Wow... Merry Christmas in July! Finally a UFA Day that Caps fans can enjoy, too. In addition to snagging two tremendous picks for a goaltender that had reportedly already packed up his bags for the KHL, GM GM did some amazing McGeneral Management to lock up some tremendous talent and also Jeff Halpern for season.

Including Brouwer's acquisition and Laich extension, who was all but on the open market 2 days prior to the start of free agency, that makes for 5 players that were not expected to be on the Caps openning night roster in October, 2011. So, how about them Caps? Please weigh in your suggested new lines in the comments with a little justification and make sure to vote on your take of the day's efforts in the FanPoll below.

Continue reading this post »

Well, we are finally here: the dog days of summer. Aside from a hopeful Bruins win tonight during what is sure to be a Stanley Cup "Game 7 For the Ages" and some Cap-less hardware to be doled out in Vegas, there is nothing new or noteworthy for the Washingtonian to be apprised of until next month. However, to add insult to injury we have to be brave enough to realize due to what the date is there is a significantly high chance (perhaps in the upper 99th percentile?) that  Brooks Laich did or will not accept the Caps' contract extension. While this might elicit the ire of many a Caps fan and perhaps Mr. MSE himself, our beloved Ted, I'm sure he has his perfectly legitimate reasons. More after the jump, with Fanpoll and 7% less fat for your summer bod!

Continue reading this post »

Well, here we are again, patienly waiting and wanting for our beloved Capitals head office to play another round of "Let's Make a Deal" with the rest of the league. As much as we may respect, loathe, admire, or want to bodily injur GM GM due to his head-scratchers (to be read: Poti extension) and heart-warmers (Hendricks), George McPhee is indeed one of the most well regarded and heavily feared General Managers in the league.

However, as we have waited and watched for weeks as Brain Burke made a deal with the devil (Peter Chiarelli), Ray Shero do his best to offset the single most amazing and karmic injury-induced winter plunges a Team has experienced, we Washington fans have been waiting on pins and needles... and for what? Thus far, 2 more years for a 4th liner having a career year. Yippety-skippety.

So what are your predictions for the Monday, February 28th trade deadline? Are the Caps brass being patient predators circling around that amazing kill, or will we be much like last year the ugly girl who gets left behind at the prom? A fan poll and color commentary (yours) after the jump.

Continue reading this post »

Summer free-agency blues got you down? Tired of drinking the GM GM Kool-Aid? Already confirmed our cumulative fears by injecting some reality into your off-season hopes, reading and re-reading the excellent Mackan Manifesto ten times? Well then, if you're like me it's time for something completely different.

As a closet nerd, I couldn't help but get excited for our Capital's beloved Verizon Center's biggest event of the summer. No, not Taylor Swift with special guests Kellie PIckler and Gloriana. I'm talking about the most monumental non-Caps event of the year, which just happened last weekend - Star Wars in Concert!!!

What, pray tell, does this have to do with the Caps and hockey in general?

Good question. You see, like most of you, I find it difficult to go to our shrine on 7th & F without sporting some sort of Caps paraphernalia. This was good as the Phone Booth was overrun with all sorts of Star Wars über-dorks, yet fortunately their dorkdom was not quite at the same caliber of these basement-dwelling, misanthropic virgins. I was not afraid to sport my Caps affiliation, and refreshingly others weren't either; a great trend to see in an otherwise Cap-less NHL off-season. (Click here for a sweet pic of a jersey-clad Scoops next to Darth Vader himself.)

However, the most STARTLING of realizations didn't come until mid-way through the exceptionally well-orchestrated concert, when I made the greatest hockey/Star Wars parallel ever imagined...

Continue reading this post »

Before this series began we've roamed the entirety of cyberspace and TV and were astounded to see how everybody, and I mean EVERYBODY thought we were going to take home the Cup this year. After all, this was OUR YEAR, right? After back-to-back 27th place finishes following the lockout, followed by a Cinderella-esque clinching of the SE Division championship, only to be handed two consecutive Game 7 exits (one at the hands of Those Who We Shall Not Mention), we were finally slated for some playoff retribution this year. We took the league by storm, right?

I mean, you know that you have a strong chance when even the pontificating pundits at TSN led by past-his-prime and out-of-his-mind Bob McKenzie, are projecting you have a chance to take home Ye Olde Stanley Cup. After all, with exception to Ray Ferraro and humble Scott Cullen, all McKenzie's colleagues are notorious for their nationalistic prejudice against Russians (stick to Strange Brew reenactment tours, Bob) and overly critical of our Club and system as a whole, rarely if ever giving us and Ovie our due and elevating that Son of a Crosby to a deity-like status for those north of the 40th parallel and in Pittsburgh.

But what about us, the true fans of our beloved Caps? What about those of us who eat, sleep, and bleed Red? What about those with highly adorned Caps themed man-caves and enough paraphernalia on our office walls to make even the most remote passers by pause and think to themselves "I wish I was half as passionate about something as that guy." What were our expectations? Let's divulge after the jump. 

Continue reading this post »