Nostrum cousins ut north have captus animadverto of bloggings’ labefactum in occulto of NHL. Hockey Nox noctis in Canalis eram procul Phone Tabernus is preteritus week taping a piece in Caps’ bloggers, quod is aired tonight. Take a inviso praecessi:
Procer Is Stipes
A penetranter turbo animadverto est captus habitum pro Caput is season: they mos non species pro playoffs; “ quinque- annus intentio” pro peractio of a hortus- sursum redivivus est certain sumo longer Alexander; Ovechkin est pessime egenus a suscipio iacio; quod absentis a professio, Olie Kolzigs’ tutela moris’ terminus in palma.
Caps moris’ planto playoffs is annus pro unus simplex causa: they pulvis’ bonus satis.
Is est frustror, quod Ted Leonsis may sentio is unacceptable procul seasons’ terminus, quod coepi nonnullus ratio of procuratio incumbo. Tamen quis’ forsitan tristissimus of totus est animadverto ut est sensim tamen plurimus certe certo occasus in on Olaf Kolzig. Had redivivus obviam Vas litis secuutus procuratio’ envisioned calendar of quinque annus, hed’ have capped suus Caps’ tutela in teres quod vindico formo. Is mereo mereor ut progredior a victor, secundum totus hes’ fidelis been per hic. However, absent a professio– an increasingly Dale Venator- amo possibility ut season progressio, IMO — totus abyssus’ have exhibeo pro suus fidelitas ut Caps per preteritus quinque seasons of lost- in--wilderness superstes vae est an appreciative fan substructio’ adoration. Quod quis vires probo proprie excruciating pro suus fans quod him is ut a verum, durably strong Caps’ stipes may insisto velox in heels of suus profectio.
Pro Alexander Ovechkin, tendo animadverto est recedentia minor daunting. Hes certain’ futurus re- summus per Caps procul an alienigena summa, quod team inter him, eventually, ero per validus. Magis quod magis suus tutela est orsa ut similitudo Caltha Lemieuxs’ in suus chronology: ut Aula of Laus prodigo suus primoris quattuor NHL seasons absentis playoffs, tunc saving a suffragium per championships. Comparisons with Crux crucis in Pittsburgh hodie es baseless: Pens erant puter satis porro satis habeo constipatus Sid per aurum vexillum bulla. Ovechkin has Backstrom, a rookie ut league quod ut North America. Si Alexander Semin suo lemma in All Astrum status it mos only occur ut valetudo arrives.
Is eram understandable tamen nonetheless peius- monitus pro George McPhee quod Ted Leonsis ut ferreus-wire, publicly, the Caps’ redivivus ut nonnullus predetermined plot of quinquennis. animadverto est ut in pro sports calendars of competitiveness es quisquam tamen fixed and predetermined. Erant they secus, magis teams would suscipio lemma. Primoris- teres (Sutherby, Magnificentia) quisnam tamen a annus vel sic abhinc videor futurus aedificium edificium blocks are hodie iam jettisoned vel afterthoughts. Res Pettinger quoque may non ultimately probo futurus a secui of Caps’ palma core. Illa disappointments dont’ reddo dramatic misfires per management so ultum as they operor a cognatus typical progression toward the destination of firmus postseason impleo. Inter Avs, Diabolus quod Pennae illic erant a letanie of primoris- rotundus flameouts. The key in hockey ut res firmus bonus est primoris potuisse firmus nocens — verus nocens. Per tamen duos lottery picks in suum roster Caps es nusquam near in possessio of rebuilding clausus exaggeratus per solum nutritor stipes annus abhinc in Ottawa, San Jose, Detroit, quod Novus Jersey.
prosperitas in Philadelphia is season est testimonium of permaneo seasons’ 30th locus perago res an aberration. Totus amplexus is has been postseason qualification.
Multus of velico of George McPhee illa dies centers in teams’ failures in spite of suus roster res larded per primoris- teres. Duos sententia super is. Unus, dum aggregate numerus of lemma est cognatus altus, plures erant plucked ex crap-shoot bottom dimidium of rotundus unus. Neque nec, incidentally, from cognatus pallens draft ordo. Unus of causa McPhee eram validus adipiscor quot primoris teres ut is did preteritus quinquennis eram quoniam suus incomparabilis sententia cognatus parum of lemma. Tamen parumper team in cinis cineris, is eram sapiens ut ausus in species emerging ex talis volubilis . . . per predictable attero a secui of equation.
