As the Washington Capitals prepare for Game 5 against the New York Rangers at Verizon Center tonight at 7:30 pm, the NHL announced the finalists for the Hart and Lindsey awards, and Caps captain Alex Ovechkin was listed as a candidate for both awards. For the Hart Trophy, the league MVP, Ovechkin was joined as a candidate by the Penguins Sidney Crosby and the Islanders John Tavares. The Ted Lindsey Award, voted on by fellow members of the NHLPA, will be decided between Ovechkin, Crosby and Lightning winger Martin St. Louis.
The team also called up several players from the now-eliminated Hershey Bears for the remainder of the playoffs. Known as “Black Aces”, these players will practice with the Caps but in all likelihood will not see any game action. The recalled players were: goaltender Philipp Grubauer and defensemen Dmitry Orlov, Tomas Kundratek, Cameron Schilling and Nate Schmidt.
See below for audio from head coach Adam Oates, Ovechkin, and others.
05-10-13 Adam Oates Practice RAW
05-10-13 Alex Ovechkin Practice RAW
05-10-13 Jay Beagle Practice RAW 05-10-13
Nicklas Backstrom Practice RAW
05-10-13 Tom Wilson Practice RAW
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