Canadiens Vs Capitals 11/28/2008 Review

David Steckel celebrates goal on Jaroslav Halak with Brooks Laich.

Canadiens 0 - Capitals 3

Jose Theodore earned his first shutout as a goaltender for the Washington Capitals, when the Caps beat his original NHL team at home last night. The fact that almost half the team now consists of AHL talent callups from the Hershey Bears didn't keep Washington from blanking the mighty Montreal Canadiens.

Montreal only managed six shots on goal in the first period. It wasn't until 8:43, that Alexie Kovalev found the net with a long range wrist shot. One of Washington's nine shots on goal in the first was a close range wrister from Tomas Fleischmann that not only found the net, it found the back of the net. The play started with an incredibly bad choice by Canadien Francis Bouillon, when he tried to send off an outlet pass from behind his own net. Fleischmann got a stick on it near the front of the net and passed the puck to nearby Michael Nylander. Nylander sent the puck back to Flash, who put it past netminder Jaroslav Halak for his ninth goal of the season.

Montreal outshot Washington 13-9 in the second period, with neither team managing to score a goal. One of the more interesting things that happened in the middle frame was another Montreal mistake. It happened when Higgens missed his intended hit target. Instead, he plowed into a linesman, sending him into the Canadiens' bench. The linesman was fine and was helped back onto the ice without any stoppage in play. These funny little incidents happen from time to time.

Alex Ovechkin celebrates goal with Nicklas Backstrom.

Less than four minutes into the third period, Nicklas Backstrom passed the puck from the sidewall in the offensive zone to Alex Ovechkin in the corner. Ovechkin collected the puck and drove to the front of the goal, where he sent it in for his 13th goal of the season. At 8:46, David Steckel deflected a long range shot by Sami Lepisto for the third and final goal. Also assisting on number four of the season for Steckel, was Brooks Laich.

Both goalies were solid in net throughout this game. Both teams have injured regular players at the moment, but the Capitals have twice as many out of action. With that, most weren't expecting much and have to be pleased with the way the replacements have done in their absence. Ovechkin now has at least a point in 10 straight games. That's currently the longest streak in the NHL. The Caps are the first team to shut out the Canadiens this season. Hopefully, the AHL callups can keep up their good play for a few more games, while some of the injured regulars get closer to being ready to come back. The Capitals will face the Blue Jackets in Columbus, Ohio tonight.

November 28, 2008 Photos by Nick Wass / Associated Press

Thanksgiving Day Promotion Was Really Bad Idea

Many of you will remember a Thanksgiving Day promotion for a Cincinnati, Ohio radio station from several years ago, that turned out to be a really bad idea. The following video covers that bizarre and very unfortunate choice made by their station manager.

WKRP In Cincinnati (Season 1 / Episode 7) - "Turkeys Away"


Happy Thanksgiving!

Mask Man To The Rescue

It was great to see Washington Capitals' goaltender Jose Theodore sporting his new mask in the 5 to 3 win over the Atlanta Thrashers last night. The mask is absolutely beautiful. The Caps' team colors: red, white and blue are included, with a mostly blue background. The silver chrome cross bars originally installed across the front have been replaced with a red set. To see a feature video of that mask at Caps 365, click here.

The new mask reminded me of a former great masked American hero that we haven't seen for a while. Below is a video of that mysterious Mask Man.

Lenny Bruce - "Thank You Mask Man"

Thrashers Vs Capitals 11/26/2008 Review

Superman Alex Ovechkin flies over Thrasher goal crease.

Thrashers 3 - Capitals 5

The Washington Capitals improved their home ice record to 8-0-1 with a win over the Atlanta Thrashers Wednesday evening, on the NHL's 91st Birthday. As of November 27, 2008, the only other team in the league to have no loses within regulation at this point in the season being the San Jose Sharks.

The Capitals managed this convincing win even though they now have eight players, seven regulars and Brian Pothier (out since last season), on the injured list. Four of those players lost after their last game, which prompted a four man call up from their AHL affiliate, the Hershey Bears. Washington also just returned from a long, rough Western road trip. Netminder Jose Theodore and the Caps played like they were well rested while the Thrashers, who just played a game Tuesday night, looked a little sluggish at first.

