The Caps opened up their season at home yesterday with a huge 6-1 win over the Montreal Canadiens. Before the game, the Caps walked a red carpet, posing for pictures and signing autographs for fans.
One tiny Caps fan got a huge surprise when he was invited to join Brett Connolly on the red carpet.
By Madeline Dement 6 years ago
Saturday before their home opener, the Washington Capitals walked a red carpet before absolutely throttling the Montreal Canadiens 6-1. The players, arriving in Capitals-branded Lexuses, were escorted down the red carpet by a fan chosen by the team. The Caps signed autographs, took photos, and showed off their fanciest suits.
By Cara Bahniuk 6 years ago
The Washington Capitals found themselves trailing the Ottawa Senators early, after a Chris Wideman seeing-eye puck found its way past Braden Holtby. But a minute and forty-two seconds later, the Capitals tied it up.
Brett Connolly had the honors.
For the first time in several years, expectations for the Washington Capitals have been lowered. After an offseason that saw the team lose six players who scored a quarter (25.8%) of its 263 total goals, Capitals players are focusing more on just making the playoffs than winning the franchise’s third-straight President’s Trophy.
“Our goal is to get a playoff spot,” Nicklas Backstrom said to NHL.com during the recent European Media Tour. “I just think we should go one step at a time, get ourselves in the playoffs and then we’ll go from there. As you know, everything can happen in the playoffs.”
The Capitals, who went all in for a Stanley Cup the last three seasons, have not advanced past the second round of the playoffs during the Alex Ovechkin era. They will now work in several rookies to both their forward and defensive ranks from AHL Hershey. Meanwhile their embattled head coach, Barry Trotz, is a lame duck heading into this season and in the final year of his contract.
Over the last week or two, many of the Capitals leaders, including Braden Holtby, TJ Oshie, Nicklas Backstrom, and Evgeny Kuznetsov, have commented on the team’s offseason and what they expect in 2017-18.
Here they are in their own words.
Thursday in Toronto, Washington Capitals forwards Tom Wilson and Brett Connolly followed up TJ Oshie and Taylor Chorney’s Da Beauty League championship, by winning the BioSteel Cup with Team Seguin.
The four-team tournament occurred during the conclusion of BioSteel Camp, a four-day training program to get players ready for their NHL camps in the fall. The event is attended by several of the best players in hockey including Connor McDavid and Wayne Simmonds.
Seguin scored the goal of the tournament, batting a mid-air pass into the net.
The eighth annual BioSteel Camp will soon begin. The event is a week-long training program where several dozen NHL superstars, prospects, and role players ready themselves in Toronto for their upcoming NHL training camps. BioSteel holds the sessions near the end of August each year and it includes three days of intense training followed by a single day tournament.
This summer, Capitals forwards Tom Wilson, Brett Connolly, and Devante Smith-Pelly are participating along with former Capitals Michael Latta, Joel Ward, and Christian Thomas.
Monday, there was a player draft featuring captains Michael Del Zotto, Tyler Seguin, Wayne Simmonds, and Darnell Nurse. Wilson and Connolly were picked by Dallas Stars forward Tyler Seguin while Smith-Pelly was chosen first by Wayne Simmonds.
By Cara Bahniuk 6 years ago
Friday evening, Brett Connolly and fiancee Katrina tied the knot at Kurtz Orchards. The wedding venue is located in historic Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, Canada.
Several of Connolly’s teammates from the 2016-17 Presidents’ Trophy-winning Capitals were in attendance including Karl Alzner, Daniel Winnik, Tom Wilson, and Braden Holtby. During free agency, Alzner moved onto the Montreal Canadiens while Daniel Winnik remains unsigned.
Thursday night, the old gang got back together.
Several Capitals from last year’s Presidents’ Trophy-winning team reunited in Niagara Falls for Brett Connolly’s wedding this weekend.
Current Capitals Braden Holtby and Tom Wilson took a boat cruise around the world famous landmark along with former teammate Karl Alzner and unrestricted free agent Daniel Winnik. Winnik’s wife Taylor documented the group’s fun day on Instagram.
Andre Burakovsky re-signed with the Capitals Tuesday. The two-year, $6 million deal that will keep the Swedish forward in Washington through the 2018-19 season.
Burakovsky was congratulated by several of his Caps teammates and NHL friends, but the tweeting quickly devolved into jokes about free food and new shoes.
At 12:30 PM, the Washington Capitals announced the re-signing of forward Brett Connolly to a two-year, $3 million deal. Connolly’s cap hit for the next two seasons is $1.5 million. The deal was originally reported by Bob McKenzie on June 26.
Last year, Connolly scored a career-high 15 goals in the regular season while skating on the team’s third line. Connolly was benched in the playoffs, however, going point-less and goal-less in seven games. Head coach Barry Trotz opted to ice seven defensemen for much of the Penguins series, which the Caps ultimately lost in seven games.
Connolly was originally the sixth overall pick in the 2010 NHL Draft but has struggled to hold down a regular spot in a NHL lineup for most of his career. During the 2014-15 season, Connolly realized some of his vast potential, scoring 12 goals in 50 games with the Tampa Bay Lightning. After two seasons with mixed results in Boston, the Bruins let Connolly go, which allowed Connolly land in DC. The deal with the Capitals is Connolly’s largest (AAV) since inking his entry-level contract with the Bolts in 2011.
