From the Press Box: Detroit Red Wings vs. Washington Capitals

The Washington Capitals (30-15-4) faced the 11-time Stanley Cup champions, the Detroit Red Wings (31-10-7), in a Saturday matinee at Verizon Center. The Capitals hadn’t faced a defending Stanley Cup champion since 2006-07. The Capitals are 11-11-1-3 against teams that won the Cup the previous year since the start of the decade, including a loss to the Red Wings in 2002-03.

Red Wing jerseys almost outnumbered Capitals jerseys on the Metro, and rang loud in the Phone Booth.

Voice of the Capitals Wes Johnson possibly had football and the Super Bowl on the brain. Johnson announced that the Capitals will face the Detroit Lions in a marquis matchup but quickly corrected the error. The Lions ended their regular season 0-16-0.

Peter Bondra sat in the press box observing his former team of 14 seasons.

Game Notes

• Scratches included Capitals’ Boyd Gordon and Chris Clark; and Red Wings’ Chris Chelios, Henrik Zetterberg, and Tomas Holmstrom.
  
• Tom Poti returned to the ice after missing 15 straight games with a groin injury.


• Sergei Federov is the only member of either team to have played for the other in his career.


• Shaone Morrisonn played amazing defense after losing his stick in the first period. Unable to retrieve a new stick from the bench, Morrisonn pushed past the linesman to effectively clear the puck.


• Red Wings’ Ville Leino tallied his first NHL goal at 18:06 in the first period with an assist from Pavel Datsyuk. Capitals quickly responded in less than one minute with a goal by Viktor Kozlov and assists by Milan Jurcina and Michael Nylander at 19:03.
• Mike Green scored his 14th goal of the season at 17:19 in the second period with assists from Nicklas Backstrom and Eric Fehr. Within 51 seconds, Johan Franzen tied the game at 2-2 with a power play goal.
• Ovechkin scored goal at 12:52 with help from Kozlov and Morrisonn in the third. The MVP tallied a second at 14:08, Backstrom and Green assisted. Ovechkin has 33 goals and Backstrom has 38 assists for the season.
  

The Capitals defeated the Red Wings 4-2. In the locker room, Ovechkin, who felt sleepy during the game because he couldn't remember when the team played a 12:30 pm game, said, “It’s a huge victory for us” to beat the Stanley Cup champions and “it gives us lots of confidence.”

Capitals Host Outdoor Practice at Chevy Chase Club

The Capitals held the annual outdoor practice tonight at the Chevy Chase Club in Chevy Chase, MD. Closed to the public but open to the media and Club members, the practice provided a unique opportunity to see a good-humored three-on-three scrimmage between Team Johnson and Team Theodore in their own Winter Classic.

The Capitals seemed to have a nice break from their usual tough practice, but the scrimmage possessed a typical league game feel: poor refereeing. “The refereeing wasn’t very quality,” said Brooks Laich. “Now I know the refs don’t like us. Those guys are relentless on the referees,” quipped Bruce Boudreau.

Except for the crowd of kids watching their favorite players take to the ice as good-natured rivals, the game apparently had no clear cut winner. “I think it was a tie. I think we scored late to tie it up. White [Team Theodore] would tell you differently,” said Laich, who played on Team Johnson in blue.

As for the possibility of playing in a real outdoor game, “If the weather was like this we’d love to play in the Winter Classic,” said Laich.

Notes to add: OFB spotted Chief Justice Roberts. John Erskine and Donald Brashear both scored hat tricks. Brian Pothier skated. Photos posted on Facebook.

Photo credit:s “Aneesa”

How to Properly Pronounce "Alexander Ovechkin"

The NHL produces a player pronunciation guide. Unfortunately the league has taught announcers, reporters, and fans how to mispronounce names including the league’s top scorer:

Malkin Gives Ovechkin Props in 2009 All-Star Game

Ovechkin to Represent Capitals at NHL All-Star Game

Capitals’ Alex Ovechkin will make his third NHL All-Star Game appearance.

Ovechkin has an impressive resume. The 23-year-old left wing has scored 194 goals, more than any other player since he entered the NHL; and is the first player in 55 years to be named to the NHL First All-Star Team in each of his first three full seasons in the league.

At the All-Star Break, the Capitals are 30-15-2 for 63 points and sit fourth in the league and first in the Southeast Division.

Ovechkin is scheduled to part in the Scotiabank NHL Fan Fav Breakaway Challenge. He won the inaugural Breakaway Challenge last year in Atlanta. In Breakaway Tips From Alexander Ovechkin, Ovechkin discussed breakaways, penalty shots, and his All-Star lineup with Penguins’ Sidney Crosby.

Nicklas Backstrom will miss the NHL YoungStars Game. In a statement released by the team, “I am grateful that I had the opportunity to participate in the YoungStars Game last year,” Backstrom said. “This year I felt like it made more sense for me to give someone else that opportunity and use this time to rest and prepare for the second half of the season…. I can assure Caps fans that I’m not injured and will be ready to go Tuesday in Boston.” Blues’ David Perron will replace Backstrom.

Fan Club Witnesses Capitals' Third Straight Win

Leaving from College Park and Baltimore, MD in 30F weather, over 80 Caps fans headed north to Long Island to watch the Washington Capitals take on the New York Islanders at the Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale, NY.

The Washington Capitals Fan Club hosted a road trip to Long Island to Rock the Red for the team at the top of the Southeast Division and fourth in the League.

With a late start and taking a scenic route to the game, the group unfortunately missed Alex Ovechkin’s power play goal at 6:45 in the first period but fortunately witnessed firsthand the Capitals ultimately defeat the Islanders 2–1.

Photos of the game posted on Facebook, including a shot of Hilary Duff (girlfriend of Islanders' Mike Comrie).

