Battle of the Best in Beantown: Caps' Matinee Meeting with Bruins

Today's a big day for Caps fans as the boys take on the Eastern Conference's number one team in the Boston Bruins. The Bruins are without big man Milan Lucic, who is suffering from "upper body injuries" after he beat the tar (and broke "The Code" by pummeling a guy when he's down) out of the Anaheim Ducks' Mike Brown.

Here's a little snippet of that throwdown:



But of course the Bruins have plenty of heavy-hitters and sharpshooters in Lucic's absence, with the likes of Marc Savard, Phil Kessel, rookie Blake Wheeler and the ginormous Zdeno Chara, their towering d-man. And let us not forget their uber-goalie Timmy Thomas, who's probably a shoe-in for this year's Vezina Trophy for the League's hottest hand in net.

The good news is that the Caps managed to stay out of the sin bin for the first two periods for the most part and the penalty on Semin was questionable. The ref was obviously not sporting his contact lenses on that one as the huge Chara swiped Sasha's stick. Nick Backstrom took the lead for the Caps first on a power play tally. The B's Matt Hunwick tied it up on an even strength goal about a minute later. Both Thomas and Jose Theodore had some brilliant saves throughout this contest!

The Bruin's fans booed the Great Eight heartily whenever his magic stick touched the puck but AO temporarily gave the Caps another one-goal lead with a nice goal in the second. Not to be outdone, the Bruins tied it shortly thereafter on a Phil Kessel goal.

The third period saw another Caps' lead with a Tomas Fleischmann goal. But just when Hockey Mom was ready to propose a toast to the boys for staying out of penalty trouble, they seemed to take back-to-back trips to the bin in the final period. Honestly, it's been said over and over and these penalties are killing them. You cannot repeatedly put your team in a short-handed situation, especially against playoff-ready clubs like the Bruins, Devils and the (insert expletive of your choice here) Flyers! Because when you do, Zdeno Chara smokes your goalie with his 100 m.p.h. shot to tie it up at 3 - 3.

And this nail-biter went into sudden death OT! Alex Semin won it lights out with a beauty of a shot that went five-hole on an unsuspecting Tim Thomas. Time for Hockey Mom to enjoy an adult beverage and toast to an exciting win against a tough foe and a fabulous 2 points...hope all you sports fans out there are doing the same!

Get ready to rock the red and welcome the guys home as the take on the Florida Panthers (who are currently getting annihilated by the mean New Jersey Devils) tomorrow at the Phone Booth....

Caps Want to Thrash Atlanta: Battle of the Russian Snipers

The Capitals haven't seen the Atlanta Thrashers since Turkey Day, when Ovie had a fabulous hat trick outing. As HM said before, this is not a team to be taken lightly as the Thrasher's Ilya Kovalchuk (the peace ambassador who recently brokered the truce between Ovechkin and Evgeni Malkin) has scored 9 times in his last 11 games.

A big plus for the Caps this evening is the return of another key player as big Viktor Kozlov returned from a groin injury. Baby-faced Michal Neuvirth got his second start in goal, saving Theo for the looming Bruins and Panthers this weekend. Every time HM sees young Neuvirth, he is sporting the wool fisherman's hat - always! Reminds me of the dude from Fat Albert - remember him? What was his name anyway?

Another big plus is that the Capitals are first in the Eastern Conference on the power play and third overall in the league on the PP. And the boys took advantage of their power play prowess early in this one! The first period saw a power play goal from Alex Semin. Mere minutes later, it looked like Mike Green was going to light the lamp, but Brooks Laich snuck it in as Thrasher's goalie Kari Lehtonen looked like he was headed out of the goal to go grab a brewski and a pretzel!

And I'm not sure that the refs weren't daydreaming about brewskis when they missed that blatent high-sticking call against Ovechkin. What in the sam-harry-hell was that ref? When Ovie retaliated in frustration, he was sent to the bin putting the blue men on a power play. Unfortunately for the boys in red, this resulted in a Kovalchuk goal that not even Clark Kent could have stopped.

Things got interesting in the second for sure. We haven't seen a good bout from "the Donald" in a while but this evening he had a nice long dance with the Thrasher's Eric Boulton. Boulton looked like all he really wanted to do was dance as he pretty much hung on to Brashear's jersey for the most part but Brash got in a few power-packed shots. Seriously, you must have a screw loose to want to take on that man in a brawl...but we Caps fans love him!

