's locker room). I laughed when one of the media members remarked about the not-so-fresh smell of the locker room and I have to admit I didn't even notice (reminds me of my car which carries two funky-smelling hockey bags in the back on most days). In the Caps' locker room, Brooks Laich was sporting his well-deserved red hard hat while granting interviews. And Mike Green reported that his shoulder is feeling quite well these days - he's excited to be back in the game and Caps fans are thrilled to see him back.

So here's to another memorable night at the Verizon Center on so many fronts - congrats again to Mike Gartner and here's hoping the Caps continue on this nice run!

Boxing Day Match Up with Buffalo

Mike Green watches 12-year-old Bilal Gholson play with a Nintendo DS that Green gave Gholson for Christmas. Photo courtesy of Washington Capitals

Hockey Mom hopes everyone had a happy holiday and wishes our Canadian neighbors a happy Boxing Day!

Washington Capitals' defense man Mike Green helped make one local family's holiday a little brighter, delivering clothes and toys to 12-year-old Bilal Gholson and his 11-year-old sister Naimah and surprising Bilal's grandmother and mother with gift certificates.

Green connected with the family through Quality Trust for Individuals with Disabilities Family EMPOWERment Center, which was created to advance the individual and collective interests of people with mental retardation and other developmental disabilities in the Washington, D.C. area.

“This was truly something special, to see the children’s faces opening up their presents on Christmas Day, it just doesn’t get better than that,” said Green. “It was fun spending time playing with the children, listening to music and playing basketball. This was something I won’t forget.” The Caps do so many great things to help others and spread so much cheer (especially among the children) - keep up the great work!

So now that the holiday rush is over, it's back to all hockey - all the time, in HM's household. We're currently flipping the channels between watching the Caps take on the Buffalo Sabres and Team Canada contest Team Czechoslovakia in the IIHF World Junior Championships. Of course, that's all between testing out the new Guitar Hero World Tour that appeared under the tree yesterday!

Back to the Boxing Day match up with the Buffalo Sabres, who boast one of the NHL's leading scorers in sniper Thomas Vanek. Though the injury-depleted Caps are still missing Mike Green, Alex Semin, Tom Poti,
Jeff Schultz, Sergei Fedorov and John Erskine, the great news was that captain Chris Clark suited up and took to the ice tonight after being on long-term injured reserve. Feds will remain on long-term injured reserve until at least January 9th, allowing the team to keep Karl Alzner on the roster for the time being.

Both the Caps and the Sabres were scoreless through the first period but things got more exciting late in the second with Viktor Kozlov (who's enjoying a nice scoring streak) lighting the red lamp first. The Caps faithful thought there was second goal courtesy of the Great 8 minutes later, but the call was goalie interference on the part of Brooks Laich and the goal was called back. Donald Brashear (with help from Boyd Gordon) scored number two for the men in red to take a 2 goal lead.

Early in the third, the Sabres' Thomas Vanek was the beneficiary of a piece of Ovechkin's wicked wrist shot and was in obvious pain as he made his way to the bench. He wasn't set back for long as he scored for Buffalo on a power play.

With close to 11 minutes left in the third, Ovie showed us all once again why he is the Most Valuable Player in the NHL and a favorite of hockey fans world-wide with a magnificent display of stick work and speed to net number three for the Caps! Wow - his final third period goal is a highlight reel for the ages! I am forever using Alex Ovechkin as an example for my boys. Yes, he is ridiculously gifted but the thing that always inspires me is his resilience and work ethic. The guy NEVER gives up and plays all out, every shift - every second. He is a true role model in both his on-ice abilities and the enthusiasm with which he approaches anything thrown his way.

Sorry, I digress, but who doesn't just love watching that guy? At 1:49 in the third, Ovie's fellow countryman Maxim Afinogenov touched the puck while doing his "nine lords a leaping" imitation which took a lucky Buffalo bounce into Jose Theodore's crease to make the score 3 - 2. But after pulling goalie Patrick Lalime to add an extra skater, the Sabres were unable to score and the Caps notched another win with a final score of 3 - 2.

So on Boxing Day, all of the Caps fans rocking their new holiday red have one more victory to celebrate and big smiles on their faces. Next up, the team will honor the great Mike Gartner as they retire his jersey on Sunday night prior to taking on the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Santa Comes Early - Caps Stun Rangers in OT Win

Christmas came early to the "cardiac" Capitals as they miraculously came back from a 4-0 deficit to defeat the New York Rangers in OT at Madison Square Garden.

After a rough, no make that ugly start, in which Jose Theodore let in 3 out of 5 goals by the Blue Shirts, it seemed that the injury-depleted Caps wouldn't make it out of this one with the win. Theo was relieved of net duties for a brief stint by a sick Brent Johnson, and then returned to the crease to stop 19 attempts by New York. But the biggest star in Broadway tonight was none other than the reigning MVP Alex Ovechkin. Ovie started the scoring in the second period and his takeaway and resulting goal in the third made for a highlight reel for the ages! Pal Nick Backstrom had three assists and Viktor Kozlov and Tomas Fleischmann netted power play goals in the third in front of a Rangers team who had suddenly lost a 4-1 lead.

Shaone Morrison scored his first goal since last February to take the victory in OT and the Caps leave the Big Apple with their sixth win in seven games.

So see Virginia, there is a Santa Claus! As Caps' coach Bruce Boudreau noted about the win: "The good thing is we were down 4-0 early. It's almost better. If we could get one and start believing ... that's all we kept thinking about in the room. If you believe, it can happen."

How's that for Christmas spirit and a fabulous Christmas comeback?

"If you believe, it can happen..."

So congrats Caps for a thrilling contest and Hockey Mom wants to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and to all a good night!

Bah Humbug! Caps Routed 7 -1

Photo courtesy of AP/Tom Mihalek

If there is one team in the National Hockey League that I pretty much despise, it has to be the thugnasty Filthadelphia Flyers. And to lose to them in front of their home crowd 7 - 1, despite the Caps having about a trillion shots on goal, pretty much sucked the holiday spirit and good tidings right out of Hockey Mom. The Flyers came out swinging as usual and the only good thing about today's game was that Donald Brashear attempted to rearrange Flyers' bad boy Riley Cotes' face (twice).

You have to give their goalie Antero Nittymaki credit for playing a fantastic game - it's been a long time since I've seen AO shut out like that. And how about glove-throwing Scott Hartnell - he of the Bozo the Clown hairstyle - with a flipping hat trick? Ugh... I dunno what else to even say about today's debacle, except that I hope Gabby makes those boys watch that horrible game tape over and over and that Mike Richards and his pals get coal in their stockings next week...not that Hockey Mom's bitter or anything. Hey, I never said I was a good sport all the time...especially when it comes to Philly. Bah humbug!