Mike Viridis, Alexander Semin, and Boyd Gordon are jewels ex is ars. Tamen Jeff Schutlz, Joe Finley, Eric Fehr, quod Sasha Pokulok es non. Nondum. Unus vel duos may ultimately probo futurus firmus effectrix in Caps’ lascivio teams, tamen hodie they pulvis’. Quod ut magis quam ullus alius causa est quare Caps es qua they es.
Nimium obvius of prestolatio eram foisted super 19- annus- vetus Nicklas Backstrom this fall. Hes’ a rookie velox emerging ut a legio Calder candide — factum satis. Ut statua him lynchpin of a season- porro, uber secundus versus, per haud pro hockey usus in North America whatsoever, was delusional quod vacuus preeo.
Tamen valde patientia semino valde somnium. Bruce Boudreau-led Caps es suscitatio ex annus of nightmare hockey. They iustus dont’ etiamnunc have somnus swept ex their eyes.
Penitus Caps Cogo Bruce Boudreau eram a hospes in yesterdays’ John Thompson Ostendo in SportsTalk980. Thema confero erant:
Coaching in NHL.Vos can audio spatium hic.
Procer Is Stipes
Plures, comprehendo nostrum own pucksandbooks, erant ex urbs quod a suum computers per feriae ut magnus novus ledo. Iuvo reprehendo vos sursum in weeks’ vices, weve’ congero nonnullus links ut a numerus of articles. Erant’ reus habeo requiro nonnullus, sic sentio solvo dimitto nos a ineo per a link ut absentis article.
Hockey Novus has an praeclarus profano of Lavatio Caput’ novus caput capitis cogo Bruce Boudreau, comprehendo tidbits amo suus (non- narro) persona in membranaPlaga Offaut a rookie per Minnesota Bellator Sanctus. Click hic quod lego in.
Is eram tantum decet Caput would nomen Boudreau an penitus cogo. Certainly wouldnt’ volo ut tribuo guy a voluntas of obses, iam would they? Vere, is planto voluntas, utpote Caput GM George McPhee est quoque in tenuis glacies. Should is exsisto incendia is estas, novus guy coming in amo wouldnt’ volo futurus trado ut a cogo is didnt’ hire.
Tamen parumper guy quisnam eram accersitus sursum quod sent down 26 vicis per suus tenura in Maple Folium norma, Boudreau doesnt’ videor ut mens designo.“ego reputo is eram a smart permoveo” Boudreau said. “si EGO had been George ( caput GM McPhee) EGO would have perfectus idem eadem idem res. Im’ certus is has nonnullus fiducia EGO can operor officium vel is wouldnt’ have brought mihi hic in prothoplastus locus, tamen EGO quoque teneo is forsit volo video vidi visum quam res vado ceterus illae season.
“iam suus’ usque mihi quod EGO absolutely volo efficio panton EGO can habeo ut penitus tag semotus ex meus nomen”
Procer Is Stipes
Procer Is Stipes
Iam ut Bruce Boudreau est Caps’ penitus caput capitis cogo, EGO instar is eram dignitas revisiting an article ut videor obviusToronto Astrum in June. Hes’ denique animadverto suus somnium, secundum suus ineo ex plures mensis abhinc:
“is est meus 32nd annus of bellator impetro ut NHL,” said Boudreau yesterday. “suus’ usquequaque vestri calx. Vestri’ usquequaque plugging absentis quod hoping quispiam mos venio. Tamen unus, per aperte, EGO dont’ teneo quis alius EGO could operor si is wasnt’ pro hockey. “ego diligo undique Ive’ absentis. EGO iustus servo effectus quis EGO operor quod hopefully aliquid mos animadverto”
Is puto abyssus’ cogo in NHL nonnullus. “Im’ valde gauisus per Caput” said Boudreau. Sive quislibet umquam venit per, EGO would certainly inviso it.” Quondam St. Louis Puteulanus cogo Mike Kitchen, Boudreaus’ amicus utpote they erant teammates in Mara, reputo suus’ a res of vicis. “is agnosco talentum sic puteus” said Kitchen. “ut nos totus teneo, illic’ tantum 30 illorum jobs sicco illic. “suus’ res patiens, quod timidus est panton in illud jobs.”
