Joel Ward

Joel Ward ought to watch what he says on the radio

August 9, 2012

Joel Ward is a lot of things.

Professional. Gritty. Feisty.

Add 'brutally honest' to that list.

As reported by Puck Daddy, Ward talked about his offseason in a recent interview with 102.1 The Edge in Toronto. There were threats made against him because of his game seven overtime winner against the Boston Bruins. He also underwent surgery to correct a sports hernia.

He got a little lonely.

"I was a single male laying in bed like that, I figured I'd try to relieve myself a little bit. Well, sure enough I got a nerve that kinda connect from my seeds up to my scarring that slowly prevents me from relieving ...

Alex Semin is gone; what now for the Washington Capitals?

July 26, 2012

Carden Hedelt

3 Comments

With a one-year deal worth $7 million, Alex Semin is headed to Raleigh to frustrate the living bejesus out of Carolina Hurricanes fans join Jordan Staal as part of a new-look offense for the Carolina Hurricanes.

It's a good deal for both parties. Semin, by hook (not the two-minute variety, with which Semin is very familiar) or crook gets his money and the team is only on the hook for one year. Not a bad deal for a boom-or-bust guy like Semin, even if he is coming off a bust season.

Now just where does that leave the Capitals?

They're not exactly up a creek with no paddle because it was pretty clear that Semin wanted to leave from season's end...

Homecoming and Coming Home

April 28, 2012

Mike Flannery

0 Comments

At the end of the season in 2006 or 07, Jeremy Colliton cleaned out his locker and headed home. He had a long drive ahead going from Bridgeport, CT to Blackie, AB. Twitter was not created until March of ’06 and didn’t launch until that July but Facebook was available and Jeremy used it to chronicle his long drive home. His periodic status updates about which George Strait song he was listening to, or how he could not wait for the taste of Canadian beef, eased the pain that I and other hockey fans experience when the season ends. Today it’s Twitter that provides that catharsis.

Several of this years’ Sound Tigers club use twitter and most posted something about their journey. It was obvious from reading each of them that, though sad to leave, they were happy to be home. Kevin Poulin said he was glad to have some ‘home cooking’ and wished teammates Rhett Rakhshani (driving solo to California) and David Ullstrom (flying home to Sweden) well. Ullstrom was in touch with both Casey Cizikas and Trevor Frischmon about having them come to visit him over the summer. John Persson (remember this kids’ name) also from Sweden did not return home. He instead returned to his Canadian billet family in Red Deer, Alberta where he has the most adorable five(?) year-old blonde alarm clock.

Capitals Dominate Flyers, 5-2

October 21, 2011

Matthew Brigidi

3 Comments

In what was supposed to be a battle of the East's elite, the Capitals dominated the Flyers 5-2, to improve to 6-0-0 on the season. TCL's Matt Brigidi explains.

Colby Armstrong: Mr. Impact

August 21, 2011

Marco Perruzza

2 Comments

When the Toronto Maple Leafs signed Colby Armstrong last season ($9 million over three years) many "experts" felt that they overpaid for the gritty, third line winger. On a team developing a new identity, Burke brought in a player who he felt was a necessary component to a winning team. A former Pittsburgh first round pick (21st in 2001), Armstrong was someone who was influential in the rise of the Penguins and the type of player the Leafs desperately lacked for quite some time.

Armstrong's Impact

The Leafs finished the 2010-2011 regular season with a 37-34-11 record, missing the playoffs yet again. The Leafs inability to consis...

GM's Job Done, Players and Coaches Must Produce

July 2, 2011

SloweVechkin

4 Comments

By Scott Lowe

Someone, not sure who, wrote in this space yesterday that the Washington Capitals would most likely sit back and let the Free Agent Frenzy play out, waiting for the day’s losers to approach them with ridiculous trade offers they couldn’t refuse. Okay, maybe that scenario didn’t quite pan out.

Instead, while the Caps’ venture into the free agent wilderness could not be considered as much of a frenzied approach as some teams (ahem, Buffalo and Florida), Washington turned out to be one of the more active teams. And by all accounts, General Manager George McPhee did a great job filling holes and continuing to mold his club into a tougher and m...