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Real Good Coach Mike Babcock Calls Barry Trotz a Real Good Coach, Praises Andre Burakovsky

After the Capitals’ 4-2 loss to the Red Wings Wednesday, Pierre McGuire spoke to Detroit head coach Mike Babcock during NBCSN’s post-game show. There was one response from the Stanley Cup-winning bench boss that was particularly interesting to me. Babcock was asked about his long history with Barry Trotz in the Western Conference and if that gave him any insight into the game.

Babcock, considered to be one of the best coaches in the league, instead went out of his way to praise how good of a coach he thinks Trotz is.

He also briefly gushed about Andre Burakovsky, once Pierre told him what his name was.

This seemed really genuine to me, so I had to share.

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By Ian Oland 9 years ago

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Liam McHugh Gets Sassy With Caps Fans on Twitter After Citing Plus-Minus on NBCSN

In case you missed NBCSN’s pregame coverage of the Caps game, NBCSN anchor Liam McHugh used plus-minus as a way to discredit Alex Ovechkin‘s 51 goals last year. Clearly Mr. McHugh can’t be bothered with knowing that plus-minus is a silly way to measure a player’s effectiveness. He’s probably also a really big Jeff Schultz fan.

Mr. McHugh’s use of plus-minus didn’t go unnoticed by Caps fans on Twitter.

But know this, Mr. McHugh sees you Caps fans. He sees you and he’s bringing the sass.

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By Patrick Holden 9 years ago

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In Which Jason Chimera’s Broken Nose Helps Spell Capitals

Last night after Jason Chimera broke his nose in the most unsightly way possible, the Brouwer Rangers made a request to us on Twitter.

@russianmachine please 'shop this with his nose as the c in capitals

— TimothyJimothyYoshie (@tjyoshie77) October 30, 2014

We didn’t really think that’d be the greatest idea, but @mdm1129 definitely did.

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By Ian Oland 9 years ago

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“Killer” Turnovers Cost Caps Victory Over Red Wings

Photo credit: Patrick McDermott

For the last few games, Washington’s offense has been lacking. Alex Ovechkin has struggled to score — going five games without a goal — while the rest of the lines have struggled to click as Barry Trotz’s looks for line combinations that will gel. On Wednesday, they got the offense. Washington clearly outclassed the Red Wings but made a few inexplicable mistakes. They hurt.

“They’re not playing overly poor,” Trotz said after the game. “You’ve just got to put your nose to the grindstone and plow through it.”

“Every turnover we did have ended up in the back of the net a little bit,” he added.

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By Chris Gordon 9 years ago

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Caps Wear Purple Jerseys During Warm-Ups, Raise $55,000 For Charity

Photo: Patrick McDermott

Wednesday, the Washington Capitals hosted Hockey Fights Cancer night at Verizon Center. They had 11-year-old blood cancer survivor Ryan Darby participate in the ceremonial faceoff (which was adorable). They also wore purple-colored warm-up jerseys with lavender highlights, colors that represent all forms of cancer.

During the game, the Caps auctioned the signed jerseys off (which were signed with a purple sharpie) and Chris Gordon reports they raised over $55,000 for charity.

Chris took photos of the sweaters with his iPhone 6. Check them out. We even have an Aaron Volpatti jersey sighting!

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By Ian Oland 9 years ago

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Evgeny Kuznetsov Scores Breakaway Goal After Awesome Pass From Braden Holtby (GIF)

This screengrab looks like it could be an action shot on a hockey card.

Washington Capitals rookie Evgeny Kuznetsov has had an uneven season thus far. He’s spent most of his time on the team’s fourth line, learning the center position as he goes. He’s also seen a bunch of time on the team’s second power play unit.

On Wednesday, after tallying three points in his first eight games, Kuznetsov finally broke through for his first goal of the season.

It was a beauty. And it was all because of Braden Holtby.

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By Ian Oland 9 years ago

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Broken Noses, Broken Hearts: Wings Beat Caps 4-2

Photo credit: Patrick McDermott

I was pessimistic about the Caps entering the season. Early on, however, they proved me wrong. The team went until late October without a loss in regulation, picking of a bunch of standings points. They were strong on both sides of the puck and all the storylines were positive. It was like everyone was Ian: innocent, happy, naïvely carefree.

A trip out west changed that. The Caps lost two of the three played past your bedtime and we came down to earth. Looking to change things, Barry Trotz decided to go with another forceful lineup that he divined using either his brilliant hockey mind or a hat. Perhaps he knows half of you didn’t watch this game either.

The scoring got stared in the first when Braden Holtby took a twirl and a tumble in the crease. The referees, perhaps unaware the Caps play their home game on melted Slurpee, called the goal back, alleging goalie inference on Luke Glendening. Other than a few reorganized faced, the first was otherwise uneventful, though the Wings registered Pantherian three shots on goal.

In the second, things got more interesting. About nine minutes into the period, Marcus Johansson continued his goal scoring streak by putting the Wings up for real this time. Jojo turned the puck over inside the blueline before Gustav Nyquist stretched Holtby’s groin past its breaking point. Bray Bray, though, got even a little over five minutes later with a delicious bank pass to Joel Ward, who fed the puck to a streaking Evgeny Kuznetsov to tie it up on the power play. With 58 ticks remaining in the period, first-liner Andre Burakovsky used his fancy euroness to blow past the Detroit D before John Carlson used the First Amendment to set Troy Brouwer up for the one timer.

Alas, things got rather dumb in the third period. Brooks Orpik and Burakovsky combined for an awful turnover, allowing Justin Abdelkader to tie it. It was basically the FBI building of brutalism.

The party didn’t stop there. John Carlson joined in on the “hey free pucks!” train and Abdelkader twisted the knife. Another for good measure. Wings beat Caps 4-2.

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By Chris Gordon 9 years ago

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Precious Moment: Alex Ovechkin Gives His Stick to Cancer Survivor Ryan Darby After Ceremonial Faceoff (GIFs)

Just like the Vancouver Canucks did on Sunday, the Washington Capitals hosted their own Hockey Fights Cancer night at Verizon Center. The Capitals wore purple jerseys during warm-ups (photos) and 11-year-old blood cancer survivor Ryan Darby got to participate in the ceremonial faceoff with Detroit Red Wings captain Henrik Zetterberg and Caps captain Alex Ovechkin.

Darby, cute as a button, clapped wildly as Ovechkin made his way to the dot. Then he got a special surprise when they were done: a game-used stick from Alex Ovechkin.

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By Ian Oland 9 years ago

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Braden Holtby Falls Over Ungracefully, Red Wings Get Screwed Out of Goal (GIF)

Screengrab by @Daryoush_Hockey

Midway through the first period, Braden Holtby went behind the net to play a dump in. After he chipped the puck to Caps defenseman Matt Niskanen, Holtby skated back to the crease. And that’s when things went terribly, terribly wrong.

Holtby’s skate blade got caught in a rut on the ice and fell over. It was not graceful.

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By Ian Oland 9 years ago

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Jason Chimera’s Grotesquely Broken Nose

Washington Capitals forward Jason Chimera went for a big offensive zone hit on Detroit Red Wings defenseman Brendan Smith. Smith however, noticed the hard-charging Chimera coming and leaned into him with his shoulder. Chimmer fell over hard, then made his way to the bench.

When NBCSN cameras caught him with trainer Greg Smith, we were met with the most brokenest nose in the history of broken noses.

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By Ian Oland 9 years ago

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