Last Update - April 22, 2010 at 10:34 PM EDT
Here is Junior's 'Reading And Viewing List' for this past weekend, April 17 through 18, 2010.
Within this list (in reverse chronological order), you'll find article snippets with title links and videos with description links about the National Hockey League's 2010 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Those items concentrate on the first round matchup that I'm following the most, the 2010 Eastern Conference Quarterfinal series between my Washington Capitals and the Montreal Canadiens.
Also included in this time are the usual articles on what's going on in the world of music, racing and comic book super hero movies. A 2010 Rally Turkey Review list (WRC) and a 2010 Chinese Grand Prix Review (Formula One) list are coming up within the next few separate blog entries.
April 18, 2010
Caps Seek to Shutdown Habs’ Top Six
By Mike Vogel at Dump 'N Chase
After a tough night in Thursday’s Game 1, Washington’s top offensive trio of Alex Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom and Mike Knuble rebounded to put up four goals and nine points in the Capitals’ thrilling 6-5 overtime win over the Canadiens in Saturday’s Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinal Series between the two teams.
While Washington’s big guns got going, the Canadiens’ top six forwards kept going. Montreal’s top six has scored all eight of the Habs’ goals in this series, combining for eight goals and nine assists in the first two games...
General Playoff Hockey Musings on Day 5 of the 2010 Playoffs
By Usually Frustrated Caps Fan at Mark's Musings
Wow, as we start day 5 of the 2010 NHL Playoffs, ALL seven series that have completed two games are tied 1 - 1 AND in the eighth match up the #7 seeded Nashville Predators lead the #2 seed Chicago Blackhawks. If that doesn't tell you just how different playoff hockey games are from regular season games then the only thing that will probably do it will be going to one yourself and seeing it live. I had the pleasure of attending the Caps vs. Canadiens games on Thursday and last night...
Notes from Caps practice
By Tarik El-Bashir at Capitals Insider
Goaltending isn't Coach Bruce Boudreau's only worry as the series heads to Montreal for Game 3 knotted at one game apiece. He's also got to figure out how to spark the dormant second line and a struggling power play.
In Games 1 and 2, Boudreau has tried Tomas Fleischmann and Brendan Morrison at second-line center (he actually alternated the two last night) with little success. Wingers Brooks Laich and Alexander Semin are still searching for their first point...
About Last Night: A Superstar Steps Up
and Captain America Strikes Again
By Andrew Tomlinson at On Frozen Blog
▪ What if the hockey world got it wrong? What if Alex Ovechkin isn’t the greatest player on the Caps? What if he isn’t the greatest player in the world? What if that player is in fact Nicklas Backstrom?
▪ The 22-year-old certainly looked like the best player in the world last night. He netted his first career hat trick. Not only was it his first, but it was during a come from behind miracle victory against the Montreal Canadiens in Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. He not only did he dominate, but he took control of the game. Backstrom had a hand in four of the Caps’ five goals, including scoring the game winner...
Glory follows John Carlson, Caps
Posted by tj at Alex Ovetjkin
In the first game, starting in the second period, Habs were totally outplaying Caps. This time, even trailing 1:4, there was no such thing, Caps played well for the whole game and Habs couldn't do anything about it. Now I believe it's gonna be a long run. Caps in 6.
:-)
And Caps have a guy who brings glory and luck, our American hero, John Carlson! Go, Caps!...
*Dan, Jr. / Junior's Eyes Note: Plenty of video etc. in this post.
'Doctor Who' Review: Episode 5.01, 'The Eleventh Hour'
By Rick Marshall at MTV's Splash Page
Episode Title: "The Eleventh Hour"
Written By: Steven Moffat
Story: Recently regenerated, the 11th Doctor finds himself with little time to acclimate to his new body as the Earth is threatened by an alien menace. The TARDIS is wrecked, his sonic screwdriver is busted, and he only has 20 minutes to save the world. It's a race against time with new companion Amy Pond!
The Who, What and How: Matt Smith hits the ground running as the new face of "Doctor Who," and manages to offer both an individually impressive performance and a unique spin on The Doctor that goes far in making the role his own. He has big shoes to fill in the wake of former star David Tennant's departure...
Round 1 – Game 2 – Slideshow
By Gary Κriebel at On Frozen Blog
*Dan, Jr. / Junior's Eyes Note: Several great pictures from Montreal Canadiens at Washington Capitals ECQ Game 2.
April 17, 2010
Backstrom Saves Caps
By Joe Beninati - Washington Capitals Play-by-Play
at Comcast SportsNet - Washington, DC
I'll say this for the Capitals: they sure do make things interesting. In a game that had more twists and turns than a great mystery novel, Washington rallied from 2-0, 4-1 and 5-4 deficits to upend Montreal in overtime 6-5. Bruce Boudreau explained afterwards that his team might not have deserved to win this one, but their explosive offensive machine has the ability to bail them out of the most difficult situations.
Brian Gionta and Andrei Kostitsyn staked the visitors to a 2-goal lead, and Coach Boudreau elected to life Jose Theodore from the net. After the game, Bruce absolved Theodore from some of the blame, commenting that he pulled the veteran net-minder in part to snap his team to life. Semyon Varlomov took over after 8 minutes, and helped backstop the comeback. Who will start game number 3 is sure to be an interesting subplot...
