23 July, 2008

Category Archives: ESPN

ESPY - Best NHL Player

By The OFB Team
Monday, July 7, 2008

Alex Ovechkin has been nominated for yet another award. Alex is looking to add the ESPY for Best NHL Player to his mantle already sporting trophies with the names Ross, Richard, Hard, and Pearson. What makes the ESPY a bit different is that award winners are selected exclusively through an online fan balloting conducted from amongst candidates selected by the ESPY Select Nominating Committee

Voting is set to end this week, so be sure to visit espys.tv and make sure the award does not go to one of the other nominees — Sidney Crosby, Pavel Datsyuk, Jarome Igilna and Evgeni Malkin.

The 2008 ESPY Awards will be held on Sunday, July 20, at the Nokia Theater L.A. Live in Los Angeles and will be hosted by Justin Timberlake.

Filed in Alexander Ovechkin, ESPN, Evgeni Malkin, Hockey, National Hockey League, Sidney Crosby, Washington Capitals| Permalink| Comments (9)

It’s a Good Hair Day in Tampa

By The OFB Team
Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Mama always told you to get a haircut before a job interview, didn’t she? We don’t know if Barry Melrose did that earlier this spring in his meetings with the new owners of the Tampa Bay Lightning, but at his press conference today to announce him as the new Lightning head coach, he looked all cleaned up . . . still mulletted, mind you, but lookin’ spiffy.

Photo by Chris O'Meara/AP

The Southeast division just became a heck of a lot more fun to cover.

Below is the Tampa press conference, followed by ESPN’s Melrose Tribute.

Filed in Barry Melrose, ESPN, Media, National Hockey League, Southeast Division, Tampa Bay Lightning, Washington Capitals| Permalink| Comments (6)

Father’s Day Lesson for the Sports Junkie

By OrderedChaos (Mike Rucki)
Monday, June 16, 2008

ESPN writer (and Detroit Red Wings fan, and general sports addict) LZ Granderson wrangles with his 11-year-old son’s request to stop playing organized sports. Not directly hockey-related, but a thoughtful article worth checking out here.

Filed in Detroit Red Wings, ESPN| Permalink| Comments (1)

A Weekend To Honor (Sort of) Mullet Men

By The OFB Team
Saturday, May 31, 2008

Word leaked out yesterday that ESPN’s Barry Melrose was departing the TV studio and returning to the bench in the NHL, in Tampa. The Tampa media today appears to have verified the stunning news. We’re stunned. It’s been 13 years since Melrose coached in the NHL; the league has changed dramatically in that time, and while Melrose has monitored it nightly from his studio perch, that’s not the same as being in an organization and working day in, day out with league pros from scouts to GMs to equipment guys. And unlike a print beat guy traveling around with a team, Melrose has been holed up in a Connecticut TV studio the past decade plus.

On the plus side, the transition seriously deals a virtual deathblow to ESPN’s hockey coverage, such as it is. Given the prevalence of startling young talent in the remade NHL, one enjoying best-of-the-decade TV ratings and best-ever revenues, what a time to be the WorldWide Missing in Action in This Sport. What must John Buccigross be thinking right about now?

Making matters even more surreal, there’s word that Melrose will be paid a cool $2 million in salary next season. The ‘Bolts will transfer to new owner Oren Koules next month, and the scuttlebutt around the league is that the new owner wants to make a big splash upon his arrival. But is this a belly flop of a buzz generator? What must Vinny Lecavalier and Marty St. Louis be thinking these days?

The situation is doubly bizarre because the ‘Bolts have yet to relieve Head Coach John Tortorella of his duties. But it appears to be a done deal. World of this novelty dates back to April.

We confess: we can’t wait for Tampa’s first visit to Verizon Center next season, for a chance to be among the media contingent covering the thoughts of hockey’s most famous mullet.

In the meantime, we’re gonna acknowledge this weird news in fitting fashion, with a weekend-long celebration of hockey’s dishonorable ‘do. All four of us pledge not to cut a single strand of hair during. Tell us who you think possesses the all-time most infamous business up front, party out back ‘coif.

Filed in Barry Melrose, ESPN, Hockey Rituals, John Buccigross, Media, Mullets, Tampa Bay Lightning| Permalink| Comments (4)

Melrose Mullet Migration?

By OrderedChaos (Mike Rucki)
Friday, May 30, 2008

Barry MelroseWant to coach the Tampa Bay Lightning? Slick back your hair, throw on a suit, and you’re good to go.

According to Damian Cox of The Star, it seems Barry Melrose and his mullet have been lured from the broadcast booth to behind the bench, replacing current Lightning Head Coach and fellow hair-product aficionado John Tortorella. While no official announcement has yet been made, Cox deems Melrose-to-Tampa a done deal. Read more about it here.

Filed in Barry Melrose, ESPN, National Hockey League, Tampa Bay Lightning| Permalink| Comments (1)

Bucci Gets a Little Overexcited

By OrderedChaos (Mike Rucki)
Thursday, May 29, 2008

1980 = 2008? Nope.In his latest bout of Penguin love (hmm, I suppose that phrase could generate some non-traditional search hits), ESPN columnist and host John Buccigross drew some questionable comparisons, including the “almost joyless” Detroit Red Wings’ resemblence to the 1980 Soviet Red Army team, and the Pittsburgh Penguins’ potentially miraculous victory potential. Here’s the excerpt that boiled my blood:

If the Penguins are somehow able to win these finals, dubbing it “Miracle on Ice 2″ would not be hyperbole.

