Do The Caps Have A Goalie Controversy?
By ThomJust eight minutes into game, the Capitals found themselves dominating the Canadians, but strangely with a two goal deficit on two Habs shots. Both shots went glove side with nary a reaction from Caps goalie Jose Theodore. Fraught with the risk of losing the teams motivation and confidence, coach Boudreau made the change and in went Semyon Varlamov in a delayed repeat of last season's first round against the New York Rangers. The move last year sparked the Caps and allowed a hard fought series win, but will Boudreau mirror last year's change and keep Varly in the crease for the duration of the playoffs or was yesterday's move only temporary? Are this years circumstances different?
Clearly, something was afoul for Jose Theodore in last nights first eight minutes. In game one, he appeared to be right on with fluid saves and a resilience or groove that had thrilled the Capitals fans throughout the regular season. That is up until the overtime game winner by Tomas Plekanec. Last nights game made it three goals in the last three shots against Theo and arguably three that could have been stoppers. Was it nerves? Who knows, but Theo's season may give him a pass for last night and see him in the nets again tomorrow night. Varley was good last night, but still hasn't blossomed into last seasons playoff form. What do you think? A goalie controversy or a temporary setback for Theo?
Capitalpowerplay.com images by PhotoByThom.com are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.
This Time Caps Win in Overtime 6-5!
By Rodger M. WoodThe Caps suddenly start playing their kind of hockey after the Canadiens went ahead 4-1 in the third period of Game 2 of the playoffs.They started passing the puck and skating up middle ice, played hyper aggressively in the offensive zone, and put heat on and wore down the elder Habs defensive crew of Hamrlik, Bergeron, Gill, and Spacek.In rapid succession, Backstrom, Ovechkin, and Backstrom again beats Montreal goaltender, Jaroslav Halak on high shot goals to tie the game up 4-4.After the Canadiens went ahead 5- 4 late in the 3rd period, the Caps didn’t let up. 20 – year old Caps defensemen John Carlson scored the equalizer with less than 3 minutes to go in regulation and at 31 seconds of sudden death overtime, Niklaus Backstrom won the game with a hat trick goal, 6-5.Hey Montreal soothsayers! Do you still think you should bring your blooms to the 4th game Wednesday because you’re not going to sweep our young Caps in 4 games like you predicted. And I always thought Montreal writers and fans were the expert hockey folks, but now I am having second thoughts. See ya Monday in Montreal!
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.
Don’t Take The Montreal Canadiens Lightly! (or Better Yet, Don’t Count Your Chickens Until They Hatch)
By Rodger Wood
I don’t want to jinx our Capitals but they’re heavy favorites going into their first preliminary Stanley Cup playoff series against the eight seeded Montreal Canadiens tomorrow at the Verizon Center.Why not? They won the President’s Trophy with the best overall record in the NHL this season, finishing 33 points ahead of the Canadiens in the final standings.They scored 103 more goals than the Canadiens and lost only 15 games in regulation during the regular season.The Caps had an awesome offense and balanced scoring getting 20-goals from 8 different forwards and a good share more from their defense too.During the regular season series, the Caps beat the Canadiens twice, lost a game in regulation and won one in overtime.
But anything can happen in the Stanley Cups Playoffs. There is always an upset in the first series. Montreal is a hellacious place to try to win a hockey game and the home team has the 2nd best power play (next to Washington) in the league.The Caps cannot take any stupid penalties, need strong goaltending from Jose Theodore and/or Semyon Varlamov, and need to come out of the gate the first period on the run. They must finish their checks and Alex O. must continue to play the game with abandon.While the Washington Post, and USA Today and other hockey soothsayers predict a Capitals series win in 5 or 6 games, I think you have to take one game at a time and think about the next series, only after you have won four games.As an old hockey philosopher once said, “You don’t pack the equipment bag before the game is over and you don’t start celebrating until the buzzer rings and your team is ahead. And as his contemporary, the old farmer said, “You don’t count your chickens until they hatch!
Flashback Friday: Ollie The Goalie in 2006
Flashing back to March 4th in 2006, fan favorite Ollie Kolzig takes a break at the bench during an away game at the Atlanta Thrashers Phillips Arena.I personally loved his masks, but surprisingly some didn't.Check out more about Ollie here and about "Athletes Against Autism" which he founded with Scott Mellanby and Byron DeFoe.Capitalpowerplay.com images by PhotoByThom.com are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.
Caps First Win Ever!