Postgame Notebook: Capitals 6, Canadiens 5, OT
By Mike Vogel - Senior Writer at WashingtonCaps.com
One For The Ages – The announced attendance for tonight’s Eastern Conference Quarterfinal Series between the Capitals and the Montreal Canadiens was 18,377.
Years from now, twice as many will say they were here for this one.
On the verge of digging an 0-2 hole in the series with the scene shifting to Montreal for Game 3 on Monday, the Capitals staged a wild and furious comeback that culminated with a Nicklas Backstrom game-winner and a 6-5 Washington triumph at the 31-second mark of overtime...
Coach Bruce Boudreau After EC Quarterfinal Game 2 Win
Over Montreal Canadiens
Posted on Caps365 at WashingtonCaps.com
Alex Ovechkin And Nicklas Backstrom After EC Quarterfinal
Game 2 Win Over Montreal Canadiens
Posted on Caps365 at WashingtonCaps.com
Washington Capitals Players After EC Quarterfinal Game 2 Win
Over Montreal Canadiens
Posted on Caps365 at WashingtonCaps.com
Montreal Canadiens at Washington Capitals
EC Quarterfinal Game 2 Highlights
Posted at Comcast SportsNet - Washington, DC
Right click on video to choose full screen option.
Visiting Team Philadelphia
By Monica Lo at Lobese
Last weekend, Caitlin-Marie and I decided to hop in our hot little Fiesta to visit our friends from Team Philadelphia. Tim and Mikey were awesome enough to show us their kick-ass city and stuff us full of great food like braised lamb sandwiches, bacon pancakes, Rita's water ice, and real Philly Cheesesteaks from Jim's Steaks. We even group-showered our cars and went on a beautiful stroll downtown where we visited their Fiesta Movement mural and stopped in at Philadelphia's Magic Gardens. I wasn't expecting to be so charmed by this city...
Capstronaut Revealed
By Eric McErlain at Off Wing Opinion
For a while now, folks have been wondering about the indentity of the Capstronaut, a fan who has been showing up at games this season dressed in a space suit. Over at The Daily Caller, Jonathan Strong has a short feature on Mark Handwerger, who is apparently the man behind the mask:...
WIN a trip for two to Rally New Zealand!
Posted at WRC.com
Rally New Zealand celebrates its 40th anniversary this year, and to help mark the big 4-0 rally organisers have invited two lucky wrc.com users to the party.
The fifth round of the 2010 World Rally Championship, Rally New Zealand is renowned for its fast flowing gravel roads and the beautiful landscape of the country's North Island...
Number Nine, Number Nine ...
By Mike Vogel at Dump 'N Chase
Best-of-seven playoff series lend themselves to tweaks and adjustments, both in terms of personnel and in terms of the way teams approach and play the games. When your most recent effort resulted in a win, you’re far less likely to make changes. When you’re coming off a loss, some adjustments are almost certain.
It’s no surprise that Montreal will roll out the same four line combinations and three defense pairs that helped it to a 3-2 overtime win in Thursday’s Game 1. And it is also not surprising that the Caps will make use of their depth tonight, moving veteran center Brendan Morrison into the lineup and taking out Boyd Gordon, the team’s lone right-handed face-off man...
'Doctor Who' Premiere Preview: Matt Smith And Karen Gillan
Tell You What To Expect This Season!
By Rick Marshall at MTV's Splash Page
"Doctor Who" kicks off a new season tonight with a new set of stars, so when actors Matt Smith and Karen Gillan dropped by Splash Page HQ, I made sure to get some thoughts from them on where their adventures will lead (and who they'll run into) in the coming episodes.
From weeping angels and vampires to an encounter with the reptilian Silurians, the new season promises to offer quite a bit for new and longtime "Who" fans to get excited about. Of course, you don't need to hear this from me — you can see for yourself what the duo had to say in this video:...
Reducing Carbon Footprint in Hockey
By Chasta Piatakovas at Love the Game, Don't Like Puck Bunnies
One of the biggest contributors to global warming is air travel, and a NHL team logged an average of 40,782 miles between games during the regular season in 2009-10. According to Carbonfund.org, that is about 300 metric tons of carbon emissions produced by the league from travel alone. Air travel emits more carbon emissions than powering the arena and cooling the ice, said Paul Burman, special projects manager for Carbonfund.org.
The NHL has taken proactive approaches to green awareness in the league with the NHL Green and the NHLPA Carbon Neutral Challenge. Teams such as the Washington Capitals travel by train and bus whenever possible, which generates less carbon emissions than air travel...
NBA and NHL Salary Caps
By Ted Leonsis at Ted's Take
I find it a twist of irony that the NBA and NHL salary caps are both rising in this economy and are both set at about $57 million for next season.
The NBA generates more television revenue than the NHL. The NHL generates more gate related revenue than the NBA. Both businesses grew year over year. The NBA has more total revenue than the NHL.
The NHL has a hard cap. The NBA doesn’t. You don’t have to spend to the cap max. You can spend less in either instance...
Caps Look to Even Series
By Mike Vogel - Senior Writer at WashingtonCaps.com
Match-Up
After dropping Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinal Series to the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday at Verizon Center, the Caps look to even the series when the two teams collide again in Game 2 on Saturday night at the same venue...
