SaucyJack

This morning, billionaire sports club owner Ted Leonsis, along with Virginia Guvnah Glenn Youngkin, announced a non-binding agreement to move the Capitals and Wizards to Alexandria Virginia’s ‘Potomac Yards’ area, just south of Reagan National Airport, as early as 2028.

We’ll see.  Early reviews from all the WaPo user comments include:

1) What, another billionaire getting tax breaks?

2) Traffic is already horrendous enough in the Northern VA suburbs of DC.

3) Virginia taxpayers ain’t gonna stand for the extra hits to their wallets.

4) Considerately more inconvenient for all the Maryland fans commuting over the Metro.  Yes, they’ll expand the Potomac Yards station capacity, but now a risk of Marylanders stranded at the DC transfer point if games run late and the last Red Line trains heading north have left.

5) Ruins being able to stop off for an early dinner in Penn Quarter or Chinatown (6th/7th Street corridors) that are right by Capital One Arena.

6) A financial and developmental disaster for the struggling District of Columbia and its ‘downtown district’ - first Covid now this.

7) All still needs approval from the local legislative bodies.

———————————————

C’mon Ted, you got yer Caesar’s Sportsbook right in yer arena, and now you own the TV network (Monumental Sports).  Now you want more Corporate Wellfare too?  
 

Keep the teams in D.C., dude.  Keep them more central, and where Metro Access is already well established at a high capacity.

TOPIC 1:

Good grief…who knew…that those LA Things were road-undefeated going into last night’s game on The Island?

Their 11-0 road record got slightly tarnished in OT last night.  But still no zero-point results after 12 road visits. Remarkable!!  (King-like, even.)

TOPIC 2:

Watched the end of Minnesota-OhioState last night.  Curiously, I looked up the BigTen standings.  Although confusedly organized, I figured out (and as confirmed by announcer commentary) that College Hockey does it Right!!!

That is, rewards make sense; standings are the proper “zero sum game”, where all games are ‘equal’ granting 3 points total:  3 for reg win, 2 for OT/SO win, 1 for OT/SO loss, 0 for reg loss.

So one big upside to College Hockey is that “following the horse race” is much more fun and interesting, in that a reg winner gains something (1 pt) on an OT winner on any given night…as it should be!!!

Just makes the pro game look even more stupid in this regard.  And for so frigging long now.  Well, idiocy abounds in the world…

Strange ending to regulation tonight in the Stars-Caps 4-4 deadlock: both teams seemed to risk a loss by trying to score before the OT.  Whaah?!

You’ve got 1.5 points (on average, you win half of your OTs) in the mathematical bag.  Yet you’re risking dropping 1.5 (to zero pts) for the smallish chance that you raise a mere 0.5 ( to two pts).  

What a stupid gamble!

(Especially for an inter-conference contest where point difference means squat between the two squads.)

When will it sink in, after 25 or so years of this bush league standings rules, that you’ll likely win the Presidents Trophy by playing 82 draws, all going to the OT/shootout phase?

You’d garner 123 standings points, on average (winning half of the OTs.)

On 12/4/2023 at 12:22 PM, yave1964 said:

15. Capitals three goalies. Underrated.

On 12/4/2023 at 12:22 PM, yave1964 said:

ADAMS Spencer Carbery, coaching ,Capitals hitting the buttons.

Many buttons have fallen off the past two games (outscored 10-1) and they likely need strings attached to their mittens, too.

At least one goaltender for sure, as Charlie Lindgren has stolen more than one win so far this season.  (Without him, I’ll guess you’d have ranked them lower.)

And they needed all of them!

(Anaheim nearly pulled off a miracle; narrowed the lead to 1 with 27 seconds left; then got a great look in the high slot through a maze with maybe 5 ticks remaining.  Went wide.)

Wilson can actually play, actually make a funky move to fake out a goalie, unlike many of his teammates.  (I fear that Ovi is one of those, nowadays.)

Tom Wilson with a Hat Trick in DisneyTown, in his 700th career game.  We know You love him.  Rejoice, Forum!

Who had the Caps going 1-1 to start their 5-game road trip, but by losing at San Jose yet winning in L.A. ?  Glad I didn’t wager…

Won’t you get hip…to this timely tip,

When the Caps take their Calee-forn-ee-a trip:

Don’t make picks, on Route, Sixty-six.

P.S. Caps TV caught a good 2-second look at Pat Sajak in the crowd last night.  I wasn’t using the phone so didn’t get a frame capture to share.  Dang.  Well, he looked slightly unkempt…imagine a cross of him and Steve Bannon.

