After a few weeks of minimal news there is oddly enough a surplus of information to talk about today, so let's get started:
- First off the blocks, the national broadcast schedules for the upcoming season have been released from both Versus and the CBC. The Caps will appear on Versus 4 times this season, only one of which will be against Sidney Crosby and the Penguins (January 21); the other three are Nov 26 when the Caps host Buffalo, Dec. 17 when the Caps visit the Joe to face the Wings, and at home with the Bruins Mar. 3. As for the CBC, the Caps will appear on Hockey Night in Canada twice, Dec. 29 in Ottawa and Mar. 1 when the Leafs visit DC...so technically that's a Hockey Night in Canada in Washington for those of you keeping track at home.
Naturally we're all wondering just how many times the two networks kiss the, er, rears of the Pens - eight times on Versus and another seven on the CBC. Overkill? Sure. Ridiculous? Absolutely. Surprising?
...no.
Update: TSN has also released their broadcast schedule, with the Caps making 5 appearances. That's good. 5 is a lot. But wait...Pittsburgh is on 13 times. 13? 13? That's a 6th of their season! Again, though, anyone surprised?
Yeah, didn't think so.
H/t to Caps Nut for the tip.
- Congratulations to Bobby Carpenter, who will be enshrined in the US Hockey Hall of Fame in October. The first American-born player to score 50 goals in a season, Carpenter played just over five seasons in Washington until issues with coach Bryan Murray led to his suspension and eventual trade in January of 1987 - a deal which incidentally brought Kelly Miller and Mike Ridley to the nation's capital. He returned for a brief stint in 1992 and retired in 1999 after 19 seasons in the NHL. Bobby will enter the US HHOF with 320 goals, 728 points, and one Stanley Cup ring from his tour of duty with the Devils in 1995.
- Mark Bell, acquired by the Leafs along with Vesa Toskala this past offseason, was sentenced to six months in prison stemming from a drunk driving and hit-and-run incident last September. He will serve his sentence in Santa Clara, CA following the end of the season. Wait, a professional athlete actually having to serve time for doing something wrong? This really isn't the NFL.
- Ron Low, aka "Red Light Ronny", has been officially announced as one of Ottawa's new assistant coaches in a statement released by the team today. Low, 57, had the misfortune of protecting the net during that infamous first season with the Caps, although he was between the pipes for all 8 wins that season. He played 3 seasons here in DC, combining for 30 wins, 94 losses and 9 ties in his 145 games as a Cap. After leaving DC he played one season in Detroit as a starter and then spent the rest of his career bouncing around the NHL and AHL until his retirement at the end of the 1985-86 campaign. Since then he has been an assistant and head coach in the NHL and joined the Sens as a goalie coach after the lockout.
- And finally, because no day would be complete without a little Ovechkin news, check out yet another interview with Ovie at OnFrozenBlog or Dump and Chase.
Whew! Okay, that's a lot of news for an August Wednesday - happy hump day, everyone!
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
Assorted Hump Day Goodies
Tuesday, August 07, 2007
Bonds Makes History
I happened to flip to the Nationals-Giants game just now and, as luck would have it, I tuned in just in time to see Barry Bonds smash his 756th career home run to surpass Hank Aaron's longtime record.
It is a huge accomplishment, yet it is one that will be in the history books with an asterisk. It has nothing to do with hockey and perhaps very little to do with baseball - but you have to wonder, in a stadium full of screaming fans and flashbulbs, what the reaction would have been had this mark not been achieved under the shadow of controversy. No one will remember the pitcher who gave up the run and I'm sure few (except Nats fans, of course) will even remember what team it was scored against. What people will remember is that Bonds' record will be held up to speculation as to the fairness of how that goal was achieved.
People will have plenty of time to talk about that over the coming days, weeks and years. For now though, I have to let the sports fan in me appreciate the achievement and give in to the sight of a tearful Bonds watching a special message from Aaron himself and thanking his fans.
It almost makes me happy for him. So congrats, Barry...I guess.
