DAY 1 OF THE SEASON BEING OVER - BLOGABLES
“While
it might have been Huet's last game in a Capitals jersey -- he is an
unrestricted free agent this summer and likely will be coveted by many
teams -- the status of the Capitals' other netminder no longer appears
to be in doubt."
"Longtime Capital ,
who lost his job to Huet last month, removed his nameplate from his
locker stall after the game. Kolzig, 38, declined to speak to
reporters, but his gesture spoke volumes about his future in
Washington, and with the organization that drafted him in 1989.”
"Bottom
line about the series comes from an astute Flyers fan, who said: "When
your team plays like a hockey team and not a bunch of figure skaters
with padding, you win. Our fans and team didn't beat the Caps up. We
made them men. You're welcome."
"Down the road, the Caps will thank you, Philadelphia, from the bottom of their Game 7 hearts."
"I just told them they gave me the best year of my life," Coach said as his players shed their equipment for the final time this season.
"We have unbelievable team," Ovechkin said. "It was great experience for us to be in playoffs. I think we deserved more."
Onfrozenblog.com
"Lastly,
the coach acknowledged that he’d had a private and very personal
conversation with Olie Kolzig. He didn’t offer much about its
substance, but he did say, “[Kolzig’s] one of the classiest men I’ve
ever met in this game.”
"The goaltender’s Kettler locker, for what it’s worth, still had his nameplate in place."
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
THE END OF THE ROAD…
Thanksgiving
2007 – You could count the games the Caps won since the beginning of
October on one hand. They were essentially getting hammered. Glen
Hanlon, who had been behind the bench building, scheming for a few
years, had had enough time. George McPhee, management and the fans had
had enough.
The Caps got pounded the on Thanksgiving eve 5-1 by
Southeast Division rival Atlanta Thrashers. The next day, while we were
all watching football, cooking and watching SportsCenter, we saw the
Caps make the first move toward a championship since they signed Alex
Ovechkin….They
announced that sunny Thursday that they were bringing up the coach from
the minor league Hershey Bears and he would be behind the helm the day
after Thanksgiving against the mighty Flyers in Philadelphia.
Reg
had his mother and brother had come down from New England the day
before Thanksgiving. No snow this Thanksgiving, just beautiful, clean,
dry, cold weather.
On
Thanksgiving Day, Reg got through making the dinner etc. The three got
through the beautiful day and they all went to Annapolis the day after
Thanksgiving. This turned into a day of dealing with someone who had
battled depression for a very long time.
We all went to
Annapolis that day and it was freezing. Crystal clear, but freezing. We
went up the main street and “Billy” and I went our separate way from KB
while she shopped and went into a local Pub to catch the Caps-Flyers
game that has started at 1 pm.The
Caps were looking good. REAL good. What had happened since their
thrashing Thankgiving Eve? Who knows, but we had a few pints of
Guinness that day to it anyways. KB eventually came in and had one with
us and watched the end of a 4-3 win that seemed somewhat insignificant
but ended up being a turning point of the year.
The Caps won and KB went into her dark side…
We
went back from Annapolis to Bethesda only to see the deterioration of a
someone who had struggled too much in life and was not able to take it.
This
time though, I would not take it. I brought them to the airport that
night, hours after the Caps had just made a turning point in a season,
and sent them on a flight to New England.
April 22 - The
Washington Caps had desperately built themselves up from the last place
team in the league at Thanksgiving to scrounge the last and final spot
in the playoffs on the final day of the regular season knocking off the
once Hartford Whalers, the now Carolina Hurricanes, to find themselves
playing, once again, the Philadelphia Flyers.
This time the end
had come. After fighting and fighting… the Caps found themselves just
shy of reaching the potential that was in front of them. Still, they
have come a million miles from where they had been and have bushel full
of years to reach the Cup!
A couple toasts to the Caps!
“May the best day of your past be the worst day of your future.”
“May you get all your wishes but one, so you always have something to strive for.”
And
“The future is not ours to know, and it may never be- so let us live and give our best and give it lavishly!”
And to KB. That she find peace however and wherever that may be.