7 hours ago, SaucyJack said:

so published their final Monday edition without the result or a story.  
 

LOL…I guess the pain will be less when it is chronicled in the Tuesday paper.

…and of course I am confused, as is the usual case.  Meant to say Tuesday, then Wednesday.  

Caps lose at lowly San Jose last night.  (Egads, on the heels of the Oiler drubbing.) 
 

Apparently the Washington Post decided it was not worth waiting for the dismal final result to become official, so published their final Monday edition without the result or a story.  
 

LOL…I guess the pain will be less when it is chronicled in the Tuesday paper.

I realize that Edmonton is not having the season they expected, what with players like Draisaitl and Mick Jesus.  So I gather that they’ve recognized the need to diversify, raise revenue, whatever, so as to overcome their slow start.  ==> Apparently there is money in timepiece hygiene.

So…in a get out of Dodge Black Friday Washington DC matinee (Oilers finishing 7 of 9 on the road, Capitals finishing 9 of 11 at home) Edmonton personnel put their newfound skills to good use and cleaned Washington’s clocks during their 5-0 drubbing.

Wow, probably nobody had Washington at 8-4-2 at this point.  But hard to know if they are a real contender.  
 

Two road wins (NJD, NYI); then beating Vegas.  But VGK missed on 4 breakaways (one short-handed on a major) and 1 open slot shot after a 3rd period turnover.  Any conversion of thise 5 “Golden” chances would have made it 1-1.  Charlie Lindgren won that game for the Caps; the defense is suspect and the PP is amongst the worst in the league early in the season.

But Strome had a good snipe, and the team is faster without Backstrom.  Even Ovie has been sighted passing a puck.  
 

Jury’s out, let the young’uns keep playing.

At least a pro league overcomes the North American two-team world dominance problem that usually renders national competitions boring until the inevitable CAN-USA women’s’ final. (I’m presuming all six teams would have a mix of ladies from Canada, USA, and various European countries.  Surely.)  At least there is a chance for better drama.

But like someone said earlier, I too stopped watching WNBA after giving it some chance years back.  The same would likely happen with hockey.

Ladies - your best bet remains the tennis racket ! 

9 hours ago, Brewin Flames said:

I love the passion of fans, using the middle finger happens every nhl game, almost a rite of passage.

I suppose.  Now, my frame capture wasn’t from live play, it was a celebration replay before going to commercial for the 2nd intermission.  
 

What are the possibilities?  Some might guess that the Capitals producers at Monumental Sports Network hadn’t noticed the, um, passion of the two front row Devil’s fans…

…but I hope and prefer the other possibility, that the producers were aware and were of a schoolboy naughty disposition at the time and thought it great fun to show the full festive air after a Caps goal.   

7 hours ago, Brewin Flames said:

with Paul Coffey as an assistant

Well this has to thrill the old-timer Oilers fans, seeing as the 80’s with Edmonton was his heyday…3-time Norris winner, 3 Cups with Gretzky/Kurri/Messier et al.

Paul Coffey would be the highest-scoring D-man in League history were it not for the Bruins’ Ray Bourque.

On 11/10/2023 at 9:14 AM, Alexandron said:

we should not compare records of Ovechkin and Gretzky in other categories, because they played in different era, different hockey, different teams.

I don’t know that the sport today is all that different from the 80’s and 90’s when Gretzky ran wild and earned what I think is his G.O.A.T. honor.

Now the game is very different from the days I first watched as a kid, roughly 1968 to 1972.  Teams mostly played 4 D and 3 lines.  An extra forward might come on mostly to penalty kill.

Defenseman always skated backwards in their own zone.  It seemed like a rush was nearly always 3-on-2 as forwards didn’t seem to back-check quickly.  
 

Bottom line:  if someone went to YouTube and watched numerous game clips from, say, 1970 & 1984 & 2022, I’ll wager that play from 1984 resembles that of 2022 (38 years later) far more than it does to 1970 (14 years prior).

8 minutes ago, TropicalFruitGirl26 said:

had no clue he was reading our site and decided to take me up on it! 

Never under-estimate our collective influence on the NHL Zeitgeist (say wha bruh-meister?!)

I miss cool line names.  When’s the last time?  I was calling Nicklas Backstrom’s the Slow Line (Slow Lane?) but now he’s LTIR and maybe never to play again for Caps or anyone else other than the Swedish Senior Squad.
 

So…’The Jimi Hendrix Experience’ was his band’s name.  We can call our Blackhawk phenom’s line ‘The Connor Bedard Experience’.  Who’s with me?

