May 23, 2013

CAPS: Current and Former Capitals Signing Autographs

April 24, 2013 by

AUTOGRAPH OPPORTUNITY FOR CAPS FANS!

Several current and former Washington Capitals will be heading out to the Dulles, Virginia on Friday, April 26, 2013 from 7:00 – 9:00 p.m. Autograph tickets are available for purchase. See information below for amount per autograph. Now is your chance to get that something special signed by your favorite Caps.

Braden Holtby - ($65)
Troy Brouwer - ($40)
Jack Hillen – ($20)
Wojek Wolski - ($20)
Aaron Volpatti - ($20)
John Erskine - ($30)

CAPS ALUMNI: (Autographs are FREE with Purchase-see site)

Bryan Watson
Ken Sabourin
Paul Mulvey
Al Hangsleben

See link for more information.

Where: 21100 Dulles Town Circle, Suite #162, Dulles, VA 20166

Jack Hillen - Captials practice at Kettler, September 14, 2012 (Cheryl Nichols/District Sports Page)

Jack Hillen – Captials practice at Kettler, September 14, 2012 (Cheryl Nichols/District Sports Page)

Cheryl Nichols is a Columnist and Photographer for District Sports Page. She is credentialed to cover the Washington Capitals and has reported on the community service and fan events for Nats News Network and Caps News Network since 2006. Cheryl is an accomplished action photographer and has been published in The Washington Post and many other local media. She was a credentialed photographer for the 2010 season covering the Washington Nationals. You can follow her on Twitter @cnichols14.

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Washington Capitals Game 46 Recap: Caps Clinch Southeast Division Title with 5-3 over Winnipeg

April 24, 2013 by

In a crucial late-season game for the Washington Capitals, facing the potential of clinching the Southeast Division or slipping behind the Winnipeg Jets and almost out of playoff position, the Caps put together a playoff-caliber effort in Tuesday night’s 5-3 home victory over the desperate Jets.

Spearheading Washington’s efforts were Matt Hendricks, Jason Chimera, Nicklas Backstrom, Mathieu Perreault, and Alexander Ovechkin, who each scored a goal in the victorious effort to sew up the franchise’s fifth division title in six seasons. Braden Holtby made 24 saves in the process of earning his 22nd win of the season. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Caps/NHL Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Washington Capitals Friday Practice Update: Oates, Alzner, Erskine

March 29, 2013 by

ARLINGTON, VA–The Washington Capitals held one last practice today before they head out on a three-game road trip that could decide the season.

Eric Fehr (upper body) skated for about 10 minutes before practice, but came off the ice.

John Erskine (upper body), Tomas Kundratek (lower body) & Tom Poti (upper body) all skated today.

Erskine said, “I don’t think I’m ready to play a game yet, but I think I’m getting closer.”

He still hopes to play this weekend or Tuesday.

Capitals Head Coach Adam Oates said Erskine is going on the trip.  They aren’t sure about Tomas Kundratek and Tom Poti isn’t going on the trip.  Eric Fehr isn’t going on the trip to start, will skate at KCI and if he feels good could meet them in Carolina.

Jack Hillen (illness) was back on the ice today after not skating yesterday.

Caps forward lines today: Johansson-Backstrom-Ovi, Laich-Ribeiro-Brouwer, Chimera-Perreault-Ward, Volpatti-Hendricks-Beagle-Wolski

Ovechkin (stitches in chin) left practice early, but Oates says it’s nothing and that he asked to come off early and already got a good sweat in.

Oates said he hasn’t decided who will be in net tomorrow, but did say Braden Holtby & Michal Neuvirth will split the weekend between Buffalo and Philadelphia.

Listen here to what Adam Oates, Karl Alzner & John Erskine had to say following practice today.

Adam Oates Practice Audio

03-29-13 Adam Oates Practice RAW

Karl Alzner Practice Audio

03-29-13 Karl Alzner Practice RAW

John Erskine Practice Audio

03-29-13 John Erskine Practice RAW

Filed Under: Caps/NHL Tagged With: , , , ,

Washington Capitals recall Cameron Schilling; Erskine to IR

March 12, 2013 by

The Washington Capitals reached into their AHL affiliate again for personnel, recalling left-handed defenseman Cameron Schilling to make his NHL debut Tuesday night against the Carolina Hurricanes. Schilling will be inserted into the lineup immediately due to injuries to John Erksine (left hand/wrist), who was placed on injured reserve to make room on the roster, and Tom Poti, who is day-to-day with an upper body injury.

