Winter Classic proves worth

By Dan Rodgers

This 2011 Winter Classic is proving to be a great game. The Washington Capitals currently lead the Pittsburgh Penguins 2-1 halfway through the final period of play.

I'm watching with a friend of mine who is a big Caps fan. His dad had tickets to the game, which is being played at Heinz Field, but decided to sell them and watch from home. As a season ticket holder he was given the opportunity to buy them, he did so for $250 per ticket for two seats. He sold the two seats for $700 total only because someone sent him a nice email asking for them as a gift for someone, so he was nice enough to lower the price from $1,000 to $700.

The place is sold out and it's incredible to think that the place is sold out and the tickets are that expensive. There are just over 65,000 seats and imagine how much money was exchanged for all of those seats. Jeez, crazy to think about.

Note: Fehr puts in his second goal of the game on a breakaway with eight minutes left in the game. Caps 3 Pens 1

The game has been fast-paced and hard-hitting. I'm not a huge hockey fan but this is the kind of game someone like me needs to watch to get more into the sport.

Game over, Caps win 3-1.

This is completely unrelated to this post, but it is awesome yet kind of inappropriate. I would be surprised if this guy didn't get fined or punished in some way. If he was on a good team he definitely would be.



Hope you enjoyed it, I certainly did because he came after a Dolphins loss.

Rodgers That

The Way the World Works

By Dan Rodgers

Okay, so this post is going to a be a short description letting you know how the world works as of December 2010. Ready, go.

• Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera are Yankees
• Red Sox trade for Adrian Gonzalez in attempt to keep up with Yankees
• Troy Tulowitzki overrated? No sir, best shortstop in the big leagues

• Virginia Tech Hokies are ACC Champs having won 11 straight
• Oregon and Auburn stay unbeaten and head to BCS National Championship, sorry TCU - not this year...better luck next year in the Big East
• Cam Newton is a lock for the Heisman Trophy
  

• Jets and Pats battle Monday night for AFC East supremacy
• Ravens and Steelers battle Sunday night for AFC North supremacy
• The whole NFC is a complete mess and a .500 or sub-.500 team may win their division

• UNC Men's BBall is a joke even though they beat Kentucky by two at home
• On the other hand, Duke is playing at the level they are ranked, No. 1

• The Heat don't look too hot with their "Big 3"
• Why is the Western Conference so much better than the Eastern?
  
• Anyone surprised by New Orleans(13-6) and Utah(15-6), I sure am...

• Caps, Pens tied for most points in NHL - surprise surprise...
• Why is the Eastern Conference so much better than the Western?

As you can tell, quite a bit is going on in the sports world. Some eyebrow-raising, some not. The point is, it's unpredictable. I love it and I love that Jeter and Mo re-signed. It's no surprise that the Sox gone Gonzalez, but I was hoping SD would keep him. The NFL is beyond nuts and don't get me started on NCAA Basketball. The NHL seems to be the most predictable with the NBA being somewhat surprising. We'll see where we're at in a month or so.

Rodgers That

NHL Free Agent Frenzy

By Scott Antoszewski

The NHL’s free agent signing period opened at noon on July 1. Free agency in the NHL is handled a bit differently than the other major sports.

Baseball and football players tend to take a slow, methodical approach to where they will sign and for how much. Hockey players on the other hand, sign very quickly starting almost exactly at noon.

I’m writing this at about noon on Friday July 2, we are less than 24 hours into the signing period, and as of now 39 players have signed new contracts, totaling over $270 Million in contract value. I won’t list them, since most of the players aren’t household names, in fact only one notable player is amongst the players who have signed. He is Sergei Gonchar who left Pittsburgh and signed with Ottawa. The terms are 3 years at $5.5 million per year.