What a ridiculous statement. 1980’s Team USA were huge underdogs — a team filled with college kids rather than first-round NHL talent. Practically no one picked them to medal, let alone win the Gold, and certainly nobody other than Coach Brooks and his team thought they could beat the Soviets.

In 2008, many people picked the Penguins to win the Stanley Cup, including Buccigross. Perhaps the Pens were slight underdogs to the Wings; it’s also true that a Cup-clinching comeback from their 0-2 start would be impressive indeed.

But even if the Penguins manage to win the Cup this year, calling it “Miracle on Ice 2″ would be more than just hyperbole; it would be a joke, a travesty, something blurted by a die-hard homer rather than someone who actually follows and respects the sport. Buccigross, one would think, should know better.

Filed in Detroit Red Wings, ESPN, John Buccigross, Pittsburgh Penguins| Permalink| Comments (16)

Does Hockey Really Need TV?

By pucksandbooks
Tuesday, May 20, 2008

By now, you’ve probably read accounts of hockey enjoying a significant spike in the sport’s television ratings recently. No doubt you also know of (and admire) hockey’s embrace of alternative media. That union has been a fusion of opportunism, technology, and desperation. Generally, it seems to be working.

Still, we’re three years into the Crosby-Ovechkin Era, and even with the promise of hockey benefitting dramatically — perhaps moreso than any other sport — from high definition television, there are durable limitations posing a serious ceiling on Television America’s embrace of our frozen game.

One is geography. Climate, while not metaphysically determinative in the matter, nonetheless plays a lead role in forging many puckheads’ attachments to the game. The other is the physical parameters and pacing at play. Football with its rectangular field, allowing many varying camera angles, and regular stops in the action, doesn’t merely allow television a foothold in its event but actually, in its modern incarnation, is determined by it. Or perhaps you’ve missed the past twenty Super Bowls.

But think about the hockey rink, which necessarily with its dasher boards shields three-and-a-half feet of action from the camera eye and many spectators seated low-in-the-bowl. Its oval, walled- and netted-in configuration just isn’t super fan friendly, relative to the playing fields and surfaces of other sports. It ever has to be so.

This week, freshly considering this reality, aware of a new and fabulous North American fascination with the untelevised World Championships, and aware of film increasingly relying on viral marketing, I wondered: just how much does hockey really need TV?

Can hockey go Cloverfield?

Something fantastically viral transpired with these Worlds. True, North American hockey hearts could welcome them into their lives as not before because of their arrival in Canada, and their being contested in North American time zones. But in Washington at least, it seemed to me that many, many more followed this tournament than in recent years past.

They were able to because of the arrival of the World Championship Sports Network. You plunked down $5 and you got about 50 world-class hockey games broadcast on your computer. On demand, too. Folks like me on regular business travel could carry our laptops along on trips and catch the Worlds in our world of airport terminals, bars Wi-Fi, or hotel rooms.

We in D.C. didn’t want to surrender high-level hockey when we were forced to last month, and when in prelude exhibition play for the Worlds word filtered out (virally) that Russia’s top line was comprised entirely of Washington Capitals, a fair number of folks in this region found a storyline they wanted to follow a bit.

In years past, I don’t recall hockey fans clogging my in-box with reactions to the Worlds they were unable to view. They couldn’t. Also in years past, if I wanted some reaction forum on the tournament I was pretty much confined to the tournament message board at hockeysfuture. This spring there was vibrant commentary on the Worlds on the Caps’ official message boards; in comments left here and on other Washington hockey blogs; and perhaps most tellingly, on the media blogs of the Caps’ beat reporters in town.

Now consider, too, the behemoth ESPN’s role in hockey’s rather robust return from its labor stoppage of a few years back. Which is: nothing. People still snicker at the agreement the NHL has with Versus, but the league’s revenues keep on growing. Somehow word is getting out about great hockey being played these days.

Moreover, hockey’s roots in the broadcast medium are with iconic, culture-defining radio personalities (Foster Hewitt) as opposed to John Madden- or Howard Cosell-type mega personalities on TV. I find that charming. And telling.

I’m still fascinated by the X-Files-like thought of Comcast one day rising up and challenging ESPN’s dominance. But if that never happens, if hockey is never accorded a seat at the broadcast dining room table by the usual suspects, is that so bad? It will always have regionalized television coverage. The league’s dedicated channel is a hit with its fans. Its universe of supporters on line grows by the week — and it appears to be broadening internationally, too — and they’re distinctly engaged. And I’m sure the league and its visionary, new media marketers like Leonsis are by no means exhausted of their ideas for broadening further sports’ fans interest in hockey.

Still, what a lovely virus we have at the moment.

