PICTURE OF THE WEEK

So Sunday is officially the day that we post the picture of the week. Because it's been pretty irregular and just random postings of them on random days.

So congrats, Sunday you are the official day we post the Picture of the Week.

This week's picture comes from Caps in Pictures, one of my most favourite blogs ever. Because I love pictures of my most favourite hockey players.



Karl's shades.

'Nuff said.

Have a nice Sunday, everyone.

the lowdown on the newbies

So although we didn't get a big fat angry defenseman, we did get a center, two wingers, and three defensemen. I guess it's okay though because the Ducks wanted one of Washington's young goaltenders, defenseman John Carlson, a regular from the lineup, and "something else" to get Pronger in Washington for a year.

No thanks.

We want Varly and Neuvy right where they are.

Let's get to know the picks a bit before training camp, shall we?

We'll start with the first round pick, Marcus Johansson.



*Nice hand-eye coordination there, brotha*

He's an eighteen year old Swedish center who had 10 points in 45 games for Färjestads BK in the Swedish Elite League. From hockeysfuture.com,

"Johansson has impressive hockey sense, good technical skills and soft hands. He reads the play very well and is a skilled playmaker. Is also a speedy skated that does not shy away from the rough stuff, although he is not really a big time physical player. A team player with some leadership qualities. Has a shot he should use more often."

Almost sounds like a more physical version of Nicky Backstrom. I bet they will become BFFs. Plus they're both Swedish. PERFECT!

Caps' second round pick is Russian defenseman Dmitri Orlov.

Orlov is 6-feet, 197 pounds and plays for Novokuznetsk in the KHL. He had one goal in 16 games last season. Orlov was all smiles and is really excited to be going to Washington. From Tarik El-Bashir, "They have Ovechkin, Semin, Varlamov," Orlov said. "They are very popular players in Russia and the Capitals are a very popular team in Russia."And from The Hockey Writers,

"He is first and foremost an offensive defenseman and though solid back in the own zone, but must work on his overall awareness. He’s a very good skater with good first step and balance. Despite his size, he can play with an edge and is not scared of physical play. He has good offensive instincts and hockey intelligence. He moves the puck well, trying to make simple, but effective, plays. He possesses a nice point shot. He has been captain of the national team numerous times, displaying his leadership abilities."

Like Mike Lambogreenie Green, it sounds like this guy is still learning when to jump into the play and when to stay back and play D. Maybe Greenie can give him a few tips?

Third pick is center Cody Eakin from the WHL Swift Current Broncos.

HE HAS THE SAME BIRTHDAY AS ME.

JUST SAYING.

Anyways, he is 5-11 and 176 pounds. And hockeysfuture.com had some great things to say about him.

"Eakin isn’t a big guy so he relies on his terrific speed and agility as his two greatest assets for success. He’s a solid two-way player that is very useful as a penalty killer, but he’s far from limited to playing a defensive role. He’s an aggressive forechecker and will play the body although he’s not known as a punishing hitter. He’s creative and will attack defenders one-on-one but likes to use his teammates as well. Eakin doesn’t panic with the puck and rarely forces passes when under pressure.

He’s a center but with Hockey Canada he has shown the ability to adapt and play on the wing as well.

He combines tremendous speed and skill with outstanding competitiveness. He’s a good play maker and hard working, making him a fan favorite."

Hard worker? Speed? Fan favourite? PKer? Punishing hitter? Fan favourite? Oh wait I already said that. Well by the sounds of this, he's got a bright future ahead of him and I'm very excited to watch him at training camp. He'll be easy to spot. Hehehe...

In the fourth round, the Caps picked another defenseman. One Patrick Wey of the Waterloo Black Hawks in the United States Hockey League and BORN IN PITTSBURGH? Oh hell no.



Just kidding, Pat.

Sort of.

Well he had seven goals and 27 assists last year. Beautiful +22 in the plus/minus collumn. "The 6 foot 2, 200-pound Pittsburgh native has committed to Boston College. He has also been invited to the U.S. National Junior Evaluation Camp."
Have fun at BC. Just don't tell Tom Poti you are going there. He's from BU.
Rawr. Rivalry.

Fourth round.



Brett Flemming. Guess what position.

Defenseman?

Final answer?

YOU'RE CORRECT.

He's from Mississauga (OHL), had 28 points and 89 PIMs last season. He's 6 feet and 172 pounds. And had a lot of family in Montreal, apparently. I'm getting lazy and that's all I'm going to look up on this dude.

