It is ironic that Steve Konowalchuk, whose gritty and tenacious play exemplified “heart” in each of the 790 NHL games in which he appeared, would be forced to retire early because of a heart ailment. The former Caps captain, who was traded to the Colorado Avalanche early in the 2003-04 season, announced his retirement earlier [...]
When he heard Caps coach Glen Hanlon was planning on moving him back to the blueline, a position he had not played regularly in more than five years, Ben Clymer’s mind began racing with possibilities.
“I was just really caught off guard to begin with,” admits Clymer. “I was thinking, ‘What’s going on?’ I was running [...]
Alexandre Giroux is one of a handful of players fighting for one of the final roster spots as the Capitals prepare to open their 2006-07 regular season. The former junior teammate of Michael Ryder, Jiri Fischer, Ales Hemsky and Radim Vrbata, Giroux played under former Caps coach Bruce Cassidy in 2001-02, his first year as [...]
A couple hours before last night’s preseason game between the Caps and the Flyers in Philadelphia, Alex Ovechkin was standing outside the Caps’ locker room working on his sticks. Painting them, taping them, torching them. I wondered aloud when was the last time he had used a stick with a three-quarter inch curve, the newly [...]
If you were at Sunday’s preseason game between the Washington Capitals and the New Jersey Devils here in Hershey, Pa., you had to feel sorry for the public address announcer. The poor guy was charged with reading the game’s “scratches” just before the 5 p.m. puck drop, and it turned out to be quite the [...]
Feels weird not to be driving to Piney Orchard for training camp, but on the first day it usually feels like you don’t even need a car to get there. Is this a great time of year or what? All 30 NHL teams start out with a blank canvas, ripe with possibility, plush with promise. [...]
Upon your mystery ship. Be amazed at the friends you have here on your trip.
You might prefer Grand Funk Railroad’s “I’m Your Captain/Closer to Home” as your captain song of choice, and it’s a fine one at that. Me, I’m opting for a medley of Blues Image’s only hit, a Top 10 smash from the [...]
Almost forgot. Alex Semin, in the house. No visa woes, no military fatigues. He’s in the District.
I swear it.
I spent last weekend camping and canoeing on the Pokomoke River, but did not want to let an important Capitals anniversary slip by without mention. On Sept. 9, 1982, Washington general manager David Poile – at 33, the youngest GM in NHL history and less than two weeks into his tenure – made what is [...]
The Thin Blue Line is the title of a 1988 documentary about a wrongly convicted man in Texas. And you thought it was the title of the video of the Washington Capitals’ upcoming 2006-07 season.
Yeah, I know. They make those videos after the season. But you wouldn’t know that from the volume of email and [...]