Viktor Kozlov (center) celebrates goal with Alex Ovechkin (left)
and Nicklas Backstrom (right).

Alex Ovechkin got the party started with a long range blast from the top of an umbrella formation at 3:29 into the first period, while on the first power play of the game. About four minutes later, winger Eric Fehr scored Washington's second goal at even strength, while on a 3 on 1 breakaway with Tomas Fleischmann and Michael Nylander. Atlanta's Bryan Little answered back with a PP goal at 12:08, off an Ilya Kovalchuk rebound. Down by two goals, the Thrash wouldn't get any closer than that the rest of the evening. At 14:01, Ovechkin scored another Capitals' PPG. As with his first, one of the assists came from Viktor Kozlov.

Just 54 seconds into the second period, Ovechkin snapped in his twelfth goal of the season for his sixth NHL career hat trick. That's three goals in three shots on goal, all within a 17:25 game time span. Atlanta's second PP goal of the game came on Slava Kozlov's 12th goal of the season, which he scored off one of a couple rebounds. The period ended with the Caps ahead by two.

Karl Alzner skates with Milan Jurcina in his first NHL game.

The third period started like the first two, with an early period goal by the Capitals. This time it was Kozlov, assisted by Ovechkin. Ovie served up an outlet pass to Kozzy, who skated smoothly up the middle of the ice and easily deposited the biscuit past Ondrej Pavelec, just under the crossbar of the goal. Atlanta's Nathan Oystrick scored the final goal of the game at 12:28 into the third, when his slapshot deflected off of defenseman Tyler Sloan.

All the Caps played well in this game, including the four call ups from Hershey. It was Karl Alzner's very first career NHL game, and he did very well. Alex Ovechkin now has 12 goals and 17 assists this season, putting him (29 points) ahead of former scoring leader for the team, Alexander Semin (27 points). Ovechkin achieved his hat trick in a total on ice time of 8:20, and he almost had a fourth goal a few times. Obviously, it was good to see Washington score on a couple of power plays. The PP is starting to work well for the Caps. The win is sure to have lifted the spirits of future AHL Hall Of Famer and current Capitals' Head Coach Bruce Boudreau, the players and the fans, after having lost three straight on the road.

All November 26, 2008 Photos by Haraz N. Ghanbari / AP

In Rememberance Of Freddie Mercury

Freddie Mercury continues to be in my thoughts as this day passes, so below are a few more YouTube videos dedicated to him.

Sampling of "Time" (Freddie Mercury version)
and "Who Wants To Live Forever?" Instr. (Queen).


Freddie Mercury in Garden Lodge (Real?), Death Reports


Freddie's True Love was Mary Austin.
Queen - "Love Of My Life"

Wishing Freddie Peace And Happiness In Eternity

Freddie Mercury Memorial in Montreux, Switzerland.
Photo from Montreux.ch

May Freddie Mercury (Farrokh Bulsara) enjoy peace and happiness in his eternity. I think of him often. I hope Heaven is everything he could have imagined and more. Today is the 17th anniversary of his death, so it's a day when he is on my mind and in my heart more than usual. May he bring as much joy to all those in Heaven as he has done and still does for those still on this Earth.

Queen - "Who Wants To Live Forever"

Hear The Entire GNRs' 'Chinese Democracy' Now

You can listen to Guns N' Roses' long awaited (to put it ridiculously mildly) album 'Chinese Democracy' before it comes out for sale, exclusively at Best Buy stores November 23, 2008. Check out their MySpace channel to hear the whole darn thing now! To read a good and fair review of this historic (?) release, head on over to the Nightwatcher's House of Rock. Nightwatcher's is an excellent source for the latest music industry news.