Goalies have been the most active with at least five goaltenders changing teams, but the biggest fish left in the free agent pool is Ilya Kovalchuk. Rumors have him connected to the L.A. Kings, but there are also rumors that he will go home and play in the Russian Kontinental Hockey League. I’m interested to see what he chooses. The money he will get from a KHL contract will be much higher than here in North America, but he won’t be playing at the highest level. Does he want the money, or the Stanley Cup? It will be interesting to find out.

The other thing that is fun to keep track of during free agency is how many general managers sign players to deals that are way too big and make that player unmovable. It seems to happen to at least two or three teams every year. Once the player signings slow down, I’ll review the list and put a post together that deals with that issue. Free agency is the last big event of the hockey year, so I don’t expect there to be a lot of news until we get closer to training camp in September.

Blackhawks advance, Habs look for more magic

By Dan Rodgers

So...the Chicago Blackhawks have returned to the Stanley Cup for the first time since 1992. Good for them. Chicago finally has something to cheer about considering the Cubs and White Sox currently stink (White Sox lost 13-0 tonight, and the Cubs are battling to keep their heads above .500). Of course, they'll probably cheer up a storm when they get LeBron James, but that's for another post.

Anyway, the Blackhawks will sit at home and relax while the Flyers attempt to put away the Canadiens in game five. Might seem fairly simple considering they've dominated them just about the entire series. Except for this one statistic, the Habs are an undefeated 5-0 this year in elimination games. Whether that was luck or them playing well with their backs against the wall, props to them. I hope they pull it out again... being down 3-1 to the Caps, then 3-2 to the defending champion Pens, and now 3-1 again to the seventh-seeded Flyers.

Let us look at something else. Does Chicago actually have a disadvantage here? They were the two seed and absolutely dominated the first-seeded San Jose Sharks without question. Well beyond a reasonable doubt. However, if the Habs pull out a win on tonight...and maybe even another, the Hawks will be at home watching. Ever think they might cool off in the process, and even though the other team will be tired, they'll still be hot. Just something to think about. I hope Montreal pulls out another one, but something tells me the story stops here.

Go Blackhawks in the finals...they're a fun team to watch.

Rodgers That

NHL Playoffs prove why sports are great

By Dan Rodgers

This post is going to simply and clearly explain why this year's NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs prove why sports are great.

The eight-seeded Montreal (Habs) Canadiens beat Sidney Crosby and the defending champion Pittsburgh Penguins in seven games. The Habs absolutely owned game seven, winning 5-2 on the road. The team from up north now looks to take on either the (7) Philadelphia Flyers or the (6) Boston Bruins.

This series is another great story because the Bruins were up three games to none and now the Flyers have won three in a row. Coming back from three down in a series is an almost unprecedented feat in the sports realm. (I would know, my Yanks blew it to the Sox in '04)

No one should care about the other conference right now. The Sharks beat the Red Wings four games to one, and the Blackhawks overtook the Canucks in six games.

The reason the West doesn't matter is because it's one vs. two in the conference finals. In the East, it's eight vs. six/seven.

That's awesome and it's awesome that the Flyers came back in the series. This is when random people pay attention. I'm not a Flyers/Bruins fan by any means, in fact, I strongly dislike both those sports cities to say the least. However, I will definitely at least be semi-watching the game because of how awesome the story is. Maybe it's just the journalist in me, who knows.

All I know is that I'm rooting hard for the Habs to go all the way, preferably against the Blackhawks. I think if Montreal plays the way they've been playing, they have a legitimate shot to win the Cup.

Rodgers That

Biting their tongue, on to round two

By Scott Antoszewski

The Canadiens improbable comeback against the Capitals capped off a first round for the ages in the NHL playoffs last night. The final toll looks like this:

In the east, Montreal, an eight seed, took out Washington, the number one overall seed. The Flyers are a seven seed and they took out the Devils, who were a two. The sixth seeded Bruins eliminated the third seeded Sabres, and the Penguins were the only higher seed that moved on in the East, taking down Ottawa in the four vs. five matchup.