Civil Rights and Breaking Barriers in Hockey for Blacks

The third Monday in January is dedicated to Martin Luther King Jr. and his struggles for civil liberties and civil rights to guarantee equal treatment for Blacks.

As we observe MLK Day, also reflect on Blacks breaking barriers in hockey and working for equal treatment and recognition in a predominately white sport.

Willie O’Ree is celebrated as the “Jackie Robinson of ice hockey” for becoming the first black [Canadian] to play in the NHL. [Former Washington Capital Mike Grier is the first Black American in the league.]

Breaking the Ice: The Black Experience in Professional Hockey and Black Ice: The Lost History of the Colored Hockey League of the Maritimes, 1895-1925 chronicle the injustices of Black men on white ice.

The NHL comprises of only 1.5% Black players. Luring Blacks to the league is a daunting task, but optimistically there will be increased opportunity and exposure in the Black community so that more Blacks players can ardently deliver: I am the Black Hockey Player.

From the Press Box: Philadelphia Flyers vs. Washington Capitals

The Phone Booth almost busted at the seams with rocking-the-red fans who braved the cold and drizzling rain to see the second matchup of the season between the Washington Capitals (26-11-3) and the Philadelphia Flyers (21-10-8). Tonight marked the sixth straight sellout crowd.

The Capitals went into the game 6-3-0 and 55 points to top the Southeast Division.

Both teams brought to the ice leading scorers in the NHL. Capitals’ Alex Ovechkin and Flyer’s Jeff Carter have scored 27 goals each. Ovechkin has 20.5% of Capitals goals and Carter 20.8% for the Flyers.

The stands rang with the boisterous chants of “Let’s Go Flyers” and the infamous rebuttal “Flyers Suck”. The rambunctiousness spilled onto the platforms at Metro Center.

Game Notes

• In his sophomore year, Nicklas Backstrom scored his 12th goal at 2:10 into the first period with assists from Alexander Semin and Viktor Kozlov. In his career against the Flyers, Backstrom has tallied scored five goals.
• Jose Theodore played an impressive game with 34 saves and earned the first star of the game and the infamous hard hat. In this sixth straight start, Theodore has 1.85 GAA and a .932 S%.
• Flyers evened the score at 0:23 in the second with a goal from Braydon Coburn. Kimmo Timonen and Jeff Carter on the assist. Scott Upshall had been credited with the second assist.
• Both tallies during the first 60 minutes were power play goal
  

The game was decided in SO— after a brief delay of game by the Zambonis—with the lone shootout goal accounted by Kozlov.

The Capitals bested the Flyers 2-1.

With tonight’s win the Capitals are 27-11-3 with 57 points (fourth overall in the league and first in the division with 10 points over the Carolina Hurricanes) and a record of 18-1-1 at home, 9-10-2 away and 9-1-0 in the last 10 games.

Photos (Nicklas Backstrom, Jose Theodore) credit: “Aneesa”

High-Impact Hockey Exacts Physical, Emotional Toll on Players

The Washington Capitals plagued by injuries. The team struggled to maintain a healthy roster, resorting to dressing forward Sergei Fedorov as a defenseman, and tapping its farm team, the Hershey Bears, for 12 players for reprieve already this season.

Hockey is a hard-hitting, collision sport that results in injuries from many mechanisms (e.g., high-impact collisions, equipment, and unsportsmanlike conduct).

Common ice hockey injuries include injury to the head/scalp/face, eye, shoulder, hand, thigh, back, and ankle. At least 50% of injuries are to head/scalp/face, said Dr. Lewis G. Maharam, a sports medicine physician who specializes in sports injuries and who has worked with professional and collegiate hockey players.

Maharam indicated that the incidence rate of injury in the NHL is one injury in every seven hours of playing for every player, attributable to inadequate protective equipment, violent behavior, and poor conditioning and nutrition. Face masks, facial protection, mouth guards, and gloves drastically reduce the risk of eye injuries, facial lacerations, dental fractures, and metacarpal injuries. Out of all sports, over 55% of blindness due to sports occurs in hockey, revealed Maharam. Proper conditioning and nutrition, including abstaining from performance enhancing drugs, fuel performance.

While bruises (contusions), muscle pulls (strains), ligament tears (sprains), cuts (lacerations), and concussions are routine—and death rare—injuries disrupt team chemistry and stir emotions. “Athletes experience high levels of frustration when dealing with injuries. You always want to be out there battling with your teammates and when you are hurt and on the sideline it is tough,” said Chris Cosentino, head coach of NY Apple Core and former hockey player who experienced ACL injuries and concussions

Athletes react to injuries with a wide range of emotions including denial, anger, bargaining and depression. Dr. Michael Gervais, high performance psychologist for Pinnacle Performance, Inc, who consults with numerous major league athletes including NHL players, explained, “The injury cycle for athletes often involves an emotional and mental rollercoaster. The context of the injury plays an important role in the severity of the coaster experience. For instance, if an athlete is on the bubble, the injury takes on a completely different meaning compared to an athlete who has a long-term contract.”

Sidelined since January 3, 2008 with post-concussion syndrome, Capitals defenseman Brian Pothier takes baby steps to return to the game. As with any injury, there are expert guidelines on if and when players can return to play. “Concussions are tough,” revealed Cosentino, “because there is no specific time frame when athletes can come back.… As an athlete who has sustained multiple concussions you know how to answer questions the right way to speed up your return, but that is not always the safest thing to do.”

No one likes to be sidelined with an injury. Injury prevention requires wearing protective equipment, abiding by the rules, resting, training, and eating a balanced diet. Remaining on injured reserve for too long can lead to de-conditioning and adverse emotional responses but returning too soon can put a player at risk for re-injury and a longer stint on IR.