Filed in ESPN, Hardcore Hockey Fans, Hockey Night in Canada, Hockey Rinks, IIHF, Media, Morning cup-a-joe, National Hockey League, Radio, TV, World Championships| Permalink| Comments (3)

A Blogging Error of Postseason Inexperience

By pucksandbooks
Saturday, April 12, 2008

Seating Chart - Game 1I made a grievous mistake in judgment this week, and it adversely impacted OFB on perhaps this site’s most important day of existence. We worked closely and well with the Capitals’ media staff to try and position ourselves to continue to bring you the feeling of hockey as we feel it from within Verizon Center, but you may have heard: the Capitals this week fielded upwards of 250 requests for press credentials for Friday night. Contrast that with what Tarik yesterday reported being the coverage corps for a Caps’ game around Thanksgiving: about a dozen. In a media environment far less fashionable than Friday night’s, two of us from OFB get credentialed so that we can deliver both words and images/video here, but at week’s start, sensing a very changed hockey culture here, I informed my OFB colleagues that we might be lucky to get just one of us in the Verizon Center press box for Game 1. Turns out, even that forecast was optimistic.

To accommodate so massive a media surge, the Capitals communicated to us their need to create an overflow area for working press — in the media lounge, downstairs, well away from the madness. That may have made for a quieter work environment, but I wanted to work in the madness. Sensing an arrival of a frozen Red Sea perhaps even louder than last week, and wanting to see how red it would be with Philly in town, I wanted to survey and savor it and share my sensory experience with you.

But I also confronted a former daily-journalist-turned-blogger’s dilemma: the men and women who make a living at covering pro sports have an obvious claim to priority access that I don’t. Mr. Leonsis in his new media age vision may not agree, but I made the decision that under such extraordinary access demand burdens, and having been accommodated for two years so uniformly magnificently by the Capitals, I wanted nothing of being headache no. 251 for the club. I could watch the game from home, and blog like others. I rationalized my decision partly on this half-truth of a premise: to the extent that I viewed myself (wrongly) as being shouldered aside by professional old media, that very condition was emblematic of the coverage success I’d sought for the game I cherish in my hometown.

At 6:15 last night, shopping for my playoff game beer and pizza out in the suburbs, believing myself able to transition back to simple, traditional hockey fan with the snap of fingers away from a keyboard, I realized the seriousness of my mistaken judgment. I felt a profound ache at being away from the action, away from working at chronicling it, and it felt awful. Even beer on sale offered no salve.

I should have shoehorned myself into that rink last night, even if I had to try and blog from underneath Abe Pollin’s desk. Rather than adopt the view that this new love affair the press is having with hockey could be an impediment to my coverage calling, I should have embraced it as a fresh challenge. I made a huge mistake. This morning, I owe our readers an apology. At least the good guys got it done!

Initially I lessened my early evening ache a bit by maintaining contact with some friends in the press box via instant message. But then my diminished ache turned to anger. I learned that Friday night’s Washington Post delegation — understandably enlarged — was pork barreled in the press box’s front row with the names of Kornheiser and Wilbon. If I ever get to own a pro hockey team they won’t be allowed in my rink — Friday night was a red-tie party for HockeyWashington, and the two of them have amply demonstrated over years not only disinterest in attending such soirées but ridiculing those who do.

My anger wasn’t directed at their hopping on the hockey media bandwagon — it was that after securing so sought after a set of seats . . . they failed to show up to work the friggin game! Kornheiser may have been cavorting about a luxury box, but he certainly wasn’t working upstairs. His workspace space preserved. Ditto for his partner in the superficial, syntax-challenged, and loud. This is a family blog, and the words I associate with this act of unfathomable arrogance won’t appear here. Maybe they could title their next ESPN podcast, ‘Pardon the Absence.’

Enough about hockey-hating egomaniacs and back-room media matters.

Friday night delivered not just a pulsating, emotionally draining victory over a gritty and skilled opponent but perhaps just as importantly it obliterated any residual concern about the viability of Washington being hockey friendly when it really mattered. A Hockeytown under construction may have a completion date that may have to be bumped up.

The Comcast broadcast went live at 7:00 last night, and at 7:00:30 it was abundantly apparent that the orange-and-blackouts of the past were lodged right there, in history. I don’t quite understand how the Capitals’ sales department managed to make it so pervasively red last night.

But I have Friday night beer leftover for them.

Filed in Blogs, ESPN, Internet, Media, Michael Wilbon, Morning cup-a-joe, National Hockey League, Print, Stanley Cup Playoffs, Tarik El-Bashir, Ted Leonsis, Tony Kornheiser, Washington Capitals, Washington Post| Permalink| Comments (26)

NHL Playoff Prognostications - Blind Man’s Bluff

By OrderedChaos (Mike Rucki)
Tuesday, April 8, 2008

Making predictions in any sport is a challenge—otherwise by now we’d all have bled the Vegas sports books dry and be jetting across North America to attend NHL playoff games. Oh, and I’d purchase a home in St. Lucia for the off-season (got to keep Mrs. OC happy).

We’ve discussed the frequent futility of preseason predictions before; yet, as you’ll see below, some more recent entries are similarly apocryphal, or at least wildly inaccurate. Yet, whether by stroke of luck or true insight, a few Nostradamuses (Nostramii?) hit the mark well enough to think that maybe, just maybe, there’s more to the prognostication game than a bits-and-bytes version of pin the tail on the donkey.

So now, a look back at Capitals-related predictions worthy of praise, as well as those that the authors wish were forgotten.

