The Hockey Stop

It's been 37 years since the Washington Capitals and Kansas City Scouts joined the National Hockey League. The Scouts became the Colorado Rockies and then the New Jersey Devils. The Caps are still going strong in the nation's capital, but the team has only been to the Stanley Cup finals once -- in 1998 Washington was swept in four games by the Detroit Red Wings.

Is this the year the Caps capture the Cup?

That question will be definitely answered next spring. But the hopes were high and the energy was positive at the third annual Caps Convention last Saturday, which took place for the second straight year downtown at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center (the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation was holding their annual gathering there at the same time, so it was an interesting assortment of well-dressed men and women and red-clad Caps fans in Ovechkin and Backstrom jerseys).

New additions in the offseason have brought optimism to a beaten down fan base that has been disappointed by heartbreaking early playoff exits the past three years. The hope is that the new teammates will push the core group of Caps over the edge when it counts in the postseason. Alex Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom, Alex Semin and Mike Green are now in the prime of their careers and have been through the battles and crushing defeats and are learning how to win the big games. Now they have help from former Caps Captain and Potomac, Maryland native center Jeff Halpern, Stanley Cup winner with the Chicago Blackhawks right wing Troy Brouwer, veteran defenseman Roman Hamrlik, gritty right wing Joel Ward and veteran goaltender Tomas Vokoun.

Have the Caps learned how to win? Will a Cup winner like Brouwer stand up in the locker room the next time the Caps face adversity and the "here we go again" negativity creeps in? Will he tell his teammates that "no, it doesn't have to be like this. We can do this!"? Did General Manager George McPhee make the right moves? Will Head Coach Bruce Boudreau prove his critics wrong?

Many questions. Few answers. But it is a new season and the Caps and 29 other teams all have a shot at glory.

There were some interesting panel discussions at the Caps Convention, including "20 Questions with Ted," with former Washington Redskins linebacker and current local TV and radio personality LaVar Arrington interviewing Capitals Majority Owner Ted Leonsis, pictured below left, about subjects ranging from changing the name of the Wizards back to the Bullets ("I don't comment on NBA matters") to offseason speculation about Ovechkin's weight ("pinch his stomach at the autograph session").

At the panel discussion "Embracing Your New Teammates," new Caps Halpern, pictured below left, and Brouwer talked about the difficult transition of changing teams and cities, especially when there is family involved. Brouwer was asked if there are any hard feelings with new teammates because of past experiences as the opponent. He said not with a team like Washington that Chicago only plays once a year, but that it would have been difficult if he went to a divisional rival like the Vancouver Canucks.

Perhaps the most anticipated and interesting discussion took place on the main stage. "24/7 Behind the Scenes" took a look back at what it was like filming the highly acclaimed Emmy-nominated HBO reality series "24/7 Caps-Pens: Road to the Winter Classic." Ovechkin, Boudreau and WashingtonCaps.com Senior Writer and panel moderator Mike Vogel were joined on the stage by HBO Producers Scott Boggins and Michael Oliver (pictured below left to right).

Boudreau said he was looking forward to watching the New York Rangers and Philadelphia Flyers on this season's "24/7," which will culminate in the Winter Classic at Citizens Bank Park in Philly.

Here are more photos from the Caps Convention.

This is what I wrote last year after the then run-and-gun Washington Capitals became the first No. 1 seed in NHL history to blow a 3-1 series lead and lose to a No. 8 seed, the Montreal Canadiens, in the first round:

"What do I hope the high-flying Caps learn from this Game 7 loss, and last year's Game 7 loss to Pittsburgh, and the year before when they lost in Game 7 to the Flyers?

DEFENSE WINS STANLEY CUPS."

Lesson learned. On Saturday afternoon the road to redemption took a big step in the right direction as the Caps dispatched the New York Rangers in five games. It took three years of painful playoff exits and a 7-0 regular season thrashing by the very same Rangers this year to get the Caps to make the necessary changes to become a playoff team.

They changed their entire system from offense first to a tight-checking defensive style suited for the grind-it-out playoffs. They added a shutdown defenseman in Scott Hannan, a veteran Stanley Cup-winning second line center in Jason Arnott and two more battle-hardened veterans in Marco Sturm and Dennis Wideman. They also went with a young goaltender named Michal Neuvirth who has won two Calder Cup trophies with the minor league Hershey Bears and is cool as a cucumber between the pipes.

