Another Hart for Ovie?

Following the euphoria of last night's wonderful win, more good news for the Washington Capitals and their shining star, Alex Ovechkin. The winner of almost every NHL award known to mankind last season, Ovie recieved his second consecutive nod for the Hart Trophy, awarded to a team's most valuable player. Also named as a finalist: Pittsburgh's Evgeni Malkin, who'll play a leading role in this Saturday's Game 1 showdown against the arch rival Pens.

From the team press release:

Alex Ovechkin Named a Finalist for Hart Trophy
Capitals left wing could be first back-to-back winner in more than a decade

ARLINGTON, Va. – The National Hockey League announced today that Washington Capitals left wing Alex Ovechkin is one of three finalists for the Hart Memorial Trophy, which is presented annually to the player judged most valuable to his team. Ovechkin, who captured the Hart in 2007-08, joins fellow Russians Pavel Datsyuk (Detroit) and Evgeni Malkin (Pittsburgh) as the three finalists.

Members of the Professional Hockey Writers’ Association submitted ballots for the Hart Trophy at the conclusion of the regular season, with the top three vote-getters announced as finalists. The winner will be announced Thursday, June 18, during the 2009 NHL Awards that will be broadcast live from the Pearl Concert Theater inside the Palms Hotel Las Vegas on VERSUS in the United States and on CBC in Canada. The Capitals are assured of at least two candidates for honors at the show, as Mike Green is a finalist for the Norris Trophy as the league’s top defenseman.

Ovechkin could become the first player to win back-to-back Hart Trophies since Dominik Hasek in 1996-97 and ’97-98. The last non-goaltender to win consecutive Hart Trophies was Wayne Gretzky, who won eight in a row from 1980-87.

“It means a lot to me to be up for this award,” Ovechkin said. “I always want to be the best, so this is a great honor. It’s special, too, with three Russians nominated. It is a great thing for our country and our sport.”

Ovechkin led the NHL in goals (56), earning the Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy for the second consecutive season. He also led the league in points per game (1.39), shots (528) and power-play points (46). His 110 points in 79 games ranked second in the league, and his goal total was 10 more than any other player. He finished the season recording eight more points than any other player after the NHL All-Star Game (51; Malkin and Sidney Crosby of Pittsburgh were second with 43 each).

Ovechkin recorded his 200th career goal, 200th career assist and 400th career point during 2008-09, as he led Washington to a second consecutive Southeast Division title. He joined Gretzky and Mario Lemieux as the only players to record 200 goals and 200 assists in their first four NHL seasons.

Ovechkin won the “Espo Award” as the most valuable player in the league from Phil Esposito on NHL Home Ice. He won the Kharlamov Trophy as the top Russian player in the league for the fourth year in a row and was named the Best Player and Most Valuable Player by The Hockey News. Ovechkin was named to his third straight NHL All-Star Game and won the Breakaway Challenge in the SuperSkills competition. He was the NHL’s First Star of the month in November and the Third Star in December.


Alex Ovechkin

Left wing

Ht.: 6’2” Wt.: 225 Shoots: Right

Born: Sept. 17, 1985 (Moscow, Russia)

Drafted: Washington’s first-round choice, first overall, in the 2004 Entry Draft

Capitals Take Game Seven and Advance!

The moment was finally here – a monumental Game 7 and it was expected that both teams would come out hard to fight to the end. Especially the Blueshirts, trying to recover from "water bottlegate" and two stinky performances from Henrik Lundqvist.

First of all a huge welcome back to captain Chris Clark – who celebrated his return with some glass-rattling hits on several Blueshirts in the opening period.

We also saw two amazing stops by Varlamov in the first 4 minutes, including one to the gut of Varly. Nik Antropov slid in the first goal as Sean Avery screened Varly (first period). Ten minutes into first – still no shots on goal by the boys. Antropov took a high stick and Caps were not able to convert on power play. Greener tripped up one of the talented Staal brothers (Marc) and went to 4 on 4. But the Rangers’ power play didn’t pan out. Finally, Alex Semin’s shot went off Callahan’s twig and the men in red finally got on the board late in the first (luck be damned)!

