Happy Birthday Varlamov

Семён—поздравляю с Днем Рождения!!

Желаю тебе крепкого здоровьяa, а так же
долгих и счастливых лет жизни!
И самое главное, желаю тебе счастья - безмерного счастья каждый день!


(Translation: Semyon, congratulations on your birthday!! I wish you strong health and long and happy years of life. Most importantly, I wish you unlimited happiness every day!)

Will Capitals Goalie Jose Theodore Bounce Back?

The New York Rangers defeated the Washington Capitals in Game 1 on April 15. In the best of seven series, the teams play Game 2 on April 18 at Verizon Center in Washington, DC.

The Capitals struggled in goaltending in the first game on home ice with Jose Theodore allowing four goals, including back-to-back goals in 99 seconds.

Bruce Boudreau, head coach, may be pondering whether to replace veteran Theodore with rookie Semyon Varlamov but it’s unlikely fans will see the 20-year-old Russian in net tomorrow night for Game 2.

While Theodore took blame for the Capital’s lackluster performance in Game 1—was it all his fault though?—and notwithstanding Varlamov’s world championship experience, Boudreau is apt to give Theodore a second chance.

In the regular season, Washington won the series against New York 3-0-1 and outscored the Blueshirts 14-10. The first round will prove to be as tightly contested. Will Theodore bounce back with some stellar netminding?

And while Theodore’s physical performance has been under review, another question to raise is whether he is mentally tough to guard the net. How bad will the Rangers disrupt Theodore’s mental game?

All things considered, Theodore allegedly played well enough in the past to move his former teams through to the second round so time will tell when exactly Boudreau will need to put a new face in goal.

Anxiety Builds as Tax Deadline and Game 1 Nears

The dreaded tax day has begun. For many, it's a time of high tax anxiety.

At the same time in the nation’s capital, tens of thousands are teeming with playoff anxiety.

For the second consecutive year, the Washington Capitals clinched a playoff spot and the Southeast Division title, and the city couldn’t be more content and anxious to get the playoffs started.

Capitals’ defenseman Mike Green prepares for the playoffs with his signature Mohawk haircut.



Washington launched the Beard-a-thon for fans to support the team and to raise money for charity.

Twitter and Facebook overflow with pleas for the playoffs to begin—the start of the run for the Stanley Cup, the symbol of excellence in the NHL.

In the first round, the Capitals and the New York Rangers face off at 7 PM at Verizon Center for Game 1. Washington won the series 3-0-1 and outscored New York 14-10 this season.

The Capitals can expect the Rangers to work to contain the league’s leading scorer Alex Ovechkin and Sean Avery to employ harebrained tactics to meddle with their mental game. All things considered thought, Washington has five skills to perfect to finish the rounds and win The Cup and they couldn’t be more ready to face the challenge.

Dreads looms as the tax deadline approaches but Capitals fans restlessly await the puck to fall.

Q&A with Sportswriter Chasta Piatakovas

Love the Game published a series of interviews with nine amazing women sportswriters in honor of Women’s History Month in March: Christy Hammond, Teresa Bondora, Nicole Haase, Nina Rota, Veronica Romm, Diana DeRosa, Sherry Jean, Leslie Silvey, and Liz Foster Chang.

We thought we’d end the series with an interview from yours truly.

Were you always interested in sports?
Throughout school, I preferred to participate in sports than to watch. I ran track and cross country. I played basketball, field hockey, and volleyball. I wrote wore #8 before Alex Ovechkin was even born.

What prompted you to start blogging about sport? What is the name of your blog?
I started Love the Game, Don’t Like Puck Bunnies on February 27, 2008. Love the Game started as a personal online diary to explore thoughts and feelings surrounding an emotional event in my life using the sport of ice hockey as a metaphor. After I overcame the event and really became more involved with the sport, I transformed the blog into a more reflective sports journalistic site with interviews, commentary, and articles about the Washington Capitals and hockey. The blog has afforded me—a young woman of color and hockey fan—the tremendous opportunities to receive credentials to cover the Capitals from the press box and locker room; to meet or to interview individuals such as Peter Bondra, Brooks Laich, Ted Leonsis, Carrie Milbank, Michal Neuvirth, Angela Ruggiero, Alexander Semin, and Semyeon Varlamov; and to contribute to the Scarlet Blog, a women’s initiative to attract more women to the Capitals and to ice hockey.

Are more women becoming sports fans?
Yes, increasingly more women are becoming more interested and more involved with sports than in years past. Many women are sports fans because their fathers (sometimes mothers as in my case) introduced them to sports fandom at an early age and the interest stayed over the years.

Sports—whether participating in or watching and following a specific team—brings people together and encourages a sense of belonging and identity. When cheering on a favorite team, male and female sports fans have the chance to forget about everyday worries and enjoy sharing in a group experience.