But despite all those necessary changes, the biggest question mark going into Saturday's game was whether the Caps could close out a series in five games. Well, by beating the Rangers 3-1 to end the series, the Caps not only threw that big monkey (more like a gorilla) off their backs but sent it into space.

This team found their inner killer instinct and is a dangerous team going forward. For the first time as a Caps fan, WE are the dangerous team no one wants to play. Change has come to Washington. Onward.

Other Notes:

• Congratulations to the Nashville Predators for winning their first playoff series in franchise history by beating the Anaheim Ducks 4-2.

• Could it be the curse of the President's Cup? The Vancouver Canucks are on the brink of making the wrong kind of history as the Chicago Blackhawks forced a Game 7 after trailing 3-0 to the Sedin twins and their mates. The biggest question mark going into Game 7 is between the pipes for Vancouver. Cory Schneider was injured on the tying penalty shot in Game 6 and Roberto Luongo has been very shaky in this series, including flailing around and giving up a bad rebound goal by Ben Smith in overtime last night. It should be a great game on Tuesday.

• What an exciting Round One! The Sharks came back from 4-0 down in Game 3 to shock the Kings and the Caps came back from 3-0 down at MSG in Game 4 to stun the Rangers. And all the overtimes have been great for fans. It is safe to say in these playoffs that no lead is safe and that the games will be most likely settled in the extra session.

In the Twitter age, it is a rarity to witness something as special and emotionally riveting as HBO's recent four-part reality series "24/7 Penguins-Capitals: Road to the NHL Winter Classic." The series that Caps owner Ted Leonsis calls "landmark television" is exactly that. It transcends the two teams involved, professional ice hockey and sports in general to achieve something magical that everyone on the planet can identify with on some level.

That is why I think "24/7" deserves consideration for an Emmy Award (not that HBO needs anymore hardware on their already crowded shelf). I hope HBO Sports nabs as many kudos as possible for "24/7" not just because of the quality of the production, but for what it has done for the fastest sport in the world in terms of bringing in new fans and gaining a new level of respect from people who before watching it might have easily dismissed ice hockey as some niche sport played by rural Canadians.

So as a hockey fan I'd like to say a big thank you to Home Box Office for promoting the sport like no other medium can. I hope the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences takes notice.

In case you missed it, here are all four episodes:

I'm one of the millions of unfortunate souls who missed last night's premiere of HBO reality series "24/7 Caps/Pens: Road to the Winter Classic."

Of course, seeing Ryan Getzlaf's big toothy grin after scoring the overtime goal for Anaheim to send Washington to their seventh straight loss didn't exactly put me in the mood to watch HBO chronicle the Caps' losing streak and Pens' winning streak.

But nearly 24 hours later and after reading one glowing review after another online, I can't wait to see this show and Caps coach Bruce Boudreau's cuss-filled tirades, which apparently put Jets coach Rex Ryan to shame. Thankfully, HBO is airing a bunch of repeats, and the first episode is available anytime to purchase On Demand.

Click here for the full HBO schedule with all the upcoming airings of "24/7."

At least the Pens lost to the Rangers last night for their second straight defeat. It would be nice if the tables were turned for the next episode this Wednesday night with the Pens going on a losing streak and the Caps hopefully starting to win some games again. With Atlanta and Tampa Bay only two points behind Washington with 38 points, they need every win they can possibly get. And the red-hot Flyers are leaving both the Caps, the Pens and the rest of the league behind. They are sitting pretty at the top of the league standings with 47 points.

Today, the NHL unveiled an artist rendering of what Heinz Field will supposedly look like at 1 p.m. on New Years Day, when the Washington Capitals face off against the Pittsburgh Penguins in the annual Winter Classic.

Now, I expect there to be a lot of Caps fans in red Ovechkin jerseys at the game. Many fans will surely make the short trip from Washington to Pittsburgh to take part in the festivities.

But from the looks of this drawing, Caps red is drowning out the Pens' black and gold. In fact, it almost looks like an outdoor version of the Caps' home arena -- the Verizon Center. I'm sure this was unintentional, but nonetheless, for those who notice, it is another small match fueling the big fire raging in the buildup to what promises to be one of the most viewed games and hopefully one of the most exciting games in the history of hockey.

Anyway, take a look and judge for yourself. Is that a lot of red in the stands?

In case you missed it last Saturday night, here is the 12-minute preview of the upcoming HBO reality series "24/7 Caps-Pens: Road to the NHL Winter Classic."

