The Week In Review - Stars Surpirse Wings and Make A Go Of It

The last week in review could have these headlines.
For NHL fans try these two on: A) Stars Make a Go Of It, Surprise the Red Wings 2 -1 at the Joe; and B) Flyers Still Alive and Eagerly Awaiting Kimmo's Return.

For ECHL Fans: It's "Cincinnati Advances To Kelly Cup Finals Cyclones Beat South Carolina 2-1 In Overtime "

For Local (Bristow/Gainesville/Haymarket, VA) lacrosse fans it's "Battlefield Bobcats fall 8-9 to Osborn Eagles In First Ever Playoff Appearance"

For Caps Fans It's: "Green, Semin, Federov & Ovechkin Make To Play For World Championship" Yes, it's Canada vs. Russia for the championship and the way Semin, Ovie and Federov have been playing together perhaps, if it weren't for the two years remaining on his contract, Michael Nylander might be getting a little worried.

For folks who follow ICx Technologies it's: "ICx Technologies Reports First Quarter 2008 Results"

So overall it's been a pretty busy week. Work continues to go at a hectic pace and on the personal front getting ready to watch our son graduate from high school and start at the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy on July 10th is keeping us quite busy and productively occupied. The Caps blogs have all been a little slow, I attribute this to the fact many of the players who management would want to negotiate with have all been at the IIHF World Championships. Truth be told all the Caps involved have turned in pretty respectable performances in the tournament. Here's a few notes for those looking to catch up. Even though Nicklas Backstrom's Sweden team lost their Bronze Medal match-up to rival Finland 4-0, Backstrom had a pretty good tournament and was a force to be reckoned with despite his young age. Nicklas was one of Team Sweden's Ice Time leaders and had 3 goals, 4 assists and was +1 for the tournement and had a Faceoff Won percentage of 58.6%. Over on Team France, goalkeeper Christobel Huet was able to turn in a respectable GAA of 3.60 and a save percentage of 91.12% while salvaging a 2-3 record for an otherwise very young and inexperienced team. As for Mike Green and his performance for Team Canada, in 8 games played so far "Game Over" has 4 goals, 7 assists and is +1 averaging 14:19 of ice time per game. In seven games played for the Czech Republic, Tomas Fleischmann, had 2 goals, 3 assists and was +/- +6. Finally, Team Russia boasts 3 Washington Capitals the Sashas (Ovechkin and Semin) and Sergei Federov. Ovechkin, a leading candidate for the NHL's Hart Trophy, has 6 goals, 4 assists and is +9 with an average of 16:59 minutes per game over the 8 games played leading up to today's championship match-up. Semin, one of the other Washington Capital "Young Guns", also has 10 points - 4 goals and 6 assists, and is +9 with an average time on ice (TOI) of 18:11 per game. The elder statesman, Federov, has 5 goals, 5 assists and is +9 with an average TOI of 17:22 per game.

I just checked the online feed and the IIHF championship game finished regulation tied 4-4. Semin scored the first goal, assisted by Ovechkin and Federov. The Canadians then scored 3 unanswered tallies through the rest of the first. Semin then scored the second Russian goal early 1:14 into the second period on a power-play. Heatley answered at 9:56 into the second to keep the Canadians up by 2 at the end of the second. During the third period the scoring at least was all Russia and they tied the game up. For third period scoring, 8:55 into the period Tereshchneko scored assisted by Semin and Tyutin and at 14:46 into the period Kovalchuck tied the game at four where it's stayed until the start of overtime. Clearly, Washington Capitals have a lot to look forward to next season. LETS GO CAPS!!!!!!

Post Game note: Right after I posted this originally, Ilya Kovalchuck scored the game winner on an overtime powerplay the primary assist on the goal - Sergei Federov. From a personal perspective I don't know if the Caps and Sergei can figure out a way to have him in a Caps uniform next season but I sure hope they do. I believe he's got gas left in his tank and would once again be a real help in the post-season if (Scratch That, WHEN) the Caps make the playoffs again next year.