By Rodger M. Wood
My 8-year old son Tommy and I were anxious to see our first ever Washington Capitals game at the new state of the art Capital Centre on Wednesday, October 16, 1974.It was the Caps second home game in their inaugural 1974-75 season and the opponents were the dreaded Chicago Blackhawks, who had won the Stanley Cup as recently as two years before.I didn’t know at the time if I was wanted to see our star players, 40-year old Doug Mohns, goalie Ron Low, and Tommy Williams of 1960 USA Olympic Team fame, as much as I wanted to see famed Blackhawks, HOF center, Stan Mikita, forward Dennis Hull, and goalie Tony Esposito.
All that became unimportant once we entered the Capital Centre, looked around to see the big crowd, many of whom came right from work and were still in suits, skyboxes, which were a new phenomena, and our seats behind the visitors bench, where you could see all of the action up close. I was used to sitting in the nose bleed sections at old Detroit Olympia Stadium, and did not know what to do when I did not have to use my handkerchief once there at the Capital Centre.The fans were excited by Caps forward Denis Dupere’s two clutch goals, which put us in a 3-3 tie until the third period when Caps Jack Egers finished the Blackhawks off 4-3.
I recall poor Ivan Labre getting into a rumpus with massive Dale Talton, who I thought was going to put our guy in the hospital, but the rugged defenseman Labre always did show a lot of heart and that is why his jersey hangs from the rafters at the Verizon Centre today.I wonder if we would have had as much enthusiasm if we knew our guys were on their way to a dismal NHL record setting 8 – 67 – 5 season and 21-points overall. We would win only 7 more times after that game that season. But truly none of that mattered, as finally, we at last had hockey, whether it was good or bad, in our nation’s capital.
Memorabilia Collecting Experiences in Detroit during the 1950s
by Jack CrossRecently Rodger asked me if I still had any of my hockey autographs and pictures from my boyhood years and if so, would I copy and send them on to him for The Capital Power Play. He also asked if I would write a short piece about how he and I collected these items back in Detroit when we were youngsters living in the same neighborhood.Back in 1950 I began by at first collecting just baseball cards and later football cards. About 1953 Rodger introduced me to writing to the players to request their autographs either on gum cards or asking a player to send a signed postcard. After the football season had ended, we started writing to the hockey players (especially the Red Wings) to keep our interest going before baseball started back up in the spring. This is how I came to have these hockey players which are posted on the site. Jack Adams was then the GM of the Red Wings and he was very accommodating. I would send him a sheet of typing paper with the title of the RED WINGS at the top and he would get all the players to sign it. I would then paste as many pictures that I could find of the players whose signatures were on this sheet. We used to also get autographs of the players outside of their locker rooms when they would come out to board a team bus. It was great fun and I still enjoy looking through my collection today. I hope you might also find it a bit interesting to see these old time pictures yourself.I'll add a bit of an addendum here to explain my entire collection. In 1972 Rodger paid me a visit from his home in Sterling Virginia to my current home of Dallas. We talked about old times and he rekindled my interest in again collecting cards and autographs of the current players. I did this for about three or four years before I gave it up. Collecting became more of a business rather than a hobby and players started charging for their autographs. People were always asking what something was worth. The fun of collecting became less, so I just quit. I retired in 1999 and with the extra time I had, I started to organize my entire collection. I separated all the sports: baseball, football and hockey and within each sport I further separated each team in to albums. So, in hockey I separated the six NHL teams of that time: the Red Wings, the Bruins, the Blackhawks, the Rangers, the Maple Leafs and the Canadians. Since I didn't have that much hockey material, I could fit it all into one album Today I still get pleasure out of perusing through my collection and thinking back to all the fun we each had.
Caps Drop Rock The Red, Return To Puck Power Slogan for Playoffs
In a surprise announcement today, the franchise announced that they would be changing the "Rock the Red" slogan for the playoffs back to the 1970's "Puck Power" slogan. The undisclosed reasoning was the good luck it brought the team back in its heyday. :-)
Flashback Friday: Caps Share Fallen Hero
By Rodger M. Wood
The Caps also have a fallen hero. Garnet Edward “Ace” Bailey, who died when United Airlines Flight 175 crashed into the World Trade Center in New York City during the September 11 attacks, played left wing for the Caps from the 1974-1978.Ace tried calling his wife 4 times unsuccessfully on the Flight 175 from a phone in row 32 when he had been seated at takeoff in row 6.“Ace,” as he was fondly called by the Capital Centre fans, came over to the Caps from the St. Louis Blues 49 games into the Caps’ inaugural 1974-75 season and what turned out to be his best NHL scoring season with 19 goals, 39 assists, 52 points. In 22 games with the Caps that season, he scored 4 goals and 13 assists.The left winger quickly won fans over with his intense, determined style of play on the ice and his gracious, smiling and ready to sign autographs and pose for photos with fans style off. He was a very popular Capitals player right away.A team player, he usually helped his teammates win on or off the ice. As a junior hockey player, he won a Memorial Cup with the Edmonton Oil Kings in 1966, and later as a NHLer, Stanley Cups with teammates, Bobby Orr, Phil Esposito and the Boston Bruins in 1970 and 1972.He also got his name on the Stanley Cup in 1985, 1987, and 1990 while a scout with the Edmonton Oilers.During the 1978-79 while a member of the WHA Edmonton Oilers, he mentored young Wayne Gretzky.In 568 games in 10 NHL seasons, he scored 107 goals, and 171 assists.Tragedy, however, followed in his footsteps as his father Irvine Bailey, star forward for Toronto in the 1920s and 1930s, was cross checked from behind, almost killed, and had his career ended by Eddie Shore when he was 30.Ace was Director of Pro Scouting for the Los Angeles Kings living in Lynnfield Massachusetts at the time of his death.