Kitchen eram vox: timidus est panton. Congrats ut Boudreau, quod hic’ hoping is has an statim positus labefactum.
Procer Is Stipes
John Walton, radio vox vocis of Ipsa Gero, vulgo an patefacio tabellae ut Caput fans in suus textus site.
EGO teneo it’s been a trying pauci weeks vigilo vestri team labor lapsus in superstes, quod EGO teneo multus vestrum have been preoccupo per quis you’ve seen. EGO quoque teneo ut nonnullus vestrum in sermo tabula have admiratio quis Bruce Boudreau mos operor pro vestri team, per nonnullus vestrum reputo “here nos vado iterum per alius AHL cogo res accersitus sursum instead of nonnullus “name” cogo pro magnus bucks. EGO iustus volo ut permissum vos teneo, ut a humilis vernula of vestri pupillus league affiliate, EGO puto Bruce est guy vos postulo. Bruce Boudreau est unus of maioribus populus I’ve umquam been inter, a valde rector hominum per iustus satis grit praecessi per suus pietas pro suus ludio ludius impetro officium perfectus vobis. I’ve ridden buses per him, I’ve seen him unus- in- unus per ludio ludius, I’ve seen him ut vicis es bonus, quod I’ve seen him ut vicis es nocens. Teneo is primoris quod primoris: He’s a victor…
…si Bruce somes pro porro term in Lavatio, we’ll requiro him formidilose hic, tamen you’ll diligo him amo nos operor. pia Pro quis it’s dignitas, nos have seen veneficus hic. We’re praeter voluntarius communico.
universa tabellaecan exsisto instituo hic.
Sis audire quis GMGM, Boudreau, quod ludio ludius have loquor super coaching change, reprehendo sicco links subter supter ex Caps’ PR baculus:
Vegetus off presses procul Kettler Caput Iceplex:
ARLINGTON, Va. – Lavatio Caput have lenio Glen Hanlon of suus coaching pius quod nomen Bruce Boudreau team’s penitus caput capitis cogo, vitium praesieo quod imperator procurator George McPhee renuntio hodie.
Boudreau, 52, has cogo championship teams in American Hockey League (AHL) quod ECHL quod est in suus tertius annus ut caput capitis cogo of Ipsa Gero, Washington’s AHL affiliate. Is led team ut Orientales Placitum championship quod Calder Vas denique in sulum of suus primoris duos annus in Ipsa, victor Calder Vas in 2006. Boudreau has congero a 103-45-11-16 record per Gero (a .666 victor percentage), comprehendo an AHL- optimus 51-17-6-6 record (.713) permaneo season. Septem current members of Caput ludio ludius pro Boudreau per Gero.
Boudreau fio 14th cogo in Lavatio Caput history. Is mos planto suus debut secundum Capitals’ scamnum cras procul Philadelphia (1 p.m., Comcast SportsNet, Sermo Radio 3WT: 107.7 FM, sesquimellesimus Sum, 820 Sum).
Boudreau est in suus nonus season ut an AHL caput capitis cogo, having congero a 340-216-56-43 tutela record. Is prodigo quattuor annus per Manchester Monarchia quod duos annus per Summitto Obfirmo Monasteriense pro iunctio Gero. Pro ascending ut AHL, is eram caput capitis cogo quod presul of hockey operations pro Mississippi Mare Wolves (ECHL), qua is won 1999 Kelly Vas championship.
Secundum condita suus caput capitis-coaching debut in Colonia Hockey League per Muskegon Rabies in 1992-93, Boudreau took super Castrum Wayne Komets of International Hockey League (IHL) in 1993-94. Komets provectus ut Verto Vas denique suus primoris season procul imperium, quod Boudreau eram nomen 1993-94 IHL cogo of annus.
Boudreau ludio ludius secui of duodeviginti seasons per Toronto Maple Folium quod Pullus Blackhawks, recording 70 cuspis in 141 NHL venatus. A tertius- rotundus pick of Folium in 1975 NHL draft, Boudreau utor optimus seasons umquam per a Canadian junior ludio ludius per 1974-75. Is picked sursum 165 cuspis pro Toronto Marlboros, a Canadian Hockey League record insquequo Wayne Gretzky vinco vestigium per 1977-78 season.
