Annapolis, MD — The Washington Capitals held their final day of Rookie Camp at McMullen Hockey Arena on Tuesday.
Top prospects like Ivan Miroshnichenko, Hendrix Lapierre, Vincent Iorio, Alexander Suzdalev, and Andrew Cristall participated in the four-day event, which saw the young stars not only work on their on-ice skills, but team-build off of it at the US Naval Academy.
By Alan Dobbins 1 week ago
The NHL’s All-Star Weekend is full of constant media and event appearances for the 44 players selected and that wouldn’t be complete without a stop with Upper Deck – the NHL’s only officially licensed trading card company.
Upper Deck, which appeared at the ASG Beach Festival and sponsored a couple events like Fastest Skater and the Mascot Showdown this weekend, used part of its time with the athletes to acquire some signatures for their upcoming card sets.
Alex Ovechkin signed a few himself and Upper Deck featured a video on their socials.
By Alan Dobbins 8 months ago
Fans who attended Monday night’s historic Washington Capitals game vs. the Winnipeg Jets have a chance to claim an awesome piece of memorabilia commemorating Alex Ovechkin’s 802 goals milestone.
The Capitals are giving an opportunity for ticket holders from the December 23 game to submit to have a physical ticket stub mailed to them.
By Alan Dobbins 9 months ago
The Washington Capitals began their 2022-23 season against Boston on Wednesday.
For the first time since 2019, the team walked down the red carpet before the regular season Home Opener at Capital One Arena. The experience gave fans the opportunity to try to get photos and autographs from players and were entertained by a live DJ, face painters, and interactive exhibits. Capitals fans were met with a mix of current roster players, Capitals alumni, and media personalities.
Inside Capital One Arena, Guy Fieri’s DC Kitchen + Bar officially opened its doors for the first time.
These are my photos from the day.
By Alan Dobbins 12 months ago
Tuesday afternoon, Medstar Capitals Iceplex was invaded by an army of heckin’ good boys and an unbelievably adorable floof named Arthur for the annual Capitals Canine Calendar photoshoot.
To raise money and awareness for less fortunate animals, the Capitals partnered with Wolf Trap Animal Rescue to produce this year’s canine calendar. This year’s edition will be available for purchase later this year for $20 and the proceeds will benefit both WTAR and the MSE Foundation.
Like in years past, some players brought their families and pets to participate, while others were matched with some of WTAR’s rescue animals.
The creative directors for this year’s shoot were Taylor Wilson, Annie van Riemsdyk, and Paige Dowd. They helped coordinate the shots throughout the day and somehow managed to maintain order in all of the chaos.
Below are my photos from the day and some information about the pups and kitties who participated.
By Alan Dobbins 12 months ago
With the 2022-23 season fast approaching, it’s time for another new year of Upper Deck trading cards.
Upper Deck recently released their checklist for the 49 new rookies they will feature in this years Series 1 product. All 49 players will be carryover rookies from last year, so Series 1 will not feature any of the ’22 Draft Class like Juraj Slafkovsky. However, it does look to be one of the deepest classes of rookies to be featured in a UD product in the past couple years.
By Alan Dobbins 1 year ago
The NHLPA and card manufacturer Upper Deck held their annual Rookie Showcase event at Medstar Capitals Iceplexy. Tuesday, 29 of the league’s top rookies gathered for a series of photo and media opportunities, which helps Upper Deck with the creation of this season’s trading cards. They also acquired signatures for those card sets.
Players dressed in full team equipment cycled through different stations throughout the day, striking poses for Upper Deck photographers, doing social media interviews, signing hundreds of autographs, talking to media, and taking phone calls from the NHLPA.
By Alan Dobbins 1 year ago
The Washington Nationals are in the midst of an organizational rebuild after it was clear the wheels had completely fallen off from their 2019 World Series team. In early August, they arguably made the most painful trade of all, parting ways with All-Star outfielder and generational talent Juan Soto when it was apparent he would not re-sign long-term. The Nats got back five prospects in return from the San Diego Padres who they hope will help make them contenders once again in the future.
The haul was a badly needed replenishment of the Nats’ farm system that entered the season ranked 23rd overall on MLB.com’s rankings. Two of the key players in the deal, MacKenzie Gore and C.J. Abrams, have both graduated from prospect status, but Robert Hassell III (23rd best prospect in baseball), James Wood (35th best), and Jarlin Susana have boosted the Nats to #15 on MLB’s midseason farm system rankings.
“You can’t forget that Anthony (Rendon) and Trea (Turner) and Max (Scherzer) and (Bryce) Harper, all these guys, they were the Abrams, the Hassells, and the Woods of the world before they became superstars,” GM Mike Rizzo said to the Sports Junkies last month. “That’s what I would tell the fans. We put ourselves in a position to have sustained success and we’re hoping that this trade, the last trade deadline, and the last couple of drafts will allow us to supplement the talent base. Our goal is to win championships.”
On Friday, I went down to Fredericksburg’s Virginia Credit Union Stadium to watch the Fredericksburg Nationals play the Down East Wood Ducks where the Nats’ burgeoning young talent was on display. James Wood, batting 3rd and playing centerfield for the Nats, led the team with a four-hit night, including two doubles and two runs batted in. Fredericksburg piled on with a season-high 23 runs. Behind James in the order was 2021 eighth-round pick Will Frizzell, who had three home runs and knocked in seven runs.
By Alan Dobbins 1 year ago