It was great run. Let’s leave at that for now…
SUPER TUESDAY....AGAIN
OBAMA AND CLINTON DUKE IT OUT IN PENNSYLVANIA
PENNSYLVANIA COMES TO DC (Flyers at Caps 7 PM EST)
Monday, April 21, 2008
CAPS FIND NEW LIFE , GOING TO GAME 7
The
Flyers not only blew a 3-1 lead in games but blew game 6 with the Caps
on their death knell when they were up 2-0 on the Caps.
When the
tide turned, the Great 8 delivered the final 2 death blows to the
Flyers who looked more like the lumbering Drago than Rocky in their own
building.
The Caps got a little luck from Lady Luck in the
beginning of the third period with the scored knotted and Huet saw a
shot in tight ring off the upper part of the bar.
Be ready for a war in game 7 tomorrow night in DC.
END OF THE RAINBOW FOR BRUINS
Reg
didn’t think the B’s would win more than 2 games never mind 3. In the
end the power of the Habs proved too much. Montreal blasted the Bruins
on home ice 5-0 to move on to the Conference Semifinals.
For Deaner - Swords, Slugs, Stabs
Saturday, April 19, 2008
CAPS PULL WITHIN 1, SPECIAL TEAMS ARE THE ANSWER
The Caps pulled out game 5 with 3-2 score. Reg liked the fact that they a) were never down, b) actually got up by 2 twice, c) did not get scored upon in last or first minute of a period, d) Special teams were great and e) Huet was awesome again.
The only not so great thing was that sfter the Caps scored goal 2 and 3, the Flyers managed score back within seconds.
In any case, the Caps shutdown the taco stand in the end and put themselves into a game 6 in Philly on Monday night - right where they should be.
THE BRUINS ARE DOIN IT, THE DUCKS HAVE DONE IT, TIME FOR THE CAPS
Teams are making comebacks from 3-1 deficits
From THE POST
Caps 3-1 Down, but Say They're Not Out of It
Team Has Thrived in Underdog Role This Season
By Tarik El-Bashir
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, April 19, 2008; E01
The
Washington Capitals have been overcoming long odds since November. Now
they must do it one more time to advance to the second round of the
playoffs for the first time in a decade.
After Thursday's 4-3
double-overtime defeat in Philadelphia, the Capitals trail the Flyers
three games to one in the Eastern Conference quarterfinals. Of the 223
teams that have faced a 3-1 deficit, only 20 have rallied to win a
best-of-seven series.
Those are long odds. But if any team is
experienced in beating them, it would be the Capitals, who rebounded
from a franchise-worst 6-14-1 start in November, then won their final
seven games to clinch a playoff berth on the last day of the regular
season.
Embracing that underdog mentality, forward Brooks Laich
said, was the theme of yesterday's team meeting at Kettler Capitals
Iceplex. The Capitals face elimination this afternoon at Verizon Center.
Coach
Bruce Boudreau "talked about it this morning, that we've been in this
position before," Laich said. "He talked about how people have counted
us out. They have wrote us off, saying it's been a good push, it's been
a good story. Some people are waiting for us to die. We don't feel like
that in here. We feel we still have a lot to give. We think this is
going to be a long series still."
Said Boudreau: "If we look at
it as just going out and winning Game 5, it's not like it's a situation
we haven't been in before. We're used to it."
"I've got a
favorite saying: The things that are the most rewarding are the things
that people say you can't do in life," Boudreau added. "Down the
stretch, no one said we could make the playoffs. Well, here we are."
Ironically,
Boudreau's team is facing elimination one game after putting forth its
best effort of the postseason, one in which the 13 Capitals making
their NHL playoff debut finally appeared to figure out what it takes to
win in April.
The power play went 2 for 16 in the first three
games but struck twice in the first period Thursday on goals by Nicklas
Backstrom and Alexander Semin, both of whom had been shut out in the
series. The Capitals also out-hit the Flyers, 38-29, and committed
fewer giveaways (16 to Philadelphia's 24). In the first three games,
they committed a combined 43 giveaways to the Flyers' 23. The Capitals
also received stellar goaltending from Cristobal Huet, who made 42
saves to rebound from mediocre performances -- by his own standards --
in the first three games of the series.
