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RMNB & Its Readers Wish Alex Ovechkin a Happy 26th Birthday

We set out a task, faithful users of the Russian Machine, to create birthday cards worthy of our gut-less (wait, did that sound bad?) leader. The only rules: use an inferior graphics program to make it.

What we avoided telling you again this year was that we didn’t have to follow the same rules. Above, is our Penguin-Pinata card for Ovi via RMNB illustrator, Rachel Cohen.

Meanwhile, you guys rocked this assignment harder than a Bruce Boudreau fitness test. Unfortunately, only one of you could win our grand prize: a RMNB t-shirt and a Mr. Big Bar. Cruise on past the jump to check out the gallery.

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By Ian Oland 11 years ago

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RMNB Investigates: Alex Semin Gives 3rd Ever English Interview

By now, many of you have seen Mike Vogel’s brief English language interview with Alex Semin, which the Capitals released earlier this evening. For those of you who haven’t, here’s the video.

Semin, who avoids speaking to the press and conducts his rare interviews in Russian, responded to Matt Bradley’s comments over the summer: “I don’t worry about it. Different people have different opinions.” He also talked about being the longest-tenured Capital: “I’m getting old. I’d like to stay here 10 more years. I like to play here.”  And he even showed admiration for DC: “Washington’s my second home. We have good fans.” Awesome.

We here at RMNB are sticklers for the truth though. When the Caps promoted the interview, they said it was his first-ever English interview. Not so fast, guys!

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By Ian Oland 11 years ago

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Caps Are Officially Back: Fitness Tests, Pies, and Sasha Cares

“Matt Bradley said what?!” (Photo credit: Chris Gordon)

136 Days after the Capitals got swept out of the playoffs, the players were back on the ice on Saturday, ready for a new season.

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By Chris Gordon 11 years ago

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Photos: Alex Ovechkin Gets Pie’d in Face for His 26th Birthday

Photo credit: Chris Gordon

Alex Ovechkin will surely be getting a lot of presents on Saturday, his 26th birthday. Still, his teammates Brooks Laich and Nicklas Backstrom decided to give him a special gift by pie-ing him in the face not once but twice. I was on the scene with my camera and you can check out the frame-by-frame below.

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By Chris Gordon 11 years ago

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Alex Ovechkin Wears Cal Ripken’s Number 8 During Ceremonial First Pitch at Camden Yards

On the eve of his 26th birthday (send us your birthday cards!), Alex Ovechkin — adorned with *gasp* Cal Ripken’s retired #8 Orioles jersey — traveled up I-95 Friday to take batting practice and throw out the ceremonial first pitch ahead of Baltimore’s match-up against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.

The Great Hockey Eight, making his first ever appearance at Camden Yards, had only one goal: not to embarrass himself in front of a few thousand Charm-Citiers.

“I’m kinda excited,” Ovechkin told CSN’s Chris Miller before the first pitch. “I saw on YouTube John Wall’s [first pitch] a couple of minutes ago, and I hope it’s not gonna happen with me. I practice a little bit so it’s good. I feel comfortable.”

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By Ian Oland 11 years ago

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Winter is Coming in 22 Days
Alex Ovechkin Sergei Fedorov

Photo credit: Nick Wass

Editor’s note: To get you properly revved up for the season, each member of the RMNB crew will take a longing look back at some of our favorite goals from days gone by. You can call it nostalgia or cheap summer content, but it’s really a reminder: WINTER IS COMING.

I’m the young one, so allow me to use recent history.

It was April of 2009. With the Capitals making the playoffs for the second year in a row, I decided to give this hockey thing a shot. Up until then, baseball had always been my sport.

After enjoying a couple games on TV, I got tickets to Game 2 of Eastern Conference Quarterfinals against the Rangers. 60 minutes of play later, I was hooked. Really hooked. The Caps were shut out 1-0, but the excitement, the speed, the gritty beauty of game had me. So I got tickets again. This time: Game 7, 7PM April 28.

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By Chris Gordon 11 years ago

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Video: Braden Holtby Talks About Signing his First Pro Contract

It takes a lot of hardwork and sacrifice to make it to the NHL. It also takes a lot of support from the family. Braden Holtby would know. “I left home when I was 15 still,” Holtby explains. “It was a big deal to convince mom to let her baby boy go.” In the above video produced by Gemma Hooley and Chris Nelson of Media Chameleon, the 21-year-old Lloydminster, Saskatchewan native talks about the early parts of his career and what it was like signing his first pro contract. As it turns out, the legal profession is not in the cards for Braden. “They fax it to you, then you have to sign numerous spots, a lot of spots that I have no idea what I signed,” he said. “Hopefully my agent did the right work to make sure I don’t end up on the bad end of it.”

“Hockey Diaries: Change The Game” will debut on NHL Home Ice on XM/Sirius on September 19 from 6-7pm ET.

By Ian Oland 11 years ago

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Video: Evgeny Kuznetsov’s First KHL Goal of the Season

Wednesday, Traktor Chelyabinsk played their second game of the regular season, taking on Barys Astana in front of 4,900 people at Kazakhstan Sports Palace. Evgeny Kuznetsov followed up his clutch performance Monday by scoring his first KHL goal of the 2011-12 season on an unchallenged breakaway in the first period. Video of the goal is above.

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By Ian Oland 11 years ago

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Nail Yakupov: Why Caps Fans Should Root for the Avs to Tank
Nail Yakupov

When George McPhee traded Semyon Varlamov to Colorado in early July, not only did he gain the roster flexibility to sign Vezina-hopeful Tomas Vokoun to a discounted one-year pact, he also netted two valuable assets from the Avalanche: a first-round pick in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft and a second-round selection in either 2012 or 2013.

In a year’s time, Colorado could seriously regret this deal. Why? With two injury-prone goalies in Varlamov and Jean-Sebastien Giguere, and an offense that has few proven scorers, the Avalanche could fall into the lottery or possibly even finish dead-last in the West. That would give the Capitals a chance to pick in the top five for the first time in five years (they nabbed Karl Alzner fifth overall in 2007). It also presents McPhee and company with a shot at bringing a new Russian superstar to DC. His name: Nail Yakupov.

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By 11 years ago

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Caps Prospect Evgeny Kuznetsov Starts KHL Season with a Win
Evgeny Kuznetsov

Photo credit: KP.RU

The KHL officially began their new season Monday at 9am Washington time, after a five day moratorium to honor the 44 men and women who tragically died in the Lokomotiv plane accident. Atlant re-started their game against Salavat Yulaev, which was named the “Lokomotiv Cup,” and Evgeny Kuznetsov’s Traktor Chelyabinsk met their conference rivals from Metallurg Novokuznetsk in their home opener. All in all, there were 7 games on the KHL ledger.

A year after putting up one of the best years ever recorded by a 18-year-old in Russia, Capitals’ prospect Evgeny Kuznetsov hit the ice a bit out of game shape after being sidelined most of the offseason due to shoulder surgery, which he admitted after the game.

The winger was active throughout the match, despite starting on the third-line and having very limited ice time, certainly not something he’s used to. As the game wore on, Kuznetsov, was moved up in the depth chart. He had a few chances on goal but wasn’t able to score or net an assist, though he did provide some beautiful set-ups for his teammates. He also picked up two minutes for elbowing, which Metallurg capitalized on to tie the game at one early in the second.

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By 11 years ago

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