USA Today’s preseason NHL predictions were predictably awful. Nine of their panel of 10 “experts” awarded the Hart Trophy to Sidney Crosby; the lone trend-bucker picked Roberto Luongo. 10 of 10 were wrong on the Points Leader guess: 7 for Crosby, 3 for Joe Thornton.
None chose Washington to win the Southeast. Granted, the four Carolina picks were reasonable — after all, it was pretty darned close to correct — but not one of the analysts thought the Caps had it in them? Three supposed experts chose Atlanta, two Tampa, and one Florida. All wrong.

Lest we dwell too much on the negative, the Caps were dark-horse favorites for some. The Hockey News’ Adam Proteau was impressively prophetic, picking the Caps as his “worst-to-first division champ.” Proteau’s crystal ball was particularly translucent when he wrote:

Now, coach Glen Hanlon may not survive the season if Washington stumbles out of the gate as it tries to make all the new faces (including potential Calder Trophy candidate Nicklas Backstrom) fit in. Call it a hunch, but I bet they’ll jell into one of the league’s swiftest, most offensively dangerous teams . . . and drop many a jaw in the process.

John Buccigross of ESPN is now firmly aboard the Ovechkin bandwagon. Yet his preseason thoughts, as well as his revised predictions in January, showed little faith in the Capitals, predicting a 14th-place finish in both lists. “Eighty points should be the Capitals’ goal; they had 70 last season and at least they could go into next season knowing they improved.”

Terri Frei, also of ESPN, picked Sidney Crosby, Jaromir Jagr, and Eric Staal as his top three Eastern contenders for the Hart Trophy. Continuing with ESPN analysts but on the plus side of the ledger, Scott Burnside said on September 30, “The Capitals will finish third in the Southeast Division and eighth in the Eastern Conference.” Nice call, Scott.

I hesitate to bring up Hockeybuzz.com, the “entertainment” Web site, since Eklund and company constantly make wild predictions of all kinds with little regard for accountability (unless they get one right, of course). But it is worth noting that, in March, Eklund’s Eastern Conference predictions were still way off. He even used the old trick of making über-exact predictions to imply importance—which, by the way, apparently works when setting the sale price of your home as well.

Yet not one of Eklund’s predicted playoff ranks were correct, despite making the selections with only a month left in the season.

1. NEW JERSEY….108 2. MONTREAL…….107 3. CAROLINA……..101 4. PITTSBURGH….105 5. OTTAWA………..101 (46 WINS) 6. NY RANGERS….101 (43 WINS) 7. BOSTON…………94 8. PHILADELPHIA…88 9. FLORIDA…………85 10. WASHINGTON…84 11. BUFFALO………..83 12. TORONTO……….74 13. NY ISLANDERS..73 14. ATLANTA………..72 15.TAMPA BAY………62

Finally, we end with Sports Illustrated’s Allan Muir, who managed to be dead wrong and absolutely right in sequential paragraphs:

The player who’ll generate more highlight reel moments than anyone not named Crosby: Vincent Lecavalier (Lightning)
Look for the reigning Rocket Richard Trophy-winner to not only improve on last season’s totals — 55 goals sounds about right — but lead the league in those oh-so-close moments that force first-star performances out of opposing goaltenders.

Um . . . no. Lecavalier had a good year, but Ovechkin and Evgeni Malkin surpassed not only Lecavalier but Crosby as well, to the surprise of no one who’d actually watched them play.

Might want to keep a bag packed: Cristobal Huet (Canadiens)
The Habs are young and very promising, but this season will be about building towards that promise, not delivering on it. With Carey Price and Jaroslav Halak set to man the pipes for the next decade, Huet is a luxury with which the Habs can afford to part. His veteran services are likely to be in high demand after Christmas, at which point GM Bob Gainey can cash him in for a few more pieces of the puzzle.

Right on the money about Huet – except GM George McPhee took Gainey to the cleaners, so the return for Huet was less of a puzzle piece and more of an afterthought. And the #1 seed Canadiens may have something to say about “building . . . not delivering” on their promise this year.

Filed in Alexander Ovechkin, ESPN, John Buccigross, Sports Illustrated, The Hockey News, USA Today, Washington Capitals, Washington Post| Permalink| Comments (12)

ESPN’s Scott Burnside Harts Alex Ovechkin

By OrderedChaos (Mike Rucki)
Monday, March 31, 2008

Echoing fellow ESPN writer John Buccigross‘ opinion from last week, Scott Burnside comes down firmly on the side of Ovie for MVP:

The debate over whether Alexander Ovechkin should be awarded the Hart Trophy as the league’s most valuable player has been long and increasingly ponderous.

Every night, Ovechkin continues to distance himself from his competition. Even if his Washington Capitals don’t qualify for the playoffs (if they fall short, it will be by a point or two), Ovechkin is the game’s best player and most important to his team — by a long shot. Ovechkin has kept the Caps within three points of the final playoff berth in the Eastern Conference, he has a five-point gap over countryman Evgeni Malkin in the scoring race and is ahead of countryman Ilya Kovalchuk in the goal-scoring department by a country mile.

Case closed.

Read Burnside’s full article here.

