Congratulations Martin Brodeur!

Pic(s) of the Day

Martin Brodeur of the New Jersey Devils celebrates after setting a new record on March 17th, 2009.

On March 14th, 2009, the New Jersey Devils played the Montreal Canadians at the Bell Centre. The Devils ended up winning that game 3-1, which marked the Devil's goaltender Martin Brodeur's 551st career win. It tied that of Patrick Roy's for most wins by a goalie in the NHL.
Then on March 17th, the Chicago Blackhawks came to test the Devils at Prudential Center. The chants of the crowd were "Marty's better" throughout the whole game. The Devils ended up winning the game 3-2, which set a new long-time record. Brodeur got his 552nd NHL win, which broke his tie with Roy.
A ceremony followed after, with Brodeur cutting the net from the posts and skating laps around the ice to thank the fans. It was truly a night that Martin Brodeur will cherish for the rest of his lifetime.

Here is what Brodeur had to say about his monumental feat:

"It was an exciting night," Brodeur said. "I'm definitely happy that it's done and over with. It's been kind of chaotic for me a little bit the last few days, but it was an awesome night with great reception from the fans. I thought it was pretty cool (tying Roy) in Montreal, but this topped it."

Congratulations Martin Brodeur!

All-Star Ovechkin

Pics of the Day
Evgeni Malkin of the Pittsburgh Penguins helps Alex Ovechkin of the Capitals prepare for his last attempt of the Breakaway Challenge at the 2009 All-Star game in Montreal. The favorite was voted on by the fans and Ovechkin won with 47% of the votes.


(To watch in high quality, click the arrow on the bottom of the video and then click "HQ".)

"And the winner of the 2007-2008 Calder Trophy is..."

Pic of the Day
Two of the best sophomores in the National Hockey League, Nicklas Backstrom of the Washington Capitals and Patrick Kane of the Chicago Blackhawks. Both were candidates for the Calder Memorial Trophy last season; Patrick Kane being the actual receiver, Nicklas Backstrom the runner-up.


The Calder Memorial trophy is awarded to the NHL's best rookie in a particular season. Some of the best players in hockey's history have won this trophy; like Bobby Orr in the '66-'67 season, Mike Bossy in '77-'78, Ray Bourque in '79-'80, Mario Lemieux in '84-'85, Martin Brodeur in '93-'94 and Alex Ovechkin in '05-'06.
In general, to be named one of the best rookies in the league is an amazing feat, one that Nicklas Backstrom was able to achieve.
Backstrom was not the winner of the Calder Trophy last season (2007-2008), but he was the runner-up, behind the winner, Patrick Kane of the Chicago Blackhawks. To even be considered a choice for best rookie in a debut season is amazing. Entering the NHL is a whole different world compared to the other hockey affiliations out there.
For Nicklas Backstrom it was an even greater challenge; a new language, culture and an unfamiliar place far away from his home in Gavle, Sweden.
But Nicklas did not hold back. He finished the season with 14 goals, 55 assists, 69 points and +13.
This season, he has already almost tied the number of goals (currently has 12), and is 6th in the league in assists with 36.

Jonathan Toews of the Chicago Blackhawks was the other candidate for the Calder Trophy last year.


More on the Calder Memorial Trophy here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calder_Memorial_Trophy

Aye, aye Captain Clark!

Pic of the Day
The captain of the Capitals, Chris Clark, fighting Adam Hall of the Tampa Bay Lightning on January 1st, 2009.

On the first day of the new year, the Capitals hosted the Tampa Bay Lightning at the Verizon Center. It was a very eventful game! The Capitals were up 3-0 at the first intermission with goals from Sean Collins, David Steckel and Mike Green. In the second period Tampa Bay scored 3 goals, and the caps one, by Matt Bradley. Finally in the third period, the Capitals continued their lead scoring 3 more goals by Alex Ovechkin, Boyd Gordon, and the number one leader of the team, Captain Chris Clark. He hadn't had a goal since November 28th, 2007 because of a fractured forearm that caused him to miss most of the 2007-2008 season. On Thursday's game, he was close to a Gordie Howe hat trick (assist, goal, fight), just missing out on the assist.
The Caps ended up winning 7-4.

And incase you didn't know, Jamie Heward of Tampa Bay spent a night at Sibley Hospital after the hit from Ovechkin which caused a concussion.

Happy Birthday, Shaone Morrisonn!

Pic of the Day
Defense man Shaone Morrisonn scored the overtime goal against the New York Rangers on December 23rd, 2008, the same day as his 26th birthday.


On December 23rd, 2008, the Capitals played the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden in New York City. In the first period, the Rangers were leading 4-0, but the Capitals did not lose hope. Alex Ovechkin scored in the second period to start off the scoring. Tomas Fleischmann and Viktor Kozlov both scored in the third period along with Alex Ovechkin again, to tie it at 4-4. The game went into overtime, and 59 seconds in, Shaone Morrisonn scored the winning goal. Ironically enough, it was also Morrisonn's 26th birthday! What a great present to himself and the whole team! Well done, Caps! This just shows that you can't lose hope in your team, and that anything is possible in the world of hockey.

Here are Alex Ovechkin's comments on this game: "They stopped playing hockey, they probably believed 4-0 they'd win the game. They tried to play conservative, but we play a different way. We play a hard, physical game and take lots of shots. You see the results."

Merry Christmas!

Karl Alzner on the board

Pic of the Day
Karl Alzner scored his first ever NHL goal in his 6th ever NHL game. They were playing at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto. He scored at 1:41 of the second period, and his goal was unassisted.

Brooks Laich defends his team

Pic of the Day
Some of the Capitals at practice playing a game called "Juice Boy", which they almost always conclude practice doing (see end of entry for details).

Because of the recent injuries to mainly defense men, the coach of the Capitals, Bruce Boudreau, decided to put Brooks Laich on defense for the game against the Los Angeles Kings on November 20th. Brooks played extremely well for it not being his usual role on the team. He blocked not only one shot, but two, which aided the goalie Brent Johnson. The first was a wrist shot from Jarrett Stoll, which he blocked with his shin while sliding, and the other from Drew Doughty, which he was forced to block with his left hand because he was without a stick.
When he got back to the bench, a few of his teammates, including Nicklas Backstrom, Alex Ovechkin and Donald Brashear, took turns praising Laich on a job well done defending the net. Here is what Captain Chris Clark had to say about Laich: "We need that type of player. To sacrifice your body to block the puck is the hardest thing you can do. I think in any sport to sacrifice your body like that is the hardest thing you can do. It's great."


Continued information on the Pic of the Day- "Juice Boy" is a skills competition the capitals play at practice. The last player to hit the corners of the net inside the sticks must serve Gatorade to the rest of the team, and face some not-serious teasing.