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:

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

In no other sport is there as much of a difference between the regular season and the playoffs than hockey. And in no other sport is there as much parity in the playoffs as in the NHL.

Just ask the New Jersey Devils, Buffalo Sabres and the best team in the regular season -- the Washington Capitals. They will all be sitting at home watching the Philadelphia Flyers, Boston Bruins and Montreal Canadiens battle in the Eastern Conference second round.

But put aside the Devils and Sabres, I'm going to focus on the one area the Caps are sorely lacking in, and it wasn't the atrocious one-for-30-something power play. The biggest lesson of all? DEFENSE wins championships, not offense.

Offense gets a team 121 points, a 50-goal scorer and a Presidents Trophy in the regular season ... and a first-round ticket to the golf course.

This is perhaps the hardest lesson to learn in all of sports, because defensive, er, deficiencies can be easily masked in the loosey-goosey regular season when it is easy to simply outscore other teams night after night if you have Ovechkin, Semin, Backstrom, Fleishmann and Green on your side.

But oh how the playoffs are a different story. Things tighten up more than the Republicans in Congress, and every little mental or physical error is magnified a hundred times.

For example, Mike Green is a Norris Trophy candidate and has been compared to Paul Coffey as the one of the best offensive defensemen in the NHL. But Green was left off Team Canada because of his penchant to turn the puck over or take a stupid penalty at just the wrong time. Of course his lack of defensive skill and smartness is forgotten quickly in the regular season. But when he takes a cross-checking penalty in the offensive zone near the end of a first period in a Game 7 of the Stanley Cup playoffs and Montreal scores to make it 1-0, well then Green is really exposed.

And Ovechkin was bottled up the whole series by Hal Gill. He did an amazing job of containing Alex the Great during the series. And let's get this straight, I love Ovechkin but he is no Sidney Crosby. I was at the Caps-Habs Game 2 and I heard a Caps fan behind me chanting "Crosby Sucks!" What? What planet are you on buddy? Crosby sucks? Is this the same Crosby who scored the game-winning goal for Team Canada to win the Gold Medal in Vancouver? Or maybe it is the same Crosby who took the Pittsburgh Penguins to the Stanley Cup Finals two years in a row and won the Stanley Cup last year? Is it that Crosby? And what has Ovechkin accomplished team-wise? Nothing. Until he does, it is painful for me to say, but Crosby is King and Ovechkin is an Imposter.

And what is the biggest part of defense in the playoffs? Goaltending of course. And Habs goalie Jaroslav Halak was nothing short of brilliant and deserves the comparisons to Patrick Roy and Ken Dryden. The Caps goalie Semyon Varlamov was great too, but Halak was better and that was the difference.

So what do I hope the high-flying Caps learn from this Game 7 loss, and last year's Game 7 loss to Pittsburgh, and the year before when they lost in Game 7 to the Flyers?

DEFENSE WINS STANLEY CUPS.

I just got back from the Verizon Center and what a game! The hero for the Washington Capitals tonight was not Alex Ovechkin but center Niklas Backstrom who is known around the league more for his sensational passes than his scoring ability.

But on a night when the Caps had to win against a resurgent Montreal Canadiens team that shocked them in a 3-2 Game 1 overtime victory, it was not Alex the Great who grabbed the headlines but his unheralded linemate from Sweden who capped off a hat trick in overtime for a 6-5 comeback win that sent myself and 18,000 other long-suffering Caps fans into a frenzy.

This was the most unlikeliest victory with the way the game started. The Canadiens scored on their first two shots against Caps netminder Jose Theodore, and coach Bruce Boudreau's long leash disappeared as he pulled Theodore for backup Semyon Varlamov with the Caps' backs against the wall down 2-0 in the first period.

But the Habs kept charging as they built up a 4-1 lead in the second period off two goals by Andrei Kostitsyn as the stunned crowd at VC sat in silence.

After Backstrom scored to make it 4-2 at the end of the second period, Ovechkin, who was already playing a much more physical game than the first, scored his first playoff goal to make it 4-3 at 2:56 into the third period. Ovechkin then had one of his three assists on the night to feed Backstrom to tie the game at 4.

But Les Habs came right back to the take the lead off a goal by Tomas Plekanec with only 5:06 remaining.

With the Caps almost down and out, talented rookie defenseman John Carlson tied the game with 1:21 left.

That set up Backstrom's heroics in overtime as he scored 31 seconds into the extra session to send the series back to Montreal tied at 1.