Filed in Alexander Ovechkin, ESPN, John Buccigross, Scott Burnside, Washington Capitals| Permalink| Comments (2)

John Buccigross Doles Out the 2008 NHL Hardware

By OrderedChaos (Mike Rucki)
Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Hart Memorial TrophyESPN columnist John Buccigross published his picks for the NHL’s awards this season. Washington Capitals’ head coach Bruce Boudreau is his Jack Adams runner-up (to Detroit’s Mike Babcock) . . . but here’s Bucci’s pick for the Hart Memorial Trophy:

Alex Ovechkin, Washington Capitals. This is the season of Ovechkin. No. 8 is a gigantic personality; so profound, it lights up the entire sport. With 60 goals and 106 points (through Monday), he has made his linemates better, especially rookie Nicklas Backstrom. Ovechkin plays a ton, averaging 23 minutes a night, and every minute is played with the aura of a freshly lit Christmas tree. He is clearly the MVP. This one isn’t even close, playoffs or not. [OC: emphasis is mine, not Bucci's]

Filed in Alexander Ovechkin, ESPN, John Buccigross, Washington Capitals| Permalink| Comments (4)

When Opposing Fans Go Bad

By DC Sports Chick
Tuesday, February 19, 2008

ESPN’s Terry Frei recently took on the topic of visiting fans. The Caps’ faithful are extremely familiar with this issue, especially when fans from Buffalo, New York, Pittsburgh, or Philadelphia are in the house. Every time I attend a game against one of those teams, I wonder about the masses of opposing fans who retain their loyalty despite living here — is it a sign of D.C.’s transience or a hometown habit? Frei’s take on it asks the question: at what point do the opposing fans merit scorn?

Yeah, sometimes — sometimes, not always — the relocated fans of the “other” team might deserve it. When they cross the line to obnoxiousness…When they come off as fans who might not even have cared as much about (fill in team name) when they lived in (fill in city) until they moved somewhere else and could flaunt their non-native status.

Harsh? Sure, but Frei might have a point. There’s nothing wrong with rooting for your home team, but there’s no need to be obnoxious about it.

Those “visiting team” fans deserve it when they’re obnoxious transplants whose retained childhood or family-roots sports loyalties are part of a more aggravating bigger-picture attitude. That attitude can be summed up as a complete lack of sensitivity or concern about how galling it all can be to natives who in their course of everyday life are reminded at every turn that 87 percent of their metro area can seem to be made up of transplants.

He lost me here. To relate this statement to Washington, while it’s irritating to hear “Let’s Go Rangers” in the Phone Booth, I’m not offended that D.C. is made up of people from other areas (after all, I’m a transplant too). That’s what gives the city a little personality. Plus, I doubt that most natives are so sensitive that they can’t handle the idea that people from other places move to their city.

I will concede there’s nothing wrong with — and it even can add spice to a game — having good-natured fans of the “opposing” team in the seats, and hearing the teasing go back and forth.

This can be one of the best parts of a game. During a Washington-Toronto game several years ago, some deaf Leaf fans and I had a great time taunting each other in sign language. Unfortunately, those types of harmless fan experiences are in the minority when the aforementioned Pittsburgh/Buffalo/New York/Philadelphia fans are in the arena; the good nature goes out the door as they’re walking in. I’m reminded specifically of a classless incident from the final game last season, when I saw two Sabres fans proudly wiping their feet on the Ovechkin giveaway banner. (I was tempted to “accidentally” spill my beer all over them, but then I’d be no better than they were — and I would never waste a beer.) In many ways, fans in cities that don’t see opposing fans take over the arena on a semi-regular basis are fortunate.

This might be the most significant point of all: They’re the most aggravating when their attitudes come with the kicker beliefs that their friends who dare to switch their loyalties to local teams, or have rooted for the local team or teams all along, are saps.

Admittedly, that’s a fair statement. Why someone can’t root for both teams (at least when their hometown team isn’t playing the local team)? Why is there an attitude that the two must be mutually exclusive? Is that really considered selling out?

Yet Frei’s position is a little confusing. Does he mean that every time someone moves to a different NHL city they should root for the local team? That’s just plain silly. Perhaps the distinction comes from the obnoxious opposing fan’s attitude: the smug superiority that nothing compares to the home team, the local team is inadequate, and thus deserving of disrespect. Again, there’s nothing wrong with cheering for the visiting team in someone else’s house, but why be a jerk about it?

Filed in Buffalo Sabres, ESPN, Media, Toronto Maple Leafs, Verizon Center, Washington Capitals| Permalink| Comments (20)

Faith from Our Friends to the North

By The OFB Team
Sunday, February 17, 2008

At long last, the Capitals have gained some respect above the border. Witness the results of a recent poll on TSN.ca:

TSN.ca poll results

It’s a vast improvement from a January 2008 poll on ESPN.com that queried the following:

ESPN.com poll

The Caps still have a lot of work to do in order to win the division, but at least they have the overwhelming support of Canadian hockey fans.

Filed in ESPN, Internet, Media, TSN, Washington Capitals| Permalink| Comments (0)

Success with the Press, Too

By pucksandbooks
Thursday, February 7, 2008

The Hockey NewsThe Capitals are expecting some prominent media coverage of the team’s winning ways next week. Alexander Ovechkin and the team will be the feature cover story for next week’s Hockey News. Also likely next week, a Michael Farber feature on AO and the team in Sports Illustrated.   

More immediately, Coach Boudreau chatted with Washington Post Online readers this afternoon. A transcript of it can be found here.

