It was bound to happen...

If you have any sort of interest in the Washington Capitals, you are no doubt already aware of the fact that there are a good twenty or so blogs out there already devoted to the team, most of them top-notch establishments. It is for that very reason that I have refrained from setting one up in my own little corner of the Internet. With so many voices already talking, there probably isn't much I can add to the conversation. But the truth is, I have a lot to say, regardless of whether or not someone else has already said it.

Given that fact, and the fact that I am constantly endeavoring to keep this here Opossum-Palooza free of my overt biases and predispositions, I've finally given in and launched myself a little Capitals-centric blog. No, I'm not necessarily proud of myself for it. Frankly, I feel kind of dirty. But I am excited, especially since the nice folks at Google are letting me use the new Blogger Beta to put it together, meaning a much snappier look than we've got going on here at the O-P.

So head on over to The Kevin Hatcher Fan Club (Important Disclaimer: Not an actual fan club). In my first two days as an honest to goodness Caps blogger, I've already recapped some games, made my all-star picks and even revisited the issue of wider ice surfaces in the NHL, something I looked at here back in May. I hope you enjoy it.

Notes From a Night of Hockey - 11/24/06

That's right. I'm back, and so are my mildly amusing, possibly nauseating NHL recaps. Have fun with them.

Toronto 7 - Washington 1
There was much euphoria in Caps Land after the melee that was the final minute and a half of Wednesday night's game. Lost in all the excitement, however, was the fact that punches, while often fun to watch, are neither an effective nor a legal method of propelling the puck into the opposing team's net. Sticks, as Toronto so ably demonstrated, are still the go-to implements. Fear not though. As ably predicted by yours truly, the Maple Leafs will have trouble scoring goals all year.

NY Islanders 3 - Pittsburgh 1
Islanders owner Charles Wang is insane. This has nothing to do, as near as I can tell, with the outcome of tonights game, its just good to know. Because apparently crazy is good on Long Island, where the local hockey team is riding high, winning five of their last seven and even nearly selling out the decrepit Nassau Coliseum. Rick DiPietro, for one night at least, made him look slightly less crazy, however, justifying his absurd contract by nearly shutting out the Crosby-less Penguins.

Minnesota 4 - Phoenix 0
Congratulations to Wild goaltender Niklas Backstrom, who, in addition to having virtually the same name as Capitals 2006 first round pick Nicklas Backstrom, recorded his first career NHL shutout, an exciting accomplishment. In all fairness though, the Coyotes really suck.

Philadelphia 3 - Columbus 2
The Ken Hitchcock era has officially begun in Columbus, so if you have any friends who happen to be Blue Jackets fans, you should probably keep them away from things like rope and sharp objects for a little while. As the Flyers fan sitting next to me at Verizon Center so keenly understated, "We're not too good this year." They are, however, good enough to beat their former coach.

Other NHL Action
Carolina 5 - Boston 1
Anaheim 4 - New Jersey 2
Ottawa 6 - Florida 4
St. Louis 3 - Detroit 2 (SO)
Montreal 2 - Buffalo 1 (OT)
Tampa Bay 3 - Atlanta 2 (OT)
Dallas 5 - Los Angeles 3
Edmonton 5 - Chicago 1

Donald Brashear Will Break Your Face

Ted Leonsis, majority owner of the Washington Capitals, recently defended his team against allegations that it lacked any identity and was soft. That was yesterday. Apparently, Caps coach Glen Hanlon reads Ted's blog.

If you still think the Capitals are a soft team, I suggest you have a talk with Vitaly Vishnevski. I was going to make Vishnevski's name a link to a picture of his blood stained visage after his run in with Donald Brashear, but, sadly, I was unable to find one. Thusly, the joke is sort of lost. Rest assured, if you missed tonight's 4-2 Atlanta win, that Vishnevsky (for lack of a better term) got the shit beat out of him by The Donald, as did several other Thrashers. (By other Caps, I mean. Brashear is only one man.) The moral of the story? Do not fuck with the Washington Capitals.

As an aside: Hello, everybody. Nice to see you again. I have tomorrow off in honor of our Pilgrim brethren, and I intend to use that day to explain myself and my absence from this here blog. Assuming I don't end up passed out on somebody's couch. Or floor.

O-P Field Trip: Verizon Center

As you may have noticed, I've been MIA the past week. A combination of a busy week at work and an inadequate Verizon DSL connection have conspired to keep you from experiencing my unique brand of humor. Or, at the very least, it's kept me from posting anything. To make up for it, I bring you this Very Special Entry: An officially sanctioned Opossum-Palooza Field Trip. (To find out how you can get your field trip sanctioned by the O-P, email opossum-palooza@hotmail.com.) This time around, the field trippers were myself and sometimes contributor DefDude. The occasion was Alex Ovechkin Calder Trophy (pictured) Tribute Night.

