The Hockey Stop

HALAK TO BLUES

In the biggest trade of the offseason so far the Montreal Canadiens have dealt wunder goalie Jaroslav Halak to the St. Louis Blues in exchange for prospects Lars Eller and Ian Schultz. This is one of the most baffling trades in recent memory. The Canadiens today almost gave away the goalie that single-handedly defeated the Washington Capitals and Pittsburgh Penguins and was being compared to Patrick Roy and Ken Dryden by Montreal's media and fans.

The Habs will now go with 22-year-old Carey Price in net and after this move it looks like UFA Chris Mason will be playing between the pipes for another team next year.


MACLEAN TO COACH DEVILS

The New Jersey Devils named former player and assistant coach John MacLean to lead the team behind the bench next season. He replaces the retiring Jacques Lemaire. MacLean was a first-round pick and played 14 seasons with New Jersey and spent eight more seasons on the coaching staff.


DONOVAN'S HOCKEY ROOTS

World Cup fever is not only sweeping South Africa but is also starting to catch on here in the U.S. after the American team tied England 1-1 in the opener.

Why you ask am I writing about soccer on a hockey blog? Because star player Landon Donovan could have easily laced on skates instead of cleats when he was growing up in Ontario, California. Donovan's dad Tim is from Nova Scotia and was a semi-professional ice hockey player in Canada.


OVECHKIN'S NEW BOOK

A book on Caps superstar Alex Ovechkin will be released this fall. "The Ovechkin Project: A Behind-the Scenes Look at Hockeys Most Dangerous Player" tells the story of his meteoric rise from Russian athlete to NHL powerhouse. Writers Damien Cox and Gare Joyce reveal a side of the Great 8 most fans never see, including how the death of his older brother impacted him. It should be an interesting read.


LEONSIS REASSURES CAPS FANS

After officially taking over the Washington Wizards and the Verizon Center, Capitals owner Ted Leonsis felt compelled to write an open letter to Caps fans who might be worried that Leonsis will devote more time to the Wiz and neglect the Caps. Here is the letter followed by a video of Leonsis speaking at the National Press Club in Washington. He talks about his "moment of reckoning" when he thought his plane was going to crash and how it changed his life and the way he does business. Fascinating.

Open Letter to Washington Capitals Fans

Thursday, 06.10.2010 / 1:00 PM / News

By now you have probably heard the news that my partners and I have completed our purchase of the Washington Wizards and Verizon Center and created a new company – Monumental Sports & Entertainment – that owns those entities as well as the Capitals and the Mystics. You’re likely to see and hear more from me on this news in the coming days – in the media, on my blog (tedstake.com), at the NBA Draft. It’s big news, and something my partners, my family and I are very excited about.

But I’m here to assure you that even if you hear me talking about the Wizards a lot, I haven’t – and never will – overlook the Capitals and our commitment to bring a Stanley Cup to Washington. I will continue to be focused on your well being and happiness.

A few people have asked how I expect to juggle these new responsibilities. I believe I’ve always been someone with great “bandwidth” to cover a variety of interests, including different companies, film projects and, foremost, my family. The Wizards will have a place in those interests, no bigger or smaller than the Caps – just as I don’t choose between my son and my daughter!

The creation of Monumental actually creates opportunities that I hope Capitals fans are excited about. We now program Verizon Center and we hope to be able to offer terrific new cross-marketing opportunities to our fans. We plan to continue to improve the fan experience at Verizon Center and will count on your feedback to do so. And we will over-index on scheduling and maintenance-oriented projects related to all of your teams.

Thanks as always for your support, and I will see you at Kettler Capitals Iceplex, the Caps Convention and Verizon Center in the upcoming months. And I’m always available to you at washingtoncaps@aol.com.

Sincerely,

Ted Leonsis