"Stone Blue" Rod Price

Rod Price, of the incredible British blues rock band Foghat, was born on November 22, 1947. He joined the band when they formed in 1971. Rod's amazing slide guitar playing was an important part of Foghat's original sound for the 13 albums he appeared on. Price played on a few other albums during his life, including a couple solo efforts, before head trauma injuries suffered while falling down a set of stairs at his home in Wilton, New Hampshire took his life on March 22, 2005.

Foghat - "It Hurts Me Too"
Low quality video, but God how I LOVE That Song!



Foghat - "Slow Ride"

Remembering Rodney

Photo from the Rodney Dangerfield online photo album.

Jacob Cohen, better known as Rodney Dangerfield was born on this day (November 22nd) in 1921. He may have had a hard time getting started as a comedian when he was young, but once he got it together, he became a superstar. The funny looking funny man made many appearances on hit TV shows and Movies during his lifetime. I've had a lot of fun doing my impression of Rodney over the years. There are many of his best bits memorized in my puny brain. He had one heck of a wild life before leaving this world on October 5, 2004 due to various health issues. I will always respect you Rodney.

From Rodney's 'I Can't Take It No More' DVD

Capitals Vs Kings 11/20/2008 Review

Jarret Stoll (Kings) and Tom Poti (Capitals) fight for puck control.
November 20, 2008 Photo by Mark J. Terrill / Associated Press

Capitals 2 - Kings 5

A rested and very young Los Angeles Kings hockey team beat a tired, battered and bruised Washington Capitals team Thursday night. Netminder Brent Johnson and defenseman Shaone Morrisonn returned from injury, but that wasn't enough fresh help to come out on top.

After leading in almost all categories the night before in Anaheim, the tables were turned on the Caps last night. Washington was outworked and outplayed as they skated around on their obviously tired legs. They seemed to be in a bit of a haze in the first period especially.

There were times later on when a livelier style of play returned, and it looked like our boys might pull off one of their stunning comebacks. It was not to be, however. Just not enough gas in the tank. There was some good hockey played, and the last two goals were empty netters. But, empty net goals count, and a loss is a loss.

Brent Johnson sparkled again, while Nicklas Backstrom and Alex Ovechkin continued their point streaks. All is not lost. The team will have a chance to rebound with having today off. The Caps get back to work on Saturday, when they face the Sharks in San Jose, CA.

Joe Walsh Turned 61 Today

Happy 61st Birthday to guitarist, songwriter and singer Joe Walsh. Joe is a likable, somewhat goofy (in a lovable way) musical wonder. The old boy has been around. He's played for The James Gang, The Eagles and some solo stuff, as well. Hope he and The Eagles had a good set at Verizon Center in Washington, DC tonight.

Joe Walsh - "Rocky Mountain Way"

Capitals Vs Ducks 11/19/2008 Review

Nicklas Backstrom scores goal in first period.
November 19, 2008 Photo by Mark J. Terrill / AP

Capitals 6 - Ducks 4

It wasn't the prettiest of games, but the Washington Capitals managed to beat the Anaheim Ducks in a rugged game. Washington did so without three of their key players - Alexander Semin, Sergei Fedorov and Shaone Morrisonn, all of whom are expected to see some action on this four game Western road trip at some point.

Might as well get the dirty "Philadelphia of the West Coast" team out of the way first. The Capitals earned the win by simply playing hard for the full 60 minutes. They even remembered how to score on the power play, which came in real handy. Two of the three PP goals came very early in the first period. A nice redirect of a Mike Green slapper by Tomas Fleischmann at 2:19 and another PP tally at 3:54 compliments of Mike Green. Shortly after Nick Backstrom backhanded the puck into the net, Anaheim's Jonas Hiller was replaced by the Ducks' number one goalie, Jean-Sebastien Giguere. Scoring the fourth and fifth goals of the period, Bobby Ryan and Ryan Getzlaf put two on the scoreboard for the host team.

Looking at the score, it would be hard to believe, but Cap's netminder Jose Theodore actually played well for most of the game. Hiller might not have been too sharp, but Giguere put in a good effort for the Ducks. Alex Ovechkin got his fourth point of the night, when he snapped in a power play goal at 2:43 in the second period. Anaheim's defense left him all alone between the dots, so Giggy had no chance of stopping this one. His other three points came via assists on all three of Washington's first period goals. At 17:48, Matt Bradley made it 5-2, when he scored his second goal of the season with a wrist shot near the goal crease.

