Seven Days of Hockey Summary

So much can happen in the world of professional hockey over the course of seven days. Given that this is the first opportunity I've had to blog in a while, I shall focus on all three of the games that I have had the pleasure of attending over the last week.


Capitals vs Bruins:
Last Saturday we headed to DC for the much anticipated clash of the Eastern Conference Titans. The Boston Bruins were in town, and looking to continue a streak of road victories that commenced after their last visit to Washington. The Verizon Center was rocking on Saturday night. Both teams knew the importance of this game, and the whole 60 minutes was filled with a level of intensity more appropriate for a playoff game. Given how both teams have performed during the first half of the season, it remains probable that these two giants may clash in the postseason - so the crowd was ready for a preview of things to come.


With some early penalty troubles, the Caps would give up the opening goal when Marc Savard beat Jose Theodore early in the second period. Washington would respond just over one minute later with a power play score of their own from Mike Green. The game remained 1-1 after two periods of hockey. The sold-out crowd was very loud during the last 20 minutes of play, and the decibel meter must have exploded when Alexander Semin broke away with some fancy puck handling, raced down the ice and beat Tim Thomas to give the home team the go ahead score. I had the (dis)pleasure of being seated amongst Bruins fans, so it was nice to jump out of my seat and cheer like a man possessed (much to their dismay). The Caps would hold on to the lead, and kill a penalty in the dying seconds of the game to seal the win. Both teams had played a strong game, and I am sure that the two remaining games between these two teams up in Boston will be as equally intense.


Hershey Bears vs Worcester Sharks:
Sunday evening was spent at the Giant Center where a regular season hockey game was completely overshadowed by the potential for Alexandre Giroux to break a 20-year record for goals scored in consecutive games. AHL and NHL legend Brett Hull had established a record of 14 consecutive goal-scoring games, and Giroux had equalled that impressive tally during a shoot-out loss to the Philadelphia Phantoms on the previous night. Trailing 0-2 after some quick scoring opportunities from the Sharks, Hershey seemed lackluster until defenseman Sami Lepisto fired a rocket from the point into the back of the net. The Lepisto goal sparked a stagnant Hershey team, who dominated offensively down the stretch only to be denied by a strong performance from Worcester goaltender Thomas Greiss.


With a tripping penalty assessed against Worcester midway through the third period, the crowd at the Giant Center would erupt when Giroux beat Greiss and tied the game at 2-2. With 13:33 left in the game on 18th January, Alexandre Giroux removed Brett Hull from the AHL record books and set a new benchmark of 15 consecutive games with a goal. Congratulations to you Alex - what an accomplishment!!!


The scoresheet would remain the same through the remainder of regulation and the overtime period. Michal Neuvirth, the rookie Bears goaltender, would stand tall during the shootout and deny all five of the Sharks attempts. Griess was almost as impressive, preventing 4 of the 5 shots he faced - Kyle Wilson would connect and give the Bears not only the victory, but the icing on the cake for a night Alexandre Giroux will never forget.


Hershey Bears vs Wilkes-Barre Penguins:
With a convincing road victory over Norfolk on Wednesday, the Bears returned home on Friday night to face the baby Pens. The thought of having to watch the Penguins is always enough to make me frown, but I would be the recipient of "bad vibes" once I learned that our good friend Terry Koharski would be officiating the game. Now granted, Koharski is a much better option than Nygel Pelletier or the grinch David Banfield, but even so, to put it bluntly, Koharski sucks too!


This game was everything we knew it would be. These two divisional rivals have no liking for each other - the usual physical altercations, cheap shots, trash talking and the like were to be expected. But for Koharski to penalize Chris Bourque five minutes for a simple tripping penalty was simply ludicrous. Again, five minutes for a trip - what next, a game misconduct for too many men on the ice????? The Pens would rebound from a two-goal deficit with power play goals that resulted from the often dubious calls from Koharski.


Hershey would go on to lose in a shootout, with goaltender Michal Neuvirth giving up two goals as opposed to John Curry who would be beaten only once. The Bears played the better game, but the Penguins got the breaks from Koharski that kept them in it, and they won the old-fashioned way after the overtime period expired.


Kudos to Keith Aucoin for dropping the gloves with Janne Pesonen during the second period. Given his size, I was always concerned that Aucoin was an easy target for opposing teams, but he has proven time and time again that he is not only a great hockey player, but that he has the mental and physical attributes to stand his ground. Well done Keith!


The Bears can put this game behind them, and concentrate on the task at hand this evening as the Manchester Monarchs make an appearance at the Giant Center. We can't wait for that one.


Notes:
* Congratulations to Bears goaltender Michal Neuvirth for being awarded the third star in the ECHL All-Star game. Neuvirth represented the South Carolina Stingrays.

* Good luck to former Bears defenseman Josef Boumedienne, who has returned to Europe. We still miss you Boomer.

* Nice to see Capitals head coach Bruce Boudreau in attendance at the Giant Center last night.

* Good luck to Alexander Ovechkin during the All-Star weekend in Montreal - and props to Nicklas Backstrom for snubbing his invitation to the young stars game. Good luck also to the Bears players and coaches that will be part of the AHL All-Star game in Worcester.

Caught some hockey up north of the border....