The atmosphere is absolutely electric right now in this win-starved city. Even as I type this from my parent's condo in downtown Washington, I can hear Caps fans honking on the streets in celebration and walking the sidewalks screaming in victory, "Let's Go Caps!"

The Bell Centre will be rocking in hockey's holy city of Montreal, but for one night at least I'm going to enjoy the greatest victory I've ever witnessed in my many years as a Washington Capitals fan.

Of course the game lived up to the hype. It seems every time these bitter rivals tangle that fans are treated to some fantastic hockey from both sides.

But my how the tables have turned. With their come-from-behind shootout victory over Pittsburgh tonight, my Washington Capitals have won all three games against the Penguins this season.

When I was growing up as a Caps fan in the Virginia suburbs of Washington, there were two constants every spring -- the Cherry Blossoms would bloom along the Tidal Basin and the Caps would lose to the Pens in the playoffs.

For so many years the Pens had our number and the number of fans from Western Pennsylvania filling up half of the Capital Centre in Landover, Maryland was just plain embarrassing. Bus after bus would roll into the Capital Centre parking lot and unload thousands of black-clad fans with Lemieux or Jagr on the back of their jerseys. And more times than not they would celebrate another playoff series win over the Caps.

But change has come to Washington and I'm not talking about Obama. While Pittsburgh beat Washington in seven games last year to eventually win the Stanley Cup, the Caps have their best chance in a long time to finally silence all those obnoxious Penguin fans.

Owner Ted Leonsis and General Manager George McPhee have been nothing short of brilliant in building the pieces of this team to shape a Stanley Cup contender.

Now we have the answer to the hated Penguins. They have Crosby, Malkin and Staal. But we have Ovechkin, Semin and Backstrom. They have Fleury. But we have Theodore, who played tonight like the Hart and Vezina winning goalie that he is.

And instead of half of Pittsburgh busing down to D.C., the Verizon Center rocks the red every home game. The Caps have some of the most passionate fans in the NHL as is evident when every seat is taken and the VC becomes a sea of red.

The ultimate goal is to win the Stanley Cup, but I hope the Caps get to face off against the Pens in the playoffs this year because after years of suffering at the hands of Pittsburgh, it's about time for some sweet, sweet revenge.

Highlights from tonight's game courtesy of NHL.com:

Could there be a thaw in the Cold War between Canadian commentator Don Cherry and Russian hockey player Alexander Ovechkin?

In a shocking revelation during the first intermission of the Leafs-Caps game last Saturday night on CBC's "Hockey Night in Canada," Cherry actually had some positive things to say about the Great Eight. The comments came after Ovie's 87 mile-per-hour cannon that scorched the back of the twine at Air Canada Center.

For those who aren't familiar with the plaid suit-wearing personality, Cherry has a jingoistic view of hockey players. In other words, he prefers farm-bred boys from Saskatchewan over finesse-bred boys from Sweden.

And he has gained a reputation for having a particular dislike of Ovechkin. This was evident after Ovechkin's celebration following his 50th goal last year in which he pretended his stick was on fire and was too hot to touch. On CBC, Cherry defended the "Canadian way" and derisively compared Ovie to the "goofy" celebrations soccer players make after scoring a goal. He then predicted that someone was going to hurt Ovie by "cutting him in half."

Fast forward to last Saturday night.

Cherry still went on his same tired routine about the curve of Ovie's stick (as if the stick is the reason for AO's lighting the lamp every five seconds) and that Ovechkin is getting a "free ride" because he plays a physical game and finishes his checks but never has to drop the gloves (as if there is a correlation between the two).

But then the anti-Euro provocateur actually had something positive to say about Ovie when the topic turned to his two-game suspension for a knee-on-knee hit. When asked if Ovechkin should change the way he plays Cherry said this:

"You don't get it, I love the way he plays. I love that he is hell bent on banging and smashing and everything. I think he's great. I hope he keeps it up. All I'm saying is he's going to get hurt doing it. But you can't change your bull terrier. Your bull terrier's got to play like a pit bull. That's the way he is, that's the way he plays -- like a pit bull ... don't get me wrong, I like Ovechkin."

And considering how popular Ovechkin and the European-stacked Caps are in Canada, Cherry would be wise to tone down his inflammatory and provincial comments. The demand to see Washington is so high that they were featured on "Hockey Night in Canada" four times in the past five weeks, which is more than the Canadiens, Senators, Flames, Oilers and Canucks.