Have you found that it’s become easier for women to be taken seriously as fans by their peers, athletes, and readers?
Yes. Sports talk has become progressively more inclusive of women because women have become a lot more knowledgeable and conversant. Those that have established their credibility are well-respected.

Do you have any suggestions for starting a sports blog?
I think a blog is the perfect tool for networking and self-discovery. Anyone who wants to blog should pick a topic—a niche—that they are passionate about to establish credibility and start writing.

Is there a community among women sports bloggers?
Yes.

What are your favorite teams?
I follow the Washington Capitals and enjoy watching the Philadelphia Eagles.

From the Press Box: Atlanta Thrashers vs. Washington Capitals

The final home game of the season at Verizon Center was a matchup between the Southeast Division champions and fourth ranked Washington Capitals (47-23-8, 102 points) and the 27th ranked Atlanta Thrashers (34-38-6, 74 points).

This marked the fifth game of the six-game series between the Capitals and the Thrashers. The series ends Tuesday night in Atlanta. The series is tied 2-2.

The Capitals kicked off Fan Appreciation Week by giving away prizes to fans throughout the game and after the game selected fans won game-worn jerseys right off the backs of Capitals players.

Game Notes

Jose Theodore (30-16-5) tended net opposite Johan Hedberg (13-10-3).

The Tomas Fleischmann that fans remember started the game off right with an unassisted goal at 2:13 in the first period. Fleischmann hadn’t scored since the wrist shot power play goal against the Boston Bruins on February 28. Colby Armstrong (Vyacheslav Kozlov, Rich Peverley) tied the game at 7:48. Capitals failed to score on the power play despite Thrashers Jim Slater and Colin Stuart without sticks. The period ended tied at 1.

In the second period, Fleischmann seemed to have lost his spark. Slater backhanded a shorthanded goal past Theodore at 1:23. Ilya Kovalchuk made three attempts on Theodore with passes from Tobias Enstrom to no avail. Viktor Kozlov drew another penalty, and in his first power play shift, Keith Aucoin (Alex Ovechkin, Alexander Semin) scored his second goal of the season at 9:43. Kovalchuk (Bryan Little, Todd White) scored an evenhanded goal at 15:39 to lift the Thrashers 3-2. The period ends 3-2. Ovechkin surpassed the 500 shots on goal mark, ending the second period with 504 SOG.

In the first two periods, the Capitals proved that the team dislikes matinees games. No longer sleepwalking, Washington dominated the period. Michael Nylander (Brooks Laich, Eric Fehr) tied the game at 2:43. After a play-under-review (puck never cross the line behind Hedberg), Fehr (Laich, Nylander) scored his 12th goal of the season at 5:04. “It feels good to finally be able to chip in and help out on the scoresheet,” said Fehr. Semin (Fleischmann, Aucoin) tallied his 31st goal of the season at 8:20 lifting the Capitals to 5-3. Unassisted, Slava Kozlov tallied the final scored for Atlanta. With 13 seconds left in the final period, Brooks Laich (Nicklas Backstrom, Ovechkin) scored an empty net goal. Laich has 20 goals and 50 points. This marks the second straight season Laich has 20 goals and the first time he has reached 50 points.

Washington wins its final home game of the season 6-4. The Capitals face the Thrashers at Philips Arena on Tuesday for the final game of the series.

Q&A with Sportswriter Liz Foster Chang

Love the Game is publishing a series of interviews with women sportswriters.

Liz Foster Chang, as DC Sports Chick, wrote for DCSportsChick.com before moving over to On Frozen Blog. With a camera or notebook in hand, Liz is “a chick who likes sports; what else do you need to know?”

Were you always interested in sports?
Yes, more or less. I played sports in grade school and high school, though I wasn’t very good. My father is a big sports nut and took us to a lot of games (primarily baseball) when I was growing up.

What prompted you to start blogging about sport? What is the name of your blog?
I started blogging in July 2005 after a particularly disastrous Washington Nationals game. I was frustrated and needed an outlet for venting purposes. That quickly grew into discussing DC-area sports and the sports world in general. I blogged at dcsportschick.com for over two years before joining On Frozen Blog.

Are more women becoming sports fans?
Definitely! I’ve been attending sporting events for many years and particularly in the past several years, I’ve noticed that more women are going. And they’re not just going with boyfriends or husbands; many are attending on their own or with girlfriends. The turnout at events such as the Washington Capitals’ Hockey 'n Heels or the Nationals’ Ladies Night has grown exponentially since the teams started holding them.

Have you found that it’s become easier for women to be taken seriously as fans by their peers, athletes, and readers?
I believe it has. There are more female season ticket holders, and money has a way of getting teams to take notice; just look at the number of female-centric events that are now being held. There’s always going to be a perception that women are only interested in sports because they’re puck bunnies or gold diggers, but there is a greater recognition that women can be diehard fans too.

