DJ King Joins the Capitals
Straight from Ted's Take, DJ King joins the Capitals from the St. Louis Blues in exchange for Stefan Della Rovere.Watch the Youtube video of King and then Checkout the analysis over at the Peerless Prognosticator to see if you think he is the right fit for the Caps. He is described as and enforcer? Ok, I'd say so! Check one off the list... now maybe get a solid stay at home defender to add to the mix?
Caps Lose Game 1 in Overtime 3-2
By Rodger M. WoodThe Caps ran into the worst of all possible playoff scenarios tonight against the Montreal Canadiens in Game #1 of the Stanley Cup playoffs.They faced a hot goalie, Jaroslav Halak who stopped over 50 shots, a couple big tough veteran defensemen, Hal Gill and Roman Hamrlik, who held their top goal scorer, Alex O, to no shots on net, and a forward, Tomas Plekanic, who feasted on them all season and scored the cheap winning goal from near the blue line to win the game in overtime.Caps defenseman Joe Corvo tied the game up 1-1 in the first period, Niklaus Backstrom put the Caps ahead in the third period, only to have savvy vet forward Scott Gomez score the tying goal to force the game to overtime.The game script wasn’t supposed to end this way, but until the Caps forwards figure out how to shoot high on Halak, play better offense between the blue lines, and get faster breakouts from their end, the result will be the same.But the Caps have rebounded from bad games all season so let hope they do it again.
Big Picture: Former Capital Brian Pothier
Former Capital and fan favorite Brian Pothier on his return to Verizon Center. Tonight the Caps will meet him on the Carolina Hurricanes home ice.
Ovi Suspended Two Games: O Captain! My Captain!
By ThomO CAPTAIN! my Captain! our fearful trip is done:The ship has weather’d every rack, the prize we sought is won;The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting,While follow eyes the steady keel, the vessel grim and daring:But O heart! heart! heart!O the bleeding drops of red,Where on the deck my Captain lies...Ok, so that is a bit dramatic, but the most recent decision by the NHL powers to suspend the Capitals captain leaves many fans and maybe some officials in a state of dismay. Not for the call, because we do understand the call. It was boarding. Whether intentional or not, it was boarding. I think not intentional, but that is me. It is unfortunate that it resulted in an injury. I think most fans wouldn't wish that upon any player, most bitter rivals or not.What is disconcerting is that the league appears to be inconsistent in the officiating and suspension of a player as a result of these so-called "reckless" plays. I have watched the replay over and over and I do believe that it was as the league calls it "reckless." I do believe that a penalty should have been called and if the rule states that it will be a 5 minute major due to the injury, then it is what it is. I won't quibble with that, but if the league wants bigger, stronger and faster players to play at full intensity, they need rules to protect every player and those rules need to be consistent for everyone. The Cookes, Downies and Adams of the league should be no exception.To conclude my rant, I leave you with a very relevant post by CapsBlog: Does This Look Familiar?Oh and the poem, Walt Whitman 1865: Oh Captain! My Captain!Capitalpowerplay.com images by woodsportsphotography.com is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.
Caps Rally To Down The Hawks Without Ovi in OT!
By Rodger M. WoodEven without their best player in the lineup, the Caps showed in an afternoon matinee that they could skate with a Western Conference team NHL soothsayers predict will play them in June for the Stanley Cup.
After Caps star winger Alex Ovechkin was banished to the dressing room on a questionable game misconduct for boarding at 12:16 in the first period, the Caps fell behind to the Black Hawks 3-0 by the end of the second period.Coach Boudreau must have said more between periods than “just go to the net” because the Caps came out fired up in the third period, scoring three goals and tying the game3-all in a matter of 2 minutes and 16 seconds.On Caps power plays, Brooks Laich scored first at 05:29 and Nicklas Backstrom second at 07:32. Eric Fehr tied the game up ar 3-3 at 07:45, with a well deserved assist going to David Steckel, who worked the puck out to Fehr from behind the Black Hawks goal.On a spectacular 3 on 1 play. Backstrom scored the game winner for his second goal of the game at 03:10 of overtime.Commentators, Pierre McGuire and Mike Milbury, who have been heard casting aspersions against our Russian Caps, admitted the Ovi’s boarding call wasquestionable, and at worse, maybe two 2 minute penalties.Milbury said NHL referees and players are “confused” by the inconsistent boarding and head shot calls this season.Just the same, our Caps showed they can beat the best even on a day when they are handicapped by the absence of our Ovi.Way to go Caps!Caps photos from the Carolina game Wednesday, March 10th are accessible to you here.Capitalpowerplay.com images by capitalpowerplay.com is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.