Alex Ovechkin on the Washington Capitals' Loss

Many of us who even casually follow the National Hockey League thought this might actually be the year when the Washington Capitals, a team that typically wins during the regular season but fails to advance far in the playoffs, might actually hoist the Stanley Cup.

But, the team lost in the opening round to the eight-seeded Montreal Canadiens, a franchise that has won more cups than other team in the league.

The Capitals' star player and Russian Olympian Alex Ovechkin, who may still very well be named the league's MVP as the team had the NHL's best regular season record said he was simply devastated that the team lost to Montreal 4-3 in a best of seven series. The Caps also had a 3-1 advantage before the Canadiens won three straight to win the series.

Ovechkin told nhl.com that this would be a proverbial period of adjustment for him:

"When you lose, you try to forget about it, but when lose in a game like this, it's pretty hard to say something."

Silly Photo to Fill Space- Minor League Hockey Mascot

Anyone want to see a minor league hockey game at midnight?

Well, on Thursday, Feb. 18 at 11:59 p.m., the puck will drop in Charlotte, NC, as the home team Charlotte Checkers face the visiting Toledo Walleye.

The Checkers are also hosting an "Icing Autism Night" when they play the Trenton Devils on March 19. Procedes from that game will go to Autism Speaks (autismspeaks.org).

While researching this piece, it was interesting to learn that the league in which the Checkers belong the East Coast Hockey League now has teams like The Alaska Aces, The Idaho Steelheads, The Las Vegas Wranglers and the Utah Grizzlies. The ECHL even has a team in Victoria, British Columbia (Canada), called the Victoria Salmon Kings!

In fact, Mark Derlago of the Steelheads was named ECHL Player of the Week.

The ECHL used to include my hometown team The Roanoke Express (1993-2004) from Roanoke, Va., and their rival The Richmond Renegades from Richmond, Va. The Express failed to reach the league's playoffs in the team's later years and they had management turmoil which lead to their abrupt folding.

The Renegades started a new franchise with the same team name in the Southern Pro Hockey League in 2006, but that team folded as well in 2009.

The future is not much brighter for the Checkers as they face the chance of relocating or discontuning after this season.

The Checkers' web site (gocheckers.com) said that the contributions of newcomers Matt Stefanshion and Ryan Crane have helped the team beat their southern rivals, The South Carolins Stingray (based in Charleston, SC) and the Gwinett Gladiators from Gwinett, Ga.

The team also features players like Mike Taylor (forward), Trevor Glass (defense) and Ryan Munce (goalie).

There are some active NHL players from both the old Express team and the Checkers franchise.

Jason Jaffray (Vancouver Canucks) and Vernon Fiddler (Nashville Predators) both played in Roanoke.

Eric Boulton (Atlanta Thrashers) and goalie Chris Holt (Ottawa Senators) once skated for the Skaters.

Those of you who are hockey fans may also want to check out my extensive profile of Washington Capitals' star player Alex Ovechkin, who will be competing for Russia at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics. One could not have imagined in 1984 that two Russian players (also Alex Semin) would be playing pro hockey in the capital of the United States! I guess the question is: "Do we credit Reagan?" or "Do we credit Gorbie?" Since this is not meant to be a political entry, I will simply let you decide!

The Washignton Capitals Win 14th Game in a Row!

Yesterday, the sports world was justifiably focused on the Super Bowl game in which the New Orleans Saints defeated the Indianapolis Colts 31-17.

But, in the nation's capital, under some 30 inches of snow, just a short while after former Bill Clinton administration spokesperson Dee Dee Myers spoke in a roundtable discussion on "Meet the Press," the Washington Capitals won their 14th game in a row with a come-from-behind victory over the Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins by a 5-4 margin in an overtime game at the Verizon Center in downtown DC.

The Capitals were helped by their star player Alex Ovechkin who scored a hat trick for the Caps. Ovechkin will be playing for Team Russia during the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics, which start on Friday.

Mike Knuble added the game-winning goal in overtime to complete the comeback.

The Caps now head on a three-game road trip starting with a game on Wednesday night against the Montreal Canadiens, which will be televised on the CSN-DC cable network in Washington, DC, Maryland and Virginia.

The team's next home game is against the Tampa Bay Lightning on March 4 (my 40th birthday). The last time that the Lightning were in town, it took them two hours to get to their team hotel in downtown DC from Dulles International Airport in Dulles, Va., (a trip that would normally take a half hour) due to the first winter blast that struck the nation's capital.

In a CSN poll, 69 percent of Caps' fans indicated that the team will sweep their three game road trip which concludes in St. Louis. But, that is kind of like asking Newt Gingrich what he thinks of President Barack Obama's performance in the White House so far. I think the most challenging game for the team will be the second road game against the Ottawa Senators.

SIDENOTE: My alma mater, Radford University, won its home game with High Point University at the Dedmon Center in Radford, Va., yesterday by a 77-63 margin. The game was originally scheduled for Sat., but it was postponed due to snow. The final score of the game was not reported by ESPN on its scroll last night, so I had to look it up at radford.edu
We presume this was because the game was rescheduled. For the Highlanders, Blake Smith of Charlotte, NC, lead the team with 15 points, followed by star center Art Parakhowski's (of Belarus) 12 points. Joey Lynch-Flor from Fairfax, Va., scored 10 points as did my favorite Highlander Gorkem Sonmez from Turkey (my late father's country).
Two other Turkish NCAA men's basketball players Deniz Kilicli of West Virginia University, and Dogus Balbay from the University of Texas will play on ESPN tonight. The WVU Moutaineers face the Villanova Wildcats and Texas faces.......aaah, we forgot the other team....whoops! The double-header starts at 7:00 pm, eatern time.
But, I know the Radford Highlanders will next face Charleston Southern from Charleston, SC, in Radford on Thursday night. The game tips at 7:30 p.m.