Atlanta tied it up in the second to Neuvirth's dismay. But thanks to the many Thrashers' penalties, Mike Green took the lead back with a rocket of a slap shot.

And Eric Fehr apparently didn't wear that hand out signing the hundreds of autographs at the Hockey & Heels Cocktail party last night as he scored on a wicked score in the third to double up the score 4 -2. And of course in hockey, the momentum can change in an instant and things got a bit scary when Atlanta's Todd White scored a short-handed goal to come within 1 goal with less than two minutes left in the game. But Neuvirth held on in the closing seconds to earn the win with a final score of 4- 3 Whewh! (HM wipes brow)...

HM couldn't be at the game tonight but Craig & Joe made a nice mention of the Cap's Club Scarlet; I saw there were lots of ladies in the house cheering on the Caps at the Phone Booth this evening. Speaking of Club Scarlet, there's been a lot of buzz (mostly positive) about the first female-only fan club in the NHL but I think that this blog post pretty much says it all.

If you haven't read this one -this is a fabulous piece by the Washington Post's Mike Wise spreading the Cap's love. Next up, the big bad Bruins at their house on Saturday...

Caps, Cocktails and Conversation: Hockey & Heels Cocktail Event

Capitals player Eric Fehr

Hundreds of women of all ages and backgrounds gathered together tonight at the Front Page in Arlington to celebrate one thing - their common passion for the Washington Capitals. The Hockey & Heels Cocktail event hosted by Mix 107.3 and the Caps is one of the first events in the lineup of the Caps' new (and NHL's first) fan club exclusively for female fans - Club Scarlet.
Most of the lovely ladies were rocking the red and had a great time exchanging hockey stories and sharing their excitement over the Caps' success thus far this season. Capitals players Stephan Kronwall, Nicklas Backstrom, David Steckel, Eric Fehr, Milan Jurcina and Michal Neuvirth were on hand for photos, autographs and hockey talk. Hockey Mom made some great new aquaintances and I look forward to seeing some of them again at the next Club Scarlet event - it's so refreshing to meet other gals who love hockey and the Caps as much as I do!



Caps' player David Steckel signs autographs

The boys will need to rest up after last night's Philly fiasco - the Atlanta Thrashers are in town tomorrow night and we need those 2 points! Plus, Ovie's bud and Thrasher captain, Ilya Kovalchuk lit it up in an earlier game this week - this would be one of the teams that the Caps could historically "play down" to. Let's all hope they'll shake that pattern and that there's no looking ahead to the Boston Bruins this weekend....

Caps Lady Fans, Let Me Introduce You to "Scarlet"!

It’s no secret that the Washington Capitals fan base has grown by leaps and bounds over the past few years. One of the fastest-growing segments of the Caps’ faithful is the legion of female hockey fans who rock the red with style!

The Washington Capitals are pleased to introduce “Club Scarlet” – a new women’s initiative featuring a dedicated web site and events created specifically for the fabulous female Caps fan!

This ground-breaking program aims to bring together the magnificent multitude of lady Caps fans. They will be able share their passion for hockey in a unique online forum and at one-of-a-kind events created especially for women! Since I started writing Musings of a Hockey Mom, this Cap-centric blog created especially for lady fans, I’ve found that female hockey fans are some of the most passionate, loyal and most importantly, FUN sports fans you’ll ever run across.

Gals love hockey because of the speed and non-stop action and let’s face it – what’s not to love about our Washington Capitals? The Caps are incredibly exciting to watch, full of personality, totally hip and just an overall great group of guys - both on and off the ice!

“We have a large and passionate female fanbase, and like the rest of our audience, it is growing,” said Capitals' senior manager of fan development Kim Frank. “Women have been underserved in traditional sports experiences and coverage, and Club Scarlet will provide a customized outlet where our female fans can express their passion for the Caps year round.”

Club Scarlet, the first women’s fan club in the NHL, is free to join. Members will receive exclusive content on ScarletCaps.com, invitations to member-only events including cocktail parties and player meet and greets, special team and sponsor offers and more. Every female fan that signs up to join Club Scarlet on ScarletCaps.com will be eligible to enter into a drawing to win an autographed item by a Caps player.

