That loss to Edmonton was simply heartbreaking, wasn’t it? All my optimism for this season was shattered in one crushing blow. The Edmonton Oilers beat us. Why, what if we were facing a good team with a real goalie?? WHAT CHANCE WOULD WE HAVE??

…Oh. Edmonton leads the West, the Kids & the Hall Line is one of the highest scoring combos in the NHL right now, and Roberto Luongo isn’t actually a good goalie. Panic over!
» Continue reading “Capitals at Canucks: Guess Where It’s Snowing Now”

At last, our brief hockey drought is ended! With a game against the Edmonton Oilers. Perhaps I spoke too soon?

I shouldn’t be so flip, because they have some real potential skating around. Just last week I was chirping my Red Wings friends for being so old. Comparatively, we are Chris Chelioses to the barely house-trained Oil. » Continue reading “Capitals at Oilers – Respect Your Elders”

Four days between games?? It feels like another off-season. Horrific. And it’s a small comfort that the team we face on Thursday is barely a team at all! Finally, to add insult to injury, it’s a late game, so if you weren’t clever and didn’t finagle your schedule to have no Friday classes, you might have to miss the end. It’s clear the hockey gods are unhappy with our inhuman start. (Though I’d rather have them punish us like this than with a first-round exit.)

So let’s clear our minds and turn to a different kind of horror:

FASHION.

"...and everyone with the exception of my wife will run screaming!"

NHL.com gets it

In all seriousness, no. Unfortunately Vokoun can’t start every game for the rest of the season, especially in the 12 back-to-backs we have in the second half of the season. But let’s say we drop all 6 second games. That still leaves us at 76-6. The ’96 Red Wings have the record for most wins, with 62-13-7, which, with 7 games already taken care of, we’ve practically made it!

The ’77 Habs (as chronicled by Ken Dryden) have points record with 132, having gone 60-8-12 (in an 80 game season). Why, with the OTL charity point, we can match that easily! I don’t see why we can’t break both of these records, culminating in a glorious Stanley Cup win by the Tampa Bay Lightning, who will not be worrying over this kind of irrelevant BS.

And if we don’t, we still have the chance to chase another record: in the inaugural season of the Washington Capitals went 8-67-5 for a total of 21 points. We can still do it!

It’s the moment we’ve all been waiting for: the only two currently undefeated teams in the NHL face each other. (I would like to point out that the Caps are undefeated-er, going 6-0-0 while the Wings have only sustained 5 wins.) This is the second time two undefeated teams who have played more than 5 games each have faced each other.

This game is also pretty special to me, because the US office of the study abroad program I did last year was based in Detroit, so everyone I know is a Red Wings fan. There is a lot of my personal pride riding on this game. » Continue reading “Capitals vs. Red Wings – In Pursuit of Perfection”

5-0 isn’t a bad way to start the season, and all we’ve got up next is the Flyers. What have Flyers ever done, besides be the lynchpin of the most famous German Nazi resistance movement of WWII? » Continue reading “Capitals at Flyers – [Insert 'Moves Like Jagr' Pun]“

Being a hockey blogger comes with a lot of responsibilities. Besides “try to watch the games” and “never post drunk,” it’s important to keep an eye on the farm team. And that’s why I’m headed to Norfolk (pronounced “NAW-fuk”) to watch the Admirals take on our Hershey Bears.

We’re missing a few familiar faces, such as Andrew Gordon and Alexandre Giroux but they, like their older brothers, have also won every game of the season so far. On the other hand, so have the Ads, though they are traditionally not as good as the Bears. Then again, who is? They do have a formidable up’n'coming goaltender in Dustin Tokarski, but otherwise their main asset is grittiness and scrappiness and punchiness… in the literal sense.

Starters will probably be the aforementioned Tick and, though Holtby was sent back today, Dany Sabourin. I’m seeing a final of… 3-2. Tune in.

PREDICTION

That’s a leopard seal pulling the head off a penguin. Need I say more?

Anyway, our last two games were lackluster, so I’m really hoping for a more decisive victory this game. Say, in regular time? I’m hearing Vokoun in net and Johansson and Beagle in the lineup. On the bad guys’ side, Malkin is making an appearance but no Kid, though he’s been cleared for contact.

If I could have any wish, it would be for that app that pours beer out of your iPhone. But if it had to be in some way related to this hockey game, I would ask for our stars to do the heavy lifting. I adore the Mythical Beast, I really do, but I’m just not comfortable with him carrying our team.

It’s too early to say that Bruce is creating a goaltending controversy — it is only the third game — but I would like to take this opportunity to put myself on Team Vokoun. Neither goalies have been stellar these first two games, though I’m more comfortable in the hands of an experienced older gent, and we have all season to figure out who we’ll start in the playoffs. Why are you even thinking about the playoffs? Enjoy the beginning of the season with the carefree joy that will be gone by our mid-November losing streak.

Game’s on CSN. Let’s go Caps.

Anyone else momentarily freak out and wonder what year it was when they heard Jagr’s name in the Flyers game yesterday? Just me? All right then.

There does not appear to be a preview for tomorrow’s game up on the Official Capitals Website, but Japers’ has our back as always. There’s a plethora of links, though I would give special notice to the Washington Times special pull-out section, which definitely leads the league in silly drawings, though the Post preview gives them a run for their money (D7-10). Although I think it’s a bit silly to still call our core the Young Guns.

Here are the storylines I will be watching out for:
» Continue reading “Season’s Eve”