David Steckel got his third goal of the season halfway through the third period, when he sent a slapshot into the net. Even though Theodore was particularly sharp in the third, somehow Bobby Ryan and Teemu Salanne each got one by him. Has Salanne ever been held scoreless against the Caps? Washington held on and ended the game in regulation.

Of course there was some rough stuff during this game. After all, it was the Ducks the Caps faced. We lost Mike Green to injury during a high and hard hit that sent Green into the end wall during the second period. It's unknown how bad off his shoulder is at this point. Supposedly, Shaone Morrisonn will replace him in the lineup tonight. The forward lines will remain the same as the Capitals hit Los Angeles for that game.

Happy 59th Birthday Herman Rarebell

Happy Birthday to drummer Herman Rarebell, who turned 59 today.

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From Wikipedia:

Herman 'The German' Rarebell (born November 18, 1949 as Hermann Erbel) is a German drummer, best known for his time in the band Scorpions from 1977 to 1995 [Actually, it was 1996 - Dan, Jr.], playing on 8 studio albums. Rarebell's English was the best in the band at the time of his joining and he was an important composer in the history of the group, writing classic songs like 'Another Piece of Meat', 'Falling in Love' and the second single from Savage Amusement 'Passion Rules The Game' and writing the lyrics for some of the most classic songs of the band like 'Rock You Like a Hurricane', 'Make It Real', 'Dynamite', 'Blackout', 'Arizona', 'Bad Boys Running Wild', 'Don't Stop At the Top', 'Tease Me Please Me' and other songs.

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Herman Rarebell has been involved in a lot of projects since leaving the Scorpions - Solo music, producing etc. He still keeps up with his old mates. He even helped Klaus Meine celebrate his 60th birthday back in May of this year.

Scorpions at Moscow Peace Festival in 1989
"Rock You Like A Hurricane"

Devils Vs Capitals 11/14/2008 Review

Capitals celebrate goal by Brooks Laich.
November 14, 2008 Photo by Luis M. Alvarez / AP

Devils 1 - Capitals 3

The Washington Capitals kept their winning streak alive, beating the New Jersey Devils at home Friday night. For the winning goalie Jose Theodore, it was his first start since November 1st. He turned in his best performance of the season, and got the support he needed from his teammates.

The Caps looked good all around. They played responsibly for the most part, not making too many mistakes. As a matter of fact, they only committed two of the three total penalties called in the whole game.

Brooks Laich, who switched from winger to center for this game, earned the hard hat that's awarded after each game to the player who puts in the best effort. He is the only one to have received the honor twice so far this season. His two point night started off with him deflecting in an Alex Ovechkin wrister at 9:52 in the first period for a power play goal. The hard hat could've gone to a few players, including Tomas Fleischmann. Fleischmann had several good scoring chances, and he did manage to bury one early in the second period.

After Flash's goal, things seemed to slow a bit in the second period. The pace picked back up in the third, and the Devils capitallized on a bad Caps line change. The lack of Washington defenders on the ice led to a breakaway for New Jersey's Patrik Elias. Elias made his chance count, getting the lone Devil's goal at 11:55. The Capitals were able to hold onto their one goal lead. With 20.5 seconds left in the game, and Devils' netminder Scott Clemmensen off the ice for the extra attacker, Alex Ovechkin hit the empty net.

The Devils host the Capitals in tonight's second half of the home and home series. Other than the injury suffered by Alexander Semin, let's hope things go as well as last night for the Caps.

Capitals Vs Hurricanes 11/12/2008 Review

Nicklas Backstrom scores his first goal of the season.
November 12, 2008 Photo by Karl B. DeBlaker / AP

Capitals 5 - Hurricanes 1

The Washington Capitals won their fourth straight hockey game, downing the Carolina Hurricanes in convincing fashion in Wednesday night's NHL action. All of Washington's goals came while their top line was on the ice, with Alex Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom, Alexander Semin and defenseman Mike Green all putting in a multiple point effort.

