2018 Olympics

Former Capital Martin Erat will captain Czech Republic Olympic team

Early Monday, the Czech Republic announced their roster for the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea.

While hockey legend Jaromir Jagr was not extended an invite, the Czech Republic national team will feature several players with NHL experience, including two who used to play for the Capitals.

Former Caps forward Martin Erat will captain the Czechs while former Capitals and Hershey Bears stalwart Tomáš Kundrátek was named one of eight defensemen to the team.

Other notables include Michal Jordan, who played 78 games for the Carolina Hurricanes over three NHL seasons, and Roman Cervenka (39 games for the Calgary Flames in 2013).

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By Ian Oland 5 years ago

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Two former Capitals, two former Bears make Canadian Olympic team

With the NHL’s decision to not participate in the 2018 Winter Olympics, players that would never have sniffed their national teams at an Olympic event have earned a chance at making their country’s respective rosters.

In December, we saw former Capital and current Hershey Bear, Chris Bourque as well as Ryan Stoa named to the US Olympic team in late December. Thursday, the Canadian Olympic team announced their squad and it features even more former Capitals and Bears.

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By Chris Cerullo 5 years ago

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Rockville native Haley Skarupa was named to the US Olympic women’s team. Her nod gives hope to local girls with big hockey dreams.

Matt Mendelsohn, who writes below, has been a photographer and journalist for the last thirty-three years. He worked at UPI and USA Today during the 80’s and 90’s and is now primarily a portrait photographer. His daughter Alexandra plays hockey at MYHA in the U14 girls travel team.

Like most local rinks, the walls around the Rockville Ice Arena are crammed with banners of championships and teams long gone by — a 2003 U14 win here, a 2013 Silver Stick runner-up there. But Rockville might have do a bit of reorganizing in the coming weeks to make room for its biggest banner yet.

This one will read simply: “Home of Haley Skarupa, US Olympian.”

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By Ian Oland 5 years ago

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The moment Bobby Butler’s dad found out his son made the US Olympic team

Milwaukee Admirals forward Bobby Butler was one of 22 players named to the United States Olympic hockey team on Monday. But this story is about Bobby Butler’s papa.

While at practice, Bobby called his dad over to the bench and gave him the big news. The Admirals posted video on Twitter and, well, you just have to see this.

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By Ian Oland 5 years ago

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Hershey Bears forward Chris Bourque officially named to United States Olympic team

Chris Bourque leads the AHL with 39 points (11-28) in 34 games played for the Hershey Bears. Monday, he earned the greatest accomplishment of his career and was named to the 2018 United States Olympic team.

Bourque, who is signed to a AHL contract with Hershey, has played 51 career games in the NHL during his 13 years pro, including 13 games with the Capitals and 38 with the Penguins and Bruins.

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By Ian Oland 5 years ago

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Alex Ovechkin and Evgeny Kuznetsov speak about Russian Olympic ban

Tuesday afternoon, the International Olympic Committee handed down an unprecedented punishment to Russia after the country participated in a doping scheme at the Sochi games. The country was banned from participating at the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics, but individual athletes, who are confirmed to be clean, could compete under a neutral flag.

On Wednesday, reporters spoke to Alex Ovechkin and Evgeny Kuznetsov after the Capitals morning skate. The two Capitals players were likely shoe-ins on Russia’s olympic hockey team if not for Gary Bettman’s decision to forbid the NHLPA from participating.

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By Ian Oland 5 years ago

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Russia banned from 2018 Winter Olympics as national team announces Channel One Cup roster

Debate raged for months about the NHL’s seemingly small decision to forbid its players from participating in next year’s Winter Olympics games. One of the league’s biggest opponents was Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin, but ultimately the Russian machine would not have been able to represent his country anyway.

Tuesday afternoon, the International Olympic Committee banned Russia from the PyeongChang Olympics due to rampant doping in the Sochi games. Individual athletes from Russia, who are deemed “clean” by a panel, will be allowed to compete under the name “Olympic Athlete from Russia (OAR).”

The athletes will compete with a uniform bearing the OAR name and under the Olympic Flag. The Olympic Anthem will be played instead of the Russian national anthem.

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By Ian Oland 5 years ago

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John Walton, the radio voice of the Capitals, will be doing the play-by-play for women’s hockey at the 2018 Winter Olympics

The Capitals’ John Walton shared some huge news Tuesday afternoon. Walton has been asked to go to Pyeonchang, South Korea in February to do play-by-play at the 2018 Winter Olympics. Walton will be covering women’s hockey.

The hardworking announcer made the announcement on his personal Twitter account.

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By Ian Oland 5 years ago

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NBC will not air national NHL games during Olympics

After the news that the NHL will not send athletes to the 2018 Olympics in South Korea, many athletes handled the news in their own way.

Alex Ovechkin wrote a heartfelt statement criticizing the league for its decision while San Jose Sharks defenseman Marc-Édouard Vlasic got sassy in a tweet after the Olympics revealed the design of their medals.

NBC showed their displeasure in an even more public way. The television network has announced they will go dark with NHL coverage across all platforms between February 7th and 26th, the dates during the Olympic Games. During this time last season, NBC aired 20 games over that period.

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By Cara Bahniuk 5 years ago

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Open letter: It’s totally cool with me if Alex Ovechkin goes to the Olympics

To whom it may concern:

I saw the statement from Alex Ovechkin, the one where you can almost hear his heart break as he acknowledges that he won’t play in the Olympics. I like that he uses the word “sucks” in the statement. It’s a good word; it really nails when a situation is both unfortunate and mindblowingly stupid.

The NHL refusing to participate in the Olympics indeed sucks. It’s petty. In that spirit of pettiness, and just in case someone important reads this, I’d like to voice my support for letting Alex Ovechkin play in the Olympics anyway.

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By Peter Hassett 5 years ago

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