Alex Ovechkin posted a very good picture of the reunited Caps’ Russians sitting on a couch to his Instagram. Ovi and Dmitry Orlov sandwiched a jorts-wearing Ilya Samsonov, while Evgeny Kuznetsov and Ilya Kovalchuk beamed from behind.
The caption, “RUSSIAN 5 💪❤️,” refers to the five Russian players on the Detroit Red Wings in the 1990s, helping them to two Stanley Cup victories.
By Brennin Weiswerda 3 years ago
Tuesday, the Washington Capitals’ Vezina- and Stanley Cup-winning goalie Braden Holtby spoke out about the murder of George Floyd. In a joint statement, his wife Brandi tweeted that they “are appalled by the action of those officers & the inaction of so many others.
“We commit ourselves to do more than post,” they wrote. “To stand up & use our privilege & our platform.” They shared the hashtags calling for justice for George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, and Breonna Taylor, signing off with #BlackLivesMatter and “Stay safe, DC.”
By Brennin Weiswerda 3 years ago
On Monday, May 25, George Floyd was murdered in Minneapolis. Since then, the NHL and many of its franchises have released statements that address issues raised by Floyd’s death: racism, police brutality, and oppression.
Theses statements have run the gamut. Some are frank statements about racism in general and Floyd’s murder specifically. The Islanders–and, a day later, the Blues–thanked law enforcement. The Capitals retweeted their ownership group’s statement. As of Monday night, many teams had said nothing at all.
But there are still a lot of team statements to go through, plus many more from players. Thankfully, RMNB’s Peter Hassett has created a Statement Scorecard to evaluate them all.
A note from Peter: This is a joke. Mostly. (Kind of.) Since these statements are basically compulsory now, they invite equivocation, and that can be as funny as the story behind them is tragic. This is a non-scientific, un-peer-reviewed measurement of PR cowardice.
By Brennin Weiswerda 3 years ago
George Floyd died on May 25, after a police officer knelt on his neck for more than eight minutes. His death has sparked sorrow and protests across the country, demanding meaningful change. While many high-profile athletes have shared their opinions on the event, including LeBron James and Colin Kaepernick, the NHL has been relatively quiet.
Two Black players, JT Brown and Evander Kane, were the first to speak up. In an interview with ESPN’s First Take, Kane called on other high profile athletes “like Tom Brady and Sidney Crosby” to do something.
“We need so many more athletes–that don’t look like me–speaking out about this,” he said, “having the same amount of outrage that I have inside, and using that to voice their opinion, to voice their frustration, because that’s the only way it’s going to change.”
Since that time, more NHL players–both white and Black–have added their voices to the call for change. Here’s who they are and what they had to say.
By Brennin Weiswerda 3 years ago
Michal Kempny had a lot to say during a recent Czech language interview on the BKT Podcast.
The Stanley Cup-winning defenseman discussed the European Capitals’ decision to return home and Radko Gudas’s opinion that the NHL should cancel the rest of the suspended 2019-20 season.
By Ian Oland and Brennin Weiswerda 3 years ago
Hockey’s gone and many hockey fans are stuck at home. But sports are on pause doesn’t mean sports fans have done the same!
Friend of the blog Jenn P, woke up to find her son Troy had decorated the family’s kitchen cabinets with an array of hockey sticks. Inspired by her tweet, we decided to ask what else y’all have been up to.
By Brennin Weiswerda 4 years ago
NHL billionaires have been behaving badly.
Three have been worse than most: the Boston Bruins and the Buffalo Sabres, who were among the last to commit to paying their game-day employees and some of those plans were far weaker than other teams.
Now they’ve taken it to another, even lower, level.
By Brennin Weiswerda 4 years ago
Jillian Fisher has been producing hilarious hockey videos for a while now. Each video showcases how different teams and fanbases would act or react to certain events–like “Every NHL teams’ end of season banner,” or “If the NHL did mid-season report cards.”
Jillian was kind enough to talk to us about her process for making these videos, which have so consistently and creatively brought some much-needed humor to the world of hockey.
“With everything going on,” she said, “I just wanted to do something that felt normal and fun.”
By Brennin Weiswerda 4 years ago
Cabin fever plus cultural fixation on toilet paper plus hockey players not getting to do pregame ‘two-touch’ soccer game equals the #StayAtHomeChallenge. Across Instagram, hockey players and their significant others have been doing their best to keep rolls of toilet paper aloft using everything except their hands.
Some, like the Stars John Klingberg, are pretty good. Others, like the Wild’s Kevin Fiala and girlfriend Jessica Jlung–are really good. But gold medal(s)ist Marie-Philip Poulin wins. (At everything. It’s in her contract. With life.)
The shenanigans will likely, thankfully, continue, as most of these videos of the challenge include lists of friends and teammates being tagged to try it next. No Capitals have picked up the challenge…yet.
By Brennin Weiswerda 4 years ago
What the only thing better than hockey players being adorable with babies? Hockey players being adorable with their fur babies.
Here you go, world. Here. You. Go.
By Brennin Weiswerda 4 years ago
