This ain't over!

Caps 4 Rangers 0

Forcing a game 6 back at MSG in New York on Sunday. A great game all around but it's best summed up by this -


"Simply sensational!"

Don't Stop... Believing!

Yeah, I know, that song sucks ass, but for some reason the kids on the Caps have adopted it as their theme music for the season.

After last nights super thrilling 4-1 win over Carolina I'm willing to not say that to their faces.

2 Games left, tied for 1st place. TIED for 1st! In case you missed it we were dead last in October and managed to climb to 14th by Novemeber before Glen Hanlon was tossed out for Bruce Boudreau. Since then things have been golden.

Last night's game wasn't just about Ovechkin, sure he scored a sweet goal to ice the game but Matt Cooke played his ass off. Brooks Laich continued his outstanding season by going forhand to backhand on a sweet pass from Tomas Fleischmann. Old man Fedorov with 2 assists, budding superstar Mike Green 2 assists and Christobal Huet being clutch when he had to be.

In short it was a total team vicorty.

Consider this, who was it who opened the game with a big hit at mid ice? That would be the Russian sniper Alexander Semin, not exactly known as a physical force across the league.

And who rushed to his goalie's defense when Eric Staal took an extra whack with his stick? Ovechkin.

The Caps were fired up and played the most complete team game I've seen in a while. And they picked the perfect night to do it. In a packed house that was a sea of red and louder than I've heard them in years. Sadly, I wasn't in attendance. BUt I'll be there when the puck drops on Saturday.

Tonight Carolina play Tampa Bay, in a game they were hoping wouldn't matter. Now it matter more than they thought possible.

Reality check time - We havn't won anything yet. Two games to go and a lot can still happen but I'm optimistic, hope is alive in DC and we're painting this town red wheather they know it or not.
Oh and I by the way, Carolina head coach Peter Laviolette's explosion on the bench was hysterical. I don't care if he had a point or not.

Feeling conflicted...

So it's the first week of April and baseball season is underway, time for my Padres to star on the long road to September showdowns and defeats of the Dodgers to my my heart sing all summer long.

Except...

The Caps are still playing. My Caps, are in the hunt!

I can't remember the last time the baseball and hockey overlap actually mattered. OK, so maybe I can, it's been five years. Five long years since the Caps even got a whiff of the post-season. Not only are they close but the excitement is incredible. Hockey fans can't help but get swept up in the energy being created by this team. You just want to be a part of it all.

Which brings us to tonights showdown - Carolina is in town tonight to play the Caps. They hold a two point lead on us, two points that we can make up tonight!
Basically, the Caps need to win all three games this week to have a shot at making it. Assuming that we do that, we still need one of the teams ahead of to stumble so we can pass and slip in. My God, the idea of the playoffs is so sweet.

Anyone who doesn't think the Caps would be dangerous over a best of seven series is deluding themselves. The Eastern Conference in not dominated by one team, if we make it, we can spoil things for a few teams. Can you imagine Ovechkin getting to play on that kind of stage? Anyone who hasn't seen how good he is would become an instant fan.

But first things first - We need to win tonight; in regulation - tonight is HUGE!

Oh yeah, and as for my Padres - Jake was Jake.

Not only did he shut the Astros hitters down for 7 strong innings, and helped his cause by driving in two runs off Roy Oswalt.
Yeah, that's right, our Cy Young award winning pitcher can use the stick too.

So I'll be keeping checking in on the Pads, but my Caps have my attention right now and I wouldn't be to upset if they got to keep it for several more weeks.

Caps keep Climbing!

After a sweet 4-2 victory over the Nashville Predators, the Caps have climbed to 9th place in the Eastern Conference standings. We now stand 2 points behind Philadelphia for the 8th spot, but we also move 3 points away from Carolina for the Division lead, which would be very sweet!

Ovechkin turned out another 3pt night including an empty net goal, his 58th of the season, on a bank shot of the boards at mid-ice, pretty sweet stuff.
Christobal Huet continues to be simply sensational in for the Caps. The guy makes the crucial saves at the right moment. We need to reign this man. He will backstop us to many a victory.

Tonight we faceoff in Chicago against a dangerous Blackhawks club. Meanwhile we'll be keeping an eye on TB vs. Buffalo and Carolina vs. Atlanta

C-A-P-S CAPS CAPS CAPS!

Not Dead yet....

OV scores #55 and then with 1 minute and 56 second left in the third period blasts #56 from the point on a crucial power play to win the game!

7 pts behind Carolina for the division but only 5 pts behind Philadelphia for the final playoff spot, I'll take either one gladly.

Congrats to Olaf Kolzig who collected career win #300. Well done sir, you picked a good night to do it!

Capital Offense!

Monday night was the first night I've had the chance to make it into DC for some live Caps action, my boys didn't disappoint!

Words can't really describe so I'll include video - LOVE IT!

Ovechkin is simply amazing, probably the greatest player I've ever had the privilege to see live and in person. Take into account that when I saw Gretzkey and Lemiuex they were at the tail ends of their respective and impressive careers.

Enjoy the the video, being there was even more fun! Thanks David!

So freaking good!

Alexander Ovechkin is simply one of the most explosive players I've ever seen and he was pure dynamite last night.

Here are a couple of links to some nice newspaper coverage. I'll try to post some video once I find something decent looking. Read here and here

Enjoy!

NHL All-Star weekend. Yup, they have uniforms and everything!

For those who may have forgotten, it was NHL All-Star weekend
and it was pretty darn entertaining.

My Washington Caps represented themselves well the whole weekend. On Saturday Nicklas Backstrom scored two goals and notched an assist during the young stars game and Alex Ovechkin won the all-new break-away challenge, a slam dunk style event for hockey players where they are judged on style by four judges. I was happy Ovie won, as he obviously was pretty creative in his attempts but I could help but think that scoring the goal should be part of the event too. I guess that's just bonus baby!

As for the actual game - Ovie bagged two goals to help the Eastern Conference win a very good game that came down to the wire. Boston's Marc Savard scored the game winner with 20.9 seconds left on the clock.

Ovechkin, in only his second all-star game, already has more goals scored at the event than any player who came before him. And with Backstrom's strong performance on Saturday it's only more proof that maybe the future is looking pretty bright for the Caps!

Because it's so rare, yet so sweet!

Kolzig was pretty bad in this game but stopped them when it counted most. Beating Pittsburgh is oh-so sweet!

Ovie and the boys continue to climb in the standings!