Olie No Longer A Goalie

Photo found at A Tapestry Of Yarns.

Former Washington Capitals goaltender Olie Kolzig has decided to retire. After spending most (711 0f 719 games) of his 14 NHL seasons playing for Washington, fans of the Caps and "Olie the Goalie" are sad, though not surprised to see him go. Some of the places on the web to visit for an in depth retrospective of this NHL hockey great also known as "Godzilla", are surely soon going to include Dump 'N Chase, A View From The Cheap Seats, Japers' Rink, Love The Game, Don't Like Puck Bunnies, The Peerless Prognosticator and of course WashingtonCaps.com. Until then, you can check out today's official press release at either NHL.com or NHLPA.com.

Odd Weekend For The Caps, Indeed

It was an "odd weekend" indeed for the Washington Capitals, as majority owner Ted Leonsis put it in his blog review today. Washington faced the Boston Bruins early on Saturday afternoon, and performed incredibly well against the only team above them in the Eastern Conference at the time. Then on Sunday, the Capitals gave us a "total stinker" as Mark of Mark's Musings put it, while facing the Florida Panthers. Florida being the next team behind Washington in the Southeast Division of the NHL.

The intense level of focus the Caps showed against the Bruins in Boston had disappeared by the time they went up against the Panthers at home yesterday. Maybe they used up all of their adrenaline in the first game, coming home with an empty tank. Who knows?

The deflating feeling that comes following such a let down has Caps fans and bloggers turning their attention to other things. CapsChick of A View From The Cheap Seats and Dave Nichols of Capitals News Network take aim at a fun hating old clown. Meanwhile, Mike Vogel looks back at past trade deadline deals at Dump 'N Chase, and pucksandbooks wonders about dealing players within the present countdown over at On Frozen Blog. Let's all just move along, shall we?

Summertime Hockey Deprivation

Yes, this is it. We have now officially hit the dead part of summer, as far as hockey is concerned. This is the time of year we NHL Hockey fans get the blues. We feel a little lost, and we're desperate for any news about our favorite sport. We miss watching our heroes give it their all out on the ice, and feel like we just can't wait another day for the new season to begin.


If those back yard barbeques, family reunions and beach vacations aren't chasing away the summertime blues, then check out your favorite web sites and blogs to get the latest news or just to share your ideas about the upcoming season.


If you're a Washington Capitals fan like me, you might want to check out the following. Mike Vogel posted an interesting article at WashingtonCaps.com which touches on what Brent Johnson has been up to. It also includes an interview of Brooks Laich. Aneesa hits a Snag at Love The Game, Don't Like Puck Bunnies. Mark of Mark's Musings discusses salary cap issues, including a couple that were thankfully avoided. The Peerless Prognosticator covers what Shaone Morrisonn's arbitration decision might mean for Milan Jurcina. Meanwhile, DMG (Caps Blue Line) goes through various scenarios of what Washington will do to fix the fact that they are currently over the Salary Cap. On Frozen Blog has fans sharing their personal hockey memories. If you want to get to the "bottom" of things, visit CapsChick at A View From The Cheap Seats.

Here Kitty...Kitty

One way or another, the Washington Capitals will know if they will be in the playoffs somewhere around 9:30 PM tonight. As long as they don't lose before the end of the third period, they're in. That's what it's come down to. The last second of the last game of the regular season.

Personally, I'm feeling pretty confident. I think our boys are too. They definitely have the determination to beat the Florida Panthers. Now they have to act on that.

See the following blogs for more:

For the basic requirements see Shmee's "A perfect opportunity" at Capital Addiction .

For the detailed breakdown see DMG's "Panthers/Capitals Preview" at Caps Blue Line .

For the short and sweet version CapsChick's "Destiny In Our Hand's" at A View From The Cheap Seats .

For the fans losing sleep see Aneesa's "It's 3:00 am" at Love The Game, Don't Like Puck Bunnies .

By the way, I don't wish actual harm to any cats. I actually like cats.......You know.....With the right sauce!

Thanks to Cherie for passing along another photo.

Capitals Vs Blackhawks 03/19/2008 Review

Capitals 0 - Blackhawks 5

.

After winning four straight games, the Washington Capitals fell to the Chicago Blackhawks. I guess Washington being shutout last night was payback for when Olie Kolzig and the Capitals shutout the Blackhawks 4-0 the last time they were in Chicago, almost four years ago. I have to agree with CapsChick at A View From The Cheap Seats, it's better that they lost this game against a team in the West than one of the last seven games, which are all against their own Southeast Division. Best thing to do is to just "fo'ged aboud it".

.