Joe Finley Named Alternate Captain

By capitalfanatic | October 2, 2008

joe-finley-10-2

Photo courtesy of ndgoon.blogspot.com

According to the GrandFolksHerald.com, defensive prospect Joe Finley has been named as an alternate captain for the upcoming season at North Dakota.

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Wednesday Night Prospect Updates

By capitalfanatic | October 1, 2008

  • Joel Broda tallied another goal and an assist in the Moose Jaw Warriors 7-3 loss at the Regina Pats.  He now has 6 goals, 2 assists, and is +5 in 4 games so far this season.
  • Braden Holtby stopped 19 of 22 shots as the Saskatoon Blades lost at home to the Edmonton Oil Kings 4-2.  Holtby is now 0-3 to start the season giving up 10 goals in those three losses.

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A Sneak Peak into the Future?

By capitalfanatic | October 1, 2008

ovechkin-captain

Photo courtesy of The Red Skate.

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Stingrays Announce Training Camp Schedule

By capitalfanatic | October 1, 2008

The Stingrays have announced their upcoming training camp schedule which begins this Friday with players reporting to camp, followed by their first practice of the season Saturday at the Carolina Icestingrays-new-logo Palace.  The team will then embark on a week long trip to Alaska for practices and exhibition matches against the Alaska Aces.  Sounds like a pretty good gig to me.  Here’s the full schedule with all practices open to the public:

Saturday, October 4 Practice 1:30 p.m. at the Carolina Ice Palace
Sunday, October 5 Team departs for Anchorage, Alaska
Wednesday, October 8 Game 11:15 EST at Alaska
Thursday October 9 Game 11:15 EST at Alaska
Saturday, October 11 Team returns from Anchorage, Alaska
Sunday, October 12 Practice 10 a.m. at the Carolina Ice Palace
Monday, October 13 Practice 10:00 a.m. at the Carolina Ice Palace
Tuesday, October 14 Practice 10:00 a.m. at the Carolina Ice Palace
Wednesday, October 15 Practice 10:00 a.m. at the Carolina Ice Palace
Thursday, October 16 Practice 10:00 a.m. at the Carolina Ice Palace

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Della Rovere a Big Hit in Home Debut

By capitalfanatic | September 30, 2008

81636036CP207_2008_NHL_Entr

Another day and another story about a Capitals prospect making an impact.  This time it’s 2008 7th round pick Stephan Della Rovere who had quite an impressive home debut as the captain of the Barrie Colts Saturday night.  He tallied the game-winning goal and helped his team kill off a two man advantage while being named the game’s first star in the Colts 2-0 win over the Peterborough Petes.  This was all after receiving a game misconduct the night before for a “checking to the head” incident that may bring him a suspension from the league office.

Della Rovere made an impact this summer with Washington fans and coaches for his effort and scrapy play, but one thing he may have learned during his time with the big club is the proper way to celebrate after a goal.  From the Barrie Examiner:

Della Rovere’s home debut as captain was also a memorable one.

Perhaps equally impressive was his celebration after he tucked a rebound past Trevor Cann at the 11:29 mark of the second frame. Della Rovere lowered his body, swooped his right arm slowly to the ice, grabbed some ice and worked his arm slowly back up in what was a unique twist on the age-old fist pump.

“I saw (Darren) Archibald do it after the first one he scored last week. And playing three-on-three in the summer, you try a few different celebrations, I guess,” the third-year forward said. “You get a little excited when you score your first goal of the season.”

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Roberto Luongo Named Team Captain

By capitalfanatic | September 30, 2008

nhl_g_luongo_inline_300

This story resonates here in the DC area since it can be argued that even though he was never named as such, Olie Kolzig served as the de facto captain of the Capitals for many years.  Luongo becomes the first goaltender to be named team captain since the NHL adopted what was referred to as the Bill Durnan rule back in 1947-48. This rule prohibited goaltenders, playing coaches, or playing managers from serving as captains because the argument was it took too much time for them to meet with officials in between plays.

So even though he cannot officially wear the “C” during games, Luongo can still be named as the team’s captain.  That brings up the question here with the Capitals.  Should the team have named Kolzig team captain over such choices as Jeff Halpern or Chris Clark?

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Cail MacLean Named Assistant Coach

By capitalfanatic | September 30, 2008

If there was a title of “Mr. Stingray” it would belong to Cail MacLean.  After retiring this offseason at the age of 32, it’s great to see him get the opportuniimage001ty to continue his hockey career as a coach with a team he has done so much for as a player.  Here’s the release from the South Carolina Stingrays:

North Charleston, SC – The South Carolina Stingrays and Head Coach Jared Bednar announced today that former Stingrays captain Cail MacLean has been named Assistant Coach.  In keeping with club policy, terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

MacLean, 32, concluded his 11-year playing career with South Carolina this past season, totaling 46 points (21g, 25a) and a team-leading 14 power-play goals in 63 games.  The Middleton, Nova Scotia, native appeared in all 20 Kelly Cup Playoff contests this past spring, registering 11 points (2g, 9a) as the Stingrays advanced to their first conference final since 2001.

