Wednesday night, before Brooks Laich’s first game back as a visiting player, Sportnet’s Elliotte Friedman interviewed the former Capital in the bowels of Verizon Center.
Friedman asked Laich if getting the first game out of the way so quickly was a good thing, and then they started talking about you guys on national TV.
The last twelve days have been a whirlwind for Taylor Chorney. A journeyman AHL defensemen for most of his career, the Caps’ 7th D earned a two-year contract extension that will keep him in the NHL through 2018. Chorns’ good play while Brooks Orpik was out injured inspired the Capitals to make a deal.
The monetary raise wasn’t the only thing Taylor’s family could celebrate. On Tuesday, Taylor Chorney’s wife gave birth to the couple’s first child, a son named Turner William. That night, Chorney was scratched for the Pens game and likely missed out on a lot of sleep, but with back-to-back games, Barry Trotz immediately put Chorns back into the line-up Wednesday against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
In the first period, Chorney’s good luck continued. The defenseman scored his first goal since February 15, 2011, and his very first goal as a Capital. How long has it been since Chorney has dented the twine? During that stretch, Alex Ovechkin scored a whopping 225 times.
Video killed the radio star. Now, it’s coming for the blogs.
RMNB is proud to re-introduce you to Ben Scarbro, whom you’ve seen around these parts investigating Caps superfans, dancing to Taylor (Swift, not Chorney) and earning a spot in at least the top 200 RMNB commenters.
Ben pitched us the crazy and totally original idea of video recaps of big Caps games. We’d certainly never seen anything like that before, so we told him to go for it.
By Nathan Burchfiel 5 years ago
Photo: Patrick McDermott
The tribute video was just over a minute long, but the ovation seemed endless. Brooks Laich’s teammates past and present stood and banged their sticks on the boards in recognition of his devoted service to the Washington Capitals and the game of hockey.
It began when he joined a last place team in February 2004 — Alex Ovechkin wouldn’t play his first game in Washington for another 20 months — and ended when he left in February 2016, with the Caps smashing NHL records with their eye on their first Stanley Cup in franchise history. Laich’s trade to the Toronto Maple Leafs was billed as a salary dump, but it was one that left Washington’s general manager on the verge of tears. After Bruce Boudreau, Alex Semin, George McPhee, and Mike Green departed, Laich was one of the last of the Rock the Red, run-and-gun core that made hockey relevant in this town again.
“I wish the guys good luck,” Laich said when asked what he said the his former teammates during the tribute. “I looked down the bench and wished the guys good luck.”
By Chris Gordon 5 years ago
Photo: Sanford Myers
As the Caps continue their historic season, it’s easy to focus on the incredible achievements of their players. Alex Ovechkin, Evgeny Kuznetsov, Nicklas Backstrom, and Braden Holtby are just a few Caps who have racked up some impressive accolades.
How players perform on the ice is crucial to a team’s success, but the decisions made behind the bench are just as important. Tonight’s 3-2 win over the Maple Leafs garnered a special accolade for Barry Trotz.
By Margaret Stuart 5 years ago
Photo: Geoff Burke, USA TODAY Sports
It is 2016, and the only trend worse than man buns is the Caps looking deader than dead in the first period. Whether the Caps were playing at even-strength, on the power play, or on the penalty kill, they were hardly a dominant force throughout the game.
If you’ve been living under a rock for the past nine months or have absolutely no prior knowledge of hockey, guess what? According to the standings, the Caps are the NHL’s best team, and the Leafs are amongst its dregs. After tonight, though, who’d have thunk?
The Caps made an already-iffy first period even worse by taking three penalties (and giving the Leafs’ league-worst power play a chance to climb the rankings.) The Caps’ penalty kill was equally disappointing; the same can’t be said of their first-period offensive outburst. Thanks to a sweet assist by TJ Oshie, Taylor Chorney scored the game’s first goal–and his first since 2011. Not to be outdone, Nicklas Backstrom capitalized on a Leafs turnover to set up Alex Ovechkin with a perfect pass. If you kept watching, good for you.
By Margaret Stuart 5 years ago
Alex Ovechkin scored his 41st goal of the season and 516th goal of his career in the first period of Caps-Maple Leafs game. Unlike many of the 515 tallies that preceded this one, Ovi didn’t really have to do anything.
Ovechkin’s Swedish BFF, Nicklas Backstrom, did all the hard work, authoring a brilliant saucer pass — on his backhand — right into Ovi’s wheel house. The Russian Machine then one-timed the puck home past Jonathan Bernier to give the Caps a 2-0 lead.
He’s still wearing a mouth guard wwith the Caps logo on it.
Wednesday night, Brooks Laich made his grand return to Washington, three days after being traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs. As has been customary for long-time players, the Caps aired a tribute video during the first TV timeout.
If you see me walking by
And the tears are in my eye
Look away, Broosky, look away.
Woah, didn’t see you there, internet people. You caught me singing to myself.
The Caps play against the Maple Leafs tonight and Brooks Laich is back in town. Tonight will be like the closure talk of a relationship. Let’s hope everyone agrees to try and stay friends. Connor Carrick is back, too. Daniel Winnik is like our new lover and we’re about to run into both of our exes while out on our first date. This could be weird. Or awkward. Let’s get weird and/or awkward.
The game is at 7 on CSN. BE THERE.
| Team | Record | Possession | PDO | Power Play | Penalty Kill |
| Washington Capitals | 46-12-4 | 51.5% | 101.8 | 23.9% (1st) | 84.1% (4th) |
| Toronto Maple Leafs | 21-30-10 | 50.5% | 98.8 | 14.4% (30th) | 80.3% (19th) |
By Patrick Holden 5 years ago