Out west things were a little less unpredictable. The Sharks beat the Avalanche in the one vs. eight matchup. The Blackhawks beat the Predators in the two versus seven, and the Canucks beat the Kings in the three versus six. The only upset was the Red Wings beating the Coyotes in the four against five series. A lot of people don’t really consider that an upset considering the hot streak the Red Wings were on going into the playoffs.

The first round was incredibly competitive and exciting. There were no series sweeps, in fact each series went a minimum of six games. I see that as good for the league, good for the fans and especially good for the sport. Sports leagues generally seem to be aiming for the type of parity you see in the most recent seasons of NFL football, and it looks like NHL hockey is certainly moving in that direction. I find that exciting as a highly involved fan of the sport.

The second round starts tonight in San Jose, the matchups are as follows:

San Jose Sharks vs. Detroit Red Wings: Can the Sharks shake off the ghosts of playoffs past and get to the conference finals? This year is probably their best chance in the last three.

Chicago Blackhawks vs. Vancouver Canucks: The Hawks knocked out Luongo and the Canucks in the second round last year. Vancouver has stated that they are looking for revenge. This has the potential to be a very nasty series.

Montreal Canadiens vs. Pittsburgh Penguins: If the Canadiens can get through the Caps in round one and the Pens in round two, there may not be any couches left unburned in Montreal. It’s another tall task though as Crosby and the Pens are stacked for another cup run this year.

Boston Bruins vs. Philadelphia Flyers: What a great rivalry series this is. The Bruins have a chance to redeem themselves from a short playoff run last year, and the Flyers are playing with house money. It will be interesting to see if Brian Boucher can carry the banged up Flyers through another round.

There are still enough teams in play that there should be a game on television each night of the week. Most of the weeknight games can be found on Versus, which is also back to being available to DirecTV subscribers. So make some time to watch a game or two, you never know, you might see something historic!

How to grow facial hair quickly

So, this was brought to my attention by a writer here, Scott Antoszewski, and it is too funny to not share with you.

During the Ottawa vs. Pittsburgh game the other night, an advertisement with a person's beard seems to grow throughout the game.

http://www.hfboards.com/showthread.php?t=766456

Enjoy...

Crazy round one

By Scott Antoszewski

We’ve seen our first casualty of the 2010 NHL Playoffs. The New Jersey Devils have been eliminated in five games by the Philadelphia Flyers. The fact that the Devils were a two seed makes this a fairly large upset. I didn’t get to see a lot of the games in this series, but I did see the one last night. Marty Brodeur looked very “ordinary”, and the Devils just looked like they weren’t really all that interested. Let the Kovalchuk free agent speculation begin!

I thought I was going to get to see a second elimination when the Penguins rallied to take a 3-2 lead on Ottawa in the third period, but to the Sens credit they fought back. The game kept me up way past my bedtime, but it was worth it to see Ottawa get a 4-3 win in triple overtime. Game 6 is back in Ottawa on Saturday night. (Pens win, advance)

The Capitals get their first chance to knock out the Canadiens tonight in DC. Washington has dominated this series ever since getting down 4-1 in the second period of game two. The Habs are going back to Halak in goal tonight to try and extend their season. The Buffalo Sabres are down three games to one to the Boston Bruins, which is a major surprise. (Caps lose 2-1, Sabres win 4-1)

Out west, the Canucks lead the Kings three games to two in their series. I haven’t seen many of these games, but the highlights are proving that they are playing some very entertaining games. The Red Wings took game five from Phoenix, also leading to a three games to two series lead. The Sharks have weathered an “own goal” in OT against the Avalanche and are now up three games to two. The Sharks need to close out this series as quickly as possible. They can’t let Colorado hang around and push it to a game seven, even though it would be played in San Jose. (Sharks won game six) Lastly, the Blackhawks and Predators are tied at two games a piece heading back to Chicago for game five. (OT win by Hawks, lead 3-2)

Round two will get going toward the end of next week. Overall the games have been very entertaining, I’m happy with the level of play and the officiating. Game five between Pittsburgh/Ottawa was the first real “epic” overtime game of the playoffs. I’m looking forward to at least one more three or four overtime marathon before the end of the playoffs.