I could now go ahead and bore you with stories about the tribute ceremony (pointless photo-op followed by a pretty good video montage of Ovechkin's first season highlights) or stories of the game itself (a frustrating 4-3 overtime loss to the Atlanta Thrashers, for details go here), but I won't. Instead I will spend some time discussing the man in the Alex Ovechkin sweater sitting at the end of the row in front of us. We were lucky enough to be sitting in a section (430) with some most excellent Capitals fans who were knowledgable, funny and overall entertaining to be around. This man, however, was not any of those things. We knew we were in for some trouble when he was screaming at the people in front of him for moving to their seats while play was going on (fair point, but there are nicer ways of saying it than "Jesus, I paid good money for these seats! Sit the fuck down!"). He then proceeded to scream every single uninformed, ignorant thing you would expect to hear from someone who has almost no knowledge of the game. Whether it was trying to convince Alex Semin to shoot the puck (right before Semin made a gorgeous pass to Jamie Heward for a tap-in goal), or screaming at the Caps for not hitting more, the man could not have been any more obnoxious if he tried. The best part, however, was when, while play was still going, he pulled out his cell phone and started yammering away. The cell phone, of course, was decorated with a Number 8. No, not that number eight. That number eight. In an unfortunate turn of events, he also had a young boy of about eight or nine (whom I can only assume was his son) with him. They both left at the end of regulation, rather than stay and watch overtime.

But enough whining about the bad fans, let's get on with the pictures:

The view from our seats.

The commemorative coin. In very nice packaging.

DefDude, DefDude's unfortunate facial hair, and Alex Ovechkin's Calder Trophy.

What can I say? I was in a "take pictures of trophies" kind of mood.

Sadly, the poor digital zoom on my camera phone didn't allow me to get good pictures of "Fatty McGee" (DefDude's nickname of the jerk at the end of the row) or the clever gentleman with the number 69 jersey sitting a few rows in front of us. So this will have to be enough for you. I leave you with this, possibly the worst picture of me ever taken:

Notes from a Night of Hockey - 10/05/06

New York Rangers 5 - Washington Capitals 2
If the Rangers play an early season game the same day both NY baseball teams have playoff games, does it make a sound? Brendan Shanahan scored his 599th and 600th career goals to lead New York in their opening night victory. Jaromir Jagr added a goal (just thirty seconds into the game) and an assist as well and the Rangers showed why many experts are (inexplicably) picking them to do big things this year. Last year's Rookie of the Year Alex Ovechkin was pretty silent, but Alex #2, Alexander Semin, provided a money shot (sorry) in his return to the Capitals after spending two years in Russia.

Toronto Maple Leafs 6 - Ottawa Senators 0
"[The Leafs] are likely to have trouble scoring goals all year." Who said that? Darcy "The Sparkplug" Tucker lead a suddenly potent Maple Leafs offense with two power play goals to go with Chad "The Firestarter" Kilger's two tallies. Captain Mats Sundin also contributed a goal and an assist as the Leafs incited an early season goaltending controversy in Ottawa, with Ray Emery coming on to relieve Martin Gerber and giving up just one goal in a little over a period of work.

Pittsburgh Penguins 4 - Philadelphia Flyers 0
Round One of the Battle of Pennsylvania goes to Pittsburgh in convincing fashion. Day One of the Battle of the Sophmore Superstars goes to Sidney Crosby, who recorded a goal and an assist. Michel Oullet also had the one and one, and goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury (no relation to Theo) had forty saves in a shutout performance. New Pens owner Jim Balsillie (pronounced "Ball-Silly") (I hope) was in attendance. The Philadelphia power play unit, apparently, was not.

Chicago Blackhawks 8 - Nashville Predators 6
I have nothing to say about this. I just wanted to make sure everyone was aware that this game ended with a score of 8-6. That's more goals than the total of runs in the Mets and Yankees playoff games combined.

Other Scores:
Vancouver 3 - Detroit 1
Tampa Bay 3 - Atlanta 2 (SO)
Minnesota 3 - Colorado 2 (SO)
Edmonton 3 - Calgary 1
Phoenix 6 - NY Islanders 3
San Jose 5 - St. Louis 4 (OT)

Countdown to Faceoff

Now that the Capitals have opened the season it is time to completely erase any memory of tonight's game and look forward to Saturday night. I haven't been inside Verizon Center since April 28th, and I haven't seen a hockey game there since even before that. So to say that I am excited would be a bit of an understatement (DC Caps Chick pretty much sums up my feelings on the return of hockey).

