The Hockey Stop

After a roller coaster season for Washington Capitals fans, including the franchise's first President's Trophy followed by an epic flameout against the eighth-seeded Montreal Canadiens in the first round of the playoffs -- the new season couldn't come soon enough.

And following the crushing end to such a promising season, perhaps the Caps organization realizes that not only the players but the loyal and long-suffering fans -- especially the season ticket holders -- deserve a better fate.

Hosting a summer skate session at the Caps' practice facility in the middle of August was a refreshing reminder that despite not living up to expectations so far on the ice, owner Ted Leonsis and the Caps care about keeping those seats filled in the Verizon Center with happy people rockin' the red all season long (hopefully longer this season).

Here are pictures I took of the Caps' summer skate event at the Kettler Capitals Iceplex on the eighth floor of the Ballston Commons Mall in Arlington, Virginia, just across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C.

The Capitals representatives were all super friendly and helpful. But this one had the best smile.



Two season ticket holders enjoying the free Chick Filet sandwiches and soft drinks while they waited for the Zamboni to clean the ice for the skate session.



Nice to see the Capitals and Kettler making a commitment to going green. As I've said before, global warming and melting ice cannot be good for the game of hockey.



Construction area where a brand new pro shop will be built to replace the smaller one downstairs.



There are no excuses getting lost trying to find the Kettler Capitals Iceplex after seeing this big banner in the middle of the Ballston Commons Mall!



OK, I'm glad we won our first President's Trophy. But isn't the ultimate goal to win our first Stanley Cup? I had mixed feelings seeing the Caps selling President's Trophy merchandise.



Ted Leonsis' new book "The Business of Happiness" on sale at Barnes & Noble, Amazon.com and the Kettler pro shop!



More pictures:

Brendan Shanahan is shunning the hockey purists and that is a good thing for the future of the National Hockey League.

The NHL's new VP of hockey and business affairs wrapped up the league's first Research, Development and Orientation Camp on Thursday at the Toronto Maple Leafs' nearly one-year-old practice facility -- the state-of-the-art Mastercard Centre for Hockey Excellence.

The past week featured 33 top-rated 17-year-old junior hockey players hitting the ice to test a series of potential new rules in front of NHL coaches, general managers and executives.

Some of the rules will likely never see the light of day, such as during the overtime session reducing the number of players on the ice by a man every three minutes until it is two on two. However, there are some rules that fans could see in the next few years.

Right now icing the puck is incredibly dangerous, even by hockey standards, because it creates an intense race to touch the puck first (see picture above) and one little nick in the ice surface can send a player barreling into the boards head first and cause a serious injury.

That is why, in my opinion, automatic icing like they have in international competition is what the NHL needs. And no-touch icing is on the table and was tested this past week. But also tested was "hybrid icing," which would allow the linesman to rule an icing if it is clear that the defender would have touched the puck first. But this rule does nothing to mitigate the close races for the puck and would do nothing to prevent serious injuries. In my view, while hybrid icing would be a step in the right direction, why not just go full throttle and write no-touch icing into the rulebook. After all, if it could save one player from a serious and possibly career-ending injury then it is worth it.

There were plenty of other rules tested including a referee sitting on the sideline above the ice to get a better view of the action and any infractions (the coaches don't like this one because it is harder to yell at the ref), but the bigger picture here is a promising one. The RDO Camp is a reminder that over five years after the lost season due to the lockout, the NHL is still working hard to win back fans by making the game more dynamic and exciting then it has ever been.

The danger in so many new rules is that it will water down the game so much it will become a joke and that these are simply gimmicks to attract non-hockey fans in an era of sports entertainment overload where a guy on a couch can just as easily watch the Lingerie Football League on his 500-channel cable package than the nightly pro hockey game.

But if done in a careful and thoughtful way as the past week's testing proves, then it can really correct some outdated rules and make the game of hockey more exciting without detracting from the purity of the sport. Otherwise if nothing is done, then you have Major League Baseball, where managers still get ejected for arguing calls when video replay would have saved time and lowered the blood pressure of managers and umpires across professional baseball.

So kudos to Gary Bettman, Shanny and the National Hockey League for holding the Research, Development and Orientation Camp. By thinking outside of the box they are assuring a promising future for the fastest sport in the world.

Tonight I was watching the Dodgers-Giants game on ESPN and I noticed something strange -- San Francisco's catcher appeared to be wearing a hockey goalie mask.

Could Antti Niemi have given up on the Blackhawks paying him after arbitration and become a pro baseball player?

It appears that some catchers and umpires have abandoned the traditional mask for hockey-style goalie masks.

From Wikipedia:

"In recent years, catchers have begun wearing masks similar to those worn by ice-hockey goaltenders. The hockey-style mask typically includes a section which protects the top of the head; older-style masks are usually worn over a flap-less helmet (worn backwards and often with a trimmed bill) to provide similar protection to the skull. Some helmets also are somewhat like the hockey style helmets. They have a helmet without a bill and a facemask."

What's next? Hockey goalie gloves and blocker pads to stop wild pitches?

In all seriousness I think it is pretty cool that baseball catchers and umps are adopting a piece of equipment from hockey.