After 100-plus days in Russia playing for Dynamo Moscow, Alex Ovechkin is finally back in DC. Via the Washington Capitals twitter account, here’s the Russian machine as he arrives at the airport. GAME ON!
Photo credit: dynamo.ru
No duh. Alex and Nicky have left Dynamo Moscow to return to North America.
From the Dynamo Moscow press release:
Today our team departed for Ufa without three forwards: Alex Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom and Leo Komarov. Due to the end of the NHL lockout, these players departed for North America in accordance with their contracts.
Translated by Igor Kleyner.
By Peter Hassett 10 years ago
Photo credit: Ian iPad
Over the offseason the Hershey Bears saw several key veterans sign elsewhere, such as future AHL Hall of Famer Keith Aucoin, 2011-12 AHL leading scorer Chris Bourque, and fan-favorite enforcer Joel Rechlicz. The team also had to deal with a peculiar problem due to the lockout: two head coaches, Mark French and new Caps bench boss Adam Oates. Capitals general manager George McPhee mandated that Hershey learn Oates’ new system, so that the organization’s minor league players could be used to it by the time NHL games started being played. All this change has seen the team scuffle to a .500 record through 34 games this season (16-16-1-1).
But now things are starting to look up. Before it was announced that the lockout had been lifted, Hershey had been getting its best goaltending of the year from Braden Holtby, who was recently named AHL player of the month for December. Stan Galiev, who had been struggling with his transition from junior hockey, is starting to look more comfortable on the ice and more worthy of his #29 prospect ranking from Hockey Prospectus. The organization also has a surplus of quality goaltenders in the ECHL knocking at the door of the AHL: Philipp Grubauer and 2012 seventh-round pick Sergey Kostenko.
On Saturday, after the Bears’ 3-1 loss to the Binghamton Senators, I asked French if this is the best he’s seen Braden Holtby play, if the sky is the limit for Riley Barber, and if Caps fans should be worried about Galiev’s early season struggles.
My full Q&A with French is below the jump.
John Carlson’s hair at the Redskins game. (Via @DCSportsBog)
At 5:45 on Sunday morning, we learned that the NHL and NHLPA had reached an agreement on a new collective-bargaining agreement. Washington Capitals players took to Twitter, and yes, they were happy.
Dima sits with the other Bears scratches during Saturday’s Bears game. (Photo credit: Katie Stansbery)
When Dmitry Orlov came out of the tunnel for the AHL Showcase game last month, he was excited to see fans back at Verizon Center. It was the reason why, in his opinion, he played the best hockey of his season. The AHL gamesheet says that the 21-year-old defenseman recorded two shots on goal that first period, but Dima remembered it being closer to four or five.
Unfortunately, as he confirmed to me on Saturday night during the first intermission of the Bears/Senators game, Orlov suffered an injury after absorbing a hit from Emerson Etem. Due to team policy, Orlov would not reveal the nature or location of his injury.
After spending two weeks recovering, Orlov has begun riding an exercise bike and lifting weights. According to Hershey Bears head coach Mark French, Orlov is close to getting back on the ice for practice again.
“Uhhh, can somebody pick me up?” (Photo credit: VF-Sport)
After sixteen straight hours of negotiations, the NHL and NHLPA agreed to the framework of a new CBA at 5:45AM Sunday morning, effectively ending the lockout. Across the globe in Sweden, Washington Capitals forward Marcus Johansson, who had been playing for BIK Karlskoga of the second-tier HockeyAllsvenskan league, was on the bus heading towards Skåne for his team’s game against Malmö on Monday.
As Johansson and the team received word the lockout was over, the bus immediately pulled over at a Karlskoga gas station and dropped Johansson off. “It all happened very quickly,” cracked Johansson to the Swedish website VF-Sport (Värmlands Folkblad) an hour later.
Below, the jump, Jacob Ware (@JacobWare95) translates Johan Eriksson’s full conversation with Mojo, as the Capital travels home to Karlstad.
I guess it’s appropriate to start by saying that we’re all unimaginably happy about the return of hockey. That said, we’ve learned a lot over the four-month lockout, and this seems like the appropriate time to take stock.
The NHL is a garage league. I’m not talking about riff-raff players spoiling up the staid finesse hockey of a bygone era; I’m talking about business competence. Since my adolescence, the NHL has lost part or all of three seasons. Fans who have been following hockey for a decade have seen 20% of that time obscured or obliterated by lockouts.
Imagine running a business where you do work 80% of the time. The rest of the time you’re struggling to master a skill most functionally social humans learn in kindergarten: sharing. Your business plan is flawed.
By Peter Hassett 10 years ago
Our long national nightmare is over! Everyone is reporting that a shortened NHL season will finally begin this month .
We have weathered the storm. We have emerged from the long, dark tunnel that is a hockeyless autumn. We have been sometimes patient and sometimes irascible. We have lobbed verbal grenades and made empty threats. We have considered watching basketball and then thought better of it.
In front of us: hockey. Ovechkin, Backstrom, Green, Holtby, and the rest. We’re filled with excitement, relief, and a sense of unity with the city of Pittsburgh that we desperately hope is fleeting.
There’s a lot to do, but for now let’s celebrate! QOEWUWFBIQWUWUF *&@IR@#B#RI QWD
CRASH THE NET!
Sad Forsberg is sad.
Heading into the gold-medal game of the 2013 World Junior Championships, the Swedes were confident they could repeat as champions. They had just beaten the host country, Team Russia, 3-2 in a shootout. They had gone undefeated in the World Junior Championships, winning their first 5 games with a goal differential of 22-10.
On Saturday, their first and only loss came to Team USA in the title game. Despite being named to the WJC tournament all-star team, Caps prospect Filip Forsberg, the captain of Team Sweden, took the loss hard.
In Forsberg’s post-game interview with Swedish reporters captured expertly by Aftonbladet, Forsberg struggles with finding his words. “It’s just sad,” he tells the press.
Below, friend-of-the-blog Jacob Ware (@JacobWare95) translates the full interview.
Riley Barber is in the second row, directly to the left of the cup. (Photo credit: Andre Ringuette/HHOF-IIHF Images)
Washington Capitals prospect Riley Barber and Team USA upset Filip Forsberg and Christian Djoos of the defending champion Team Sweden 3-1 on Saturday to win the 2013 World Junior Championships. This is the first time that the USA has won the tournament since 2010, when some guy named John Carlson scored in sudden-death overtime.
Team USA was led in the title game by John Gibson, named best goalie of the tournament with a .955 save percentage, and Rocco Grimaldi, who scored two goals. Former Caps defenseman Phil Housley, in his first year coaching Team USA, was the victorious head coach. Assistant Grant Potulny, who scored 19 goals in 50 games during the 2007-08 season for the Hershey Bears, also won gold as an assistant coach.
Highlights are below.
By 10 years ago