Now the only issue is: What to do before the game? My friend (who will be experiencing only the second hockey game of his life) has work and won't arrive until right before game time, but I fully intend to put a few alcoholic beverages in me before passing into the World of $8 Beers. If there are any other Caps bloggers out there who are planning on coming downtown for any sort of pre-game festivities, let me know. There's still a comment section here, and you can also e-mail oppossum-palooza@hotmail.com. Or just look for me there, I'll be the guy drinking by himself at the tiny Thai-Mexican fusion joint below the movie theater until five minutes before game time. They have just the most fascinating bar stools.

NHL Preview: Washington Capitals

In light of the fact that I am now way behind on the NHL previews, I'm doing two in one day today. Which brings us to part fifteen of our thirty part series. In this case, that means it's finally time for me to preview my favorite team, the Washington Capitals. (Because of the technical difficulty induced delay, Eric at Off Wing Opinion already beat me to this, but still read mine anyway.)

Back in 1972, when the Washington Senators packed up and moved to Texas, the Nation's Capital was faced with a serious quandary. The Senators' departure left a gaping hole in the local sports landscape, which suddenly found itself without a comically bad team to be the butt of everybody's jokes. The Washington Bullets were consistent playoff contenders just six years away from their first (and currently only) NBA championship, and the Redskins had just reached Super Bowl VII under head coach George Allen. Luckily for DC sports fans everywhere, the Washington Capitals played their first season in 1974-75 and saved them from the torture of having only to succesful teams to root for, going 8-67-5 in their inaugural year (a mark that still stands as the all time record for the worst record in an NHL season).

The Capitals' reign as the biggest joke in Washington sports lasted somewhere between eight and ten years (depending on who you ask) before they handed the mantle over to the Bullets. In 1983, they made the playoffs for the first time, and continued to do so for seventeen of the next twenty seasons before missing the 1997 playoffs (They made up for it by going all the way o the Stanley Cup Finals in 1998). But don't let a string of playoff appearances fool you. For all their regular season success, the Capitals rarely made it past the first round of the playoffs, usually as a result of a horrible, heartbreaking loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins. In fact, out of eighteen playoff appearances, the Capitals only advanced to the third round of the playoffs only twice.

The long term results of the team constantly hovering just below "great" but just above "mediocre" meant that they weren't bad enough to earn high draft picks, but they weren't good enough to attract premier players. That all changed when current owner Ted Leonsis purchased the team in 1999 and began binging on high-priced free agents, ultimately culminating in the spectacular disaster that was the 2003-04 season, a season that eventually saw the team trade Jaromir Jagr, Sergei Gonchar, Peter Bondra and then NHL leading scorer Robert Lang. Which is why the team now finds itself once again occupying the throne of "Worst Team in DC". With a team stocked mostly with rookies and journeymen, the Capitals finished 2006 with fourth worst record in the NHL.

The outlook for the Caps isn't all gloom and doom, though. If you've payed even the slightest bit of attention to the hockey highlights on Sportscenter (I realize you probably haven't) you know about last year's Rookie of the Year Alex Ovechkin. Perhaps the best young players the NHL has seen since Wayne Gretzky took the ice for the Edmonton Oilers, Ovechkin single-handedly won several games for the Caps last year, and should show marked improvement this year. Helping him out will be Alexander Semen, returned from his "compulsory military service" in Russia, and fan favorite Richard Zednik, who returns to the Caps after three years in Montreal. The added firepower should help to take some pressure of Ovechkin, allowing him to really flourish.Being the unabashed homer that I am, the Caps are my pick to surprise everyone by making a run at the playoffs during the 2006-07 season.

When it comes to Capitals blogging, you've got a whole slew of options. Be sure to check out Japer's Rink, Capital Punishment, Bleatings From a Caps Nut, Puckhead's Thoughts and A View From the Cheap Seats. If that's not enough, don't forget that DCSportsChick is a very respectable Caps fan, and Off Wing Opinion, being based locally, tends to give the Caps more than their fair share of coverage as well. Last but not least, don't forget to check out Caps owner Ted Leonsis' blog, Ted's Take.

Another Ovechkin Highlight Reel

For the football fans here, I pose this question: In a situation in which a running back finds himself one-on-one with a defender. Would you be more excited to see the runner A) make a spectacular spin move that causes the defender to become confused and fall down B) lower his shoulder and level the defender to the ground?

I ask this not because I have anything relevant to say about football, but because, sometimes, I like to use other sports as analogies when I talk too much about hockey. If you liked Option A, go back a few posts, and view the beautiful video. However, if you like Option B (it's also okay to like both), check out this highlight reel. Please keep in mind that both videos feature the same player.

(Disclaimer: Unfortunately, this was the best Ovechkin hit reel I could find. I'm quite pleased with it except for the accompanying music. I strongly encourage you to turn the sound off.)