The THN cover will be Alex’s fifth on a standard issue, the sixth if you count an “All-Access Pass” special edition THN put out last year.

Update: Let’s toss an ESPN Boudreau Revival story from Scott Burnside into the mix.

Filed in ESPN, Hockey Reading, Media, Print, Scott Burnside, Sports Illustrated, The Hockey News, Washington Capitals| Permalink| Comments (1)

First Brashear, Now Green

By The OFB Team
Monday, January 28, 2008

ESPN Zone - Washington, DCThis isn’t about contract extensions, but you will be able to ask about it. The ESPN Zone hosted a question and answer session with Donald Brashear back in November. They’re hosting their second of four, this time with defenseman Mike Green.

Mike GreenCapitals defenseman Mike Green will be at ESPN Zone on Wednesday, January 30th to talk with fans and share his insight on the Capitals’ play, just as the second half of the season gets underway. This dinner-time question-and-answer session offers fans a great opportunity to get personal, candid answers to all their hockey questions, while getting better acquainted with Green, one of the NHL’s top-scoring defensemen.

After the Q&A, which will be hosted by a Capitals broadcaster, Green will sign autographs for all the fans on hand for the event. Fans can also enter to win an autographed Capitals Dreamseat recliner, which will be given away after the final Q&A event later in the season.

Additional Capitals Q&As will take place at ESPN Zone on Monday, February 11th and Monday, February 25th.

The ESPN Zone is located at 555 12th St, N.W. and the Q&A session starts at 7pm.

Filed in ESPN, Mike Green, Washington Capitals| Permalink| Comments (1)

Boudreau Love on ESPN Page 2

By OrderedChaos (Mike Rucki)
Monday, January 28, 2008

Bruce BoudreauAs part of Patrick Hruby’s Week In Review quiz, question #32 is:

After the Washington Capitals posted a .500 record for the first time since October, coach Bruce Boudreau:
(a) Told reporters the team had “officially reached mediocrity”
(b) Floated away on a cloud of sheer awesomeness

While that’s the only hockey-related question this week, check out the quiz here for some entertaining digs at the usual targets (Isiah Thomas, Paris Hilton, Tom Brady, etc.).

Filed in Bruce Boudreau, ESPN, Washington Capitals| Permalink| Comments (0)

Training Camp for Washington Sports Editors

By pucksandbooks
Wednesday, January 9, 2008

Morning Cup-A-JoeNear 8:00 this past Saturday night, Washington’s mainstream sports editors confronted an annual dilemma: the end of another Redskins’ season. Joe Gibbs’ second retirement from football offered our local press horde a brief stay of execution from the Burgundy and Gold beat, but today the harsh reality sets in.

Their dilemma is existential: what now?

To the disappointment of Wizards’ fans, and the horror of Dan Steinberg, Agent Zero recently hinted at the likelihood of shutting it down this season to recover fully from his knee injury. Nats’ pitchers and catchers don’t report south for weeks. We’re many months away from Tiger’s return to town.

Customarily, this season in the D.C. sports calendar dictates that sports editors assign their staff the research and drafting of obituaries for American sports legends solidly on life’s back nine. Long lunches. And vacations.

We at OFB, however, think that with the arrival of Redskin-free Januaries, henceforth and inaugurating with this one, the region’s hockey bloggers, in a joint endeavor with the Washington Capitals, ought to conduct a training camp for MSM sports editors.

To introduce them to the sport of hockey.

In a very real sense, it’d be analogous to the fantasy camps the well-heeled, middle-aged, and portly participate in across all sports. Making no judgment on the physical well being of our MSM editors, it’s abundantly clear that their cognitive acumen with respect to hockey is, shall we say, under exercised. As such, the heart of our camp would feature a fully developed Capitals University for the editors. JoeB is particularly busy at this time of year, but given the claims of this cause, I’d anticipate some creative schedule juggling on his part and ultimately his cooperation.

Orientation would have to start with the most basic of basics: a Mapquest route from WaPost and the various network broadcast studios in the District to Kettler Capitals. Initially, the editors would be picked up and led to the facility by various Caps’ players in a caravan, but as part of a camp final exam, the editors would have to demonstrate their ability to navigate their own way to the Capitals’ new home.

Early on, too, it would imperative to dispel some false assumptions long held by the editors. For instance, on Day One of camp we’d have one of the region’s meteorologists present Dopler data conforming that no reporters covering Caps’ games actually freeze from the experience. Indeed, at Verizon Center, there’s the greater likelihood of visitors suffering heat stroke. It is simply not true that the Caps travel to Saskatchewan to contest their games outdoors December through March.

As part of camp, the editors would be taken on field trips to the region’s rinks — Reston, Ft. Dupont, Columbia and Cabin John — where they would be asked to view the thousands of youths, male and female, clogging the weekend clocks morning, noon, and night with the playing of hockey. They would be asked to sit in the rinks’ stands among players’ parents and interview them about families’ devotion — in finances, time, and travel — to the sport of ice hockey. The tongues the hockey families would speak in would be foreign to the editors, and so bloggers and Caps’ communications professionals like Mike Vogel would be strategically stationed in the stands to facilitate translation.