"It was the first game I
thought we played at the level I believe we can play at," Boudreau
said. "I think we can play better. It's like Rocky getting knocked down
eight times and realizing he's still in the fight, he's not knocked out
yet. We're going to fight until we get knocked out."
Flyers Coach John Stevens also noticed a change in the Capitals' intensity level.
"They
certainly came out and made a very concerted effort early," he told
reporters yesterday. "They were physical, they got pucks to the net
right away, their power play scored two in the first period. They did a
lot of things they wanted to do."
But to avoid the knockout punch, the Capitals still have some areas in which they must improve, individually and as a team.
First
and foremost, they need Alex Ovechkin, the NHL's leading scorer during
the regular season, to start scoring again. He still is struggling to
escape Flyers defenseman Kimmo Timonen's suffocating coverage, a point
underscored Thursday when only one of his 10 shot attempts found its
way on net. Ovechkin has one goal and four assists (two of which are
secondary assists on the power play) in his first playoff series.
"His
bar is set so high, people are expecting miracles from him," Boudreau
said of Ovechkin. "The longer the series goes, the more chance it's
going to happen, that he's going to break out."
The Capitals'
defense also must find a way to slow the Flyers' top line of Vaclav
Prospal, Daniel BriГЁre and Scott Hartnell. The trio has a combined 15
points and a plus-minus rating of plus-eight, led by BriГЁre's five
goals.
Though most of them are too young to remember, the
Capitals rallied from a 3-1 series deficit once before -- in 1988
against the Flyers in the Patrick Division semifinals, winning on Dale
Hunter's overtime goal in Game 7. It's the only time the franchise has
won a seven-game series.
When told that only 20 teams have come back from 3-1 down, defenseman Steve Eminger said, "Why not 21?"
Friday, April 18, 2008
Caps Lose Barnburner, However Do Not Lose Hope
Great effort last night. Unfortunate loss. However…
REASONS WHY WE CAN…OR RATHER - WILL!
1. 20 Years Ago...1987-88....In their first round playoff series with the Washington Capitals, the Flyers blew a 3–1 series lead as Washington forced a Game 7. They then blew a 3–0 lead in Game 7 as Washington won in overtime 5–4.
The list will continue throughout the day…
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
SPECIAL SERIES:
SPRINGFIELD JUNIOR GONGSHOW
CAPS DROP GAME 3 IN PHILLY -
STUPIDITY DOES NOT WORK
(Hint: Clock management. Think Gibbs/Washington Redskins. If they knew how to do it, the Caps could have won 3-2.)
The
Caps did not need to lose game 3 last night. They get down early and
tie the thing up with less than 2 minutes to go in the first period.
Should have walked off even right? Lockdown, play it safe, start up
again in the next period.
No.
Caps manage to get pumped for 2 within a 20 second span both with less than 1:30 left in the first period.
Intermission 1: Caps 1, Flyers 3
Caps
pull off a pp goal. It's 3-2. Good work boys. Things get scrappy and
there's a 4 on 4 situation with a minute left in the period. Danny
Briere knocks into Huet and he feels he needs to be Rocky Balboa and
punch him in the back of the head (I understand). 4 on 3 for the last
minute of period 2. Thanks Huet. :09 Briere buries. Stupid.
Intermission 2: Caps 2, Flyers 4
Caps
again inch themselves back with a controversial goal after review from
Toronto. Score's 4-3 with 4 mins and change left...Not for long, 2
minutes and change left Caps get burned for a breakaway that Huet stops
but the Refs feel a makeup call is in order. Penalty shot. Goal. 5-3.
Empty Netter of course.
Game over: Caps 3, Flyers 6
Stupid, stupid, stupid.
Monday, April 14, 2008
WANT TO WRITE A STORYLINE?....... !6gnTi_SAPE_!
1998 - 2008, A DECADE OF TRANSFORMATION
You
know what it is. It's being written as we breathe. I dare not write it
yet though. I will hold it until it either happens... The story is
going to be amazing and is going to create an energy in a place that is
always cynical, always bickering and give hope to kids playing hockey
across this country, and its leader comes from a place we could never
have expected when we grew up in the 80s....
To be continued...