An palmarium AHL ludio ludius, Boudreau ordo 11th totus- vicis in ustulo in league history per 316 calx quod 799 cuspis. Haud AHL ludio ludius in 1980s notched magis cuspis quam Boudreau, ut is ludio ludius pro Novus Brunswick Hawks, Baltimore Skipjacks, Nova Scotia Oilers, Springfield Indians quod Newmarket Sanctus per ut vicis. Is won 1987-88 John B. Sollenberger Trophy pro plumbum league in ustulo, quod eram quoque a member of 1992 Calder Vas champion Adirondack Rutilus Pennae.
Haud timetable has been paro pro naming a caput capitis cogo ultra Boudreau’s penitus statua. Ceterus of Caput coaching baculus mos subsisto in locus.
Alter salutor in Jonathan Praecipio’ stipes- venatus radio ostendo asked a concisus quod insightful question. Paraphrasing in meus own lacuna, hic is est:
Caput es in permaneo locus. Si Caput dont’ have alio facio playoffs secundum rotensus Redivivus, tunc mendum lies per GM George McPhee. Si team does have alio tamen ludio ludius pulvis’ effectus, tunc suus’ mendum of cogo. Suus’ unus vel ceterus. Quod est is?
Understandably, Praecipio quod hospes Ken Sabourin waffled in refero, utpote videlicet they es non in positus ut indict aut McPhee vel Hanlon. Tamen is est, in meus censeo, a fortis question. Iam refero may exsisto “ utriusque” nimirum, tamen procul minimus suus’ unus vel other—and utpote alius incendia venditio would potentially iuguolo teams’ fans ( ego teneo is would curtusmeusvita prestolatio), a coaching vel imperator procurator change videor ut exsisto in pecto.
Glen Hanlon did an admirable officium in suus primoris pauci annus. Purgatio sursum secundum roster-gutting quod Trucido Cassidy calamitas, is subpono a ferreus- opus si sub- ingeniosus team in a lentus humus. George McPhee has had suus partis of blunders (e.g., questionable draft picks; Trevor Linden; Robert Lingua) quod suus partis of iugo (e.g., Oates ut Philly proviapraeter is eram dignitas; Milan Jurcina).
Sic quisnam, OFB lector, est radix of teams’ current woes: Cogo, GM, vel utriusque?
Procer Is Stipes
EGO had three sententia in statim aftermath of permaneo nox noctis’ 2-1 damnum in Sunrise. Unus, titulus of unus of meus ventus cinematic comedies, ‘ ut Bonus ut Is Gets’ — ut titulus, suus syntax, iustus genus sauntered super in meus stipes- damnum caput capitis. Duos, ut illic nam eram an sublimis toxicity ut exsisto instituo in forums of fervidus procul os, quod ut Id’ exspecto 12 vel sic hora pro scanning suum tenor, ut pensilis pro losing hockey venatus est in meus visum quoque districtus a rememdium. Quod three, fan exuberance quod suus obvious shortcomings tamen, interdum dementis men es verevoxin suum rabies.
Absentis a prodigiosus turnaround huic hockey team, qui quibus est impossible ut deprehensio is oriens, odds es ut Caps’ procuratio est iens venire contra animadverto res ultum quantum fanbase has pro super duos weeks iam — quod amo, quinymo nunc. (vindicatum they iam dont.’) Quod mihi invites an interesting question. Nos can totus congruo ut 75 vel 90 sentio of vicis, furca- quod- lampas latrunculus of vapulus down per quoque plures damnum est reactionary quod insensatus in prorsus sterilis formo. Suus’ vetusEGO gotta have a caput capitis in a patella mentality. Suus’ coegi per the Id’s need to vent. But ocassionally, just ocassionally, beneath all the sound and the foaming, there is actual merit to their madness.
