Wow, the Caps 9-4 in January

Hey everyone, it's been some time since I've made a post, and a lot has happened this month for both me & the Caps! I'm back from vacation, so let's catch up!

The Caps have gone 9-4 for the month of January. Ovechkin has taken the goal lead (43) after his 4 goal performance tonight and should also have the points lead (70) as of tonight. Nicklas Backstrom (rookie) is currently 2nd only to Chicago's Patrick Kane for total points for a rookie this season. The Caps have 5 players with double digits in goals. Kolzig earns another win and this moves him up another notch on the all time wins for a goalie list just right behind Ron Hextall.

In other words, this month has been very good for the caps. Since Thanksgiving they have climbed from the Southeast cellar all the way to #2 and are 1 game above .500. They are 3 points away from tying for the lead in the division and have a HUGE game against the Atlanta Thrashers on Saturday in DC. With Ilya Kovalchuk out due to a knee injury, the Caps should have a good chance to take this game and begin some separation in the division.

The only concerns I have now is that the Caps are starting to look a little tired overall and a little doggish on the ice on defense. Mental errors have cost them too many goals this season so far, not to mention the last second goals in the end of the periods. Tonight they allowed a goal in with .4 seconds left in the 2nd period, and again in the 3rd with about 24 seconds to allow the Habs to tie the game, sending it to OT. Luckily the Caps had Ovie in the right place at the right time in OT and he banged home his 4th for the night. In the Toronto game they also let a goal squeak by with 30 seconds left in the game, allowing the Maple Leafs to win that game.

Defense needs to be better, and goal tending sure needs some work. That's not to say that the offense doesn't need some work either. Ovechkin can't carry this team and make the playoffs by himself. The Caps need more production from other contributors such as Kozlov, Green, Backstrom, Semin, Fleischmann and Clark (if he ever returns this season).

In short, the Caps have sure turned things around, and the Caps faithful have something to celebrate finally. A real honest shot at making the playoffs for the first time in 5 seasons. Let's all hope for a strong finish and a great playoff run! Go Caps!

Caps win an OT Shoot-out thriller!

Last night at the Verizon Center was quite possibly one of the most exciting games I have witnessed in the NHL ever. That's quite a bold statement, I know. I went with a friend and we got some decent seats down in the lower bowl for this game against the Western Conference Edmonton Oilers. I figured this game wouldn't have too much excitement since these two teams don't see each other ever. Was I ever wrong.

The Oilers busted out a 2 goal lead at the end of the 1st off of two power-play goals. I might add that their power-play unit is very effective...either that...or the Caps have a terrible penalty kill. Back to those goals, I was running through my mind..."Boudreau, why did you start Kolzig tonight?"

The second period started out with high energy from the Caps as they had 2 goals immediately back to back, maybe 30 seconds apart and tied it up. The oilers got another power-play goal to make it 3-2 Oilers. The Caps didn't fret or worry, instead they came out with more resolve to out-duel the visitors from Alberta on "Canadian Forces" night. They answered back with two more goals making it 4-3 at the end of the 2nd.

At the close of that period, my friend leaned over and said, "I bet this game goes into OT tonight." I responed, "Yeah right, the Caps are on fire and will win this out in regulation."

The Oilers scored another goal at even strength to tie the game at 4-4 in the 3rd. Ovechkin, dog tired at the end of the 3rd, started to streak down the right wing to squeeze off one last shot as the seconds winded down, he ripped a snap-shot with 1.2 seconds to go and it narrowly missed the top shelf after a deflection from the goalie's glove, sending the game to OT. Damnit! I think I just lost a dollar bet.

There was a lot of scoring opportunities for the Caps in the OT session, and Kolzig was stellar again. No one could break the tie in the 5 minute OT session, it was time for the shoot-out.

The shoot-out seemed like an eternity. 11 rounds with not a single goal scored. 11 consecutive saves, 1 on 1, for each goalie. Kolzig was in the zone tonight. Every major player for the Caps had taken a crack at busting down the Oilers goalie, even Brashear, to no avail.

An unlikely hero was going to have to do it for the Caps tonight, and that hero was Matt Bradley. In the 12th round, he beat the Oilers goalie on a backhand shot to give the caps the edge.

It was all down to Kolzig now. The skater came down the rink, but instead busting a move, he stops and does a slapshot? Seriously? Kolzig stopped it easily, and the arena erupted.