Sadly, This Is the Best We Can Come Up With

We're in a bit of a rut here at the Opossum-Palooza, and we apologize. To make it up to you, please enjoy this video of Washington Capitals winger Alexander Semin scoring an absurdly pretty goal. (I know this doesn't really make up for anything, as I'm sure most of our readers don't give a whit about hockey.) Semin (Siobhan: "Semin. Heh") was with the Caps briefly during the 2003-04 season, then played the past two seasons in Russia. He will be returning to DC this year. As the video will show, it should be quite exciting. If you're in to that sort of thing.



(As an aside, I would just like to say that any and all jokes pertaining to Alexander's last name are encouraged. So long as Siobhan doesn't beat you to it.)

On a not entirely related note, the more I discover things like this, the more I grow to love UniWatch.

Welcome Home, Richard

Ordinarily, offseason stuff doesn't really interest me. I can't be bothered to keep track of who is signing where and what players are getting traded. If its not happening on the field (or, in my case, the ice) I just can't bring myself to care. As such, I hadn't planned on talking about any offseason NHL stuff on the blog, but today, something glorious happened.

The Washington Capitals traded a second round pick in the 2007 draft for RW Richard Zednik. Zednik was a fan favorite in Washington until he was traded, along with Jan Bulis, to the Montreal Canadiens at the trade deadline in 2001. To this day, I can still tell you exactly where I was when I heard the news that he had been traded (In a car headed north on Georgia Ave, at the intersection of Georgia and Shorefield Rd in Wheaton). At the time, it seemed like a terrible trade, netting only a washed up Trevor Linden and a prospect named Dainius Zubrus, neither of whom contributed much to the teams 1st round playoff exit at the hands of the Pittsburgh Penguins. However, here we are five years later, and Zubrus has finally developed into a pretty good player (with a lot of help from his more notable linemate) and it doesn't seem so bad, especially as he is now one of the longest tenured, most well-respected vetrans on the team. (Siobhan's Note: Dainius Zubrus. Jesus, I wonder what's Lithuanian for "I'd hit it.") Hopefully, this means a chance to see a line consisting of Ovechkin-Zubrus-Zednik, if only because I could call it the OZZ line. Because I like pointless acronyms. And goal scoring.

Once again, much thanks to DCSportsChick for the heads up on this one.

EDIT: It was actually a third round pick. I guess I just put too much value on Richard Zednik.

Saying Goodbye

As sad as I was to see Steve Yzerman retire, I'm probably more sad to see that Jeff Halpern signed with the Dallas Stars. Halpern had spent several seasons as the Caps' captain, and was a great guy to have around. He was a fan favorite just as much for his status as "local boy making good" (Halpern is a native of Potomac, MD) as his play on the ice.

And therein lies the rub. His play on the ice was never all that great. He got away with alot because of his local hero status, and I applaud George McPhee for doing the right thing and letting him go. Especially if the reports that his contract was for $8 million over four years.

The Good Old Days

Because sometimes, during the NHL offseason, I get bored, I decided to do a little YouTube hunting and found what is possibly my favorite television commercial of all time. When I compare this to the current "myNHL" campaign, it makes me sad.

Superstition

I can totally relate to this.

Ever since I was born, I have never gone a full NHL season without attending at least one Capitals game. Only one time did I ever come close to breaking this streak: In 1998, the Capitals entered the Stanley Cup Playoffs as a fourth seed and I figured the streak was bound to end, as I had no plans to attend any first round games (and since when do the Caps make it out of the first round?). Of course, the Caps just kept winning in the playoffs that year, and I will always believe that they did it specifically for the purpose of allowing me the chance to keep my streak alive. I finally got a chance to go to a game on June 2, 1998, Game 5 of the conference finals against Buffalo. A game the Caps lost 2-1. Having finally helped me to accomplish my task of attending a game during the 1997-98 season, they subsequently managed to win just one more game before being swept by the Red Wings in the franchise's only appearance in the Stanley Cup Finals. To this day, there is still a part of me that hasn't forgiven myself for going to that game, as well as a part of me that considers never attending a Capitals game again. At least, not until they've at least won their first Stanley Cup.

And there was much rejoicing.

Finally.

Goal... interrupted

I very nearly didn't attend last night's game between the Carolina Hurricanes and the Washington Capitals, but at the last minute I decided that, regardless of whether or not I actually have the money, it was still worth it to have the chance to see Alex Ovechkin possibly score his 50th goal and his 100th point on the season. He had a first period assist and deflected Brian Willsie's shot from the top of the left circle in the third for his 49th goal and 100th point and MCI... *ahem* Verizon Center went nuts and it made the whole night worth it in spite of the less than desirable outcome.

Then I got home to discover that the official scorer decided he never got a piece of the shot in the 3rd, and the goal was credited to Willsie instead. So depressing.