A Happy Friday In Bristow

As I settled in to watch the Caps hopefully rebound from Wednesday's loss to Chicago with a victory over Atlanta, a busy but exciting and pleasing week came to a close. Since my son Chris didn't know where he wanted to go and didn't apply to any colleges early admission or early decision, we are just starting to hear from colleges. So far, he's gotten acceptances from his proud father's Alma Mater - the United States Merchant Marine Academy, and George Mason University. Still to be heard from are James Madison University and the University of Virginia, though we'll hear about those two in the next 10 days. In any case, he now has a choice that includes an excellent education for free with a "study abroad" year second to none. Additionally, at Kings Point (aka USMMA), he might also get the chance to continue playing Lacrosse, a sport he's come to love and that now plays varsity goalie for his high school - the Battlefield Bobcats.

Work has been hectic, in addition to working closely with several of my ICx Technologies colleagues on a proposal for a large program I spent three hours yesterday in NY meeting with a representative from a company we are hoping to partner with on some other new ventures. Currently, we have so much going on in regards to chasing new business and it's all really exciting stuff. While it's disappointing how bearish the stock market seems to have become about ours and others prospects, I have no doubt that long term we'll be a successful venture. I'm also very excited about the new products and new features to products we'll have and be announcing at the upcoming Security Industry soiree - ISC West - in Las Vegas April 2-4th.

Putting the cherry on the sundae that was today was the Caps 5-3 comeback victory over hapless Atlanta AND Alexander Ovechkin's 59th and 60th goals of the season. Tonight's Caps victory kept Washington's playoff hopes alive. The win was even more important given the Philadelphia Flyers shootout victory over the Rangers, since it keeps the Caps just two points behind the 8th place Flyers. Throughout much of the game it looked like Atlanta netminder Kari Lehtonen was going to steal one from the Capitals. Throughout the season the Caps and Alexander Ovechkin have generally dominated Lehtonen. The first period started atypically for an Atlanta - Washington game and was a "cat and mouse" battle until Ovechkin netted his 59th goal of the season at 15:18 of the first period. However, throughout the first five minutes of the game and often during period two the Caps looked a little pensive and Atlanta always attempted to pounce. At time the Thrasher's pushes during the second period succeeded and they rose to the opportunities given them, especially Jim Slater who scored both a "shortie" and an even strength goal in the second period. Even though the Capitals out shot the Thrashers in the second period 14 - 10, they were outscored 0-3 and during two power plays Atlanta controlled the pace of play. That said the Caps weren't playing flat at any point in the game after Ovechkin's first goal, Atlanta goalie Kari Lehtonen just did a "human wall" impression. The third period was a different story, it was "ALL CAPS, ALL THE TIME", but for the first ten minutes Lehotnian was again a human wall. Then at 11:30 of the third, Ovechkin scored number 60 top shelf, right side over Lehtonen's shoulder, on a pretty feed from Mike Green at 11:30. The goal by Ovie breathed life and hope to a Caps team that had failed to be able to come back after being down at the start of the third period the last 50 times they found themselves in that position. Coach Bruce Boudreau double shifted the first line (Ovechkin-Backstrom-Kozlov) giving them over 10 minutes of ice time in the third period, and they responded. After the Ovechkin goal, Lehtonen kept the Thrashers in the lead for another four and half minutes despite the Thrashers allowing the Caps to completely dominate them with a forechecking and passing clinic and basically shell their 24 year old Finnish goalie. The Caps continued to press hard and double shift line 1 until at 16:00 Nicklas Backstrom was setup by another great play from Mike Green and scored his 13th goal of the season. Thirty-two seconds later at 16:32, Backstrom scored his second goal of the night, he scored his second of the night on a design play that could only be a design play for a team with a left wing named Alexander Ovechkin on their roster. With the Caps now up 4-3, Lehtonen became visibly frustrated and threw his stick down, who could blame him for being angry, his team hadn't played in a way that kept up with the Caps for over 15 minutes. Goalie Christobel Huet got a point with a secondary assist on the first Backstrom goal. The Caps kept pressing even though the Thrashers did try and make a game of it during the final three minutes. At about 18:15 the Thrashers pulled, put on a sixth skater but the Caps and Huet stood tall; center Boyd Gordon scored an empty-netter, his sixth goal of the season to ice the victory at 19:52. Overall during the third period, the Caps out shot the Thrashers 23 - 2, yes that 2. Despite letting 4 goals get by, Kari Lehtonen had a save percentage of 90.9%. Final score Caps 5 - Thrashers 3. It was a Happy Day/Evening in Bristow. LETS GO CAPS!!!!!!!!!!

Monday 2/11/2008 - A Different Kind of Day

Well today has been a different kind of day for us, Cindy (my wife) & I drove up to the Philadelphia area last evening after dropping off one of our three Tibetian Terriers (dogs) - Dmitri - at the breeders to board while we are up here. We spent last night at the Radnor Hotel and then came over to Bryn Mawr Hospital where she just came out of surgery after getting her left knee replaced. The whole day, while stressful, has been pleasant. Her doctor - Joseph Vernace, MD is one of a few Orthopedic Surgeons in the country using a new type of replacement knee joint called the "Triathlon Knee" and who also has several techniques and approaches that finally gave Cindy the confidence to get her joint replaced after putting it off for seven years. Cindy does home health care as a visiting nurse and over the past 15 years she has seen many folks who've had issues after knee replacement surgery so she has many opinions on what works and doesn't as well as fears about the worst she's seen. She also wanted to wait as long as possible to minimize the chances of the replacement joint wearing out and having to get the surgery two or three times in her remaining lifetime. The technique that this new, custom sized replacement enables actually cuts less bone and muscle tissue and though I haven't seen her yet, the just completed surgery was a little over an hour vice two or more using convetional knee replacement joints. As for the hospital and overall experience so far, I am delighted - it seems the care my wife is getting is very good, and the experience has been made as pleasant as possible for family members too. Just the idea that my wife will soon again be able to walk without pain would have made the trip worth it but the way that Bryn Mawr Hospital is set up for this type of thing and the way everyone here (doctors, staff and volunteers) handles the entire experience so far has been world class.

Interestingly, I haven't thought about the Washington Capitals all day, though I have handled several work related telcons with colleagues from ICx Technologies, Inc and talked in passing with several Eagles and/or Giants fans about the Super Bowl while here in the hospital waiting room. As Caps fans know this is a big week - 3 Southeast Division games and after yesterday's win over the Rangers the Caps are again first in the division. LETS GO CAPS!!!! though I doubt I'll follow much of this weeks games you never know what type of diversions from life's normal upsa and downs I might seek and three SE division matchups might be hard to ignore even during a week where I'll spend most of my time up here in Flyers Country.