Next Round of NHL Playoffs Start Tonight as do NOVA High School LAX Playoffs

The NHL Conference Championship Round of the 2008 Stanley Cup Playoffs start tonight when the Dallas Stars faceoff against the Detroit Red Wings at 7:30 EDT at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit. It's a pretty safe bet that even the HOT Dallas Stars Goalie, Marty Turco, will have his hands full with the "pucksters" from "Hockeytown". Both Conference Championship series: Dallas - Detroit, and the next chapter in the Pittsburgh - Philadelphia rivalry should be a treat to watch. Now that San Jose is out of the action my last team in the playoffs to root for - Philadelphia - is playing the team that IMHO Caps Fans like to watch get beat the most, so my allegiances are once again fully aligned. It's nice to be "unconflicted" once again.


Closer to home the Battlefield HS Boys Lacrosse Team takes on the Osborn HS Eagles at Osborn in Manassas, VA. The Battlefield Bobcats, in just their fourth year of existence have amassed a regular season record of 9-5 while the Eagles are 10 -3. They will meet in the Virginia Cedar Run District Playoffs on Thursday. In the regional power rankings Osborn is #85 and Battlefield is 188th, so the Bobcats will be looking to pull off an upset to avenge their 11-5 defeat at the hands of the Eagles earlier this season on April 9th. LETS GO BOBCATS!!!!

The playoffs continue for the Captials ECHL affiliate South Carolina Stingrays on Friday when The 2008 Kelly Cup Playoffs American Conference Finals will begin in Cincinnati when the North Division champion Cincinnati Cyclones host the South Division champion South Carolina Stingrays in Game 1 of a best-of-seven series at the U.S. Bank Arena. It is the third trip to the conference finals for South Carolina and the second trip for Cincinnati. The Stingrays won in each of their previous trips to the conference finals in 1997 and 2001, going on to win the Kelly Cup both times, while Cincinnati lost in seven games in 2003 to eventual Kelly Cup champion Atlantic City. Cincinnati will host Game 2 at 7:30 p.m. ET on Saturday before the series travels to the North Charleston Coliseum for Games 3 and 4 at 7:05 p.m. ET on May 14 and 16. The winner will advance to the Kelly Cup Finals where they will meet the National Conference winner. The National Conference Finals begin on Monday when top seed Las Vegas hosts sixth-seed Utah in Game 1 of their best-of-seven series.


Finally, here's a pretty cool on-line article about "The Great Eight".

South Carolina Stingrays Best Columbia Inferno 2-0 to Advance in ECHL Playoffs

Last night the Capitals ECHL Affiliate South Carolina Stingrays bested their cross state rival Columbia Inferno 2-0 in regulation at the North Charleston Coliseum to stay alive in the Kelly Cup Playoffs. The Stingrays now play a 7 game series against the Cincinnati Cyclones who bested the Reading Royals 6-1 in their "rubber match" last night in Cincinnati. If the Stingrays beat the Cyclones they will then compete for the ECHL Championship (the Kelly Cup). LETS GO RAYS!!

In local high school sports Osborne Park beat Battlefield in Boy's Lacrosse last evening. This evening Battlefield completes their regular season home games boys lacrosse schedule against Loudoun Valley in a makeup game for a rain out. It's senior night at Battlefield as they take on a tough opponent and try to get their 10th win of the season. This evenings game is "at home" - Battlefield High School - in Haymarket, VA. LETS GO BOBCATS!!!!.

Finally, what about the weather today. This morning driving down the George Washington Parkway to work at 6:30AM I was really struck by how much I love this time of year here in DC. The only way it could be better would be if it was us instead of those blasted Flyers fans buying tickets to home playoff games against the Penguins. LETS GO CAPS!!! and what the heck - LETS GO .... SPRING !?!?!?!