The Curse of the Capitals

When Jeff Schultz left the Washington Capitals in 2013, the next season, with the Los Angeles kings, he won the Stanley Cup. One season after leaving the Capitals. 

Last year, four major players left the Capitals: Mike Green, Troy Brouwer, Joel Ward, and Eric Fehr. Of those four players, only one does not remain in the Cup hunt, and that is Green, as his Red Wings were ousted in the first round by the Tampa Bay Lightning. 

The Capitals ... it was supposed to be their year. But now, we get to sit back, while the BLUES, who are often compared to the Capitals, are in the Conference Final. And they usually get first round exits. AND IT IS NOT FAIR. Because Troy Brouwer is on the Blues, and he scored the series-winning goal in the first round. WE WERE SUPPOSED TO MAKE HIM REGRET LEAVING US. If I see him hoist the Cup those year, I will... I don't know... UGH.

I cannot reemphasize how much I get annoyed when I think about Fehrsie, my former favourite player. AHEM.. I mean FEHR. He is just... infuriating. He scored the game-winning goal for the Penguins in Game 2 and said it gave him more satisfaction that it was against the Caps. I DO NOT WANT TO SEE HIM IN THE FINAL.

Him!!! Wardo!!! My favourite player... at one point. That was in the past. When he left the Caps and got on the Sharks, he said that he is looking to win the Cup and he thinks he will get that chance with the Sharks. That was back when the Sharks were a non-playoff team. But now, for the first time in my memory, the Sharks are in the Conference Finals. I TOLD YOU IT WAS A CURSE.

Unfortunately, either Ward or Brouwer will have to play in the Cup Final. Very, very unfortunately. WE WANTED TO MAKE THEM REGRET LEAVING US. But, there's still hope. The Tampa Bay Lightning are just emerging. All they have to do is destroy Fehr's Penguins in the Conference Finals, then destroy whoever gets to the Cup Final, and I won't have to go through the pain of seeing the curse come true. LET'S GO LIGHTNING!!!!!!!!!!!

Brooks Laich is now a Toronto Maple Leaf

In another heartbreaking, wretched NHL trade, Brooks Laich, Washington D.C.'s longest-tenured athlete, is no longer a Capital. He is a Leaf, after being a faithful, amazing Capital for 12 years, ever since I was only three years old. Boo.

The Capitals traded away Laich, Connor Carrick, and a second-round pick for Daniel Winnik and a fifth-round pick. In my opinion, the Capitals are trading away their future, as they now do not have any first- or second-round picks for the next draft. On top of that, the Leafs are winning more in this trade because they get better players. 

“Daniel is a versatile player who plays with grit and can be used in all situations,” general manager Brian MacLellan said. “This move enables us to add some depth to our forward group and balances our lineup. We would like to thank Brooks for all of his contributions to our organization over the past 10 years. Brooks is a true professional and we wish him all the best in the future.”

The only problem with Laich is that after health complications (injury to the groin) in 2011, he never was the player he had been before and became a fourth-line centre on the Capitals, never again living up to his $4.5 million cap hit. Winnik is much cheaper and by acquiring him and getting rid of Laich's contract, the Capitals have gained $2.2 million in cap space. Still, the trade is heartbreaking, for a multitude of reasons.

The Wawota, Saskatchewan native was a fan favourite in Washington for many reasons. Right after the Capitals' devastating first-round playoff exit in the 2010 playoffs to the Montreal Canadiens, two female Capitals fans were stranded on the side of the road with a messed-up tire. Although the team had just lost and it was clear Laich was going through a tough time, he stopped by the side of the road to fix the tire for them, immediately making their days. 

Not only that, but his shenanigans with Michael Latta and Tom Wilson about an Instagram follow were hilarious, with Wilson and Latta leaving comments on his Instagram posts begging for a follow multiple times. Laich had a drone from his fiancee Julianne Hough, and he used it for another hobby of his, film-making, where he filmed several scenes when he had time and used time-lapse on them. I thought it was pretty amazing. He was going to get married to Julianne this August, but I guess, sadly, us Caps fans will not see it.

