They come from Sweden, Russia, and across North America, but the idea of playing an NHL game outdoors is bringing the Washington Capitals back to their roots.
“It’s something we did when we were younger, to play outside,” said forward Nicklas Backstrom, who will have family coming from Sweden for the 2011 Winter Classic in Pittsburgh. ““I’m really excited right now, and I think everybody’s excited.”
Backstrom estimated he was 11 or 12 the last time he played outdoors. He said the area where he lived in Sweden didn’t get an indoor rink till he was 13.
Earlier in the offseason, when the Caps acquired D.J. King from St. Louis, I offered some pretty piercing commentary on the necessity of that move. Specifically, I wrote: I thought about [Bradley's] health and welfare looking ahead, and what this trade most especially meant for that. Last season Bradley, a middleweight, was asked by the [...]
Let’s say that like me you approached this offseason as an occasion to distance yourself from hockey a bit, to treat our sport’s summer developments with comparative indifference relative to recent years. First-round flameouts by Cup heavies can breed that. And enduring an all-time hot summer here made thoughts puck tougher to come by. No [...]
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The era of peacenik puck in D.C. has ended. Mercifully. And emphatically. Good riddance. May it never return. Here’s its tally sheet: zero Cups won, one playoff series won (barely), zero opponents intimidated. (Ever.) Now, we’ll try something new, which is actually something old, which is actually something quite intrinsic to hockey. And which is [...]
Jeff Marek among others is reporting that the Capitals have acquired St. Louis Blues’ left wing D. J. King, an enforcer’s enforcer. Jeremy Rutherford, who covers the Blues for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, is reporting that the Caps are sending Stefan Della Rovere the other way in this deal. Additionally, there are reports that the [...]