Sixth round...Garrett Mitchell.

A 17 year old center from Regina.



Energy player, third-line checking forward. Had 15 points in 71 games, part of Team Canada, and HAD THE TEAM HIGH OF 140 PIMS.
Maybe they were good penalties.

Seventh round pick is Benjamin Casavant, a left wing from P.E.I. Rocket of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.



Aw he's adorable. And led his team with 80 points (39 goals, 41 assists). Apparently he had a large crowd with him at the draft. hockeysfuture.com has great things to say about him

"A rangy forward with good size and a nose for the net, Casavant has the drive and determination to park in front of the opposition's net and feed off rebounds and deflections. At 6'1 and 210 pounds, he is a hard player to move once he has settled in. When he is not making the lives of goaltenders miserable, Casavant can inflict punishment along the boards, throwing his weight around and fighting through checks to dig pucks free for his teammates. However, that size comes at a cost and the Quebec native sometimes appears sluggish on his feet, especially later on in games."

Well forget about his sliggishness the Caps trainers can whip him into shape. But I like the sound of this kid...nose for the net. DETERMINATION TO PARK IN FRONT OF THE OPPOSITION'S NET AND FEED OFF REBOUNDS AND DEFLECTIONS definitely my favourite part. We need as many Brooks Laichs as we can get to have some more traffic in front. We had too many pretty goals last season. "cute" goals as Ovie likes to call them.

My other favourite part was he can inflict punishment along the boards. He sounds like a Brooksy/Clarkie player, which is definitely needed in Washington.

Well development camp is July 13-18 and we're really excited to see these kids there. And our Hershey guys especially. And to go up the crazy eight or so levels of spiral ramp to get to the top level of the Kettler parking garage.


P.S. Good luck in Phoenix, Sami Lepisto. GMGM, Bruce, and the gang traded him for a pick in the 2010 Draft. Which hopefully they will be able to find a talented big fat angry defenseman that we can keep forever and ever.

P.P.S. We still miss you, Feds.

privet roccua(russia).

Grandpa Feds is no longer OUR grandpa feds.

We love you Grandpa Feds, have fun in Russia.

TRIBUTE TIME:

aww look at him with the russian 5!

obviously, the stripper fancies fedorov in this picture.

and then, grandpa feds decided to put the hat on and become even cooler.

as mike green would say, "gotta stay fresh."

DEBUT AS A CAP^

Don't tell us that you scrolled through all of those without getting a tear in your eye.

If you didn't, scroll back up, listen to a depressing song(we recommend "i miss you" by blink 182 [REUNION YAAY] or "everything we had" by the academy is.., or whatever the fuck you find depressing.) and read/look at the pictures again.

PAH-KAH GRANDPA FEDS

IT'S TRUE.

HE'S LEAVING.

WE MISS HIM ALREADY.

He signed a two year deal with KHL's Metallurg Magnitogorsk for 3.8 million a year. I guess it's okay I mean his brother signed with that team too.

Now, Feds is a legend and a shoe-in for the Hockey Hall of Fame someday. He had an unreal career with the Red Wings, 3 Stanley Cups with them, 6 time all star, won the Hart in '94, 483 goals, 696 assists, and 1,248 games during 18 years in the National Hockey League. If he's not a hockey legend then I don't know what is.

Not only is he a super talented hockey player but he is also our hockey grandpa and we will miss him greatly. He's the type of grandpa that teaches you to golf, fish, gives you peach-o's even though your mom told you no, and sits with you on your front porch one summer evening until you figure out just how many licks it takes to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop. (Because, really, we'd like to know.)

We will miss you so much Feds. You brought experience and leadership to this young team and helped shape the players around you to become great hockey players. Maybe not as great as you. But they definitely matured. Have a good time in Russia!

JUST KIDDING

Okay thank you Tarik El-Bashir for this unreal picture.



Our new picture of the week. Honestly. All because of Greenie's face. It either says "Hey there pretty lady what's your name" or "wtf". Or he just really needs to go to the bathroom and is pissed off cause he can't find it.
Either way, they are pals and this picture is proof of that.

I hereby announce this picture as the new picture of the week.
Move over Ovie Kissing Trophies.



Oh and also




BOB WOODS IS THE NEW ASSISTANT COACH OF YOUR FAVOURITE NHL TEAM.
That's right, everybody.