He even made this hilarious video telling fans five things every man should know how to do:

On his last days in Washington, Laich and Hough, along with TJ Oshie and his wife Lauren, went to a Carrie Underwood concert all together. Laich, my man. This is even worse than losing Eric Fehr and Joel Ward in the offseason. Brooksie, you will be missed. If the Capitals get their Stanley Cup win this year, it will be bittersweet, as D.C.'s longest-tenured athlete and most faithful player, who has been with the Capitals starting from the 2004 rebuild and is the last remaining piece of Peter Bondra, is now gone. Good luck with your new team, Brooksie, and we hope to have you back in a Capitals uniform soon.

Capitals-Oilers Recap: WHAT HAPPENED THERE?!?!

I have one question: WHAT THE HECK?!?!?!
How did the Edmonton Oilers beat the Washington Capitals?

Alex Ovechkin opened the scoring for the Capitals in the first period, scoring his 26th and 27th goals of the season, and his second goal was from the Ovi Spot. Oiler Derek Roy scored soon after to make it 2-1 Capitals by beating Matt Niskanen to the net and firing his shot past Holtby. Jay Beagle returned that with a goal right before the intermission, ending the first period 3-1 Capitals. 

No scoring in the second, except Nikita Nikitin made it 3-2 late in the period.

In the third period, Nicklas Backstrom took a wonderful pass from John Carlson to make the Oilers' one-goal deficit a two-goal deficit, but Edmonton would not give up. Teddy Purcell made it 4-3 in the final five minutes, then Ryan Nugent-Hopkins tied it in the final 100 second.

A long, uneventful overtime period occurred, with no scoring, then came the shootout:

• Kuznetsov scored.
• Yakupov did NOT score.
• Backstrom did NOT score.
• Eberle did NOT score.
• Ovechkin did NOT score.
• Roy scored.
• Fehr did NOT score.
• Purcell scored.

Ugh! So Capitals lost 5-4 to Edmonton in shootout. No comment.

Capitals Fall to Rangers 4-2

Bam. Just like that, the Caps' 20-day point streak is over. They fell to division rivals New York Rangers 4-2 (even though they had unfair referees who didn't call the obvious offside in the third goal against the Rangers, and gave the Caps two horrible penalties), Rick Nash put the puck past Holtby in the first period, and in a second-period powerplay, Martin St. Louis made it 2-0 New York. Rick Nash scored again in the third period, but then Evgeny Kuznetsov made a 2-goal deficit become a 1-goal deficit with an amazing goal in the beginning of the third period that was so subtle almost nobody noticed it. Like, wow...

Obviously, Kuzya was in beast mode today (so was Eric Fehr), and they both had one of the best games of their careers. Then Rick Nash scored on an obvious offside, which the evil ref didn't count, and put the Rangers up 3-1. Ovechkin scored one of his Ovi goals right after that, and it seemed that the Capitals might be able to catch up and make it into overtime at least.

But, no, the ref chose today to be unfair, and gave Nicklas Backstrom a double minor penalty for high-sticking, and Jason Chimera a minor penalty for who-knows-what, making it 5-on-3 for the Rangers, who ended up scoring their fourth goal of the game. Ugh. The factors were obviously against the Caps, who decided to come back too late.

Next game is against the Penguins this Saturday.

Let's go, Caps!

Eric Fehr Scores OT Winner, Helps Capitals Beat Blue Jackets 5-4

The Capitals and Blue Jackets had a great game yesterday, with Eric Fehr scoring the winning goal for Washington, tricking Sergei Bobrovsky with a backhand for the overtime winner.
Goals scored in the first period were by Joel Ward (ASST: Eric Fehr, Karl Alzner), and Jason Chimera (ASST: Michael Latta, Brooks Orpik), putting the Caps up 2-0.
In the second period, the Jackets retaliated on two power-play goals by Jack Johnson (ASST: Nick Foligno, James Wisniewski), and Nick Foligno (ASST: Kevin Connauton, Ryan Johansen).
Early in the third period, the Jackets had the lead, on Nick Foligno's second goal of the night (ASST: Jeremy Morin, Brian Gibbons), and then the Caps tied it up on a goal by Karl Alzner (ASST: Michael Latta, Jason Chimera), and the Jackets regained the lead on a goal by Michael Chaput (ASST:Jared Boll, Matt Calvert). The Caps tied it up again with a goal by Troy Brouwer (ASST: Mike Green), and only 42 seconds into overtime, Fehr gave the Caps their two points with his overtime winner (ASST: Mike Green).