We just don’t acknowledge enough, how warm-spirited NHL fans are.  
 

I’m enjoying the 3-0 road lead the Caps have after two periods tonight…especially given the good sportsmanship exhibited by the surely disappointed Devils crowd.

It warms the cockles of one’s heart , it does…

On 11/9/2023 at 6:05 PM, TropicalFruitGirl26 said:

The Connor Bedard show comes to Tampa, FL....

Scoring twice last night in a road victory over a recent powerhouse, ChiTown promoters are now calling it the Connor Bedard Experience..

On 10/27/2023 at 11:28 AM, SaucyJack said:

The bigger test:  overcoming what must be a many-years long phobia for the veteran Caps:  having to play home games with confidence.  This squad which can play well on the road have to be amongst the Suckiest on home ice.

On 10/27/2023 at 11:28 AM, SaucyJack said:

So, 9 of the next 11, starting tonight and ending the night after American Thanksgiving, are at home.  Ouch.

On the road to Metro NYC for two, before 4 more at home to complete the 9 of 11.  How they doin’ home-wise so far in these first five games?

So-so.  If grownups ran things, they’d have snared 9 of the max 15 points with a 2-1-1-1 record.  Sounds decent…But all the wins were close and far from home-dominating.  And generally the Caps look poor in their ability to convert quality chances:

1) OT win over Minn was a “squirrely” game according to John Carlson.  Dominated possession mostly but easily could have lost since they cannot bury a puck often.

2) Narrow victory over un-mighty San Jose per lucky late ‘own goal’.

3) Columbus game similar to Minn contest; dominated play at times but only scored twice and won by one; and only because Charlie Lindgren stood on his head.  I’ll bet analysis revealed them lucky to win.  Again, burying pucks a low % proposition for them.

4) Drubbing from the Island Men.  Caps had no answer against their formidable outrigger canoes.

5) Even-Steven game vs The Cats for the parts I saw but lose in the OT.

At least they are holding their own in close games; part of the Caps Mission and Process to playing their way into a quality squad.  And with the forgiving standings rules, have a chance to eke into the top half after six months, so who knows.  Unlikely, but young’uns like Strome, Milano, and McMichael do have their moments.  I haven’t seen Phillips do much since shining against his old Calgary mates.

I wonder if they’ll take the train to NJ and The Island.  If so, a looong time for an NHL team not to get on a plane.

Where’s the love today?   

The moment and potential win that got away from the Sharks.  Puck bounces off of Kyle Burroughs (twice it seems) and into the net, breaking a 1-1 deadlock with 4:45 remaining in the third period, back on October 29th (a week ago).  Because this isn’t international football, it gets scored to a Capital instead of credited as an ‘own goal’ on the defending Sharks.

Of course they then show some Caps fans going nutzo, like they’d, I dunno, just won a playoff series?

Hopefully San Jose gets into a similar late game situation soon with better luck.
 

I just learned from the AP article on all of this that the Capitals’ TJ Oshie runs his hometown company Warroad Hockey, had received more than 100 messages about the cut-protection gear they offer, and sold out of them “within hours”.

10 hours ago, TropicalFruitGirl26 said:

 

 

Brilliant!  Get on the show, a little bit of Shark on Shark action, ask “Mr Wonderful” for the miracle solution needed!  (And Cuban can offer pro franchise ownership guidance.  Or buy them.)

Nicolas Backstrom said his hip was 100% entering this season.  Eight games, one assist, and zero goals later, he says uh uhn to that and has decided to take a break from the world’s fastest sport.  (Of which he’s never been overly so.)

At 35, one wonders if this is it, despite his contract that runs until 2025.  The tone of the WaPo article and teammate comments lead one to believe that the progression from IR to LTIR might not stop there.

Backstrom has assisted on just over 1/3 of Ovie’s career goals.

Remember the commercial he did a couple years ago, watching TV at Ovie’s place all the time and Ovie’s wife asking why he’s always hanging around there?  Well many perhaps knew, I did not until today…they are nearby walk-down-the-street neighbors for real.

31 minutes ago, yave1964 said:

The Sharks lost night 3-1 to the Capitals. All things considered it was one of their best games.

But for a bad bounce off of a Shark’s fin with five minutes remaining for the unlucky own-goal giving Washington a sketchy 2-1 lead, San Jose would have likely gone to OT with a fair shot at victory.

So yeah, Sharks in it until the last minute empty netter.  A lot of BS talk from Caps in the WaPo article this morning about how ‘a win is a win’ so OK let’s see how ya do against tougher foes.