It's hard to claim injury or illness at a time of year when the big guys are likely playing with broken bones and torn muscles - and yet here we are. The flu has struck the Cheap Seats and alas, I am just not as tough as the boys who get paid millions to play a game. Go figure.
At any rate, gameday previews for this weekend's back to back matinee games will therefore be reduced to reliving some classic moments in Caps-Bruins and Caps-Penguins history (both of the ancient and more recent variety). Enjoy these captured moments in time, comment on the games at will, and sublimate your withdrawal pains with witty commentary from any of the fine bloggers featured on the right sidebar.
If all goes well and the supply of fluids and aspirin hold out we'll be back to full strength in no time - hopefully with two more wins under our belt. Go Caps!
Saturday, March 08, 2008
Weekend Gameday Previews: The Slacker Version
Saturday, February 02, 2008
Empty Cheap Seats
If you haven't noticed already, posting has been sporadic (read: nonexistent) around here lately, due to some out of town visitors in the Cheap Seats who require full attention. We'll resume our regularly scheduled programming Sunday - until then, here's a quick rundown of what's new in CapsWorld:
- The Caps blow a three goal lead Thursday night and still manage to win it in a nailbiter of an overtime. If nothing else, they make it interesting...
- That Ovechkin kid's got a real future in hockey.
- Alex + broken nose = a 5 point night??
- Dozens of kids attended practice yesterday and could be seen cheering and screaming excitedly as a few of the Caps graciously signed autograph after autograph. I give you the next generation of Caps fans, folks!
- Atlanta comes to town tonight but Mr. Potato Head rules the day.
(By the way...I want one. Seriously, if anyone wants to send me one I would love it. Otherwise I have to go track down a kid of some sort and that could get messy.)
The resemblance is striking...
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Wake Me in June
I'm back...did you miss me?
We are almost a quarter of the way through this season and the frustration level has already hit a fever pitch around here. What makes it even more frustrating is that every time we seem poised to leap from the roof, the Caps pull off a great win. So we smile, brush ourselves off and climb back inside to wait patiently for the big winning streak to turn around the season.
It hasn't come yet.
In fact, the only winning streak we've had to date is the three-game streak we had to kick off the season. Remember that one? We were already ordering playoff tickets and planning the parade route for the Cup. Since then, we've had three wins. Three. Perfectly timed, evenly spread out wins, but only three nonetheless.
And yet Caps fans are not alone in their frustrations. There is something very strange about this year; it's as though every team, not just the Caps, is having trouble doing the simplest things. The number of poorly played games I've seen this year far outweighs the number of great games I've seen.
There have been good moments, sure - the Caps beating Ottawa just last week; Modano's record-breaking goal; Jonathan Toew's beautiful shootout strike; Ovechkin and Crosby continuing to elevate their games. But everything else? It's been a study in mediocrity, with a sprinkling of shoddy officiating and a dusting of horrible hockey.
Right now the top three teams in the league are Ottawa, Detroit and Carolina. They're good teams, sure. But are their records due to an overload of talent and skill? They might be more a result of playing teams like the Sabres, the Oilers, the Caps and the Thrashers over and over again.
Even the decidedly mediocre teams - throw Pittsburgh, Vancouver, Tampa and even Anaheim in there as well, none of them are good right now. And all of those teams are but one loss away from the bottom of the conference. The division and conference standings could change in a heartbeat - and not in a good way.
Last year's playoffs were fairly humdrum across the board, but the regular season was exciting from beginning to end. There were no sure bets but it was exciting and unnerving, keeping fans on their toes right up until the very last game of the season. The differences a year can make are staggering:
- Sixteen of the thirty teams are currently at or below .500. A year ago today only twelve were in that category, with eight of them coming from the West.
- Nine teams have hit the twenty point mark, with no one cracking thirty. Last year on this date thirteen teams had 20+ points, and two, Buffalo and Anaheim, had 30+.
- Last year the difference between 15th and 8th in the East was eleven points; in the West it was nine. This year? Five and four, respectively.
- The Southeast Division was dominant last season, with three of the top eight teams coming from below the Mason-Dixon and one sitting just outside in ninth. This year all but one are out of the playoff picture and in fact hold three of the four bottom slots.
The differences continue - just look at the standings a year ago today:
And look at where we are today:
The product has grown stagnant, and while there are enough sparkling moments to keep the devoted fans hooked, you have to wonder how a league with so much obvious mediocrity, for whatever reason, is planning to attract casual fans.
Maybe we should just take the advice of my friends over at Interchangeable Parts and do a coaching lottery...at least it would bring us one night of entertainment.
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Germs Stink
Sorry for the lack of updates - I've been stricken with some horrible, crippling disease that...
...okay, it's just a cold. But it's bad, really.
Anyways, I'll be in and out for the next few days depending on what kind of miracle drug I can find and I'll try to put a little something together for tomorrow night's preseason game in Ottawa. Until my full recovery you can, as always, visit any of my esteemed colleagues for breaking news and updates on the Caps.
In the meantime, I'm going to figure out a way to blame this on the Penguins...
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Does McPhee Speak Russian?
Nervous about a certain Russian's contract status in the wake of Sid the Kid's megabucks deal earlier this summer? Don't be. The Hockey News (by way of Japers' Rink) informs us that Ovie is currently in talks, without an agent and directly with McPhee, to hash out an extension.
Not that there was ever any doubt the Caps would do everything they could to keep this kid around as long as possible, but its still nice to get the official word that things are, at the very least, starting.
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Just a quick administrative note - I'll be in and out a little less frequently for at least the next week to attend to some serious lemonade making. Should a major story break I'm sure I'll pop by for my thoughts, but until then please, as usual, visit any of my much more talented cohorts in the links along the righthand side for your daily dose of Caps news, opinions and sarcasm.
