We were lucky to have had former Washington Capital Yvon Labre and former radio play-by-play voice Ron Weber not only attend OFB’s viewing of “The Rocket”, but they graciously took the microphone in hand at the front of the theatre to answer questions and provide a little insight as well.
Here is a short video with part of their observations.
Eric McErlain of OffWingOpinion published a terrific review of ‘The Rocket’ this past week for The Sporting News. Eric writes:
” . . . the movie gets down cold . . . the ability to transport you back in time to the Montreal of the 1940s and 1950s, both on the streets of the city and inside the legendary Forum that closed for good back in 1996.
Yvon Labre“One of the greatest challenges for any sports movie is figuring out a way to depict live action in a believable manner, and The Rocket acquits itself well in that sense. By the time the movie ended I was sincerely hoping that there was a men’s league somewhere in North America that would let folks play hockey donning vintage uniforms and equipment. Can there possibly be a league anywhere that will let you play without a helmet anymore?”
Seats are still available for Tuesday — join us for a memorable night at the movies in the company of Washington hockey royalty.
Today apparently is the day that more people will be married than any other in human history. I only recently learned this. My cousin and close friend Bill this week is in steamy Las Vegas. Had I known of the day’s significance earlier, likely I’d have arranged to travel with him there. But Bill’s a divorcee, so maybe we wouldn’t have been so lucky. Anyway, today’s appeal for lovers of course has everything to do with “Lucky 7sâ€? — it’s 7/7/07.
And this made me wonder: how many NHLers bear the lucky number on their sweaters? Turns out, not as many as you might think, and I was struck by their relative anonymity. As of this past season, these players wore no. 7: Niclas Wallin, Steve Matador, Paul Martin, Trent Hunter, Joe Corvo, Michel Ouellet, Ian White, Brent Seabrook, Johnny Boychuk, Derek Armstrong, Greg deVries, Keith Tkachuk, and Brendan Morrison. That’s it. The Caps do not have a no. 7 at present on their roster, nor can they: Yvon Labre got to it early and had it retired by the club.
The league does have a couple of 77s: Alexei Zhitnik, Chris Gratton, Travis Roche, and Tom Gilbert. Adam Oates certainly was the most accomplished Cap to wear that version of the number, as he’s been the only one to.
The paucity of the lucky numer’s selection is all the more striking when you consider the litany of famous athletes who’ve worn it: in hockey, the number’s been retired for Phil Esposito, Howie Morenz, Bill Barber, Rod Gilbert, Paul Coffey, and Labre. John Elway wore it. So did Mickey Mantle. So did Jeri Ryan, sort of.
Friday night the Capitals hosted their Draft Day Party / Uniform Unveiling at the Kettler Capitals Iceplex. For the “play-by-play” details of the event, check out the Caps’ official site. Here, I’ll share my own perspective (and photos: some pretty cool, one very cute, and a few kind of painful) of this thoroughly enjoyable evening.
My fiancee Adrienne and I popped into the locker room area for a quick look. I posted a few locker room photos from my visit in April, but the “card wall” is something I’d missed photographing on that first trip. The glass wall separating the player’s lounge from a hallway is covered in slightly-enlarged reproductions of classic Capitals hockey cards on both sides. Click the photo below for a larger version and pick out your favorites.
The team wisely paid homage to its past by introducing some big-name former Capitals. Yvon Labre, Rod Langway, Mike Gartner (his first appearance in DC since he left the team), Kelly Miller, and Sylvain Cote are in the photo below, left to right. Cote, attired in cargo shorts and sandals, goofed around a bit and struck a surfer dude pose just before this photo, much to the delight of the fans and former players.
Now for the video from the big screens prior to the unveiling. Some great Capitals moments in here, including the Juneau goal that sent the Caps to the Stanley Cup Finals. Adrienne (whom I’m gradually ushering into hockey fandom) observed regarding the old-school footage, “It’s so strange seeing them play without helmets!” I grew up watching Ron Duguay and Guy LaFleur, so I have a slightly different perspective on helmets, but I see her point. Â
The last minute or so of the video was looped as they cranked up the smoke machines; then the curtain dropped, revealing the new unis to enthusiastic applause from the 2,000-plus Capitals fans in attendance.
The Most Hard-Core Fan Award for the night clearly goes to Caps’ fan Jim Greene and his friend, who got permanent tattoos of the new logo Friday night.
[They] each received on-site tattoos of the Capitals new logo, something that served as entertainment to some and excitement to the pair who have been long-time Caps supporters. Greene, who cut a deal with Leonsis that if the team ever changed their logo, he would get a tattoo of it, was thrilled for the opportunity to take the Caps chairman and majority owner up on his word. Thankfully, the logo was something that he really enjoyed. [1]
Ink Junkeez Body Piercing & Tattoos of White Plains, Maryland, were there to do the honors. Ted Leonsis even came over to review his (indirect) handiwork. Here are some photos of — to repurpose a Neil Young song — the needle and the damage done:
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At 7:10 last night I found myself perched next to what I thought was a bigshot; at 9:10 I was high-fiving with a new puck chum. Continue reading ›
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