I can't convey the intense energy that was there last night. It was a playoff like atmosphere, every fan was standing, cheering, hoping that someone would put the puck in the net and that Kolzig would be a brick wall denying everything coming at him. I went back to my thought of... "Boudreau, why did you start Kolzig tonight?" This was the reason he started him, he knew something that we all didn't.

A little catching up to do

Well, it's been quite a long time since I've made a post here. I had better mention the fact that everyone knows by now... Ovechkin signs a 13 year $124 million deal with the Washington Capitals, making it the biggest and most valuable contract in the NHL ever. This pretty much locks him in as the Washington Capitals franchise player.

This is an excellent move by the Caps organization for a few reasons. The first being, they have secured a franchise player. I believe that they tried to do this with Jaromir Jagr and that failed miserably. Regarding Jagr still, I think the Caps are still paying part of his salary this year, and have one more year left to do so. Then they should be rid of the dead weight there.

Secondly, this allows them to build consistent marketing and fan support for the area here in DC where this is not a prime hockey market. The fans know that they will be in for a treat every night seeing one of the most explosive players in the NHL. The caps have traditionally had issues filling the seats with their fans and not the visiting team's fans. Hopefully in the next few years, people will come to see the Capitals, and not for their home teams/favorite teams. An excellent example of this was today (Sun. 1-13-08) vs. the Philadelphia Flyers. By the sounds of it, you might have thought that the game was being played in Philadelphia every time the Flyers scored a goal. Additionally, there was an awful lot of orange & black on display when the cameras panned the crowd.

Not only will it (the signing of Ovechkin long term) lure in the fans, but it may also have a secondary effect on luring in other top tier players in the NHL to play on the Caps team. The Caps have a lot of great young talent on their team. They also have a new coach who has done wonders for the Capitals. He can inspire the team and motivate them in new ways, and it has shown since he has taken over. In my opinion, Bruce Boudreau should receive the coach of the year award for turning this team around.

Another added benefit to signing Ovechkin long term would be merchandising. Today on comcast, they had shown a statistic of the top 5 best selling player jerseys in the NHL, and Ovechkin was #2 only to Sid the Kid. So this proves that he is ridiculously popular among the hockey fans in all markets, not just the DC market. Eventually this could spawn more Capitals fans in many more markets. Should the Capitals become a playoff calibur team, this could have many more benefits for marketing outside their own region. It would be amazing if they became as popular as say the Detroit Red Wings, Montreal Canadians, or New York Rangers.

Let's not put the cart before the horse here. I'm just excited about Alex Ovechkin becoming a Capital franchise player, and I hope he can bring the Stanley Cup to Washington DC sometime soon. Congratulations Ovechkin!

Caps win North of the Border in OT

The caps continue to play some solid hockey into 2008 with a win Saturday afternoon in Montreal against the Canadians. The game had to go to overtime in order for it to be decided but the Caps came out victorious. I can't overstate how well the Caps are playing. They have been showing some exciting passionate hockey.

Albeit, they are concerning me still with weak defense and lackluster goal tending lately, but hopefully things will tighten up as the season gets closer to the playoffs. I'm not sure what the correct diagnosis for this problem is, but it's starting to not look good for Olie the Goalie. I'm not saying he isn't a decent guy and an important leader for the Caps, but the amount of goals the Caps have allowed lately have been quite staggering. Hopefully Brent Johnson makes a speedy and healthy recovery soon to help give Kolzig a breather, and to hopefully win a new starting job down the stretch for the Caps, wait, scratch that...I forgot that he is out for the season with an MCL injury, I believe... I'll have to find the news source for this to confirm.

I should also mention that the Caps are starting to gain some ground on the other teams in the Southeast conference, I guess it also helps when those other teams in the conference continue to lose.

The Colorado Avalanche will be visiting from the Western conference on Wednesday night. I can't wait to see the game, it should be a very exciting game. See you there.

Caps win again!

The Caps have won again! What a way to start off 2008! That's two in a row against the Senators making it 3 of 3 against the Senators for the season series. It was another high scoring affair with a combined 9 goals total for the game. Ovechkin also extended his point streak by another game.

Today was also the Outdoor Winter Classic in Buffalo, New York. This game was also a lot of fun to watch. Plenty of snow falling, lots of ice repairs, and almost 81,000 fans watching the game! Also, there was no safety net to watch through. Sidney Crosby was again the star of the game scoring the winning shootout goal making it a win for the Penguins.