The guy who recently lead your favourite AHL team to win the Calder Cup is now working with GMGM, Gabby, and Co. to win THE ULTIMATE PRIZE

We will be seeing this thumbs up throughout next year, kids.



Why does it have to be so damn beautiful?

It's ours next year. OURS.

June Update

Hi Everyone,

It's been a busy time since we last updated the BLOG, so I will try and recap as best as possible.
My last post told you that Earls Red Wings had won the conference final and when that happened we had to make quick plans to get down to Detroit for that weekend. I phoned Thursday at 7am and managed to get a flight out on Saturday morning. We arrived in Detroit (after an almost unthinkable problem with the airline) at 1:30, checked into our hotel where Earl had a quick rest, ate a quick supper and headed to the game. Once again the DRW treated us like family and a car was waiting for us in the lobby. Game 1 was terrifically exciting and we beat the Penguins 3-1. The other exciting thing that happened that night was that we met our friend Anne Marie and while speaking with her, Earl saw a man with one leg and was so excited, we had to stop him and talk to him. Well Billy and Earl were thrilled to meet each other and had a nice visit and we exchanged email/phone numbers. It turns out that Billy is at the game with his brother "Kid Rock", so during the 2nd intermission, Billy brings his brother up to meet Earl and after a quick greeting I get to snap a few photo's. After the game, we head down to the dressing room, which was an experience in itself, as the locker room is a media frenzy. In typical Earl fashion he walks right in like he is part of the team and wanders around making sure he visits everyone. I was amazed to watch him as he knew the names of many of the TV/media personalities, and even some impersonations. It was a blast, and before the evening was over (we once again were close to being the last ones out of the dressing room) Earl had met Ted Lindsay, Don Cherry, Ron Mclean, Scott Oak, Darren Pang, and of course our good friend Darren Dreger. It was 1:30 when we arrived back at the hotel and 2:30 before Earl was able to fall asleep. The next morning we were up early, picked up and at the Joe, for the morning skate. Earl was once again sitting on the bench and hanging out with the players. It is the coolest thing to sit back and watch as these caring players, coaches and equipment staff , take time at a very crucial and focused time of their careers to include Earl in their day. Earl had his new prosthetic leg with him and proudly showed it off, especially the artwork....Detroit Red Wings and the name of his favorite player Henrik Zetterberg. Z, by the way did autograph the butt of Earls new leg.

That evening we had dinner with my cousin Allan and his family wife Gail, kids; Trisha and Keith. We went to the game with them and into the dressing room after the game. They were thrilled and being Detroit fans for many years, have now dubbed Earl their favorite cousin. That night Earl met Garry Bettmen and told him he wanted to see the Red Wings....play the Winnipeg Jets. Detroit wins again 3-1.

On Tuesday we headed to Pittsburgh in a rental car.....for game 3 and a quick peek at the beautiful city. We lost that night. The next morning we headed back to Detroit and then home to Winnipeg. It was a fast paced holiday and we were exhausted by the time we arrived home.

We had a visit with the oncologist on the 9th and were told that there is another nodule growing in his right lung. Upon receiving the ct scan report, it seems there are 2 nodules appearing in his right upper lung. The plan is to wait until Sept at which time a new scan will be done and a plan will be made. Please keep Earl in you prayers.

POTW

This week's picture of the week!
Obviously our first choice:


He still has the red hair dye from the playoffs.
Which makes us laugh and cry at the same time...

This game's a party. That's why I'm on the cover.

(smile with your eyes, Ovie.)


(we see you Grandpa Feds!)

That's right, folks.

Ovie most certainly cleaned up at the NHL Awards Thursday night.

This was the second year in a row he got the Hart and Pearson AND Richard trophies.

But before I start talking about the Caps and stuff, I wanted to mention that the Lifetime Achievement Award should be presented last. Like after the Hart not before. It bothers me a lot.



Also. About the Norris Trophy.



Congrats Chara. I thought he deserved it even though I love Greenie. He's just a very dependable and consistant guy. If Greenie gets to be a bit more defensive and learns when the best times are to jump in on a play, he will win the Norris many times. And I have confidence that he will, with more experience. So maybe he didn't win it this year but he's so young and has so much talent and definitely has a great future ahead of him. We're excited to watch him :)





Now, you all being Caps fans you probably saw the show but we wanted to relive some of the best moments.