Back at camp, VIP speakers would address the editors. An emissary from the Canadian Embassy would allege that his home is not in fact a 51st American state or territory, but instead a sovereign nation which celebrates the awe-inspiring playgrounds that nature etches across his home’s landscape for half the calendar year. Executives from cable television providers would arrive and testify to the fact that indeed thousands of Washingtonian households spiritedly subscribe to NHL CenterIce and the NHL Network.

High priests of puck like Don Cherry and Barry Melrose would lunch and cocktail hour with the campers and lead chalkboard Xs and Os and endearing narratives of the sport’s legacy. Melrose would even suggest that here in Washington there is a viable Jack Adams candidate.

Craigh Laughlin and Joe Reekie would lead a discussion of conflict resolution in hockey, and how the United Nations Security Council is not involved.

A professor of comparative literature and linguistics from the University of Maryland would attend and identify the sliver of contemporary professional athletes who commonly speak to the press in complete sentences, often thoughtfully. He will introduce the editors to the concepts of humility and modesty that commonly lace these orations.

The District’s Chief of Police would brief the editors on the needlessness of bringing along weapons of self defense into the players’ rooms during interviews.

Necessarily, camp would conclude with a screening of ‘Slapshot,’ and accompanying consumption of beer would be mandatory.

To prepare for camp, we who conduct it might want to view the film ‘300,’ for in this quest we face the same odds for victory as the Spartans.

Filed in Barry Melrose, Don Cherry, Hockey Movies, Kettler Capitals Iceplex, Lisa Hillary, Media, Morning cup-a-joe, Other Sports, Redskins, Washington Capitals, Washington Post| Permalink| Comments (9)

John Buccigross: SportsCenter Anchor, NHL columnist, and … OFB Reader?

By Gustafsson
Friday, January 4, 2008

Over the holiday weekend two weeks ago, pucksandbooks played a “what if” game concerning the future of Alexander Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals. In the post, he suggests that “should the Caps and Ovechkin arrive at an impasse in new deal discussions, excruciatingly painful though it may be, a deal with the Kings could make sense.”

The suggestion sparked some lively debate as more than 30 comments were left along with others that had to be deleted due to violation of the OFB Comment Policy. It may have even planted an idea in an answer to a question concerning Ovechkin on John Buccigross’ latest Mother of All Mailbags on ESPN.com.

Hey John,

Whenever I watch [Alexander] Ovechkin, I see that he looks really mad that he’s in Washington. Where do you think he will end up next season, assuming he doesn’t re-sign (which I doubt)?

Jeff
Philadelphia

ESPN's John Buccigross[Buccigross]: Alexander Ovechkin isn’t going anywhere. Probably. He is a restricted free agent and the Capitals would match any offer. I’m sure Oilers GM Kevin Lowe is preparing a 45-year, $421.7 million offer sheet as we speak. Would the Capitals ever considering trading Ovechkin? Well, if No. 8 pushed the matter and wanted to play in a market, like say, Los Angeles, then something could be done there.

The Kings have enough young talent, and potentially the overall No. 1 pick, that the Capitals could make a deal there and potentially make their team better. Would the Kings trade goalie prospect Jonathan Bernier, Jack Johnson, and Michael Cammalleri and their No. 1 pick for Ovechkin, the Caps’ first pick, a top defensive prospect and perhaps a character guy like Chris Clark, or a framework similar to that? Putting prospect Karl Alzner along with Johnson in front of a prospect like Bernier could reap huge dividends. The NHL is a “defense first” league and it will remain that way. You need to be a good defensive team with great goaltending to win playoff rounds, and while the Caps have played well recently, can you picture them winning a playoff series any time soon?

The trade sounds like a lot for the Kings to give up, but having a star in the Los Angeles market is vital for the Kings. Put Anze Kopitar with Ovechkin and any upright mammal and you have a No. 1 line. Dustin Brown can play with Alexander Frolov and maybe Patrick O’Sullivan on the second line. The third and fourth lines can be constructed with young players and veteran free agents. The major issue is giving up a goalie prospect like Bernier. Goalies are always tough to gauge. How many “can’t miss” goalies have we seen fizzle out? Being bold results in championships. Maybe the Capitals, multiple assets away from being a playoff force, are pondering such a bold move involving their star player who appears to be looking to max out his earning potential.

Filed in Alexander Ovechkin, ESPN, John Buccigross, Los Angeles Kings, OFB, Washington Capitals| Permalink| Comments (14)

So Hockey Got Asked Out on a Date This Week

By pucksandbooks
Friday, January 4, 2008

Morning Cup-A-JoeSomething momentous and stupendous happened to hockey on Tuesday. By late Wednesday afternoon I was aware of an unusual mainstream media preoccupation forming a phenomenon: they were, rather uniformly, rather nationally, saying nice things about our sport. Really nice things.

Then came Wednesday’s 5:00 hour on ESPN.

I was New-Years-resolution fitnessing at a big health club then, flat screen TVs hanging overhead, the pearls of wisdom from the talking heads captioned for the sweating. At the top of hour there there’s some hip and chic and therefore unendurable split-screen of sports columnists blathering for 30 minutes. A guy named Woody from Denver, Jay from Chicago, somebody else I didn’t know, and some smarmy host red-meating the proceedings. I figured they’d quick-hit hockey ’cause of Tuesday’s novelty and move on to the important stuff, like what Tony Romo and Jessica Simpson will do together during the Cowboys’ bye week.