Enjoy the games!

NHL playoffs underway

By Dan Rodgers

The first games of the first round of the NHL playoffs have been rather interesting:

• (8) Montreal stunned (1) Washington in OT to take a 1-0 series lead against the best team in the NHL
• (7) Philadelphia beat Marty Brodeur and the (2) New Jersey Devils to switch the home ice advantage
• (1) San Jose continues to struggle in the playoffs, dropping the opener to (8) Colorado
• (5) Ottawa upset the defending champion (4) Penguins in game one

Hopefully, the rest of round one games will be as interesting as these. Nothing better than the underdogs coming through. Both one seeds going down would be extremely interesting. Best of luck to everyone...

Rodgers That

Poetic justice

By Scott Antoszewski

Matt Cooke finally got what was coming to him last night. Rookie Evander Kane knocked Cooke out cold with one resounding punch. Cooke was looking for a fight and Kane, whose parents named him after Evander Holyfield, was more than willing to oblige.

Remember back a month or so when Matt Cooke knocked Boston Bruins sniper Marc Savard out cold with a dirty hit to the head. Cooke was not suspended because he there was no rule about hitting to the head at the time. I don’t think Kane was thinking about avenging for Savard when he took the fight, in fact I’m sure that was the last thing on his mind. The fight was one of those rare occurrences where there wasn’t a lot of hugging, clutching and grabbing.

The video is available pretty much everywhere on the internet, search for Cooke vs. Kane on YouTube if you would like to see it. It was nice to see Cooke skate off on his own power. Maybe he will think about how it feels to wake up on the nice the next time he decides to hit someone in the head. Way to go Evander!

Greatest Caps moments

By Scott Antoszewski

­Several NHL teams have released DVD sets in the last few weeks that are a compilation of that team’s 10 best games of all time. The Washington Capitals are my team (as you most likely know) so I am particularly interested in the Caps version of this. I got my first look at the list and was pleasantly surprised about how many of the listed moments I have witnessed in person. The list is below and I will detail each of the games that I was lucky enough to attend:

10. Ovechkin’s hat trick in game two against Pittsburgh last May, one matched by Sidney Crosby in a losing effort. I was NOT there for this one, but was going nuts in my basement and texting my friends who were there.

9. Game seven versus the Rangers last April. I shared this moment at home with my wife. She loves hockey almost as much as I do.

8. Game one versus the Flyers in 2008. I was at this game. I’ve never been in a louder building in my life. The Caps erased a 3-1 second period deficit to win 5-3. I remember getting light headed from jumping up in the air when the Caps scored the go ahead goal. My throat was sore for a full day afterward. It wasn’t my first playoff game, but it was the first playoff game that I saw the Caps win. This game was also the last time I high-fived a random stranger.

7. Caps winning the Southeast and qualifying for the postseason in the last game of the season against Florida, April 5, 2008. I still watch the last 30 seconds of this game on Youtube every now and then. I decided exactly one day before this game that I wanted to go. I called a sales guy I used to know that worked with the Caps, and because he knew that I had bought seats for less meaningful games, he sold me four $55 seats for $35 each. People were paying two and three times face for this game and I got discount seats. The last minute and a half of the game was one of the coolest environments I have ever experienced. I smile every time I think of that night, including right now. The memorabilia collector in me wonders who ended up with the Ovechkin game used stick he chucked into the stands at the end.