Do you have any suggestions for starting a sports blog?
Don’t be afraid to do it! Even if you love a sport but don’t know much about it, it’s a great way to learn. It’s also one of the easiest ways to get involved and meet other fans.

Is there a community among women sports bloggers?
Absolutely! I think we recognize that having the mindset “we’re in it together” benefits us all. We’re aware of the limitations and assumptions placed on us because we’re female sports bloggers in a male-dominated world, and if nothing else, we have that in common.

What are your favorite teams?
I follow the Washington Capitals, Washington Nationals, DC United, and to a small extent, the Washington Wizards. However, for football, I fall back to the team I saw when I was growing up: the Philadelphia Eagles.

From the Press Box: Buffalo Sabres vs. Washington Capitals

The Washington Capitals (47-23-7, 101 points) hosted the Buffalo Sabres (37-30-9, 83 points) at Verizon Center in the hunt to clinch the Southeast Division title for the fifth time in franchise history. Washington clinched their second consecutive NHL playoff spot in the Eastern Conference when the Sabres defeated the Florida Panthers on March 25.

Game Notes

Capitals’ 20-year-old Semyon Varlamov minded net opposite Sabres’ 28-year-old Ryan Miller. Varlamov made his fourth NHL start of the season. He is the first Capitals rookie goaltender to win his first three starts since 20-year-old Jim Carey in 1995. Varlamov enters the game with a record of 3-0-0 in Washington and 19-7-1 in Hershey.

Alex Ovechkin scored his 55th goal—on a power play—at 5:36 in the first period with Brooks Laich and Viktor Kozlov on the assists. Drew Stafford and Clarke MacArthur responded by scoring back-to-back goals for the Sabres at 9:14 and 10:02 respectively. The period ended 2-1 Sabres.

In the second period, Washington continued its characteristic overpassing, giving the Sabres time to adapt to the play. After almost four minutes of overpassing, Alexander Semin and Sergei Fedorov finally tallied with back-to-back power play goals at 3:41 and 3:50. Semin netted his 30th of the season, four more than in 2007-08 (his personal best is 38 in 2006-07). Derek Roy scored a power play at 18:17 then Fedorov (Ovechkin, Kozlov) responded 23 seconds later with his second goal of the game and 10th of the season. The period ended 4-3 Capitals.

At 2:31 in the third period the puck slid behind Varlamov but the referee disallowed the goal for incidental contact on the goaltender (without a penalty attached). The referee did award Ovechkin with a seat in the penalty box for interference against Miller about a minute later. The score remained 4-3 Capitals until Maxim Afinogenov slipped one past a red sweater at 10:21. The period ends tied 4-4.

With regulation ending in a tie, the Washington Capitals have earned one point to become the Southeast Division champions for the second consecutive year.

The game entered 4-on-4 sudden death overtime. Fedorov turned over the puck and at 1:51 Jason Pominville ends the game with his 17th goal of the season.

Buffalo defeated Washington 5-4. Washington’s last home game is Sunday against the Atlanta Thrashers (34-38-6).

Q&A with Sportswriter Leslie Silvey

Love the Game is publishing a series of interviews with women sportswriters.

Leslie Silvey is a hockey mom with press box access to cover Washington Capitals. Leslie writes Musings of a Hockey Mom and contributes to the Scarlet Blog.

Were you always interested in sports?
I gained my love of sports later than most as I spent most of my high school and some of my college years as a serious ballet student with aspirations of a professional career in dance. After I stopped dancing, I went to a college with a powerhouse football program and from that point I was officially a sports junkie.

What prompted you to start blogging about sport? What is the name of your blog?
I write Musings of a Hockey Mom, a blog dedicated to NHL Hockey with a primary focus on the Washington Capitals. I started writing after I took two female fans to a Caps game last year and saw that the enthusiasm for the team and the game is contagious among women. As a hockey mom, I realized there were probably lots of women out there who might be interested in learning more about the sport.

Are more women becoming sports fans?
I think so. I also write for the Capitals’ Club Scarlet Web site (which is the only dedicated female fan club in the National Hockey League - Go Caps). Within a month of the club’s debut, there were 4,000 members - that speaks for itself!

Have you found that it’s become easier for women to be taken seriously as fans by their peers, athletes, and readers?
Definitely - I see more women in the press box and of course the Capitals are covered by a female personality in Comcast SportsNet’s Lisa Hillary. And she definitely knows her hockey!

Do you have any suggestions for starting a sports blog?
I basically just started writing my thoughts and observations about hockey. I try to provide a more humorous view of the sport from a woman’s perspective. It’s obviously important to keep up with the latest news and developments in whatever sport you’re covering.

Is there a community among women sports bloggers?
I’ve definitely found that to be the case among hockey bloggers. DC Sports Chick of On Frozen Blog was incredibly helpful to this “rookie” as I ventured into the Press Box and locker room for the first time!

What are your favorite teams?

Of course, the Washington Capitals. As a Florida State alum, I used to follow all their teams especially football.