Keywords: Washington Capitals, New York Rangers, and Crazy

According to the Sporting News, Rangers Left Wing and resident whiner Sean Avery claims that Capitals Center Brooks Laich bit him during Saturday's game. On D.C. Sports Bog, Dan Steinberg posted a video of the alleged incident. It's hard to tell when Avery's glove came off. According to a quote by Laich on the Sports Bog,

“And [Avery’s] fingers were in my mouth, and I remember thinking about that, that I’m not [going to be] stupid about biting a player. He was trying to eye gouge me, he was sticking his fingers in my mouth. But that play happened to me where somebody bit me and I thought it was a low, disrespectful, gutless play, and I’m not gonna do that.”

I'm sure we all side with Avery on this one. Hockey has really gone downhill. It used to be the kind of game where you could gouge someone's eyeball and stick your fingers in their mouth without worrying about them pulling a low-class move like clenching their teeth together.

In other news of the crazy, former Capitals Left Wing Donald Brashear was picked up by the Rangers for the 2009-2010 season and has been playing for Canada's LNAH for the current season. According to wikipedia, "...the LNAH is not known for its skill level. Its teams employ many enforcers and has a rather infamous reputation for on-ice antics that mostly include fisticuffs." A close friend and lifelong hockey fan described this league to me as , "Basically MMA on skates."

It should come as no surprise then that Donald Brashear has a deal to try his hand at cage fighting. This looks to be a logical career move for Brashear. He will likely do very well at MMA since it does not require puck handling. It definitely seems to match up his talents better than being a winger in the NHL.

Bonk commercial

Maybe it's just me, but I feel like there is something I'm missing here. I'm not sure why Ovechkin appears to be carrying Donovan McNabb's refrigerator on his back. I'm not sure why Capital One opted to hire a celebrity who can't say the word "bank" without it sounding like "bonk." Certainly McNabb could afford to hire a moving company, and Ovechkin should be making enough money that he doesn't need to take a side job for National Van Lines. So clearly there is some symbolism here that escapes me. Is McNabb going to take the Skins to the playoffs and this is Ovi's penalty for choking in the first round? Are we getting over the Great 8 now that McNabb is in town? And, will Ovechkin come to my home and carry the television I would like moved to the other side of the room? This has left me with so many unanswered questions, I dont know where to begin.

Leonsis purchase of Washington Wizards finalized

A new era for the Washington Wizards officially begins today. Ted Leonsis, owner of the Washington Capitals, has finalized an agreement to own the Verizon Center (where the Caps and Wiz play) and the Washington Wizards.

Congrats, Wizards fans!

Rock the Redskins

This video is from tonight's Caps game against the Ottawa Senators. Instead of giving a depressing game recap, I will opt to just show this video of Redskins on tricycles instead.

but I still hate Sidney Crosby

This was a beautiful moment in last night's game against the Penguins. Alexander Semin tied it up in the third with this sweet short-handed goal. It was credited as an unassisted goal, but now that I see it again, it was a pretty nice pass from the Crozz.

Thank you, Sidney Crosby! (p.s. you're still a douche.)
Love,
Kathleen

ECHL Honors Kolzig. Are You Listening, Capitals?

The East Coast Hockey League has formally inducted former Caps goalie, Olaf Kolzig into the ECHL Hall of Fame. Kolzig played two seasons in the ECHL with the Hampton Roads Admirals between 1990-1992, with season records of 11-9-1 and 11-3-0.

It may seem strange that they should induct a player who logged so little time in the league. It all comes down to classification. He was inducted in the "Developmental Player" category. According to ECHL Hall of Fame guidelines,

Development Players must have begun their career in the ECHL and went on to a distinguished career in the NHL, playing a minimum of 260 regular season games in the NHL, AHL and ECHL.

That would definitely describe the former NHL All-Star, Vezina Trophy winner, and all-around fan favorite Kolzig. He deserves recognition. Enough so that we should all overlook the fact that Kolzig played more games for the AHL Baltimore Skipjacks during those same seasons that the ECHL is taking credit for developing his talents.

I think it's a safe assumption that Kolzig will someday have a banner hanging from the rafters of the Verizon Center next to Dale Hunter, Mike Gartner, Yvone Labre and Rod Langway. Olie the Goalie belongs in the Capitals Hall of Fame. I just hope we get to see those honors bestowed sometime before Ovechkin reaches retirement age.