First period saw ridiculous delay with a glass problem. Overall the Caps were doing a terrible job of getting the puck out of their offensive zone. The Rangers looked much lighter on their feet while the Caps seemed to grip their sticks tight. And Hockey Mom was clenching her jaw tight as we all feared a repeat of last year’s Game 7.

In the second period, Kozlov thought he caught the King out of his crease but Henrik tapped it away with a tip of his glove in a stellar save. Ovie was on the ice way too long and while trying to dump the puck, turned it over to the Rangers. Thankfully his pals, particularly David Steckel, dug it out of the Caps’ zone. Once again the stripes had their whistles in their windpipes as Zherdev got away with a blatant trip on Mike Green, who went flying into the boards.

Zherdev certainly seemed to wake up from his hibernation for Game 7. Unfortunately, for the home team, the same could not be said for the Caps’ Viktor Kozlov, who suffered some serious lapses in judgment with some Squirt hockey giveaways. For most of the first two periods, it seemed like our boys just sat around and watched like the Rangers were on a flipping power play! Lots of careless passing going on as well…going into the locker room at the end of the second, the score was still tied at one apiece. Did anyone else feel like this was déjà vu all over again for the first 40 minutes?

But finally in the final period, the Caps we know and love showed up to play! The boys showed a lot more zip in their step, ramped up the hits and saw several more scoring opportunities, including a beauty from Ovie that was ultimately stumped by Lundqvist. The Caps tightened up and did an outstanding job of holding the Rags to only one shot on goal in the final period.

Then with less than five minutes left in the third, the trusty 39-year old veteran Sergei Fedorov showed us his Stanley Cup form and scored the most magnificent game winner – rocking the Phone Booth to its core and sending the whiny Ranger bed wetters home! And hopefully Feds will buy the young Russian Simeon Varlamov his first legal vodka shot on his 21st birthday – as our rookie net minder had another phenomenal game.

So in addition to moving on the second round, the Caps made history tonight having never won a Game 7 at the Phone Booth. My fortune cookie from lunch today said: “Soon, you will be sitting on top of the world” and my lucky number was 28. Yes indeed, April 28 will be one to remember for a not-so-pretty win but a win nonetheless! HM and my fellow Caps fans (as well as the entire Caps organization) want to revel in this great feeling for now and get ready for Sidney and pals come Saturday! Way to go boys….

Another Inspirational Read to Kill the Time....

Have I mentioned before that I love The Hockey News' Ken Campbell? Nine times out of ten, this guy is dead on - I know the Caps faithful out there are keeping their fingers crossed that he is right yet again with this opinion.

Mr. Campbell, I just renewed my subscription - the check is on its way! This has got to be the longest four hours I've waited in ages (no pun intended) - let's do this already!

Odds and Ends as the Wait Begins....

As we wait with baited breath for tonight's Game 7, here are some other tidbits from around the rinks:

• The President's Trophy-winning San Jose Sharks won't be advancing to the next round after getting knocked out by the Anaheim Ducks, despite amassing a whopping 117 points and 53 wins on the season - yowzah!


• Brashear's frequent dance partner Georges Laraque of the Montreal Canadiens has his own opinion of the hit that drew Brash a 5-game suspension in the NHL's effort to make him the playoff poster boy for hits to the head.


• Kudos the old guy Nikolai Khabibulin for stopping 43 shots to help the Chicago Blackhawks win the team's first NHL playoff series in 13 years.

Only ten hours til the first face-off...HM lets out a huge sigh as her stomach continues to churn with nerves....Let's go CAPS!