Here’s Schilling’s bio information from the Caps press release:

Schilling, 24, has recorded 14 points (six goals, eight assists) and is a plus-seven in 54 games with Hershey in his first full professional season. He currently leads active Hershey defensemen in goals, plus/minus and ranks tied for second in points.

The Carmel, Ind., native played in 144 collegiate games during his four-year career with Miami, collecting 57 points (eight goals, 49 assists) and 155 penalty minutes. The 6’2”, 197-pound blueliner was a member of two NCAA All-Regional Teams (2008-2010) and helped Miami win the 2010-11 CCHA Championship.

Schilling was originally signed by Washington as an un-drafted free agent on March 27, 2012. He will participate in Tuesday’s morning skate and will wear No. 45 for the Capitals.

Schilling is well-regarded by the Capitals brass and will reunited as a pairing with Steve Oleksy, with whom he partnered earlier in the season with AHL Hershey.

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Washington Capitals Game 18 Postgame Audio: Oates, Backstrom, Holtby & More

February 26, 2013 by

WASHINGTON–The Washington Capitals took it to the Carolina Hurricanes 3-0 at Verizon Center for their seventh win of the season as they try and get back into the playoff race.

“Definitely the first two periods,”  Capitals Head Coach Adam Oates said on if this was one of their most complete games.

The Caps dominated the first two periods and at one point were up 31-15 on shots over the Hurricanes.

“That’s by far the best I’ve seen us play,”  Holtby, who stopped 33 on the way to his second shutout of the season, said on a ten minute span in the second that they just dominated.  “Probably since I’ve been in the organization.”

John Erskine got his second goal of the season, one day after signing a two-year extension and Holtby understands how big he is to their success.

“He’s playing outstanding for us. He’s the grit that we need back there.”

The Caps had 40 shots on goal, and even though the Hurricanes Cam Ward was outstanding in net, he couldn’t stop all the Caps chances.

“If you get chances, that means you are doing some good things,”  Caps forward Joel Ward, who was stopped by Cam Ward on maybe the save of the season so far, said. “I’ve had a few tonight myself and some other guys as well. Obviously, it’s a good feeling, getting chances. I thought we played a good team game. Every line was going and everyone had chances.”

The Caps don’t have much time to enjoy this win, they are taking the train up tonight to play the Philadelphia Flyers tomorrow.

“We’ll enjoy it for a little while and then tomorrow morning we’re going to focus on Philly,”  Oates said.  “And we have to get back to work.”

Listen here to what Adam Oates, Nicklas Backstrom, Braden Holtby, John Erskine & Joel Ward had to say following the win.

Adam Oates Postgame Audio

02-26-13 Adam Oates Postgame RAW

Nicklas Backstrom Postgame Audio

02-26-13 Nicklas Backstrom Postgame RAW

Braden Holtby Postgame Audio

02-26-13 Braden Holtby Postgame RAW

John Erskine Postgame Audio

02-26-13 John Erskine Postgame RAW

Joel Ward Postgame Audio

02-26-13 Joel Ward Postgame RAW

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Washington Capitals Game 18 Recap: Caps Dominate Offense, Holtby Rarely Tested in 3-0 Victory Over Division-Leading Hurricanes

February 26, 2013 by

Buoyed by a strong performance in their previous game and excited at the prospect of facing former teammate Alexander Semin, the Washington Capitals dominated play from start to finish Tuesday night against the Carolina Hurricanes and recorded a much-needed 3-0 shutout over the injury-stricken visitors.

Nicklas Backstrom and John Carlson both had one-goal, one-assists nights, while John Erskine also scored and Braden Holtby recorded  33 saves for his first shutout of the season, while the Caps put 40 shots on Carolina’s net and its star goaltender Cam Ward. Mike Ribeiro, Alex Ovechkin, Joel Ward, and Mathieu Perreault recorded a single assist.

[Read more...]

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Washington Capitals Re-Sign Holtby & Erskine; Brouwer goes off as Caps prepare for Canes

February 25, 2013 by

ARLINGTON, VA–Crazy day today in Arlington as the Washington Capitals re-signed goalie Braden Holtby and defenseman John Erskine to two-year deals as they prepare for the return of Alexander Semin and the Carolina Hurricanes tomorrow.

Braden Holtby, 23, signed a two-year contract extension worth $3.7 million.  Holtby has has played in eleven games this season, has a  5-6-0 record with a 3.37 GAA and a .896 Save pct. plus one shut out.  Holtby had a 1.95 GAA, .935 save pct. in the playoffs last season.  Holtby will start his seventh game in a row tomorrow night.

“Just trying to do it ahead of time,”  Capitals General Manager George McPhee said.  “We all believe there is a lot of upside there, good young goalie.”