What on God's green earth was Chaka Kahn wearing. Honestly it was one of the weirdest and most unflattering things I have seen on a celebrity. If somebody finds pictures anywhere...DON'T send them in. Don't share them with anybody else. In fact you may want to burn them. I am not a fan of Chaka Kahn I didn't even know who she was. But seriously next time even Miley Cyrus would be better. Actually even better would be Hilary Duff.
ACTUALLY NO THE WIGGLES WOULD BE BETTER THAN CHAKA KAHN LET'S BE SERIOUS.
Ok moving on.
Ovechkin quotes:
When Ovie accepted the Pearson he was like "Wow I'm nervous again"
He also thanked his mom, dad, and brother and dedicated it to his grandfather who passed away this year.
When he accepted the Richard after Geno accepted the Art Ross, he sys something along the lines of "You're English still isn't as short as Pavel Datsyuk's" Basically telling Pavel his English is absolutely nonexistent since our buddy Malks' speech was...

Well let's just say he gave a great effort.





MY ABSOLUTE FAVOURITE PART OF THE AWARDS SHOW...well it wasn't even part of the show it was a commercial for NHL 2K10 with Ovechkin. He says "This game's a party. That's why I'm on the cover."








You are so awesome.
Just like the table! It was made like a hockey rink.

Sweeeet.

Oh and according to Tarik El-Bashir from The Washington Post, Ovie basically failed at this NHL charity poker shootout thingamajig.
I like this article. My favourite part was

Asked how he feels knowing his biggest rivals -- Pittsburgh's Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin -- hoisted the Cup before he did, Ovechkin grimaced and said: "It's good for them. Congrats to them. But I want to be in the same position."

That's right. The cup is ours next year.

Other great pictures:

what happens in vegas

As many of us know, the NHL Awards are tomorrow!

Good luck to our boys:

Ovie

annnnnd

Greenie

Bring home the Hart and Norris boys.

O Captain! My Captain!

So I was at my friend's house and we were sitting on her floor and under her bed was an old Washingtonian Magazine from March of this year. I was leafing through it as we were doing a Mad Libs and found this and thought it was quite interesting

And I was about to type it all up but then found it online. So it's okay.

Ice Warrior

How much does it hurt to take an Alex Ovechkin slap shot in the ear? Chris Clark takes inventory of his years of pain with the Capitals.

A pro hockey player hits the ice bundled in protective equipment—helmet, shoulder pads, shin guards, padded pants. A lot of good all that gear has done for Capitals captain and winger Chris Clark.

A list of injuries from Clark’s four seasons with the Caps reads like a police report from a car wreck—crushed palate, lacerated ear, chipped teeth, and more. Though teammates say he plays through pain, injuries have kept him out of more than 100 games—and counting. Surgery in February on a nagging wrist injury probably will sideline him for the year.

Clark’s hard-nosed play, reminiscent of legendary Caps enforcer Dale Hunter, is partly to blame. But as this catalog of war wounds suggests, he’s also had a run of bad luck.

What a fighter. Through all of these injuries he still plays his heart out every game. He plays so hard. He's our captain and we will be forever loyal to his "hard-nosed play." WE LOVE YOU CLARKIE.


As you have probably heard, Alex is going to be on the cover of NHL 2K10. Big surprise. But yea congrats Ovie and we seriously love the
picture.



It's so passionate. And powerful. and inspiring.
It's so...Ovie.




Oh and a reminder: Thursday is the NHL Awards on Versus.
IN LAS VEGAS BABY
WOOOOO



Too bad it's not on NBC. We're already missing you, Pierre.

New banner plus calder cup pics

So in honor of Neuvy and his FREAKING UNBELIEVABLE (and MVP-worthy) playoff performance, we here at Caps Fiend have made this new banner. Hopefully you like it. Yay.

Also, here are some great pictures from yesterday's game from Paul Chaplin from The Patriot-News:

obviously our favourite.
AW HIS HAT IS SIDEWAYS AGAIN

second favourite. duh.

third favourite.
We love dean and sloaner's reactions the most.


So we will be posting pictures from the Stanley Cup Final game soon. But we don't really want to talk too much more about it. We are steering away from nhl.com until mid summer when hopefully all the news and pictures about the Pens winning have gone away. Because it makes us cry to even think about the cup being paraded around the world with Cindy and the girls (and Geno) rather than Hank and Ozzy and their posse.

That's all for now.

YAY BEARS