Too much hype

Dear ESPN, TSN, Pierre McGuire, Don Cherry, etc:

Stop talking about my team. Pretty please? Stop talking about our "Cinderella run", how under-rated we are, how hard working, how we are definitely going to trounce the Flyers. Please, please, stop. Have I officially lost it? Maybe. Read on, then judge.

I've had Caps season tickets for two years and watched them on and off for a handful of years prior to that. What I have liked most about being a Capitals fan (and this is essentially selfish) is our little community. Yeah, there isnt a huge hockey community in DC but its a loyal one that has been selling out homes game. But the community here is tight and we all sort of recognize each other, going in and out of the metro to the Verizon Center for six months. We see each other at practice, nod hello on VC escalators, comment each other to death on blogs. And since DC is a classic band wagon town, we'll see a our ranks swell when the Caps are on a run, then even out again to the loyalists. Its as intimate an experience as you will ever get in professional sports.

But all of sudden, the Caps are everyone's team. And after watching a painful rebuilding process for the Caps, I cant help be a little weary of all these new accolades coming our way. As Shan pointed out, where are all the gloating Caps fans? Well, we are hiding behind our computers and vintage Langway jerseys, hoping that all this sudden attention doesnt distract our very young team, the majority of whom have a season or two under their belt and no playoff experience. I cant help but be a little fearful when I hear that the press box can hardly contain all the out of town journalists, after the press box used to ring if not emptily, then at the least was a bit lonely with beat writers from the Washington Post and Washington Times as the only print news regulars.

I also want to add the caveat here that I am not worried about all the chatting blogs are doing about the Capitals (including, of course, my own). I'm superstitious about all the talking heads claiming that the Flyers are going down because the Capitals are hot, hot, hot. And Cinderalla. Or some version of that.

Its entirely possible and likely that I am being paranoid, and as the Caps are consummate professionals, they will go into the playoffs with the same vigor and determination they showed in the last weeks of the off season. But I hope you dont blame me for being just a bit scared, and crossing my fingers every time I see the words "Cinderella" and "Capitals" in a story.

Note: I regularly blog over at Hockey's Ladies of Greatness, and this is a piece originally written for that site. Be sure to head over there and check out a great hockey website, written entirely by fangirls.

Note 2: I may have blogged too soon! Here is another article on the Caps, and its nice to see some love for Tom Poti.

Sport Squee Christmas Party

Green and I made it, and brought taco dip (thats right, I didnt go with Ovie. Already losing out on the New Year's resolution). CapsChick made it too.

The good, the bad, and the funny of hockey insults

I take on hockey insults over at HLOG. Check it out.

Where to begin...

This weekend the East Coast ladies of HLOG joined Rebecca and I for a I-95 HLOG convention. We (Becca, Steph, Ellie, Teka, Pookie and Schnookie) spent most of the weekend in Ballston, watching the Caps practice at K-Plex. We spent the rest of the time drinking until we couldnt feel our faces. If you have not already, I would really recommend heading out there to check the Caps out. The facilities are beautiful (in fact, several of the people we were with commented on how nice the rink is, compared to where their teams practice).

Some highlights from both days:

- Alex Semin was wiping out all over the place on Sunday. At one point, he was just skating around and fell backward before steadying himself with his stick.

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- Nylander looked terrific on the ice. On Sunday, the coaches had the players partially sprinting, and then leisurely skating the length of the ice. A lot of the players, especially the younger ones, were mailing it in. Nylander went hard every time it was his turn to sprint. At one point he and Alex Semin seemed to be racing each other, with Nylander narrowly winning. Considering that Semin is about a decade younger, I was pretty impressed.

- Nylander and Semin were also practicing drills together, and Nylander was really impressive. He handled the puck around sharp turns really well, while Semin was wiping out on the same drills.

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- Milan Jurcina and Jakub Klepis were pretty funny on the ice. They were shooting pucks after practice, and had a little one on one going on. Jurcina used his much larger frame to give Klepis a few friendly shoves, until Klepis grabbed his stick and tried to pull the 245 lb. Jurcina toward him. This didnt work out so well for Klepis, and he ended up with Jurcina pushing him headfirst toward the ice.

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- Ovie and Olie had a little rivalry going while playing on different scrimmage squads. Ovie started it off by doing a little boogie once Olie was scored on. Olie did his own little dance when his squad evened it up.

It did my soul good to see some hockey, and I cant wait for the pre-season games next week. I am still playing catch up from this weekend, but I noticed the Caps lost to the Canes in overtime. Considering that we sent a squad that was primarily made up of rookies, and the Canes played most of their regular season players, I am pleased.

On a side note, one of my favorite bloggers has retired (I'm already itching for a comeback). DC Sports Chick is a funny, knowledgeable, and kind blogger, not to mention one of the few females in the DC blogosphere. She will be sorely missed. Thank you DCSC for some great reading.

Side note #2: Eric McErlain has a new podcast.

Pictures courtesy of Teka.

Rant

I cant help but rant about my lack of cable over at Hockey's Ladies of Greatness.

Hello HLOG

Just a little blog business -- I will be regularly blogging over at Hockey's Ladies of Greatness, as well as continuing here at Cap Addiction. The bloggers at HLOG are tremendous hockey fans, and all female. Its a great space for us hockey addicts, whatever your gender. The writing is terrific and a broad range of subjects (from hard hitting forwards to goat cheese) is covered. You can check out my intro Q&A here.