In case you didn't realize it....

Good Morning all!  It's a beautiful day here in Northern Virginia, I have the heat off and the windows open.  I love spring, always have and likely always will.

So just an FYI for my fellow hockey fans, in case you missed it the old NHL Southeast Division is loving and pretty much tearing up the temporarily COVID realigned standings.  All five former Southeast Division teams are well in the thick of the hunt to make the 2021 Postseason Playoffs.  My Washington Capitals are just two points behind the NY Islanders (but with a game in hand) in Second Place in the "Mass Mutual" East Division.  The Winnipeg Jets (former Atlanta Thrashers) are in third place in the "Scotia" North and are three points/a game and a half ahead of fourth place Montreal. Finally in a surprising twist the other three former Southeast Division Teams, Carolina, Tampa Bay, and Florida are stacked in first, second, and third place respectively in the "Discover" Central division and are all at least three and a half games ahead of the fourth place Chicago Blackhawks.

What a difference a decade makes....

Well that's my musing this morning.  I plan on planting some bulbs and if I can find them a couple of nice yellow rose bushes today to relax.  Thanks to Sam Ruiz and his "crew" from Ruiz Landscaping, my spring yard cleanup has been completed, looks beautiful and in combination with todays lovely weather is inspiring. Tonight I'll watch the Caps-Flyers game (Lets Go Caps!!!).

Hoping everyone stays, safe, healthy and well!

Back???

 What is it about March?  It seems to be this time of year that gets me thinking (musing) about blogging again.  I'm pretty sure I will once again start blogging more regularly.  Now with the pandemic, and other changes in my life, though I doubt my shared musings will be exclusively tied to things totally centered around NHL Hockey, though it is my other than work diversion.  Over the next couple of weeks I'll be revamping and revitalizing "Mark's Musings" and give this all a month or so to see how things go and if my musings illicit any new followers or comments, etc.  After that then I'll reevaluate as to whether it make sense to continue.

Thanks for reading this and stay safe and healthy, everyone!

Let's Go Capitals!

3/20/2019 Some Thoughts After Last Evenings 4-1 Caps Victory

Well attending last evening' Caps game in Newark was enjoyable.  The Portuguese food in Newark's Ironbound District was delightful and the Caps played a reasonably good road game.  My friend Jim's seats as always were awesome (witness the view from my seat as shown at right).

I can attest that Devils' Goalie McKenzie Blackwood played better than his game stat line might lead you to believe if you didn't watch the game yourself.  I can also say without a doubt that to get another two points tonight against Tampa Bay here in DC, the Caps will need to play even better than they did last evening in Newark.  No predictions on the outcome for tonight's game but:

LETS GO CAPS!!!!!!!

3/19/2019 - Trying To Get Started Blogging (with some discipline & regularity) Again

Well here I go again. Once again I'm trying to get started blogging again.  As in the past, this blog - Mark's Musings - will be my most regular blog and likely primarily blogs about my avocations, particularly, my love and interest in Ice Hockey and my favorite sports team, the NHL's Washington Capitals.  This lovely morning finds me on the Amtrak Regional headed up to Newark to have a business meeting followed by dinner and a hockey game (Caps vs. Devils) in Newark. I know I've blogged about my prior trips to Newark for Devils - Caps games but hey, why not, they are fun and usually very interesting for me.  At this point of this particular NHL season, the Devils are outside the playoff picture looking in, and in a position to be spoilers.

This evening, besides being at "The Rock" rooting for the Capitals, I'll be rooting for the Bruins (to beat the Islanders) and the Hurricanes (to beat the Penguins) - no sense looking to play either the Islanders or Penguins in the first round if our Caps don't need to though I fully expect any road to #BackToBack has to go through at least one of them AND Tampa Bay this season.  Speaking of the Lightning - WOW - they've clinched the President's Trophy with 10 games remaining, AND more importantly they looked really, really powerful the last game the Caps played them.  Speaking of looking really, really powerful - how about that Alex Ovechkin?  With ten games remaining in the regular season, he's just two goals away from ANOTHER fifty (50) goal season, and five (5) goals ahead of Leon Draisaitel as the league's leading goal scorer.  Ovi is, IMO, clearly the best goal scorer of his generation, and perhaps of all time.  At thirty three (33) his nickname a a "Russian Machine" that Never Breaks is well deserved.

As for tonight's game, I'm looking forward to it - last time I was up in Newark, at the beginning of this season, the Caps did not look good or do well.  I expect the way they've been playing this game will be a different story.  We'll have dinner in Newark's Ironbound District then head over to the game - at least that's the plan.  We'll sit behind the goal the Caps defend twice, if I'm REALLY lucky, Ovi will score a goal in the first and then his 50th in the second where I'll be able to see and capture it on my phone really well.  If that happens, I'm also planning on buying extra Powerball tickets tomorrow as my karma will be REALLY REALLY great and who knows what might happen? A trifecta tonight would be looking online after the game and seeing that former Capital/Devil Marcus Johansonn had a hat trick as the Bruins beat the Islanders so the Caps were solidly in first place in the Metro Division. Hey - it could happen.

Seriously I'll just be pleased if it's a solid, well played 60 minute, 200 foot game by the Capitals and they win. My prediction? Easy peasy.

Caps 4 - Devils 2

Lets Go Caps!!!!!