John Erskine, 32, signed a two-year contract extension worth $3.925 million.  Erskine has played in eleven games this season and has one goal and one assist.  This is John Erskine’s eleventh NHL season and has been playing with John Carlson for the majority of the year.

“I thought he should’ve played more last year,”  McPhee said on Erskine.  “Unfortunately he didn’t.”

The veteran defenseman is very happy with his current role.

“Things have worked out this season and I’m glad to be here a couple more years,”  Erskine said.

If that wasn’t enough, forward Troy Brouwer went off on Alexander Semin and the system they played under Bruce Boudreau.

“Some nights you didn’t even know if he was gonna come to the rink,”  Brouwer said on Semin.

On playing under Bruce Boudreau, Brouwer said, “It was very laxidasical…kind of guys were able to do whatever they pleased. There wasn’t a whole lot of accountability and then when we had a little bit of trouble and there needed to be accountability it wasn’t received exactly with open arms, I’ll say.”

Brouwer does though enjoy playing under Adam Oates, “Everyone’s still accountable. Everyone has to do their job, but he’s letting guys play the way that makes them successful.”

Capitals Captain Alex Ovechkin says he still talks to Semin once a week and wishes he was still playing here.

“Yeah. Of course. He’s great player, good guy, but you know it’s a business.”

On the injury front…Mike Green (groin) says he’s “100 percent” and ready to go for tomorrow.

Marcus Johansson (upper body) is still not ready to go.  “Marcus is progressing,”  McPhee said.  “We’ll see how he is the next few days.”

Nicklas Backstrom (sick) missed practice today and went to go see the doctor.   ”A little under the weather, we’ll see how he is tomorrow morning,”  McPhee said.

Jason Chimera (lower body) left practice early today.  “Nothing major, should be fine. Just being careful,”  McPhee said.

Brooks Laich (groin) hasn’t skated in nine days.  McPhee says he is “concerned about it” and has his “fingers crossed”.  McPhee added that Laich’s current treatment that he is on takes two weeks.

McPhee said “we’ll see” if they’ll need to make a recall tomorrow and added that “it’s already been discussed and what we might do if we need to recall”.

The Caps forward lines today looked like Chimera-Ribeiro-Ovechkin, Fehr-Johansson-Brouwer, Wolski-Perreault-Ward, Hendricks-Beagle-Crabb.

Oates said we could see Michal Neuvirth in net on Wednesday in Philadelphia on the second game of a back-to-back.

Listen here to what George McPhee, Adam Oates, Troy Brouwer, Braden Holtby, John Erskine, Mike Green, Karl Alzner, Alex Ovechkin & Michal Neuvirth.

George McPhee Practice Audio

02-25-13 George McPhee Presser RAW

Adam Oates Practice Audio

02-25-13 Adam Oates Practice RAW

Troy Brouwer Practice Audio

02-25-13 Troy Brouwer Practice RAW

Braden Holtby Practice Audio

02-25-13 Braden Holtby Practice RAW

John Erskine Practice Audio

02-25-13 John Erskine Practice RAW

Mike Green Practice Audio

02-25-13 Mike Green Practice RAW

Karl Alzner Practice Audio

02-25-13 Karl Alzner Practice RAW

Alex Ovechkin Practice Audio

02-25-13 Alex Ovechkin Practice RAW

Michal Neuvirth Practice Audio

02-25-13 Michal Neuvirth Practice RAW

 

Filed Under: Caps/NHL Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Washington Capitals Practice Update & Audio for Feb. 8: McPhee, Oates & More

February 8, 2013 by

The dead-last Washington Capitals held practice Friday after a blow out loss in Pittsburgh Thursday night. Capitals General Manager George McPhee met with the media today to discuss the Caps struggles and said “I like the people here”.

“With respect to the way we’re playing [with regards to] systems, I like the way we’re playing,”  McPhee said.  “I think if you’re watching, our team has really adjusted to the system pretty quickly — we wanted it right away, but it’s quicker than we were hoping for. The issue with our club right now, in my mind, is all these penalties that we’re taking. It’s too much.”

But he says penalties are only half the problems.

McPhee added,  “We’re giving up too many goals and it seems to be related to a lot of these penalties that we’re taking. It’s too hard on the team and it’s too hard on the goaltenders.”

McPhee also talked about on what he can do to fix this.

“If there’s something I can do to make the club better, I will…I’m not going to do anything stupid.”

McPhee added, “We’re going to make good decisions. We’re not going to do anything short-term. We’re not going to blow anything up.”

