Alexander Ovechkin

Caps beat the Sabres 3-2 for their first win of the season

January 27, 2013

Carden Hedelt

0 Comments

Remember a few days ago after the Capitals lost 4-1 to the Winnipeg Jets and this writer told you to panic?

Hit the pause button on the painic.

The Capitals beat the Buffalo Sabres 3-2, their first win of the season.

It's the first win of the season for the Caps.

It wasn't a perfect win but a lot of things looked better.

Maybe the Capitals are understanding bettter what Adam Oates wants from them, the system that he runs.

The shortened training camp was always going to be a bigger problem for any team with a new coach.

One game doesn't prove that everything is all better, but a few things did improve from the first four gam...

Capitals-Lightning; Follow Us!

January 19, 2013

Carden Hedelt

0 Comments

Our (not-so) long (multi-) national (quasi-) nightmare is over.

Hockey is back.

I, for one, welcome back our crooked-sticked overlords.

The Capitals open their season in Tampa Bay against the Lightning. What the team will look like is anyone's guess as the team was only in training camp for about a week under new coach Adam Oates.

He has said that he will give Alexander Ovechkin more freedom than he was allowed under former coach Dale Hunter.

This is what Alexander Ovechkin looks like when he's free.

It is his thing. It is awesome to behold.

---------

We've started up a Twitter...

Players playing Overseas: May the Best Man Win

October 11, 2012

Derrick Newman

0 Comments

Do you have a problem with players going overseas to play hockey?

Is it unfair that they take jobs away from other players when they do so?

Or, is it simply a case of owners doing what's right by there fans and putting the best possible product on the ice?

I tend to think it's the latter. But argue with me all you want.

NHL 13 Review: New Physics makes EA's latest in the NHL series a must-buy game

September 20, 2012

Carden Hedelt

0 Comments

The best chance we all might have for seeing any NHL hockey between now and the winter of 2013 might be on your PS3 or Xbox 360.

NHL 13, developed by Electronic Arts and the yearly update in their long-running NHL series, is where hockey fans will have to turn for their NHL--for the time being, at least. Like any good series, the folks at EA have done their damnedest to make NHL 13 fresh for anyone who will be swapping out NHL 12 for this year's version.

The new big thing is Total Control Skating, which takes physics into account more fully.

Bravo, EA.

Gone are the days of zipping around the back of the net, cutting in hard and not losing any momentum. Cutting ...

TCL Round 1 Staff Predictions: Boston Bruins vs. Washington Capitals

April 12, 2012

TCL Staff

1 Comment

( 2 ) BOSTON BRUINS vs. ( 7 ) WASHINGTON CAPITALS

The defending Stanley Cup Champions will have to first go through the Washington Capitals in this year's playoffs if they have any plans of repeating. Fortunately for them, the Capitals aren't exactly the most consistent team in the league right now. Frankly, they're probably lucky to find themselves in the playoffs after everything that's gone on in the nation's capital this year. Star players underperforming and creating mutinies against coaches, GMs unable to figure out what to do with their team, just a lot of headaches and problems for the Caps and their fans. The Bruins, on the other han...

Ovechkin scores twice, Caps hold off Wings late 5-3

March 19, 2012

Mike Dusak

0 Comments

Alex Ovechkin decided it was his turn to step up.

The Washington Capitals captain scored twice and lead by example on the road as his Capitals held on to beat the Detroit Red Wings 4-3 on Monday night at Joe Louis Arena.

Beating the Red Wings at the Joe hasn't been easy this season. The Wings have won 28 of 34 games at home this season, but a three-goal first period fueled the playoff-desperate Caps past the battered Wings, who are still without captain Nicklas Lidstrom.

The Caps entered the nights action as the eighth and final seed in the Eastern Conference playoff picture. The win gives the Caps 80 points, four ahead of idle Winnipeg (who has a g...

A Look Ahead To Some Top Rated 2012 Prospects

March 18, 2012

Rob McGowan

0 Comments

I have said that I believe it would be better for the Islanders to finish between 10th and 12th place in the Eastern Conference as opposed to going the 'Fail for Nail' route and trying to get a top-five lottery pick for this summer's 2012 Entry Draft. But if the season ended today, the Isles would go into the lottery with the fifth pick in the draft. Although that is the least likely position to be in when hoping to move up to number one, the Islanders are almost guaranteed to at least have a selection in this year's top 10 class.

With the playoff picture painting itself out on a permanent canvas over the next two weeks, let's put ourselves in the shoes of some NHL scouts and take a quick glance at what the Islanders will be looking at in between game 82 and draft day.

Nail Yakupov is the clear choice for first overall, having a lot of Alexander Ovechkin comparisons made about his play. After Nail comes Mikhail Grigorenko, who has often been compared to Evgeni Malkin. Both of these Russian prospects will probably be out of the Islanders grasp barring a significant change on the day of the lottery. After these two goal-scoring forwards lie plenty of top-rated defenseman.

Power Play Woes Continue as Capitals Sink Canadiens 3-0

January 18, 2012

czechtacular

1 Comment

1st2nd3rdTWashington2103Montreal0000

The Bell Centre welcomed back a familiar face on Wednesday night, as Roman Hamrlik made his return to Montreal for the first time since signing with the Capitals in the offseason.

First things first, though: a more unusual kind of retribution. Rene Bourque, just two games removed from a suspension for a hit on Washington's Nicklas Backstrom when he was still with the Calgary Flames, expected to be confronted regardless of his new uniform. Sure enough, barely a minute into the opening twenty, he went at it with the Caps' Matt Hendricks ....and that was that.

Meanwhile, Drummondvil...

Islanders get road win at Washington

January 17, 2012

John Link

0 Comments

Islanders get a huge victory over the streaking Capitals tonight, winning 3-0. The Islanders came into the game looking to rebound from a bad game yesterday against Nashville and rebound is definitely what they did. The Capitals who have been hot of late looked like a tall test for the tired Islanders who played yesterday and had to travel to get to Washington.

The game started slow as neither team could keep possession of the puck in the offensive zone. One play that stood out to me during the early going of the period was Nabokov’s handling of the puck. He came out to handle the puck in front of the net, mishandled it and left a great chance for the Capitals. Thankfully for the Islanders they were unable to get a good shot on net and Nabokov was able to recover. Nabokov needs to work on his puck handling as it has become a problem as of late and has cost the Islanders goals at certain points.

Islanders Look To Avoid Capital Punishment - Isles/Caps Pre-Game

January 17, 2012

John Madonia

0 Comments

Somebody had a case of the Mondays.

The New York Islanders, at least, will have a quick turnaround after one of their worst performance’s of the season. After a dismal 3-1 loss to the Nashville Predators, the
Islanders travel to the nation’s capital to play the red hot Washington Capitals.

Washington, winners of seven straight at the Verizon Center, come into the contest off a 2-1 home victory over the Carolina Hurricanes. They haven’t trailed in a game at home since December 13th. In 22 games since Bruce Boudreau was replaced by Dale Hunter, the Capitals have gone 12-9-1 playing themselves into a 1st place tie with the Florida Panthers in the Southeast Division.