About five minutes into the fast paced game, Alexander Semin picked off a pass from Carolina's Tim Gleason near the blue line in Washington's end. Semin took the puck into the Hurricanes end before dishing it to Alex Ovechkin. Netminder Michael Leighton met him at the top of the goal crease, but Ovechkin put the puck in the net behind him. Just after the midpoint of the first period, Semin got his 12th goal of the season. Nicklas Backstrom won the offensive zone faceoff, sending the puck to Mike Green. Green's slapshot hit the end wall and the puck went right to Semin, who sent it in far side top shelf. At 11:51, Scott Walker scored Carolina's only goal of the game in the same way, on a power play. Then, less than three minutes later, Washington answered back with a PP goal of their own on a slapshot courtesy of Mike Green. Semin and Backstrom were the helpers on that one. Unfortunately, while Brent Johnson was putting in another solid game, he ended up with a hip injury while making save midway through the first period, which was aggravated or worsened later when he made a sprawling save on an over anxious Ryan Bayda just before the end of the first period. He played out the time remaining on the clock, but was replaced by Jose Theodore for the final 40 minutes.

Semin scored again in the second period, and Backstrom got his first goal of the season in the third. Ovechkin got the primary assist on both. Backstrom also helped on Semin's second goal, while Semin got an assist for the Backstrom goal. The game was out of reach of the hard working but mistake prone Hurricanes, who were no doubt embarrassed after being outplayed so badly.

As of today, Alexander Semin was the current league leader in goals (13) and points (27). He's also taking care of his defensive duties on the ice, giving him the +/- rating lead (+17). Semin earned a career high 5 points in this game. Backstrom collected 4 points, while Ovechkin and Green each managed 2 points. With Theodore playing so well in the second and third periods, the only bad part of the story is losing Johnson to injury. He's had such a great run to start off this season. It would be a big shame if he is out for very long. The next two games are a home and home against the New Jersey Devils.

Lightning Vs Capitals 11/10/2008 Review

Washington Capitals celebrate Alex Ovechkin's goal.

Lightning 2 - Capitals 4

Olie Kolzig ended up being the losing goaltender in Monday night's game versus his old team, the Washington Capitals. It was the first time he had faced his former teammates, since joining the Tampa Bay Lightning after last season.

The first half of the game must have seemed very familiar to Olie. His new team's defense apparently forgot how to play. They looked like the inexperienced lot he had helping him a couple seasons ago, when the Capitals played many games in a similarly horrible way. Within the first 16:24 of the game, Washington scored three goals. Bad line changes left him defenseless, and being screened by his own teammates also made it impossible for Kolzig to make saves on those first period strikes by Tom Poti, Mike Green and Eric Fehr.

About eleven or twelve minutes into the second period, the Lightning's play started to improve. With Washington's David Steckel in the penalty box for interference, Tampa Bay's Gary Roberts put a backhand shot past netminder Brent Johnson for a power play goal at 16:30. Johnson was as sharp as ever throughout this game, but there was a lot of traffic in front of him at the time.

Olie Kolzig in first game versus Washington Capitals.

The tempo picked up in the third period, adding some excitement to the match. At 15:54, Alex Ovechkin stopped his longest ever goalless streak at nine games. The Lightning had just finished a line change, and they left Ovechkin wide open. Ovie tipped in an Alexander Semin pass while waiting on the goal's doorstep. The Lightning finally showed some good puck possession while on the PP within the last couple minutes of the game, and Roberts got his second goal with about 27.4 seconds left. It was too little, too late for the Lightning.

Although he did get an assist on Ovechkin's goal, it was strange not to see a goal from Semin. He's been putting the puck in the net so often this season. Each of the four goals by the Capitals was by a different player. The win leaves Washington tied with the Carolina Hurricanes for first place in the Southeast Division of the NHL.

November 10, 2008 Photos by Haraz N. Ghanbari / AP