Monthly Archives: May 2009

With the news swirling around Sergei Fedorov and Viktor Kozlov regarding their possible moves to the KHL, it’s good news for Capitals fans to see a young prospect moving the other way. Continue reading →

Wiley Miller, creator of the comic strip “Non Sequitur”, is clearly a kindred soul. Continue reading →

This is a special Saturday in almost-June: I’ll have John Walton’s call of game 1 of the Calder Cup finals piped in on my laptop while the Wings and Pens renew their finals matchup of a year ago on my TV. I can’t offer a Calder finals preview for a number of reasons, foremost among them: I haven’t seen the Manitoba Moose play hockey this year. I do know they have Cory Schneider in net, and he was judged to be the best goalie of the season this year in the ‘A.’ So the matchup between Schneider and Michal Neuvirth is a potential classic. I also know that the Moose play in a big arena (like 15,000 seats), and that the Winnipeg community apparently is treating this Calder Cup as a quasi dress rehearsal for hosting an NHL team one day. Maybe soon. But it’s a best-vs.best finals in the ‘A,’ with both the Bears and Moose winning 50 games during the regular season and both no. 1 seeds advancing to the finals. Continue reading →

The time seems right to make plain my belief system as it relates to the integrity of our game; which is to say, how it is that I’ve come to believe that hockey, in its totality, with perhaps but a few lone wolf exceptions, competes with its athletes’ integrity intact, steroid-free. Continue reading →

The National Hockey League and the Washington Capitals today issued reactions to an uncorroborated allegation of steroids purchasing by members of the team, which first appeared in the Tampa Tribune yesterday. The frequency with which Capitals’ players have been tested for banned substances as part of the new CBA ought to be instructive in assessing the merits of this matter. We will however pay particular attention to Jeff Schultz’s physique come fall camp. Continue reading →

Word of the Capitals’ first significant personnel move of the offseason arrived yesterday: assistant coach Jay Leach, with the club for five seasons, won’t be returning in 2009-10. Leach coached the team’s defensemen. It’s pointless to speculate on the rationale for the change — all that General Manager George McPhee would offer yesterday was that the decision was “mutual.” Continue reading →

The playoff beard has long been a cherished part of hockey culture. Whether the beards transform players into mountain men (such as Mike Commodore’s classic mane) or just wispy-scruffed teens, ditching the razor is a terrific tradition that players and fans alike embrace with relish. In fact, the Washington Capitals’ recent Beard-A-Thon raised an impressive $42k for charity this post-season, and all four remaining playoff teams are still running their bearded fundraisers (Pittburgh’s in the lead). Continue reading →