How to beat Lundqvist, right there
Just scant moments after getting speared in the li’l Ovis by Marc Staal, Alex Ovechkin got revenge the best way possible: SCOAR. And to my own personal delight, the primary assist on the Ovechkin’s goal belonged to smile-expert Nate Schmidt.
By Peter Hassett 7 years ago
Photo credit: Bruce Bennett
The Washington Capitals played in the final game at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum on April 27. The Caps lost that contest to the New York Islanders, but their Game 7 victory in Washington put an end to hockey at the Coliseum. It was a glorious moment. Six months later, the Islanders have left the brutalist circular abode behind, moving to the opulent Barclays Center in Brooklyn. After closing out the Coliseum, the Capitals got the chance to play one of the first games in the new place, beating the Isles 3-1 Monday night.
The differences between the two buildings are striking. While the old concrete blob featured notable amenities such as rat poop and a TV angle that seemed to be coming from St. Louis, the new barn has a bus elevator, which is a freaking elevator for buses.
“I’ve never been on a bus elevator,” Jay Beagle told RMNB. “At first we were kind of like, what’s going on here? And then we realized it was an elevator for a bus, so that was kind of cool.”
By Chris Gordon 7 years ago
On Sunday, longtime RMNB reader/commenter Owen Johnson went to Caps practice and defenseman Nate Schmidt did something super cool for Owen’s nephew.
I’ll let Owen take it from here.
Smile, everyone! The Capitals announced Wednesday morning that they have re-signed pending restricted free agent defenseman Nate Schmidt to a two-year, one-way deal. Schmidt will make $750,000 in 2015-2016 and $875,000 in 2016-2017. With Mike Green’s likely departure, Schmidt should receive a full-time roster spot next season.
The 23-year-old Minnesotan has scored three goals and seven assists in 68 career games for the Capitals, including one goal and three assists in 39 games last season. He has tallied six goals and 20 assists in 65 career games with the Hershey Bears in the AHL.
Though he was sidelined by injury for part of the 2014-2015 season, Schmidt made the Caps “wayyyy better” when he was playing. Schmidt’s 54-percent possession was first among Caps defenseman.
By Nathan Burchfiel 7 years ago
Once again, Nate Schmidt put up a sterling performance for the Washington Capitals and was rewarded for his effort by a demotion to Hershey.
Same Schmidt, different day.
By Peter Hassett 7 years ago
Photo: mndaily.com
On Tuesday afternoon, the Minnesota Golden Gophers tweeted the Washington Capitals with a suggestion: play Nate Schmidt.
Your favorite player might play in the biggest game of the season. Smiling god/defenseman Nate Schmidt has been recalled from the Hershey Bears. If he plays in game seven on Wednesday, he’ll be filling in for Tim Gleason, who was beleaguered and banged up in game six.
Gleason wound up with four third-period shifts last night, but none after 10:57.
— Alex Prewitt (@alex_prewitt) May 11, 2015
With Gleason out (but not necessarily because Gleason was out), the Capitals dominated the final ten minutes of that game.
When Nate Schmidt and Mike Green were on the ice together during 5v5 this season, the Capitals controlled 55.1 percent of the shot attempts.
By Peter Hassett 7 years ago
Photo credit: Julie Jacobson
For about an hour on Friday night, Curtis Glencross was a playoff hero. His breakaway goal with 10:54 left in the third period looked like it was going to send the Capitals to the Eastern Conference Final for the first time in 17 years.
The Rangers, however, tied the game late. In overtime, Glencross attempted a cross-ice pass to spring Brooks Laich. It was a bad one. The trade deadline acquisition stopped and flipped the puck lazily into the hands of Rangers forward Jesper Fast. Within a few seconds, the game was over. Glencross fell to his knees as the Rangers celebrated their comeback victory.
Speaking to the media after the game, Glencross was shellshocked — and perhaps headed for a benching. But instead, he will play tonight, skating once more with Laich and Tom Wilson on the fourth line as the Caps look to close out the series in game six at Verizon Center.
By Chris Gordon 7 years ago
Smile!
The Caps have announced that they have recalled defenseman Nate Schmidt from Hershey. This is an emergency recall. Apparently, Mike Green is banged up. The Caps listed him a day-to-day with an upper-body injury.
Schmidt has 2 goals and 4 assists, and a 53.4-percent shot-attempt percentage in 29 games for the Caps this season. He recently returned from a fractured shoulder blade.
We like Schmidt around here. We like him a lot.
We also like Mike Green.
While the loss of Green on the blue line is a big blow to the team, it appears as if it’s a short-term thing. Having a replacement as capable as Schmidt waiting in the wings speaks to the blue-line depth that Brian MacLellan has built in his short time as General Manager.
By Patrick Holden 7 years ago
Photo Credit: Gregg Forwerck
Hard to play against, tough customer, character guy: those were some of the hockey superlatives thrown around by Barry Trotz and his players when asked about Tim Gleason, the team’s newly acquired D-man.
“He’ll keep people honest,” Trotz told reporters at Kettler Capitals Iceplex. “You want to take a shot at Greenie, he can back it up.”
Yep, despite whatever my zany Russian political science professor and Some People on the Internet say, Mike Green isn’t going anywhere.
By Chris Gordon 7 years ago