Caps First Collectible: 1977-78 Washington Capitals Photo Set
By Rodger M. Wood
The earliest Capitals collectible I can recall was a set of fifteen 5x7 black and white photos. They were sold either at the old Capital Centre or sent/given by the Capitals players at team festivities and in response to mail requests during the 1977-1978 season.The “hot” photos in the set were of 36 – goal scorer Guy Charron, #1 draft pick defenseman Robert Picard, and all star defenseman, Ivan Labre.
Since the team finished fifth in the Norris Division that season well behind Montreal, Detroit, Los Angeles, and Pittsburgh with a 17W-49L-14T record, and put an average of 8,000 fans in the stands each home game there was not a large demand for the photo set. Very few photos are seen today at trade shows or advertised for sale on the internet.
The following players were in the 1977-78 Washington Capitals 5x7 black and white photo set:Bob Girard LWBob Sirois RWBryan "Bugsy” Watson DCraig Patrick RWDave Forbes LWGarnet “Ace” Bailey LWGerry Meehan CGordie Lane DGordie Smith DGuy Charron CJack Lynch DMichel Bergeron RWRick Green DRobert Picard DTom Rowe RW
Flashback Friday: Former Cap Kelly Miller Calls Olympic Hero, Ryan Miller, “Cuz.”
By Rodger M. Wood
Former Caps forward, Kelly Miller, can call 2010 Olympic hero, and USA goalie Ryan Miller “cuz” and get away with it, even if he never had the chance to score a goal against him in the NHL.Kelly and Ryan are two of ten Millers, who played hockey at Michigan State, including Kelly’s brothers and former Caps, Kevin and Kip, and Ryan’s brother Drew, who is currently playing for the Anaheim Ducks.Kelly came over to the Capitals from the New York Rangers in a blockbuster trade on January 1, 1987, which sent a Caps #1 draft pick and 50 – goal scorer Bobby Carpenter to the Big Apple.A strong, two way forward and always a plus/minus leader in 13 seasons for the Capitals from 1986 to 1999, Miller was a key man on face-offs, penalty kill, a clutch scorer and set up man.He scored 24 goals and assisted on 26 for the Caps 1990 Wales Conference Finalist, but injured much of the season, scored only 2 goals and 5 assists on the Caps 1998 Stanley Cup Finalists.He was an iron man most of his Caps career, playing in 1,057 regular season and playoff games, while scoring a total 162 goals and 246 assists.Kelly Miller closed out his NHL career as an assistant coach for the 2001 -02, and 2002 -03 NY Islanders.Brother Kevin played 10 games for the Capitals the 1998-1999 season and Kip 138 games the 2002 - 03 and 2003-04 seasons.
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.
