Photo by lis_glass Tomorrow night’s Caps game at Verizon Center features the four most talented hockey players on earth competing in a winner take all, game seven, series final struggle for playoff survival. We’ll have the last two winners of the NHL’s Hart Trophy (player most valuable to his team) playing out a rivalry that has made hockey important even to non-fans. Alex Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby have been billed for years as the…

Flamboyant Canadian hockey commentator Don Cherry Canadian television personality Don Cherry grabbed some press this weekend for saying that Alexander Ovechkin celebrates his goals with too much exuberance. Cherry said he favors the Canadian way. Don Cherry is famous for making inflammatory statements while wearing suits in which Elton John would not be caught dead. Cherry’s absurd assault on the NHL’s reigning scoring champion and most valuable player follows criticism of Ovechkin by Pittsburgh…

Photograph of goalie Jose Theodore from scarletcaps.com The Capitals have launched hockey’s first official website for female fans. The web site mixes player stats and bios with videos depicting the personal lives of Capitals players, dreamy headshots and, of course, shopping. As February draws to a close and the National Hockey League prepares for its March trade deadline, the Capitals are in second place in the Eastern conference. To prepare for the playoffs, the…

The Washington Capitals signed NHL MVP Alexander Ovechkin to hockey’s first hundred million dollar contract last season, so the Capitals once again boast the league’s leading scorer. Welcome back fast-skating, obscenely talented left winger Ovechkin, who likes to warm up for games by playing soccer in Crocs, falls to the ice with joy when he scores, and ignores jellyfish postings when he goes for a swim. Even casual fans know by now that the…

In an interview yesterday, discussing the state of goalie development in Russian hockey, Caps superstar Alexander Ovechkin optimistically announced that Caps goaltending prospect Semen Varlamov will remain in Russia this year, playing with Yaroslavl Lokomotiv. This contradicted Ovechkin’s earlier optimistic prediction that Varlamov would challenge Olaf Kolzig for the starting job in Washington, which in turn contradicted Varlamov’s earlier announcement that he planned to play for Lokomotiv this year. Goalies take longer to develop than…

Written by DCist contributor Eli Resnick Last night, the Washington Capitals lost to the Pittsburgh Penguins. They’ve been doing this for quite a while. In this so-called rivalry, the Penguins have owned the Capitals for decades. Well, okay, there was a night back around 1993 that the Capitals beat the Penguins 8-1, and there was one playoff series where the Capitals actually pulled through, but basically, as the NHL decides whether to build the rivalry…

Written by DCist contributor Jesse Rounds. With just five of their last 18 games coming at home the Caps hoped to take advantage of their final extended homestand to build momentum. With a record of 2-2-1, the Caps failed to realize their hopes and were unable to create a consistent style of play. Wednesday night saw the Caps destroy the Pittsburgh Penguins. In the last game of this season’s series between the two rivals, The…

This entry was written by DCist contributor Jesse Rounds Good news has been in short supply for the Washington Capitals lately. They have lost four of the last five, with their only win coming against the up and down Toronto Maple Leafs. In the home game against the Leafs the Capitals looked strong, shutting down the Leafs offense and playing the penalty kill very well. However, back-to-back 5-0 loses to the Tampa Bay Lightning and…

Maybe D.C. isn’t exactly what you’d call a hockey town, but plenty of fans are cheering the return of the Washington Capitals. After a year long NHL lock out, the Caps are back with a young line up, some new faces and one hockey phenom, left wing forward Alexander Ovechkin. The top pick in the 2004 NHL draft, the 20-year old Russian rookie has been lauded as hockey’s next big thing. His performance on the…