Ian Oland

About Ian Oland (@ianoland)

Oland, a 2006 graduate of UMBC's art school, is a co-founder of RMNB and serves as an editor, publisher, and author. During his time with RMNB, he has done features for the Caps' TV show CRL, written a story for the print edition of the Washington Post, and helped first-report the Chelyabinsk meteor in the English language. Oland's favorite blog memories include raising enough money to get reader Ryan Ellis into a NASCAR race with a RMNB sponsored car and holding the Stanley Cup for the first time. Follow Ian: Twitter | Instagram

Alex Ovechkin, Evgeny Kuznetsov, Dmitry Orlov, and Ilya Samsonov will miss the next four games at least. Peter Laviolette: ‘We knew the rules.’

The Washington Capitals will be without Alex Ovechkin, Evgeny Kuznetsov, Dmitry Orlov, and Ilya Samsonov for the next week of games at least after the Russians broke NHL protocol by hanging out in a hotel room together during their recent road trip.

“Right now the players are in quarantine,” Capitals head coach Peter Laviolette said. “At this point, I believe it’s four games and then under review so we’ll go from there. There’ll probably be an announcement at some point.

“Those are four big pieces for us, important pieces,” Laviolette said. “They’ll be missed.”

(more…)

By Ian Oland 7 days ago

4 Comments

Nastya Ovechkina criticizes NHL after Alex Ovechkin, Caps’ Russians placed on league’s COVID unavailability list

Alex Ovechkin’s wife, Nastya, took to Instagram on Thursday to share her thoughts on the Russian Capitals’ placement on the NHL’s COVID-19 unavailability list. Ovechkin, Kuznetsov, Orlov, and Samsonov were disciplined and uneligible to play for a while after hanging out together in a hotel room during the Capitals’ most recent road trip. The Capitals were fined $100,000 as a team.

“I regret my choice to spend time together with my teammates in our hotel room and away from the locker room areas,” Ovechkin said in a statement released by the Capitals. “I will learn from this experience.”

Nastya took umbrage with the arbitrary nature of the league’s protocol.

(more…)

By Ian Oland 7 days ago

3 Comments

The Capitals’ lines and pairings without Ovechkin, Kuznetsov, Orlov, and Samsonov

The Washington Capitals took the ice on Thursday without four of their best players: Alex Ovechkin, the team’s elite goalscorer and captain; Evgeny Kuznetsov, the team’s second-line center; Dmitry Orlov, a first-pairing defender; and Ilya Samsonov, the team’s starting netminder. The four Russians were placed on the NHL’s COVID unavailability list due to breaking protocol during their recent road trip and the team was fined $100,000.

Capitals’ head coach Peter Laviolette responded to the absences by promoting Jakub Vrana to the first line, Brenden Dillon to the first pairing, and the bottom six to the middle six. Jonas Siegenthaler, who has sat during all four games this season, jumped onto the second pair and skated with Justin Schultz while Conor Sheary got back into the lineup.

(more…)

By Ian Oland 7 days ago

1 Comment

Connor McMichael assigned to taxi squad while Craig Anderson is recalled to Capitals roster

It’s officially Connor McMichael SZN.

With Alex Ovechkin, Evgeny Kuznetsov, Dmitry Orlov, and Ilya Samsonov all out due to broken COVID-19 protocols, the Capitals have made some roster moves. Connor McMichael, the team’s 2019 first-round pick, has been taken out of quarantine and placed on the Capitals’ taxi squad while 39-year-old Craig Anderson has been recalled to the big-league club to back up Vitek Vanecek.

(more…)

By Ian Oland 7 days ago

4 Comments

The Capitals have a big decision to make with Connor McMichael upcoming

Connor McMichael was sensational during Team Canada’s silver medal-run during the 2021 World Junior Championship, scoring four goals and tallying eight points in seven games. McMichael had a big role on the team, serving as Canada’s first-line center and an alternate captain. Days after the tournament ended, the Capitals’ top prospect flew across the US/Canada border and arrived in Washington DC. McMichael set up shop in a hotel room on Saturday, January 9, and began quarantining.

McMichael has not been seen on the ice or heard from since beyond a few birthday Instagram Stories. The Capitals named their final roster and taxi squad on Wednesday, January 13. McMichael, who is eligible to play on both, was not included. The 2019 first-round pick also was not loaned back to the OHL’s London Knights, the junior hockey team he could also play for this season.

With the Capitals potentially without Alex Ovechkin, Evgeny Kuznetsov, Dmitry Orlov, and Ilya Samsonov for their home opener against Buffalo on Friday, McMichael’s status is even more important. So where is he?

(more…)

By Ian Oland 1 week ago

2 Comments

Evgeny Kuznetsov: NHL ‘strictly warned’ Capitals for breaking COVID protocols after first game of season

The NHL announced on Wednesday that four of the Capitals’ biggest stars – Alex Ovechkin, Evgeny Kuzetsov, Dmitry Orlov, and Ilya Samsonov – were all placed on the NHL’s COVID unavailability list due to hanging out together in a hotel room during their recent road trip, violating the league’s “no individual shall permit guests” protocol. The Capitals were also fined $100,000.

Days earlier on January 17, Evgeny Kuznetsov spoke to Sport Express’s Alexey Shevchenko and revealed that the Capitals were “strictly warned” after their first game of the season against the Buffalo Sabres.

(more…)

By Ian Oland 1 week ago

0 Comment

Karl Alzner endures power outage during first game as NBC Sports Washington analyst: ‘It was eventful’

Karl Alzner made his debut as an analyst for NBC Sports Washington on Tuesday. Alzner’s appearance was widely praised on social media by fans. His presence buoys an already deep roster of articulate former Caps on the pre and postgame shows including Alan May and Brent Johnson.

But the night did have its challenges. Multiple actually.

“It was eventful,” Alzner said in NBCSWSH’s Capitals Talk podcast.

(more…)

By Ian Oland 1 week ago

3 Comments

Tom Wilson hit a Penguins player so hard, he made him spin like a helicopter

Former Capitals head coach Adam Oates once described Tom Wilson as a “man child.” Back then, the 6-foot 4-inch Wilson was a talented, baby-faced teenager and had a physicality that few in the NHL could match. Now, years later, Wilson is one of the best power forwards in the league and is somehow even more intimidating, fully growing into his frame after adding 26 pounds of muscle since his draft year.

On Wednesday against the Penguins, Wilson’s full array of skills were on display. The Toronto native scored a goal on consecutive shifts in the first period – one on a wrister that overpowered Penguins goaltender Casey DeSmith and the second going five-hole while crashing the net. Wilson also had one of the biggest hits of the game after putting Jared McCann in the spin cycle.

(more…)

By Ian Oland 1 week ago

0 Comment

After blindside hit on Marcus Pettersson, TJ Oshie benefits from NHL’s review rule for major penalties

During the second period, TJ Oshie leveled Marcus Pettersson with a high hit at neutral ice, knocking the Penguins defenseman out of the game. Oshie, looking for retribution after being hit seconds prior, appeared to nail Pettersson in the head.

Oshie was initially issued a major penalty while Pettersson laid on the ice being tended to by the trainer. Oshie appeared likely to be kicked out of the game.

Then officials reviewed the play for several minutes – setting in motion an obscure procedural rule that was added to the rulebook by the NHL before the 2019-20 season.

(more…)

By Ian Oland 1 week ago

0 Comment