All Entries in the "Washington Capitals" Category
Hockey Independent Playoff Roundtable: 2013 First Round Predictions
With the 2013 Stanley Cup Playoffs set to begin just a few hours from now, four members of the Hockey Independent writing staff have come together to predict each and every first round series of this year’s postseason. The contributing authors to today’s piece will be Cris Cohen (New York Rangers), Seth Levin (New Jersey Devils), Bill Philp (Tampa Bay Lightning) [...]
Rink Recollections: Jeff Odgers, NHL, 1991-2003
By Brian D’Ambrosio Jeff Odgers played every NHL game as if it were his final. He never took a game for granted –scared that his career could fade away at any moment. Odgers scrapped and gritted his way onto the roster and he made sure he never provided his coaches with a sufficient reason to [...]
Can They Pull This Off?
Here we stand, in relative disbelief. As previously noted, we expected this team to miss the playoffs by a fairly wide margin. We expected that 53 points made a playoff team, and we expected the Islanders to be limping in at the end at the 46 point level. So bully for them, they shut us [...]
Resurgent First Line Leads Bruins to 4-1 Win over Washington
BOSTON, MA — For the first time since Game 7 of their Eastern Conference Quarterfinal series last April, the Boston Bruins played host to the Washington Capitals at TD Garden on Saturday afternoon for some pre-St. Patrick’s Day matinee action. Back on March 5, the Caps got the better of the B’s once again after [...]
Brendan Witt: A Life of Old-Time Hockey, New Beginnings
By Brian D’Ambrosio Brendan Witt knew one of the Philadelphia Flyers would approach. After all, the bruising fourth line tended to drop the gloves. Slightly after the six-minute mark of the first period, the “Dan Line” -consisting of Dan Kordic, Daniel Lacroix and Scott Daniels - hoped to send a message. “Philly put these guys [...]
GameDay: Bruins Visit Caps in Playoff Rematch at Verizon Center
Teams: Boston Bruins at Washington Capitals Records: Boston – 14-3-2 (30 Points) , Washington 8-11-1 (17 Points) Location: Verizon Center – Washington, DC Time: 7:00 P.M. (EST) TV/Radio Info: NESN (Edwards, Brickley, Funayama) – 98.5 The Sports Hub (Goucher, Beers) Last Game: Montreal Canadiens 4 , Bruins 3 ……. Capitals 3 , Winnipeg Jets 0 Tonight’s Lineup (Subject To Change): FORWARDS: Marchand–Bergeron–Seguin Lucic–Krejci–Horton Peverley–Kelly–Paille Pandolfo–Campbell–Thornton DEFENSE: Chara–Boychuk Hamilton-Seidenberg McQuaid-Ference GOALTENDER: Rask Khudobin [...]
EAST COAST BIAS Presents: NHL Goes To The OSCARS
Coming up soon will be a troupe of bloggers who are the creme of the NHL blogosphere to provide expertise, humor, observation and more. We are coining the project: East Coast Bias. As a bit of a taster to the effort we present to you an image tribute for Oscar night… PRESENTS NHL [...]
Devils battle back to beat Capitals 3-2
Tonight the Devils found a way to win a sloppy hockey game. Special teams proved the difference for both teams. New Jersey’s penalty trouble in the second period allowed Washington to take control of the contest. Fortune turned against the Capitals in the third period as New Jersey found themselves with quality chances on the [...]
Honey, I Lost the Kids (part 2 of 2)
In the first part of this epic, we promised three pieces of evidence to explain how Garth Snow does things with the sole intention of job preservation. We pointed out how he is relatively awful at drafting in part one. Part two will speak to other shortcomings, starting here: Two- Garth Snow uses salary cap [...]
Honey, I Lost the Kids – part one of two
It’s almost like a reflex when you ask hockey fans about the best way to build a winner “It’s the draft!” Drafting allow you to develop players or trade for established ones. Since the Isles have had no playoffs since 07-08, they’ve been in rebuild mode. We’re going to look at this draft rebuild with [...]
Hockey Myths Exposed – Defensemen Need Time to Develop
Anyone who has watched more than a handful of hockey games gets serenaded with statements that are undisputed in the hockey world, but in reality it doesnt make a lot of sense. We’ve already disproved the myth that power forwards need years to develop in our article “Ninogate,” in which we use the “talent is [...]
Destination Unknown, part 1
When it comes to the Islanders, there are two storied histories. One is the epic run including 19 consecutive playoff series wins, something not done by the likes of Michael Jordan, Wayne Gretzky, Terry Bradshaw, or whatever teams you associate with winners. Speaking of associating with winners, one team that is universally not associated [...]
Ed Kastelic, Washington Capitals, Hartford Whalers, 1985-1992
By Brian D’Ambrosio Ed Kastelic was a fervent 20-year-old winger when he made his NHL debut as a Washington Capital, a December 5, 1985 contest against the St, Louis Blues. Two days later he picked up his first fighting major against Vancouver Canucks’ well-prepared enforcer Glen Cochrane. Soon, he was challenging the positions of perennially [...]
Hockey Independent Roundtable: Preseason Stanley Cup Predictions
Hello everyone and welcome again to the Hockey Independent Roundtable. In today’s piece, five HI writers will provide you all with their early picks for the playoffs ad the Stanley Cup. This piece will double as Part III of my five-part 2013 NHL season preview. Part I –> Northeast Division Preview Part II –> Eastern [...]
2013 Eastern Conference Power Rankings
The 2013 NHL season is no longer an 82 game marathon, but instead is a 48 game dash to the finish line. Will teams that had multiple players skating in Europe fair better? Will veteran squads win because they will have fresh legs all season long? Only the next few months will tell. Here are [...]
2013 NHL Season Preview: Part II: Eastern Conference Outlook
In part II of my 2013 NHL season preview, check out previews and predictions for the entire Eastern Conference. Part I –> Northeast Division Preview Part II –> Eastern Conference Preview Part III –> Hockey Independent Roundtable: Preseason Stanley Cup Predictions Part IV –> 2013 Boston Bruins Roster Predictions 1) New York Rangers – Even [...]
Jay Wells: Rugged Defenseman Reflects on Scrappy 18-Year NHL Career
By Brian D’Ambrosio Jay Wells selflessly battled numerous enforcers of substantial note: Bob Probert, Jay Miller, Dave Brown (a few times) and Marty McSorley, among the list. One of the game’s exemplary teammates, his career spanned from 1979 to 1997, a period in which Wells stood up to the roughest individuals to ever to patrol [...]
Cam Janssen Interview a Red Flag for NHL
Since the NHL lockout in 04-05, the NHL Enforcer has become a dying breed. Teams still install these big guns, er, fists into the line-up during the regular season to protect players and intimidation. Many of these men are actually good people off the ice compared to their “super villain” image when they jump the [...]
Hockey’s Christmas: 10 Predictions For 2012 Free Agency
In many ways, July 1 and the opening of unrestricted free agency is much like Christmas for hockey fans. Puck heads wake up early and rush to their living rooms early in the morning. But instead of checking underneath a Christmas tree, they’ll make a beeline straight towards the nearest computer. As the clock strikes [...]
Hockey Independent Offseason Predictions: Does Alex Semin Have An NHL Future?
Members of the Hockey Independent crew have come together again for another series of offseason articles for your reading pleasure. The contributing authors to today’s piece will be Cris Cohen (New York Rangers), Seth Levin (New Jersey Devils), Alex Muscat (Detroit Red Wings) and myself, Benjamin Woodward (Boston Bruins). Each of us have taken on [...]