But more specifically, what is it about the kingdom of fandom that once in a while affords it a view to an appropriate kill, while management, comprised of seasoned professionals in the industry, dithers and damagingly delays? It could perhaps be analogized as the dog owner who presents his pup to the veterinarian complaining of a gut-felt malady in the little guy, but finds no remedy. ‘My little doggie just isn’t right,’ the owner would report. The vet would examine, detect no ill, and move along to inspect the next critter. A tumor somehow went undetected, by the pro we most depend upon to find it. Again, nine times out of ten, it’s found, and quite often excessive worry and woe needlessly drive scores of animal lovers to unnecessary and costly visits to the vet. However in Washington this fall, we’ve a genuinely sick pup named puck.
Fully five days this hockey team had to prepare itself for the perpetually underwhelming Florida Panthers, losers of four straight games. Its lineup was at 95 percent capacity. Its leaders spoke this week on record of an imperative of the moment. Again, once the puck dropped, it played not poorly at all but not good enough to win. Again.
One could plausibly posit that the Southeast is the NHL’s least imposing division, and the Capitals this morning are at the bottom of it. Syllogism: the Caps are the worst team in hockey. One that eight weeks ago spoke uniformly and openly about participating in the NHL postseason.
The fanbase this morning might rightly ask of management: just how much evidence do you require?
This morning there is for me a foreboding sense of an awful appointment tonight for the Caps, again in Florida. I witnessed much of what Vinny did to the first-place ‘Canes the other night. A Friday night in Tampa: this building, unlike last night’s, will be sold out. There is a team perhaps in or approaching a death spiral gliding toward a potential buzzsaw. I fear a high order of ugliness. And then, following, a quiet weekend of disquiet. Again.
Then, maybe then — likely not but perhaps — remedy will follow. A furious fanbase will be obliged. A corrective course will be pursued. Maybe.
More likely, however, even in the event of a wretched, additionally spirits-sapping defeat this evening, one driving this hockey team further below the Mendoza line of competitiveness, management will ponder further. At some point, however, the conveyor belt of rationalizing inaction will produce no product. Then it will be fair for the fanbase to ask of the team’s management, with respect to this week’s five-day break, Why did you wait?
New free agents aren’t performing poorly. The defense is much improved, the goaltending super solid and often even better. Alex is playing the best hockey of his career. But accorded the advantage of relaxed schedule and the self-imposed imperative of winning, the best this Caps club could do last night in Sunrise was play well enough to lose to a lousy club. Again.
This is as good as it gets.
Igor Arkhipov, an Atlanta-based correspondent for SovetskySport, met up with Alexander Ovechkin after last night’s game. He asked about the left winger’s future. This exchange will run in the Russian newspaper tomorrow:
Do you plan on changing teams at the end of the season? Washington’s game looks hopeless.
“I don’t know yet where I will be next season. I am not negotiating my new contract. I want to stay in Washington. But who knows what is going to happen?”
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In its postgame studio coverage last night, the hockey talking heads on Versus posed the question, ‘Which coach is on the hottest of hot seats?’ Ron Wilson (his team with a winning record) and John Tortorella were ID’d. So was Glen Hanlon.
“This is a huge, huge roadtrip,” Hanlon told the Washington Post at the beginning of this week. Two-thirds completed, the Capitals have, through 120-plus minutes of it, a single goal and a single point. More of either will be hard to come by Thursday night in Ottawa.
Given the daunting task set out before him when he arrived behind the Caps’ bench midway through the 2003-04 season — presiding over an underachieving, expensive roster, soon to be gutted, then slowly, loss-ladeningly rebuilt, it seems almost inhumane this morning to set out prose hinting at the possibility of Glen Hanlon’s being fired. But this climate of suspicion has its roots in upper management’s very publicly stated Midsummer’s Night Dream of reaching the 2008 postseason.
Led by the owner’s bull market forecast (”The rebuild is over”), backed up by the captain’s camp-opening can-do creed, the flames of happy fortune were fanned all across the organization and broadcast in high definition by new and old media. Currently residing in a tie for 28th in the standings, this Capitals’ team this morning is anything but postseason bound.
The Caps’ 3-0 start only further fueled hockey happy talk in these parts. But this morning, what seems more aberrant — that start, with a victory over a battered-by-Bob (since fired) Thrashers’ crew and a 12-shot effort on Long Island on Columbus Day — or the current 2-9-1 slide into the standings sewer?
