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…

Earlier this season, the Caps ranked first in the entire NHL – for about an hour, before the Ottawa Senators reclaimed the lead. Yesterday the Caps were tied for last place overall, and had spent two whole days in sole possession of last place in the Eastern Conference. The Senators, meanwhile, remained on top of the league with thirteen wins and one loss. Last night, with three of their top five wingers out injured, the…

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…

The Capitals have assigned Ben Clymer to their farm team. For two years, Clymer has provided the Caps with leadership, toughness and first hand knowledge of what it’s like to win a Stanley Cup. This year and next year, he’ll take that knowledge to the American Hockey League’s Hershey Bears. Clymer joins Stanley Cup winner Joe Motzko, whom the Caps signed this summer as a free agent and demoted over the weekend, in giving the…

Holy smokes! Giant fish on the MTA, Paris Hilton in jail, then out, then in again, Al Gore, goatses, blumpkins, Matt Damon, and baby art critics! It’s been a busy week across the Ist-A-Verse, and here’s a smattering of what’s been going on. In Gothamist’s neck of the woods, they found out that many things are possible: A man caught a 40+ pound fish off the Rockaways and took it home on the subway. Graffiti…

Last night the Hershey Bears lost the decisive fifth game of the Calder Cup Finals to the Hamilton Bulldogs. The Bulldogs will now get raises and promotions to the NHL, while the Bears will go home to dark, empty apartments and watch nature shows, searching for an equally absurd example of an obnoxious housepet dominating a bear. Actually, losing in the finals is a perfectly acceptable outcome from the Capitals’ standpoint. Their young players got…

That’s right. Caps are in the finals! Admittedly, the Capitals are not in this year’s Stanley Cup Finals. That honor is shared by the Anaheim No-Longer-Mighty Ducks and the Ottawa Senators. However, many Capitals are still in the finals. No, we’re not talking about Ottawa’s Antoine Vermette, who was only a Capital for one beautiful summer day, when the Caps claimed him off waivers and then traded him right back to Ottawa. We’re not even…

Written by DCist contributor Eli Resnick. Apparently, we are all on drugs. There is no other simple explanation for the collective hallucination that has overtaken all three people paying attention to the Washington Capitals’ game late last night against the Colorado Avalanche. No, the rink didn’t fall off its mountain, and no, Ray Bourque did not appear to the crowd in an Avs uniform, hipcheck Ovechkin and score a hat-trick. Instead, something much stranger seemed…

The cool, crisp autumn air blows through pumpkin fields. The calendar reads “October”, and the days are getting shorter. Lucky baseball fans are afflicted by the phenomenon known as Pennant Fever. Or, if you’re like us (and fans of about 5 other teams), you’ve got Managerial Vacancy Fever. The only prescription? More rumors! Independent of non-news, there are some area sports teams playing actual games this weekend. Caps Open Season With Low Expectations, Booze…

This entry was written by DCist contributor Jesse Rounds. Last Friday the Capitals had a chance to win their “playoff” series with the Carolina Hurricanes. Once again their offense proved up to the task with three goals. However, they let the Hurricanes score three short-handed goals on their own powerplay opportunities to tie the game. That would be the story of the game for the Hurricanes. As Coach Glen Hanlon noted “We’ve said all along…