Brashear Gets Six

Another example of the NHL's inconsistent disciplinary procedures, Donald Brashear was dealt a six-game suspension for his hit on Blair Betts (who has a concussion and broken orbital bone) and the pre-game shove on fellow enforcer Colton Orr.

Believe me, I completely get the efforts to crack down on hits to the head. And the one to Betts was forceful, out-of-the-blue and very ill-timed on Brash's part. Memo to the guys in stripes: let's just make sure we call all the major infractions tomorrow, huh? Because I have a feeling that this just turned uglier than it already is....

Happy Birthday Varly!

Hockey Mom joins all the great fans in Capsland in wishing Simeon Varlamov a happy 21st birthday! Hard to believe that this kid, who's been a rock in the net in these intense playoffs is only 21 - and he's only going to get better in time like a fine wine. Speaking of wine, hope the boys take him out for a legal adult beverage - after Game 7, of course!

Kudos to Tom Poti for his huge game yesterday in his old stomping grounds! Also to Mike Green with his first playoff goal and to Milan "Juice" Jurcina for getting his team on the board first, which has been crucial in this series!

Meanwhile, we wait to see if the "Donald" receives any disciplinary action for his hit on Blair Betts and the pre-game bump on Rangers' enforcer Colton Orr. From my standpoint watching the game at the ice rink, I couldn't see well enough to make my own decisive call on whether or not the hit on Betts was clean.

Then the Rangers' Brandon Dubinsky, who's been trying to stir things up throughout the series, claims to have been "bitten" by Shaone Morrison. Now Moe is a tough d-man but he's no Jarko Ruutu and it's interesting how that little tidbit of information comes out after all the players had left MSG. Lots of odds and ends to tie up after yesterday's contest!

Speaking of Jarko Ruutu, there's an interesting article that he penned for The Hockey News on playing the role of agitator, especially during the playoffs. So if you want a glimpse of what's been going on in Sean Avery's warped mind during this series, check it out. In other worthwhile reading, one of HM's favorite sportswriters, Sally Jenkins, has a great piece in today's Washington Post about the Rangers' whining and complaining about the Capitals' behavior in the playoffs. A bit like the pot calling the kettle black, eh?

A huge Game 7 awaits us all tomorrow - I expect a very frustrated Rangers club to come out swinging. While we're on that subject, check out last night's swinging action in the Hurricane's 4-0 thrashing of the New Jersey Devils:



More from Hockey Mom later - in the meantime, hope you all are rocking the red!

Where's the Boss?

Ranger's bench boss John Tortorella won't be anywhere near the bench in today's showdown Game 6 at Madison Square Garden, as the NHL suspended him for his part in the fan altercation that took place Friday night at Verizon.

From the NHL's discipline czar Colin Campbell:

"While it is a difficult decision to suspend a coach at this point in a playoff series, it has been made clear to all of our players, coaches and other bench personnel that the National Hockey League cannot -- and will not -- tolerate any physical contact with fans. We do not take this action lightly. It is the result of an entire day of investigation and evaluation that included the retrieval and review of videotape of the incident and discussions with Mr. Tortorella, other Rangers' bench personnel and a number of other people, including the security personnel at the Verizon Center.

That investigation revealed that Mr. Tortorella squirted a fan with water before Mr. Tortorella was doused with a beverage."

Sounds like Torts may need to reserve a vacation spot at the behavioral facility attended by his benched agitator, Sean Avery. How ironic to preach control and discipline to your players and turn around and lose your mind in front of the entire hockey world...

So assistant coach Jim Schoenfeld will take the lead for the Rangers in this crucial Game 6 in front of a tough home crowd. We'll see how this all affects the Blueshirts, who saw a lackadaisical effort from their stars on Friday night, giving the Capitals the win and the momentum.

Hockey Mom will be at one boys' house game with my butt planted in front of the t.v. - sorry Jake, it's the playoffs! I'm rocking my red today from my head to my red toes and flying my Capitals "pizza man" car flag with pride - let's bring it back to Verizon boys!