I answered that question, thought back to the team’s playoff pledge, and, knowing the nature of contemporary pro sports as I do, immediately thought of the phrase storm clouds converging.
At the heart of the present heartache for Caps’ fans, it seems, is this question: While almost certainly Glen Hanlon was the right man to preside over the rebuild, is he as well the right man to guide them to and through the playoffs? It’s a question that I’ve heard asked by Capitals’ officials themselves the past two years, but this week in Washington — and now on national television as well — it’s being asked with application and urgency.
Glen Hanlon is now 49-78-10 as head coach of the Capitals. Taken in total, that winning percentage isn’t all that bad in light of some of the sweater fillers he’s been tasked with guiding the past three hockey seasons. But that’s not the issue he’s likely facing right now. It’s this one: that hard-working, overachieving band of nameless and journeymen, and Ovechkin, he impressed the NHL with two years ago doesn’t look quite so hard working and overachieving today.
Worse: because of the sub-.500 hole his club now finds itself in, the scratching and clawing required to move from 28th to say 16th in the league will demand a healthy stretch of non-losing. When have Capitals’ fans ever seen that from Glen Hanlon’s Caps?
One night in the middle of Alexander Ovechkin’s rookie season I was watching a Caps’ game with a wise old man about pucks, my Old Man. All too familiar with the team’s decades of disappointment as a season ticket holder, and aware of the rebuild scheme, Dad explained to me the competitive urgency of the moment given the Great8’s awesome gifts.
“They cannot waste seasons with this guy not in the playoffs,” he told me.
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Even in the prime of his career, there was a fairly pervasive sense that Peter Bondra, today the holder of six Washington Capitals’ offensive records, was never a member of the NHL’s elite class of superstar. Or even if he was one.
He was.
Truly, he was one of sports’ most anonymous superstars of the 1990s. I cannot recall even a modest ESPN feature segment showcasing his ample arsenal of sniping skills. This for the scorer of more than 500 NHL goals — most of them in bunches. And ESPN was the NHL’s broadcast home for almost the entirety of Bondra’s career.
No matter. He may have scored in record-setting fashion without media fanfare, but he surely secured the career-long, passionate appreciation of Caps’ fans.
Approximately 95 percent of his 503 goals (472) were scored in a Caps’ sweater. He is remembered as fondly as he is by as many Caps’ fans as he is because in addition to scoring as frequently as he did, he did so with an endearing, infectious exuberance: there was artistry to his besting NHL goaltenders in elite fashion but also in the wide-eyed, even wider grinned, pressed-against-the-plexiglass manner which he celebrated with the home crowd.
Bondra’s place in the pantheon of all-time great Washington athletes is secure. He merits mentioning among the likes of Darrell Green, Walter Johnson, and Wes Unseld as a giant in athletic D.C.
A compelling case could be made for his classification as the Capitals’ all-time best player. Some of his offensive records (such as his 32 shorthanded goals) will withstand even Alexander Ovechkin’s special forces assault.
Peter Bondra retired from professional hockey this week. He was, from the finding of a single Caps’ scout (Jack Button), the greatest gift HockeyWashington ever received. Who would have imagined that such a slice of hockey heaven could be plucked from round seven (1990) of an entry draft?
Bondra ranks among the most popular players ever to wear a Caps’ sweater, and it was easy to understand his appeal: he didn’t just score lots and lots of goals, he did so with a sniper’s flair and a stallion’s speed. And in the immediate glow of the red lamp’s lighting and the shriek of the celebratory siren, he capped it off with his genuine exuberance. He invited the home crowd into his glee and in so doing nurtured a career-long connection with Caps’ fans. A half-inch of plexiglass ever separated Bonzai from them in the Capital Center and then MCI Center, but that physical barrier seemed only conceptual in his hundreds of celebrations over 14 years here.
In recent seasons I’d become distracted from my longstanding appreciation of Bonzai by some insiders’ reflections of intermittent acrimony between Bondra and the Caps as well as my conviction that he never should have worn any sweater but Washington’s. Management and the Bondra didn’t always see eye to eye, with blame likely shared by both sides. This, too, is part of his legacy in Washington. But now that I don’t have him any more, now that I can’t have him any more, I really miss him. (Continued)
Washington Times’ sports business reporter Tim Lemke spent a number of weeks interviewing a number of the region’s hockey bloggers, his interest piqued by their prevalence in the Verizon Center press box for Caps’ games. “No team in professional sports offers as much unfettered access to bloggers as the Caps,” Lemke writes in this morning’s Times.