Saturday, June 16, 2007
Miss Me?
I've returned, back on solid ground once more - a little poorer, a little more sunburned, but no worse for wear and ready to resume the duties of the beleagured Caps blogger/fanatic. Now that real life has reared its ugly head once more I guess I'll start off with the results of the First Annual Blogger Playoff Pool, only because people seem to be anxiously awaiting them. Amazing what happens when hockey season ends, isn't it? We become starved for anything new-ish!
So without further ado, all the way from Washington, DC, the fan whose bleatings keep us all informed...
(By the way, I wish I could say I had rigged this thing to have a Caps fan win, but I swear I'm really not that smart. Ask anyone who knows me.)
You know what that means, kids...all my fellow bloggers who willingly signed on to this crazy escapade, get those keyboards warmed up and start singing the praises of everyone's favorite underdogs, the Washington Capitals! For you Caps bloggers, this should be no problem, but I can already hear the plaintive cries of agony from some of our participants. Rest assured there will be no getting around this one, as I expect to see posts from every single one of you or else...well, I can't really do anything about it. I guess the honor system will have to do.
For those of you who are curious, the final standings can be found here: Playoff Pool Results
I refuse to talk about Sidney Crosby winning anything shiny so for now I'm just going to leave you all with some images from my trip...if only to prove that I really was out of town and not just slacking off.
My brother-in-law's forehead...which I'm sure he'll love seeing here :)
Beautiful Virginia, as seen from the window of a car...pretty, huh?
The drive to Norfolk takes you past some of the most historic parts of the country...and because I'm a dork, I had to capture the moment.
Ah, the beach. Beautiful. (Jealous yet?)
Ah, a delicious frosty drink with some sort of liquor concoction in it. Beautiful. (Jealous yet?)
A reenactment in St. George, Bermuda shows what used to happen to gossipy women - they got dunked. Literally. All I can say is, thank god I was born in this era!
Bermuda. I guess it's kind of pretty, if you like that kind of thing...
But it's good to be home. *Sigh*
I guess.
Wednesday, June 06, 2007
Lord Stanley Loves to Surf
There is beauty and brilliance in this ending no matter what team you root for.
There is, first, the traditional handshake that shows the respect and admiration shared by these two teams, some would say the greatest tradition in all of sports...fitting as its done in celebration of the greatest trophy in all of sports...
Then Scott Niedermeyer lifting the Conn Smythe trophy, a surprising choice perhaps but no less deserving of the honor, his salt and pepper beard covering up the many wounds of battle...
The Stanley Cup being carried out by its keepers, white gloves protecting it for these last few seconds before all bets are off, the lights of the arena and the flashbulbs of the crowd bouncing off its silver surface...
But the image I will take away with me is the picture of Teemu Selanne, face bathed in tears, lifting the Cup for the very first time and then being so overcome by emotion that he is unable to speak. It is for him, like so many others in recent years, the culmination of a quest that has taken far too long. His joy and emotion are written on his tear-stained face, speaking louder than any words he could say. Congrats, Teemu - the prize is finally yours and well-deserved, to be sure.
This was, to put it simply, the Ducks' Cup to win. The Senators were arguably the best team in the playoffs through the first three rounds...but this Anaheim team would take over from there, taking the Sens off their game and dominating to the very end. Anyone who watched this series knows that there was no other finale possible, no other way the playoffs could conclude.
And so they do conclude.
I really have nothing more to say other than to congratulate the Ducks and their fans on their new title as the Stanley Cup Champions. Enjoy it, revel in it, capture it in your hearts and minds - but most of all remember what it took to get there.
Because no victory is sweeter than the one that takes a piece of your soul to achieve. Just something to keep in mind, my fellow Washingtonians...
So on that (extremely cheesy) note, I bid you all a temporary adieu - vacation beckons and I'll be leaving the muggy streets of DC for sandy beaches, the chill of the hockey arena for the heat of the island. When I get back there will be much to discuss, though, starting with the big winner in our Blogger Playoff Pool, to be revealed upon my return. Immediately following that we have the Caps' Draft Day Party on June 22nd, for those of us poor folks unable to make the trek to Columbus. New jerseys, new players, same old crowd of crazy Caps faithful - and I'll have pictures to prove it.
Until then, enjoy your hockey hiatus...oh, and someone please brainstorm ways to kill time this summer for me. I really hate the offseason.
Sunday, April 22, 2007
CapsChick's Brief Foray Into the Real World
I'm here, I swear.
I was just taking a self-imposed hockey sabbatical to mingle with the three-dimensional people. Thought I'd give it a try for a while, take a break from the playoffs and give my roommate a chance to reclaim the TV.
In my absence the Flames forgot they weren't a goonie team (and apparently forgot how to play hockey again), Jeff Halpern scored another goal, and the Sabres put the Hill-less Islanders out of their misery. Meanwhile I got to see Great Big Sea live in concert, which was a fantastic show - and say what you will about them, but any band that drinks pints of beer and engages in random sociables during a concert is officially awesome. I also got dizzy from the smell of the Swiffer WetJet and saw George Carlin, still filthy-mouthed and hilarious at the glorious age of 69.
But now I'm back and ready to ramble on as the playoffs continue. I'll have plenty of things to discuss in the coming days, including all of these fun things:
- Sidney Crosby's poor widdle footsie
- The Flames' homesickness
- Thrilling eliminations and disastrous defeats as the conference quarterfinals start to wind down
- First Annual Blogger Playoff Pool - Round 1...our first winner will be revealed!
- and (maybe) much, much more!