The Caps forward lines today were: Johansson-Backstrom-Brouwer, Wolski-Ribeiro-Ovi, Fehr-Perreault-Ward, Chimera-Crabb-Beagle-Hendricks.  All eight defenseman practiced.  John Erskine and Mathieu Perreault are likely back in the line-up tomorrow.  Braden Holtby will be in goal tomorrow.

Brooks Laich practiced today and McPhee said “He’s improving and hopefully we’ll see him soon.”

McPhee said that he heard last week that Dmitry Orlov is probably a month away.  McPhee said Jack Hillen is likely another six-to-eight weeks away.

Listen here to what George McPhee, Adam Oates, Troy Brouwer, John Erskine, Tom Poti, Braden Holtby, Michal Neuvirth & Joel Ward had to say today.

George McPhee Press Conference Part 1

02-08-13 George McPhee Presser 1

George McPhee Press Conference Part 2

02-08-13 George McPhee Presser 2

Adam Oates Practice Audio

02-08-13 Adam Oates Practice RAW

Troy Brouwer Practice Audio

02-08-13 Troy Brouwer Practice RAW

John Erskine Practice Audio

02-08-13 John Erskine Practice RAW

Tom Poti Practice Audio

02-08-13 Tom Poti Practice RAW

Braden Holtby Practice Audio

02-08-13 Braden Holtby Practice RAW

Michal Neuvirth Practice Audio

02-08-13 Michal Neuvirth Practice RAW

Joel Ward Practice Audio

02-08-13 Joel Ward Practice RAW

Filed Under: Caps/NHL Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,

Washington Capitals Practice Update & Audio for Feb. 4: Oates, Erskine, Backstrom & More

February 4, 2013 by

ARLINGTON, VA–The Washington Capitals practiced Monday as they look for their third win of the season Tuesday as they host the Toronto Maple Leafs.

The Caps forward lines today were…Wolski-Ribeiro-Ovi, Chimera-Backstrom-Brouwer, Johansson-Crabb-Ward, Hendricks-Perreault-Beagle-Fehr.

Capitals Head Coach Adam Oates still happy with their play despite only two wins, “The team is playing correct hockey. Yeah, there’s mistakes. We try and fix mistakes every day, but I think the team is playing correct.”

More Oates, “I think we’re going the right direction.”

Oates added that he hasn’t decided who will be in goal tomorrow.

Capitals defenseman John Erskine is suspended for two more games (three total) for his elbow to the Philadelphia Flyers Wayne Simmonds.  He said he texted Simmonds to apologize and that he hopes he’s back in the line-up soon.

Erskine said on the incident,  “It was more like a reflex thing, my elbow kind of came up at the last second.”

Tom Poti replaced John Erskine in the line-up yesterday and Oates said he’s going with that group because they’ve been playing well.

On Roman Hamrlik still being a healthy scratch, “He’s a big boy, he’ll get his chance.”

Oates had no update on Brooks Laich.

Listen here to what Adam Oates, Nicklas Backstrom, Mike Ribeiro, Karl Alzner, John Erskine, Joel Ward & Mike Ribeiro had to say today.

Adam Oates Practice Audio

02-04-13 Adam Oates Practice RAW

Nicklas Backstrom Practice Audio

02-04-13 Nicklas Backstrom Practice RAW

Mike Ribeiro Practice Audio

02-04-13 Mike Ribeiro Practice RAW

Karl Alzner Practice Audio

02-04-13 Karl Alzner Practice RAW

John Erskine Practice Audio

02-04-13 John Erskine Practice RAW

Joel Ward Practice Audio

02-04-13 Joel Ward Practice RAW

Mike Ribeiro Practice Audio

02-04-13 Mike Ribeiro Practice RAW

Filed Under: Caps/NHL Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Washington Capitals Game 5 Recap: Oates Gets First Win as Caps Top Sabres

January 27, 2013 by

WASHINGTON–A relieved Adam Oates walked into the press room at Verizon Center Sunday, after having earned his first NHL victory as a head coach with the Washington Capitals topping the Buffalo Sabres 3-2 in a matinee.

For Capitals fans who saw the team stumble out of the gate with an 0-3-1 start to the year, it certainly was a welcome change. Washington rallied from an early Tyler Ennis goal to even the score by the end of the period thanks to a Joel Ward tally, then added a John Erskine goal in the second and Alex Ovechkin’s first goal of the season in the third on a one-timer.

Afterwards, Ward said he felt the team was building off Friday’s 3-2 overtime loss to New Jersey.

“I thought the confidence was there, I thought the mood was upbeat even though we lost in OT,” he said in a happy locker room. “I thought we brought the momentum again today and slowly picked at them and kind of wore them down a little bit. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Caps/NHL Tagged With: , , , , , ,
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