ScarletCaps.com was designed by women with input from focus groups comprised of females conducted in the summer of 2008. The focus groups consisted of a wide array of women including devoted Caps fans, women who recently became Caps fans and some who have never attended a hockey game. Throughout the focus groups, the women expressed how they would like to become more engaged with the team and what they would like to see from a website and from a club. As an ongoing part of Club Scarlet, a panel consisting of females in the media, bloggers (including Hockey Mom) and select Caps fans has been assembled to advise on content and upcoming events for the club to help maximize the member experience.

ScarletCaps.com will complement WashingtonCaps.com with content specifically created for Washington Capitals female fans. The site will include hockey instruction, behind-the-scenes videos of Caps players and an outlet for women to discuss the team and hockey on an exclusive message board.

ScarletCaps.com will also feature blogs from women such as Chilli Amar from Mix 107.3, Chasta Piatakovas, a blogger who is also a member of the Capitals Fan Club and of course, yours truly (HM). Other prominent female figures in the media and in the community with contribute as guest bloggers throughout the year.

The third-annual Hockey ’n Heels, which began Saturday at Kettler Capitals Iceplex, will conclude Wednesday at a cocktail party hosted by The Front Page in Arlington. The next Club Scarlet event is Thursday night, when winners selected on air and online by DC 101’s Elliot in the Morning will attend the Capitals game against Atlanta and attend a postgame meet and greet with Sergei Fedorov hosted by Diane from Elliot in the Morning.

So I encourage all you fabulous lady fans out there to go to the Web site and join for free today! I have a feeling that Hockey Mom and Scarlet are going to become fast friends!

Cindy Who? Caps Crush Penguins 5 - 2 on NBC

Photo courtesy of Washington Capitals/Getty Images

The recent peace accord between Evgeni Malkin and Alex Ovechkin that was "brokered" at the All-Star game may still have wet ink, but it was obvious by today's heated rivalry game that there won't be a similar handshake between the Great 8 and Sidney Crosby anytime soon.

The Capitals more than made up for their mistakes at the hands of the Colorado Avalanche with a thrilling win over the hated Pens in front of a revelling red-rocking crowd. Besides being all over the birds with the fore-check, today's game saw goals by Ovie, Alex Semin, Brooks Laich, Shaone Morrison and Sergei Fedorov. Hockey Mom was unable to make today's game as the twins had a game as well - jeez, the things we do for our kids!

But I did watch the nationally-televised contest on NBC and got a huge kick out of listening to Mike Milbury finally jump on the Ovechkin bandwagon and wax poetic about how he's the greatest player in the league. Yes, this is the same clod who made an arse of himself during the SC Playoffs last year by telling Ovie he "played like a dog" during the Caps/Flyers series. And analyst Pierre McGuire has apparently been drinking the "Sidney Crosby is THE face of the NHL" juice by reporting that the Caps were slinging "harsher than normal" words towards the Pen's captain. Waa waa waaah! Wait a minute, HM thinks it was Crosby who tried to dump Ovie into his own bench ( after which Ovie blew him off after some choice words and a smart little wave of the hand).

As expected, this was a heated and physical match and thankfully the Capitals returned to the game we all know and love. Looks like the new bench boss the Penguins GM Ray Shero hired isn't going to give the team a quick fix as they have some serious personnel issues as well. Maybe he should have followed Cap's GM George McPhee's how-to-build-a-team program. Speaking of GMGM, check out this piece by the guys over at DC Pro Sports Report on how the Caps have built the team as we know it and the talent in store for the fans for years to come....works for me!

Caps Host Hundreds at Hockey & Heels 2009

Hundreds of happy female Cap's fans congregated today at Kettler Capitals Iceplex for a fun day of hockey 101, on-ice skill demonstrations and camaraderie at the annual Hockey & Heels event.

Hockey Mom was among the sold-out crowd of red-rocking ladies who enjoyed an afternoon learning more about the coolest game on earth.

Chilli Amar of Mix 107.3, an avid hockey fan in her own right, kicked off the event by welcoming the women and telling the crowd about the Caps' new Web site created especially for women. Then the gals broke up into groups and rotated to different sessions about all things hockey.

HM's group started on the ice as the ladies got a chance to play "Theo" for a day and try their talents as potential NHL goalies. Participants were shot at (with a soft puck, I might add) by Capital's forward Boyd Gordon and young goalie (baby-face!) Michal Neuvirth gave the women tips on stopping shots. There was some serious talent out there for sure - HM thinks that some of these ladies have played some hockey in their day!

