This weekend the Capitals won their first two games under new head coach Bruce Boudreau. WashingtonCaps.com Senior Writer Mike Vogel announced that Boudreau had turned the team around by fixing the power play. This is true, but Vogel writes that he fixed it by “promoting Nicklas Backsrrom (sic) and Mike Green to the first unit and moving Alex Ovechkin up to his more customary forward spot from the point, where he had been stationed for…

Since trading away team leader and expert benchwarmer Brian Sutherby to save money and cure a losing streak, the Caps have chalked up two more uninspired losses to teams from subtropical climatic zones. Last night’s nominal crowd at Verizon Center cheered optimistically when the Caps lobbed soft shots from the blueline into the catching glove of Atlanta’s third-string goalie, Johan Hedberg. They cheered sarcastically when Capitals museum piece Olaf Kolzig stopped easy shots. Some fans…

This weekend the Capitals decided not to add a great goalie to pull them up from the dregs of the standings. After losing seven of eight games, the Caps were in last place. This gave them the first chance to pick up Ilya Bryzgalov, a goalie placed on waivers because he didn’t enjoy playing backup on the Stanley Cup champion Anaheim Ducks. Two years ago, Bryzgalov posted one of the greatest playoff shutout streaks in…

This weekend the Caps avoided a nasty mess next summer when they signed Alexander Semin to a two year, $9.2 million contract extension. The left winger finished last season second on the team in scoring, and has been the most creative puckhandler in Washington since before the lockout. If Semin had gone until summer without a new deal, he would have become a restricted free agent (RFA). As an RFA, Semin could have signed a…

The skies are partly cloudy overhead with a high of 84 degrees and the winds are blowing a blustery four miles per hour. This can only mean one thing. Hockey is back in the Nation’s Capital. Of course the Capitals would hardly know it tonight as they start their season in cold, rainy Atlanta, Georgia. At least they’ll be home tomorrow to play Carolina. For the third year of probably only three years, the NHL…

Well, it’s been several weeks since we got a false report out of Russia saying that Washington Capitals superstar left winger Alexander Ovechkin savagely attacked someone. Therefore it came as no surprise yesterday when we got an apparently false report out of Russia saying that Alexander Ovechkin broke a hockey agent’s jaw in a bar fight. Last time, we had to watch the video to see that nothing happened. This time all we have is…

In anticipation of 2005 4th overall pick Niklas Backstrom’s arrival from Sweden, the Capitals had already signed marginal Swedish defenseman (and former Capital) Josef Boumedienne to a one-year contract to interpret at the airport and through training camp. Therefore we have to try to look at the signing of Swedish center (and former Capital) Michael Nylander, to a four-year, nineteen and a half million dollar contract, as a hockey move. We said, “try.” Nylander initially…

With the NHL draft beginning this Friday evening, the Capitals must be excited to possess the fifth overall pick. That high pick gives them a chance to add one more skilled young prospect to a corps of young talent that includes First Team All Star Alexander Ovechkin, hard-shooting winger Alexander Semin and enough other good young players to get their top minor league affiliate to the last two AHL finals. One player likely to slip…

Last week we reported that seven guys who played for the Capitals this year are now tearing up the American Hockey League playoffs with the Hershey Bears. Over the weekend, the Bears beat the evil Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins two more times, taking a 3-0 lead in the best of seven East Division Final series. The Bears weren’t the only Capitals beating up on less talented players, though. Alex Ovechkin spends his summer vacations playing in the…

Today, with great pride and pleasure, we bring you the second and final part in our season review of the tragedy known as the 2006-07 Washington Capitals. Yesterday we looked at the team’s sticky relationship with elite offensive star Alexander Semin, their odd choice of a ten million dollar free agent with almost no NHL experience and the team’s pattern of hiring capable but downtrodden goaltenders to help them plummet through the standings into the…