A picture says a thousand words

I've Never Been Prouder

As the Capitals headed into yet another skills competition following the completion of Wednesday's game against the Islanders, something happened in the arena that made me proud to be a Caps fan. A decent chunk of the crowd, (maybe a thousand) got up, and left. They left the game before the shootout, and that to me says more about the shootout than any focus group or Bettman spun logic EVER could.

God bless America.


Meanwhile, our owner is trying to stifle civic pride, and the Flyers keep on trucking.


I'll probably write more on the Ted thing tomorrow.

A New Curse?

With a 5-3 loss to the Montreal Canadians tonight, the Philadelphia Flyers have extended their losing streak to 7 games. Not only have the lost 7 straight, but every single last one was in regulation, so not a single point has been gained. The losing streak started back on February 6th in a game against the Capitals, which may be remembered best as Ron Hextall night, with the Flyers having a lengthy ceremony before the game. And another lengthy ceremony during the first intermission. Well, the hockey gods were apparently upset with the lengthy delay during the game. The NHL certainly was, as they have fined the Flyers $25,000 for failing to forthcoming with the length of the pending delay. Since the Flyers have not won a game since the ceremony, one has to wonder if the Flyers have been cursed by Ron Hextall?

I leave you with my personal favorite Ron Hextall moment.

Riddle me this . . .

The Flyers spanked the Penguins 8-2 last night on "national" television. The game will be replayed on VS at 5 pm tonight.

More importantly, here are your three stars of the game:
1. Joffrey Lupul (3g, 3a)
2. Mike Richards (0g, 3a)
3. Sidney Crosby (0g, 2a)


Would someone care to explain to me how Sidney Crosby got the third star in a game where his team lost by 6 and he was -3, while R. J. Umburger had 3g, 2a, was +5, and scored the game winning goal, but didn't get to go out for the post game salute?

Inconceivable.

If I hadn't seen it . . .

I wouldn't believe it. Down 5-2 in the 3rd, the Caps came back to beat the Flyers 7-5 on five unanswered third period goals. Now the Caps were down 5-2, but it wasn't really that the team played all that horrible up to that point, they dominated the play 5 on 5, but the Flyers were burying their chances, Poti gave Richards a gift, and Koharski made some interesting calls in the second (such as Chris Clark getting called for holding when he had two hands on the stick). Above all else though, Olie had a rough game. At one point the Flyers had 5 goals on 12 shots. The past two seasons, the Caps have not been in any games unless Olie was in his top form. Olie wasn't in top form last night, and the Caps rallied to bail him out, something unseen around these parts in a while.

The Good:
1. Alexander Ovechkin. In the third period he just woke up and won the game. Something he's always wanted to do in the past, and been capable of doing before (like games against Anaheim in '06 and Atlanta in '07).

2. Brian Pothier. Exactly what we expected when we got him. Now that he's not logging top 2 minutes, he's playing at his level, and shining both in the offensive and defensive zones.

3. Dave Steckel. He's making management's decisions extremely difficult about who we are going to keep along the back 6. His second and third goals of the preseason along with solid defensive play and his amazing face-off abilities are showing he belongs in the NHL with some organization.

The Bad:
1. Mike Green. He kept getting ice time and doing nothing with it. I've never seen a puck bounce over a stick as much as it did over his last night, giving me flashbacks to Sergei Gonchar.
2. Tom Poti. He had a solid game most of the way, but the moment that sticks out is that awful turnover in the first leading to Richards' first goal.
3. Jeff Schultz. He's not playing anything like he did at the beginning of last season. He's going down to Hershey, and they are just going to murder him when he gets there.

The Ugly:
1. Olie Kolzig. I'm sorry, sir, but that was as bad as I've seen you play in a while. Let's get the rest off in the preseason, please.
2. The officiating. I've never seen the player closer to the boards get called for boarding. I've never seen a player with two hands on the stick called for holding, yet both of those happened against the Caps in the second period, leading to a PP goal by the Flyers.
3. The ice. Let's get this fixed guys. I know it's been in the upper 80s and 90s the last few weeks, but this team needs quality ice to move the way it wants to.

Ask FS! 12/16

Hidey-ho, loyal readers, and welcome once again to "Ask FS!" the advice column taking the NHL by storm. Or at least it would had Lemaire not invented the neutral zone trap! Today's question comes to us from Stephanie in York, PA! Stephanies ask of the great oracle

Dear FS,
My boyfriend like hockey, but he is a Flyers fan and I am a Pens fan
(because Crosby is so hot!), I want to get him a Flyers gift but I don't
know what to get, any advice?

Well Stephanie, the best
thing to do in a situation like this is to seek couples counselling. FS
knows almost as many couples councilors as he has restraining orders
against him, but I'd like to recommend this
guy, who will be taking appointments starting next June!

That clears us until next game folks, but if you have a question that you'd like to see appear on the mystical World Wide Web, just email me, or drop a question in the comments below! Let's Go Caps!

End of Weekend wrap-up.

In liue of actually having anything intelligent to say, let's see what other people are saying about what happened in the organization over the weekend.

The Caps lost on Friday night to the Ducks 6-1, in a game where the score really says all you need to know about what happened. It wasn't that the Caps as a whole were that bad, but they weren't that good, and Olie had a rough night.

"Win Streak Ends at 4" -The Washington Post
Ducks End Caps Streak -The Washington Times
The Caps Report -The Washington Times
Ducks Win This One for the Road -The LA Times

On Saturday, the Caps and Flyers played a back and forth game before Norris Trophy Candidate scored the game winner in the second half of the third period, while Princess Pettinger Put the icing on the cake in the last minute for a 5-3 victory.
The New Broad Street Bullies -The Washington Post
Capitals Find Hard Way To Win -The Washington Times
Caps Report -The Washington Times
For Flyers, A Losing Experience -The Philadelphia Inquirer and Daily News
Lack Of Firepower Dooms Flyers In Latest Loss -Camden Courrier Post


Down on the farm, Hershey knocked off the Norfolk Admirals in OT 3-2. The Game winner came from Eric Fehr. The two teams square of again this evening, once again in Hershey.
Bears Solve Admirals -The Harrisburg Patriot News

Down in Carolina, the Stingrays knocked off the Charleston Inferno twice over the weekend sweeping the home and home series with scores of 3-2 and 5-2.