As previously posted by wifey, we ventured to the great city of Montreal for two games at the Bell Centre. We had purchased our tickets several months ago, and it was pure luck that our vacation plans coincided with the retiring of the #33 jersey that belonged to the legendary Patrick Roy.

The ceremony itself was phenomenal! Patrick Roy entered the building through the main entrance, and was followed by a camera crew as he marched through the concourse (much to the shock and delight of fans grabbing their hot dogs and beers), before entering the arena to the cheers of 20000+ fans. Stopping to chat briefly with Jean Beliveau, Roy made his way onto the ice and acknowledged those who made him welcome (and given the history, he probably did not know what the overall reaction would be). After the obligatory speeches, the banner raising took place and #33 was forever enshrined amongst the other legends that represented the bleu blanc et rouge.

The Canadiens were unable to put the icing on Roy's cake, however, as they fell to the Boston Bruins in a shootout. To really rub salt in the wound, one of the Bruins goals came from Milan Lucic, who was booed consistently for his actions in the previous meeting between these two original six rivals. The anticipated on-ice attack for Lucic never materialized, and many left the game feeling the effects of both a loss and unfinished business with Boston's agitator.

It All Started in 1985...

Nearly twenty-four years ago, I fell in love with a game called hockey and especially a team called the Montréal Canadiens courtesy of CBC's Hockey Night in Canada, which I was able to watch via a huge satellite dish in our Kansas backyard. My parents thought I was absolutely insane but gave up a lot of Saturday night television for my addiction, even buying me a Habs jersey as a Christmas present.

This past weekend, I finally saw my beloved Habs play at home in the Bell Centre and was able to scream "Go Habs Go!" along with 21,000+ similarly addicted people. Even better, the weekend we chose for our hockey excursion was the one during which Patrick Roy's jersey was retired, in an emotional (and beautifully done) pre-game ceremony. The fact that this was a player that I had actually watched and followed made it especially meaningful for me, and I was grateful that Patrick read the French portions of his speech slowly enough that I could pick up quite a bit of what he was saying. :-)

The game itself, an Original Six matchup against the Bruins, was a bit of a disappointment in that the Habs simply did not look sharp. Granted, the Bruins have been on a streak of late, but the sheer numbers of missed passes and botched defensive matchups cannot be attributed solely to the Bruins' skill. As much as I enjoyed the play of Alex Kovalev last year, his play so far this year leaves much to be desired. It's as if he is simply a shell of himself, or simply marking time, I'm not sure which.

We also attended Monday's game against the Islanders, and since so many have already harped on poor Ryan O'Byrne, I won't follow suit. The fact is that the Habs had plenty of chances to win that game and failed to capitalize on the majority of them. As big a mistake as O'Byrne made, it's equally foolish to pin the loss on him.

On our way out of Montréal Tuesday, we caught some of the morning discussion on the Team 990, and I have to agree with the commentators, most of whom agree that the Habs are not playing as a team but as a group of individuals. What is the reason for this? Ego? Poor guidance from their coach? Believing too much of their own press?

Since we were at the Capitals/Thrashers game last night (and I'll let Hubs tell you about that one - it was a goody), we didn't catch most of the Habs' win over the Red Wings last night, but I'm very pleased that they were able to take that kind of a win on the road. Tomorrow night we will be a divided household as I represent Habs Nation at the Phone Booth and Hubs supports the Caps - hopefully it will be a happy ending for le Canadien!

Afraid to Come to the Party

Yesterday the Caps delivered a thoroughly disappointing performance in their second playoff game... as the game progressed, I think everyone in our section (excluding, of course, the significant contingent of Flyers fans) grew increasingly frustrated with the missed passes, failed attempts at fancy plays, and most of all the seeming reluctance to shoot the puck at the net. It was as if a completely different team showed up, one intimidated and cowed by the big, bad Flyers. Where Friday's team came out hitting and playing assertively, Sunday's team looked afraid.

Props to the Flyers and especially Martin Biron for great play Sunday, of course; but the Caps also failed to play the way everyone there knew they could, and that was perhaps the biggest disappointment. I wouldn't have minded the loss nearly as much if the team had been on their game, but that wasn't the case. (This is why I'm disappointed in the Canadiens' loss to the Bruins, but not disheartened. A streak can only last so long, for one thing, and I thought the Habs looked fairly sharp. The Bruins were motivated by the lengthy string of losses to the Habs and they really wanted the monkey off their backs.)

The Caps statistically come back with a solid performance after a poor one, so I'm hopeful that Tuesday's game will be a much better showing. They will have to come out firing and hitting like they did Friday night, though, in order to regain the momentum, and they need to stick to basic hockey rather than trying to make the flashy plays. I'd rather have pucks hit plainly into the net than swishy moves that result in a turnover to the Flyers.

A Watched Pot Never Boils...

Three games tonight that are critical to the Capitals, and waiting for at least one of them (if not more) to turn out the way we need... if I'm this nervous, I can't imagine how Bruce Boudreau must be feeling!

I find it irritating that DirecTV is blocking the Flyers game(especially as it's a sellout), but I'm working around that by listening to XM, flipping between Hurricanes/Panthers and Senators/Bruins, and watching the gamesheet for Hershey/Binghamton. I can't say this is the way to take a close look at any particular team, but at least I can keep up with the scores real time.

(As of this writing, Fla 2, Car 1; Bruins and Senators scoreless; Phl 1, Njd 0; Bears 1, Senators 0.)