6. Ovechkin scores four goals against the Canadians while enduring a broken nose, Jan. 31, 2008. I took my boss and my wife to this game. I was playing broom-ball on the ice after the game, so I didn’t get to see Ovechkin’s fourth goal. My wife and I ran into some friends at the game and she left my boss and me to sit four rows from the ice. Ovechkin’s hat trick was the first NHL hat trick I had ever been in the stands for. My hat didn’t make it to the ice from the 400 level.

5. Bruce Boudreau’s first game behind the Caps’ bench, Nov. 23, 2007. This game was in Philadelphia, and I wasn’t there. I was however at Glen Hanlon’s last game as coach two days before. I was not part of the crowd chanting “fire Hanlon”. The change was needed, but I couldn’t bring myself to join the chant. Nicklas Backstrom got Bruce Boudreau a win in his first game with an overtime goal.

4. Ovechkin’s first Caps’ game, against Columbus, Oct. 5, 2005. I was at this game. I remember going in wondering if this “Big O” guy could live up to all the hype. I’m glad we don’t call him the “Big O” anymore. I think I have the ticket stub for this game around somewhere. They were big and fancy because it was opening night.

3. Joe Juneau catapults the Caps to their first-ever Stanley Cup finals, June 4, 1998. This was before I got into hockey, but I do remember watching this game on TV. I started following the Caps regularly about a year later.

2. Game one of the 1996 Eastern Conference quarterfinals when the Caps overcame a 4-1 deficit to beat Mario Lemieux, Jaromir Jagr, and the Pens 6-4. This was before my time, but any victory against the Pens makes me smile.

1. Dale Hunter vanquishes the Flyers in overtime of game seven in 1988! This game may have been one of the first games I ever watched. The memory that stands out to me was thinking “Wow, they are celebrating like they won the game” after Hunter’s goal. I didn’t know that overtime in the NHL was sudden death. I asked my father several times in subsequent years to take me to a game, but we never went. I was honored to take my Dad to HIS first game sometime during the early 2000’s.

The set seems to be a little heavy on the recent history, mainly due to the Pollin family’s unwillingness or inability to produce video of some of the early years of the organization. I know there is a set out for the Blackhawks and several other teams. I feel very lucky to have seen as many Caps games as I have. I’ve been a hockey fan for about ten years and feel very fortunate to get to see a player the caliber of Ovechkin in my city. I hope you enjoyed this; it was great fun to write.

Caps 14 ends in Canada

By Dan Rodgers

I know, right now you are probably thinking...

I had no idea this guy could write about hockey?!

Well...I can!

I am a sports fan and have the ability to write about anything I want. Now, to what this post is actually about: The Washington Capitals remarkable 14-game winning streak.

The Caps 14-game streak came within three games of tying the all-time NHL record for longest winning streak; the '92-'93 Pittsburgh Penguins won 17 games in a row. Here are a few fun stats from the Caps streak:

• Never scored less than three goals
• Didn't shut anyone out
• Let up 3+ goals five times
• Averaged 4.86 goals per game
• Gave up 2.36 goals per game

Even though you might think these stats are impressive, take a second to look closely. If you look at some of the teams the Caps beat (Florida x2, Toronto, NYI, NYR to name a few), nine of the 14 wins came against teams that would currently not make the playoffs. Two more wins came against Tampa Bay and Philly, tied for the seventh and eighth seed in the East. They did have two quality wins in Pheonix and Pittsburgh, but that's two...out of 14.

Not to mention, the Caps just lost two in a row...both in Canada, Montreal and Ottawa. Both games they lost 5-6 which only proves my point about the Caps having a weak defense. You might be thinking, the Caps scored five goals though! My response to that is, when you score five goals...you shouldn't be losing. And since I watched the games I can say that the goals didn't seem to be the fault of the goaltender but more so the defense.

Look, I could rant for longer than you might think about this...all I'm trying to say is I'm curious what will happen to the Caps in the playoffs. If they can't score three, four or five goals a game they might not win. So if their offense cools off a bit there might be an upset in the making...

Rodgers That