“Writers from a half-dozen other blogs, including Japers’ Rink, DC Optimist and A View from the Cheap Seats, are on the premises, cranking out posts that analyze everything from the Caps’ new uniforms to the Hurricanes’ power-play defense. They are affectionately called “blogger nation” and are part of a growing — and unique — strategy by the Caps to embrace new media outlets rather than keep them at an arms’ length.
We were particularly appreciative that Lemke credited Off Wing Opinion’s Eric McErlain for his role in establishing protocols for bloggers wishing to cover the team.
“McErlain worked with Leonsis and the Caps’ public relations staff on crafting a “Bloggers Bill of Rights” that would grant access to the most active bloggers while outlining rules of etiquette and professionalism.”
Lemke concludes by capturing Ted Leonsis’ commitment to new media covering his team and its sport:
“What happens if the Caps make a deep playoff run?”
“Then they can come sit in the owners box,” Leonsis said. “I’ll find them a place to sit. I hope we have that issue. I’d like to be looked at as the most new media-savvy, blog-centric of the teams. If we win, that network just helps you to keep that momentum going.”
You can read Lemke’s piece here.
Tonight, the Hershey Bears are in Connecticut to play the Bridgeport Sound Tigers. They left yesterday afternoon to arrive by dinner time, allowing plenty of rest before the puck drops. Keep in mind, this is the AHL where you travel old school. You travel by bus. This trip is roughly a four hour ride — without traffic.
Bears’ radio voice John Walton didn’t let a bus ride hinder his blogging. Thanks to wireless internet (via cell technology, no doubt), he was posting “from the posh surroundings of the team bus” and gave us a glimpse of life in the AHL.
The guys are taking in “Blades of Glory” on the bus this afternoon with Will Ferrell. If you haven’t heard me mention it on the radio before, the movies on the team bus are 100 percent the selection of the head coach. There is no form of democracy present once we’re wheels up when it comes to television programming. Usually the movies are ok, like today. There are other times I’ve considered climbing up on the roof to get away from whatever’s being shown. Today is a good day, though. All part of a day’s work on the road.
A not-so-funny thing happened on the way to the Caps dressing a productive and seriously puck-possessing top 6 set of forwards this season. Some of the machine parts have fallen off. A cranky ankle has shelved sublime sniper Alexander Semin for all but one game thus far. Worse, one third of the top line has imploded. Has ever a young top-line winger’s fortunes soured as swiftly and as thoroughly as have Tomas Flesichmann’s early this autumn? A light switch seemingly shut down Flash’s fission. The boys up front are a bit unsettled right now.
That right side of the Capitals’ forward ranks has to unnerve management and Coach Hanlon. In addition to the flickering out of Flash there is Eric Fehr’s perpetually uncertain status. He’s not even skating these days. Joe Motzko, acquired in the offseason with the Hershey Bears in mind, has suddenly taken a turn on the top right flank. Where is the front-line right wing in this organization this October? The answer is, he may not exist — the moreso if Viktor Kozlov becomes entrenched as AO’s pivot.
Semin will eventually heal, but can the Caps plausibly vie for the postseason without the services of a scoring wing opposite Alex? I wonder.
In my darker moments, I fret about a new position leak springing — in this case, right wing — just as the blueline swiftly became old and immobile at the start of this decade.
Anyway, the Caps are tasked with gutting it out for the foreseeable future.
The beauty of hockey is that a beleaguered lineup can get its collective nose dirty and steal points even from much prettier clubs when their hearts swell for the work.
Monday brought about a two-hour practice. That’s long by NHL standards. When a rut is driven by low shot and goal totals, the most common prescription is hard work. This is a hockey club that for a few years now has been characterized by its hard work.
Not all is gloom and doom this mid-October. It appears that in net, the most important position on the ice, the Caps will regularly get quality, even game-stealing efforts from its tandem. The larger perspective up to the present is this: three weeks ago, knowing that the Caps faced four of the first five on the road, and all of the road games without Semin, had you been offered a record of 3-2 through them, you’d have grabbed it.