All Things Presidential
By ThomWith Southeast Division officially wrapped up, the Capitals are track for their best season ever. For some fans this is as expected and a great achievement, but there is one achievement that many of us may not have considered. With the bulk of the season behind us and a team that simply refuses to throw in the towel, one possible distinction has been lurking in the back of my mind... The President's Trophy.Yes, I said it and it likely prompted you to fall from your feet screaming "jiiiiiinx," but it is a real possibility and one many fans may clamor to see. I can imagine fans having the opportunity to chant for the President's Trophy and MVP in the final days of the regular season. I can even imagine myself in a sea of red at the final regular season game chanting with a fervor... or can I?Ultimately, the Stanley Cup is a team's goal, but why wouldn't anyone cheer for an honor such as the President's Trophy? It is awarded to the team with the most regular season points and has been around for just over two decades. It is one of the leagues highest distinctions and has been claimed 23 times by 13 different teams. One might venture to guess that it should be a sure path to Lord Stanley's Cup, but the statistics present a whole different story.Might I say, the Curse of the President's Trophy? Much like the Sports Illustrated Jinx or the Madden Curse from the cover of the EA Sports video games, this trophy presents it's own conundrum. Take for instance the modern Detroit Red Wings. Six time owners of the trophy in the last fifteen seasons and just two Stanley Cups during that run. Not bad, but not six. Of the twenty-three winners since the trophy was created in 1985, only seven of those trophy winners won the Stanley Cup, with only two others moving to the finals. The rest of the teams were doomed to a summer on the links.It's possible that the trophy winners spend too much effort in the regular season or the pressure of playoff expectations weight too much on them. It really could be any number of variables, but superstitions aside, I suspect that Capitals' fans would be first in line to see it handed to the Caps after one of the most exciting and accomplished seasons to date. Ok, preferably with a drink from the cup too. Do you believe in curses?Oh, and lest I forget, the trophy comes with home ice advantage for the entire playoffs. Do you care about curses?On Another presidential Note: As our catch phrase states on The Capital Power Play, "the best power play in town is on ice, so join us in supporting the RussianMachineNeverBreaks.com and sign the petition to get our Nations President to come to a Caps game.
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.
Flashback Friday: Donald Brashear vs. Zedano Chara 2008
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Caps Still Sign Autographs
By Rodger M. WoodCollectors Corner will focus on Washington Capitals autographs, photos, sports cards, game used sticks, jerseys, and other Capitals hockey memorabilia from the present back to the Capitals’ inception in 1974.There will also be an occasional article about my Detroit childhood collecting of Red Wings and other NHL teams’ memorabilia in the 1950s.
In olden days the Washington Capitals players were very generous to their fans. They always had enough time to sign cards, photos, team pictures, everything you’d ask them to sign at the Tyson Corner practice facility, before or after the game outside the waiting room at the old Capital Centre, at the hotels they stayed at on the road, or requests by mail. They never said “no” to my three children or their young friends.The Capitals were truly our hockey team both on and off the ice, and we loved them despite their lowly win-loss record for the first ten seasons.Last week at the Kettler Capitals Iceplex, I thought I’d test our present day Capitals to see if their attitude toward the fans had changed with the great success they’re realizing this season. I was worried in these days of “high cost autographs,” our present day Caps might have changed their attitude about signing an autograph for their fans.
I was hoping Brooks Laich would sign an 11x14 canvas photograph and other Capitals would sign some 4x6 photos I had taken for my young grandson’s “TJ” sixth birthday presents.After practice, Capitals players, Brooks Laich, Quintin Lang, Nicklas Backstrom, Jeff Schultz, and Brian Pothier came over to sign autographs graciously for all who wanted them. They turned out to be just like the good old Caps after all.I was pleasantly surprised - and they made TJ a very happy little boy when I gave him his birthday presents this past Sunday. Thank you very much!
Flashback Friday: Henri"The Pocket Rocket"Richard
By ThomAs we start getting our feet wet with this blogging thing, we thought we would add "Flashback Friday." Every Friday we will try to highlight a player from the past. Could be a former Capital as we slowly scan some of Rodger's film negatives or just a player we find interesting. Sometimes, it might just be some interesting memorabilia.
For the first Friday, we are going to start with an authentic autographed Henri "The Pocket Rocket" Richard postcard sent to us by a friend. Henri Richard finished his career the same year our Washington Capitals were born.Rodger grew up watching "The Pocket Rocket" play against his home town Red Wings and I may even have seen him play against the Caps as I attended several games with my father in 74. Not likely though as he only played 16 games that year.Watching the Capitals vs. Lightning tonight and another goal for Knuble! 18 goals in his last 22 games.
All the Caps Back for Spirited Practice Sunday, except the Two Alexes
By Rodger The stands were filled at the Kettler Center Sunday to see the Washington Capitals practice for a couple hours.
Niklaus Backstrom, and Tomas Fleischmann, were back at practice but Captain Alex Ovechkin and Alexander Semin stayed over at Vancouver for Sunday night closing Olympic ceremonies.
It looked like all the Caps are healthy – during the three games preceding the Olympics, Jason Chimera, Shawon Morrison, and Tom Poti were injured and the Caps felt their absence, losing three games in a row.
Coach Boudreau worked the boys hard again, but did spend a large portion of the practice working on plays to clear out the puck out of the defensive zone.
After a pretty grueling practice, Brooks Laich, Bryan Pothier, Jeff Schulz, and Quintin Lang still had time to sign a bunch of autographs for a large number of admiring fans.
See more pictures here and here
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"The Capital Power Play” Celebrates the Caps of Today and Yesterday
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