Next up, we attended a "Chalk Talk" session with one of Hockey Mom's favorite sports reporters, Comcast SportsNet's Lisa Hillary, and Capital alum Rod Langway. Lisa is incredibly down-to-earth and funny - the kind of gal you'd love to share a round of pomegranate margaritas with! She related some of her experiences in her many years of covering the NHL and Rod Langway spoke candidly about his years as a Washington Capital and his thoughts on the present-day Caps. The ladies in the group had some really interesting questions - HM asked Langway about all the talk about fighting in the league. His answer was that despite the fact that the NHL "talks" a lot about regulating or even trying to ban fighting, it has and in his view, always will be a part of hockey. I know that some people dislike fighting in the game but honestly, if you read the book The Code - you'll see the history and evolvement of the players trying to protect their own.

We then attended an informative session on all the necessary equipment worn by NHL players. We got to touch and feel player's gloves, very large skates and other gear worn by the Caps. For all you fashionistas out there, who knew that some of the Caps' gear has an air of preppiness a la J.Crew? Each players glove has their name embroidered on the leather - very nice little touch.
Brett Leonhardt did a great job in answering all of the questions regarding equipment and the function of each piece.



Another highlight of the afternoon was the film session conducted by none other than Coach Bruce Boudreau himself. He walked us through a "film session" and demonstrated how the team prepares for a game by reviewing game film of an opponent as well as film from the Caps' previous contest. I bet the film session from Friday's Colorado game was not a pleasant experience! HM thought this was a fascinating session as the game moves so fast, it's hard to see the plays unfold much of the time. Coach Boudreau explained how a play evolves from the face-off and pinpointed exactly where players should be positioned in their offensive and defensive zones. So there is a lot of method behind the madness as he described the many hours of film-watching and meetings that take place up until game time...

The highlight for Hockey Mom was the final on-ice demonstration where the ladies learned the intricacies of a wrist shot and a slap shot from Jeff Schultz, Tomas Fleischmann and assistant coach Dean Evason. I must admit this was a very humbling experience for HM and I might need to reign in the yelling at my kids during games as this was hard! I netted my second slap shot but let's put it this way: Hockey Mom doesn't got game! The players and Coach Evason were fabulous sports and really took their time in demonstrating how it's done to each "player." It really gives you a greater appreciation for how much skill hockey requires...

At the end of the day, a great time was had by all and each participant got a stylish Hockey & Heels t-shirt (in red, of course) to commemorate the event. Kudos to the Capitals'staff and Chilli for another wonderful event and looking forward to next year's already! I met so many great gals yesterday and it was such a diverse group of fun-loving ladies. In my group alone I met a lady who got her Hockey & Heels ticket as a Valentines Day gift (good man!), a high school teacher who's been following the Caps since back in the day, some college gals who are in HM's former sorority and even a young lady from Boston, who flies in for all the home games!

I look forward to seeing these fabulous ladies again as the Caps are launching a new Web site and fan club just for us - stay tuned for details. And we all know today brings NBC's game of the week as the Caps take on the hated Pittsburgh Penguins (who beat Philly last night - drats). More from HM later... cheers!

Un autre magnifique spectacle de Ovie! Capitals 4 - Canadiens 3

Even minus Alex Kovalev (who was sent home for basically "not showing up" and a bad attitude), the Montreal Canadiens came to Verizon Center tonight ready for a fight. As Hockey Mom's own mom used to say: "99% of winning is basically just showing up." So Kovalev's prima donna routine and not showing up to give it his all has gotten him in hot water with Bob Gainey - will be interesting to see where this story goes.

Nonetheless, the Habs saw the addition of d-man Mathieu Schnieder, who was recently traded to join a Canadiens team he's played with before. And the fiesty Canadiens came out swinging, getting on the board first with a power play goal from Chris Higgins. But the goal of the night belonged to guess who...of course, another Ovechkin sliding highlight goal! In case you missed it, check it - Hockey Mom is still in awe:



Nicklas Backstrom scored in the third to give the Caps a 2-1 lead. But once again, the boys found themselves in some penalty trouble and the Habs tied it up courtesy of the other Kostitsyn brother, Andrei. The two teams traded another goal apiece in the final period and this baby went into OT and eventually into another shoot out.

Alex Semin schooled Habs' net minder Carey Price with a magnificent deke move as the first Washington player in the shoot out line up. Nick Backstrom scored next with a sweet wrister as Jose Theodore denied both attempts from his former team, putting this game in the books with a final score of 4 -3.