Instead, everyone took turns praising not just the Winter Classic but the fundamental appeals of hockey, which, they claimed, were showcased in Buffalo on Tuesday. And they couldn’t stop talking about it. They interrupted one another with accolades. They debated when and where the next outdoor game should take place. Soldier Field was mentioned, where the “revitalized Chicago Blackhawks” would skate perhaps against another Original Six club. One fella admitted that he couldn’t stick with a single college bowl game Tuesday afternoon (imagine shunning all those three- and four-loss dynamos!) because he kept getting drawn back to the Lakeside fun in a winter wonderland.

Understand that in the wallets of these Worldwide Leader in Sports personalties are laminated cards that read, “If I even know that hockey exists, I seriously hate it.”

In the middle of the hour Kornheiser and Wilbon followed, on PTI. These two of course last did coverage favors for our sport pre-expansion. But they, too, joined in the broadcast swooning over our sport. It was no gag, either. Gym exercisers to my right and left seemed to be following the dialogue like I was, but only I kept falling off equipment pedals.

At times the MoJo that moves the media in a hungry pack around a new food source is vague and intangible. It formed and fomented around hockey late Tuesday and throughout Wednesday. I don’t think as recently as 12:45 p.m. Tuesday anyone even in the NHL’s Communications or Marketing offices could have imagined the media’s love-at-first-sight sweet nothings for our game soon to ensue.

Early Thursday I Googled “Winter Classic” as a subject search, and from little more than one full page of listings spotted these headlines:

Winter Classic is a step in the right direction

Winter Classic: Outdoor Game Scores

The Perfect Snowstorm: The Winter Classic Scores

NBC Shoots, Scores with NHL Winter Classic Ratings

Winter Classic a Huge Success

NHL Winter Classic proves league can get it right (” . . . nothing short of an overwhelming success . . . “)

In truth, hockey got lucky Tuesday, on at least two fronts. The first was a slate of yawner college pigskin bowl games, the byproduct of BCS madness rendering New Years Day — once the sport’s Christmas morning — now needless, the nutritional equivalent of television Twinkies. The second front, obviously, was the weather one: raucus and Rockwellian. The Ralph on Tuesday had everything but the Budweiser Clydesdales.

Best of all, few among the millions who watched likely thought, “Ah-hah, the spoiled millionaires are discomforted for a few hours.” No, millions saw highly skilled, smiling skaters persevering through rhythm-robbing interruptions and a rapidly deteriorating playing surface, and 71,000 supporters screaming through sideways snow and sleet and gashing Great Lake winds.

I became aware that hockey had created a crush, that in this week it was being asked out on a date by the four-sport letterman who never noticed us in class; a date perhaps only for this Saturday night, but a date nonetheless.

Here’s a loser-has-to-get-a-Mike-Green-haircut wager I direct at those who think Tuesday was a lone flicker of lucky lust directed at the league: there’s a new Yankee Stadium today under construction, and it won’t be open 5 years before the Rangers skate a regular season game in it.

Why would the Yankees and BigMedia care about us again?

Because in our natural state we’re very pretty.

Filed in Buffalo Sabres, ESPN, Gary Bettman, Media, Michael Wilbon, Morning cup-a-joe, National Hockey League, Old Time Hockey, Pittsburgh Penguins, Pond Hockey, TV, The Winter Classic, Tony Kornheiser, Washington Post| Permalink| Comments (4)

Dude, Where’s My Jersey?

By OrderedChaos (Mike Rucki)
Sunday, November 18, 2007

The always entertaining fount of sports uniform-related minutia, UniWatch, has a compilation of gametime scrambling caused by lost or stolen uniforms. The article—inspired by the recent Virginia Tech players who had to wear Georgia Tech jerseys for a recent game, complete with handwritten nameplates—has one hockey-related example:

1998: During the World Junior Hockey Championships in Finland, Canada and Russia both show up for a quarterfinal game with red uniforms. Russia is the designated home team, so the Canadians are forced to play the first period in Finnish national jerseys until their white jerseys can be driven to the arena.

Click here to read the full article, including the classic story of Detroit Tiger great “Sweet Lou” Whitaker leaving his All-Star jersey at home, going into the stands to buy a blank replica, and simply writing his number on the back.

Perhaps the Caps should have ”accidentally” forgotten their uniforms for the game in Tampa; they’d likely score more goals wearing Bolts unis. Chris Bourque might even net a hat trick wearing Martin St. Louis’ sweater—they’re about the same size, right?

Filed in Baseball, ESPN, Hockey, IIHF, WJC| Permalink| Comments (8)

Burnside Ranks Hanlon #20

By Gustafsson
Thursday, October 11, 2007

ESPN’s Scott Burnside ranked all 30 NHL Head Coaches. Our own Glen Hanlon checks in at #20.

ESPN's Scott Burnside

“Hanlon hasn’t had much to work with in Washington, but he’s instilled an impressive work ethic in his troops. Now, he’s got some more tools and it will be interesting to see how much more Hanlon can get out of his new-look Caps.”

See the full list here.

Filed in ESPN, Glen Hanlon, Scott Burnside, Washington Capitals| Permalink| Comments (4)
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