More good news: Pittsburgh is losing plenty.
At a news conference yesterday, Washington Capitals chairman and majority owner Ted Leonsis spoke of how professional athletes are often lauded for their courage. He noted that courage can take many forms, from the heroism of our military and first responders to our children battling disease. To find a way that their whole organization and fans could show their support, they created Courage Caps.
The Courage Caps are team-issued and branded hats which will be sold, starting October 26th, for $20 at the community relations table at Capitals home games and online at WashingtonCaps.com and NHL.com. “When our fans wear these hats”, Leonsis continued, “they show their support for the courageous people throughout our community.”
Whereas, the wearing of the Courage Caps hats shows support, the sale provides financial support. 100% of the sale price will go benefit the CureSearch National Childhood Caner Foundation. CureSearch is a Bethesda-based nonprofit “and an NHL charitable partner that focuses on raising funds for the Children’s Oncology Group, the world’s largest cooperative cancer research organization that treats 90% of children with cancer.”
The team chose an old friend to help debut this new program, for the press conference took place during the team’s annual visit to the Children’s National Medical Center. The entire team, Leonsis and partner Raul Fernandez were at the hospital for the press conference.
For years I have heard of the team’s visit to Children’s National Medical Center, but this was the first time that I was on hand to watch the players and the children interact. As a father of a four-year-old with a second on the way, the visit was heartwarming and tear-jerking. The players — all of them — sat down at tables and colored with the children that were well enough to leave their beds and be exposed to unmasked visitors and untold germs. It broke my heart to see these children, some in wheelchairs, others with numerous IV tubes and bandages, and wonder what sort of hell they and their parents are living. But then you see the smiles on their faces when Chris Clark autographs a hat for them, or Brent Johnson asks what color he should color the hockey player’s helmet, or when a little girl runs over to Olie Kolzig as he says “Hi there pigtails, how are you?” There is also a simple joy of seeing these larger-than-life hockey players sitting down with their favorite Crayola hue and trying to stay in the lines.
I was speaking with the hospital’s manager of public relations, Emily Dammeyer, who told me that this is the hospital’s favorite event of the year. “They really spend time with the children, not just make an appearance, especially upstairs where the cameras are off.”
Which made me think of Olie, who not only has been coming to Children’s National Medical Center more than anyone else in the organization, but is also a father. I asked him how this experience has changed from before he was a dad to after.
“I’ve always had a fondness for kids, and been a big believer that being a kid and being sick shouldn’t go hand in hand … then you become a father and then you realize how vital it is to have a facility like this.”
The only thing missing from yesterday’s event was the media. Press releases announcing the event and photo op were sent out by the Capitals and the Children’s National Medical Center. Perhaps I missed some faces and names, but I believe only I, a Comcast SportsNet TV Cameraman, and two photographers attended. How such tremendous works by an organization and its players can go unnoticed or with little interest is repugnant.
My thanks go out to the Capitals and everyone at Children’s National Medical Center, especially Emily Dammeyer and Mark Miller, for affording me the privilege to witness this annual event of kindness and caring.
A few more pictures of the event can be seen after the break.
The Washington Capitals just released the following statement regarding Comcast SportsNet Plus and Cox Communications.
We regret and apologize for the inconvenience. We want as many people as possible to have access to Caps hockey. The Capitals are hopeful a resolution between Comcast corporate, Comcast SportsNet’s parent company, and Cox Communications will be reached in the upcoming days.
If you are as frustrated as we are, however, then we encourage you to call Cox cable (Fairfax 703-378-8422, Fredericksburg 540-373-6343 or Hampton Road 757-224-1111), tell them you are a Cox subscriber and ask them to carry CSN+ coverage of Capitals hockey.
Only Cox Communications subscribers are impacted; every other major cable and satellite provider in the Washington, D.C., region, with the exception of Cox, will carry the game on CSN+. Fans can find the right channel for the game by looking up their television provider and the CSN+ channel online: log on to comcastsportsnet.com, choose “Baltimore-Washington, D.C.” and use the zip code finder.
I am working this issue all day today with Comcast, Cox and local government. Stay tuned.
- Ted
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