“I’m really excited,” MacLean said.  “I want to thank the Stingrays organization for the great opportunity and giving me a chance to coach at this level, and especially Jared for his willingness to work with me.”

In his new role as Assistant Coach, MacLean, who also is a full-time student at Trident Technical College, will be behind the bench at home games, but not traveling with the team.  The former forward also will run some clinics as well as work with youth hockey in the Lowcountry.

“I think he’s going to be a wonderful coach,” Bednar said.  “Cail’s been around the game a long time, and I think our players will benefit from his experience, leadership and knowledge.”
Over his three-year tenure with South Carolina, MacLean collected 63 goals and 74 assists for 137 points in 169 regular season games.  His goal, assist and point totals each rank in the top-20 in team history, while his 17 power-play markers during the 2006-07 campaign stand second in the Stingrays’ single-season record books.

MacLean broke into professional hockey with the Jacksonville Lizard Kings in 1997-98, leading the team with 65 points.  He reached the Kelly Cup Finals in 2001 as a member of the Trenton Titans, who fell to the Stingrays four games to one.

The two-season Stingrays captain played with 15 teams during his pro career, amassing 524 points (266g, 258a) in 747 contests.  MacLean spent time in the ECHL (Jacksonville, Trenton, Reading, South Carolina), American Hockey League (Cincinnati, Lowell, Philadelphia, Providence, Hartford, Hershey, Bridgeport), and International Hockey League (Cleveland, Indianapolis, Michigan, Grand Rapids) from 1997 to 2008.

MacLean originally signed with South Carolina on July 20, 2005, and was named the fifth captain in team history on July 26, 2006.

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Joel Broda Named WHL Player of the Week

By capitalfanatic | September 29, 2008

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From the Canadian Press:

Moose Jaw Warriors forward Joel Broda has been named the Western Hockey League’s player of the week.

Broda had five goals and one assist to go with a plus-4 rating in three games over the past week, helping the Warriors post a 3-0 record in that span.

Broda returned to the Warriors from Washington Capitals training camp Wednesday, just in time to help the Warriors beat the Raiders 4-3 in his hometown of Prince Albert, Sask. In his first game back, Broda scored a short-handed and was named the games first Star.

On Friday, Broda scored two goals and an assist as the Warriors defeated the Wheat Kings 6-3. He tormented the Wheat Kings again Saturday, scoring twice as the Warriors beat Brandon 5-2.

 

Broda was the Caps 5th round pick, 144 overall, in the 2008 draft.  Looks like GMGM might have found us another late round jem.  He’ll definitely be worth keeping an eye on this season in the WHL.

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Welcome to the New CapitalFanatic.com

By capitalfanatic | September 29, 2008

So here it is.  The grand opening of the new site.  It has been a lot of work moving it over from a blogger based site to a wordpress site, but I feel it has definitely been worth it.  I believe it has a much better look and flow that should allow for easier reading and navigation.

The new site includes pages dedicated to the Hershey Bears and South Carolina Stingrays, where you can find information that is relative to those specific teams.  With the ability to create new pages came the opportunity to develop the site further.  That led to the creation of a couple of new pages, “Other thoughts” and “Girls and Sports.”  These pages will give me the opportunity to discuss things that are on my mind without ruining the main page and it’s dedication to the Washington Capitals and the NHL.

Overall the new site should be a great improvement.  If you have any comments or suggestions you can leave them in this post or email them to me at capitalfanatic@gmail.com.

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Caps Triumph in Preseason Opener

By capitalfanatic | September 25, 2008

Capitals Hurricanes Hockey

Fleischmann’s Two Goals Pace 4-1 Win
Boxscore

I know it’s too early to say “I told you so,” but Tomas Fleischmann’s opening night performance is great start on his way to proving his  worth to the Washington Capitals.  Maybe we should trust Gabby on this one and stop writing off the talented Czech winger.  That’s all I’m going to say about “Flash.”

Simeon Varlamov performed well in his NHL debut stopping all 20 shots he saw in the first twenty minutes of the game.  He showed off his outstanding reaction speed and withstood a flurry at the end of the first period.  Darren Machesney finshed off the game stopping 10 out of 11 shots over the final two periods.  I think there is no doubt that Varlamov has the skills to play at the NHL level right now.  The only thing stopping him from starting off the season with the big club is his adjustment not only to the american game and the smaller rinks, but the american culture as well.  The Caps will bring him along slowly, but don’t be surprised to see him with the big boys sooner rather than later.

Matt Bradley wore the “C” during the game, and showed off his offensive skills too with a nice goal against the Canes’ number one netminder, Cam Ward.  One of the reasons the Capitals decided to keep Bradley this offseason in place of Matt Cooke was because of his importance to the team off the ice.  If he can provide a bit more offensively, like Cooke brought to the team last spring, it will be a great help to the Caps secondary scoring.

The Caps and the Canes square off again Thursday night in the preseason home opener at the Verizon Center.

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