The Washington Capitals’ 2018 Stanley Cup team is getting more love in a national crossword puzzle a month after Lars Eller got some dap in the Wall Street Journal.
CAPS was the answer for 5 across to the New York Times’ question 2018 Stanley Cup champs, to fans.
Congratulations, UNNAMED HOCKEY TEAM IN THE NHL’S 24-TEAM PLAYOFF. You have just won the Alexis Lafrenière sweepstakes. (Just please don’t let it end up being Pittsburgh.)
The Detroit Red Wings, the worst team in the league by far, tragically fell out of the top three while the Ottawa Senators, who had the second and third-best odds to get the number one pick, will draft third and fifth.
Washington Capitals center Lars Eller shared his support for the LGBTQ+ community in video on Friday.
“Happy to stand with the LGBTQ+ community as an ally today and every day 🏳️🌈,” Eller wrote on Instagram.
The trajectory of the Washington Capitals’ franchise and the popularity of hockey locally changed forever 16 years ago to the day. On June 26, 2004, a Capitals delegation, led by general manager George McPhee, selected 18-year-old Russian Alex Ovechkin with the first overall pick in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft.
The Caps won the right to select Ovi after a dreadful, rebuilding season which saw the team trade away all of its stars including Peter Bondra, Jaromir Jagr, Robert Lang, Sergei Gonchar, and Michal Nylander. Washington won only 23 of 82 games during the 2003-04 season — their worst campaign in 26 years. But it’d end up being worth it. The Capitals, who were the third-worst team in the NHL that year, would leapfrog both the Chicago Blackhawks and the Pittsburgh Penguins at the 2004 NHL Draft Lottery and win the first overall pick.
The draft, held at the Carolina Hurricanes’ RBC Center, was the NHL’s last event held before a long lockout, which canceled all games of the 2004-05 season. A raucous group of Capitals fans, including the Caps Road Crew and Sam “The Horn Guy” Wolk, traveled down to Raleigh, North Carolina, to cheer on the historic pick.
Tom Wilson, who’s training for the resumption of the 2019-20 season back at home in Toronto, has found another hidden gem in his closet.
Wilson put on a powder blue Ilya Kovalchuk jersey from 2006 and asked his new teammate for an autograph.
“Think you could sign it for me @ilyakovalchukofficial?”
With the NHL and NHLPA negotiating a new CBA, The Bread Man decided to share some opinions about NHL owners’ bread. (I’m sorry.)
“I have concerns not only about the health of players and their families but also about the long term prosperity of the NHL,” Artemi Panarin wrote. “For nearly two decades, the Players have protected the owners income with escrow, including throughout this pandemic crisis, even as owners’ equity continues to grow exponentially. It is time to fix the escrow.”
After signing a seven-year, $81.5 million contract over the summer, Panarin set career highs in goals (32), assists (63), and points (95) and could be a finalist for the Hart Trophy as the NHL MVP.
By Ian Oland 2 weeks ago
Amazon has purchased the naming rights of the new arena for the NHL’s Seattle franchise, but the company’s branding will not appear anywhere inside or outside the building. Instead, Amazon will call the zero-carbon building ‘Climate Pledge Arena’ and commit to carbon-neutral operations.
“I think this is going to be a transformative moment in our industry,” Tim Leiweke, CEO of the Oak View Group, said to ESPN’s Emily Kaplan. “[T]o the credit of Jeff Bezos and Amazon, they said, ‘We’ll act like a naming rights partner, but let’s do this the right way. I don’t need any more branding. What I need is to go save the planet.’ It was brilliant.”
The building is aiming to be the first zero-carbon arena in the world powered exclusively by renewable energy. The idea comes in Washington state where governor Jay Inslee is one of the most vocal advocates for climate change in the United States.
Alex Ovechkin is officially back in DC. And more importantly, Ovi’s son Sergei is back to scoring on the family’s regulation size net in the driveway.
Ovi posted Ovi Jr.’s goals on his backhand to his Instagram Story, Thursday morning.
By Ian Oland 2 weeks ago
Washington Capitals center Nicklas Backstrom is the latest star player on his way back to DC after returning to his home country during the coronavirus pandemic.
Backstrom was snapped in his window-side seat during his flight by former Caps teammate Andre Burakovsky.
“Good to see this Guy again @nicke19,” Burakovsky wrote in his Instagram Story. “Time to go back to work. Thanks Sweden for a good time.”
Tom Wilson is one of many Caps players hitting the ice away from MedStar Capitals Iceplex in Arlington, Virginia.
Wednesday, Wilson’s trainer, Daniel Bochner, took video of the Capitals’ top-line right wing skating and doing drills at Scotiabank Pond in Toronto – Tom’s hometown.
