Washington Capitals

I’m not sure what is going on here, but I like it.

The biggest beating that has occurred in hockey the last two decades has involved its popularity. Always the neglected stepchild in the American sports scene (a distant fourth behind the holy trinity of football, baseball and basketball), hockey almost did not recover from an ill-advised lockout during the 2004-2005 season. Until then the sport received coveted prime time coverage on ESPN (and ESPN 2); once the NHL imploded as a result of myopia and greed –two things all pro sports do not suffer from a shortage of, but have sufficient funds and popularity to lure fans back– ESPN came to realize that replays of poker games and women’s basketball got higher ratings. Seriously.

Since then hockey has struggled, most of its games being shown on the Versus network. Fortunately, perhaps miraculously the league still gets occasional bones thrown its way via NBC games of the week and the Stanely Cup finals do get big-time coverage. What this means is that there are fewer games shown each week (at least for those without a full cable buffet of sports offerings), and hockey has receded even further in the national consciousness.

So what? For me, I still get to see games on Versus and, of course, we get all the Caps games. Still, it’s kind of sad to consider that the late ’90s are golden years by comparison. I still lament the dissolution of the Gary Thorne/Bill Clement partnership, for my money the best hockey annoucing tandem in modern history. I don’t just miss them in a nostalgic sense; I really miss Bill Clement calling games and his absence makes the already-grating Mike “Doc” Emrick and the ever-insufferable Pierre McGuire that much more difficult to stomach. (Not one to look askance at good fortune, I still count my blessings that Caps fans have the indispensable Joe Beninati and local treasure –and ex-Cap– Craig Laughlin calling each game. It is also a source of considerable good fortune that Caps hockey is quite relevant and, thanks to the impeccable stewardship of Ted Leonsis –the anti-Dan Snyder– should remain viable for the foreseeable future.)

One reason (arguably) that hockey has stumbled in the last ten-to-twenty years is because of the very controversial oversight of commissioner Gary Bettman. In case you were wondering, there is in fact a site called firebettman.com; you can see some widely-held opinions here. One issue that has been a constant topic during his tenure has been the efforts to eliminate fighting from the game. Interestingly, and tellingly, it’s invariably former players who disdain this approach, pointing out that “back in the day” enforcers had a role, and their ability to police the ice kept a lot of the cheap shots out, and kept accountability in. What has happened, in the ostensible effort to “clean up” the game and make it more appealing to the casual fan (Bettman apparently not understanding that when it comes to pro hockey there is no such thing) is that we’ve had more injuries, more dirty play and a general carte blanche for teams to rough it up without having to pay a price. Ignorant ranters who know nothing about the game (and there are many of them employed by major American media outlets) claim that getting rid of the “goonery” has made hockey a better game. Veterans, real fans and ratings say otherwise.

All of which brings us to the past two weeks, a period of intensity, bad blood and old-school frontier justice not seen much, if at all, since the late ’80s. The Bruins have, seemingly overnight, gone from being a fairly soft team to the reincarnation of the Broad Street Bullies. Avenging some unfinished business from a game several years ago (!), Boston engaged in an epic throwdown the other week with Dallas. Then, the other night, they rekindled a half-century old grudge with Montreal. The videos below show the highlights. Appropriately, it begins with the end of the Penguins/Islanders game the other week where the cocky superstar goalie Rick DePietro brought nothing but a smirk into a pas de deux he instigated with (ex Cap) Brent Johnson. It was quick, ugly and wonderful. The frequently injured (soft?) DePietro, humiliatingly, is out for several weeks as a result of the fight he never should have picked. As it happens, there was a dirty hit (shocker) by a Penguin that night so between that, the DePietro smackdown and the merriment on the Pittsburgh bench afterward, a reckoning was all but preordained for the rematch on Long Island.

Brent Johnson TKOs Rick DePietro:

The Bruins and The Stars: some unfinished business prompts three fights in four seconds. As you can see, the fans are appalled by this, and to quote the great Barry Melrose, you never see a spectator leave to grab popcorn during a hockey fight. This team toughness may turn around Boston’s season.

Old school? This is ancient school when it comes to the love lost between Montreal and Boston. The fact that Boston is obviously a scrappier, bigger and tougher time would almost leave a less-than-savory taste in a knowledgeable fan’s mouth, but it turns out that Montreal is perhaps the team in the league most overdue for some old-fashioned comeuppance. Eager to cheap-shot, talk smack and skate away, Montreal is an excellent example of the type of hockey that has been tolerated (encouraged?) on Bettman’s watch: lots of chirping, stick-work and less-than-clean nonsense, the instigator rules and general crackdowns prohibit other teams from squashing it. What went down the other night could be considered a decade and change of pent-up frustration spilling out, and I guarantee few, if any, players in the league shed any tears for The Habs. (For my money the Penguins are the dirtiest team by far, but they at least have players that, for the most part, answer the bell and stand up for one another when necessary. More on that in a moment.)

The much-anticipated rematch last night. Even Gordie Howe would have been surprised, and delighted, by the extent of the carnage. Pens fans are up in arms about how the Islanders went after their smaller players. I suspect this will be revisited in April when the teams meet up again, back in Pittsburgh. (It’s a shame the gutless punk Matt Cooke was not on the ice; as it happened he was serving a suspension for one of his myriad cheap hits. Boston’s Shawn Thornton gained some measure of revenge last season, but it will be a happy day when someone is able to give Cooke a fair and final taste of his own medicine.)

Last night’s festivities between The Penguins and The Islanders:

To be continued, hopefully.

olie

Olaf Kolzig was not merely the goalie and de facto captain of the Washington Capitals from 1996 through 2008. He was the Capitals. His ascendancy not so coincidentally accompanied the team’s first (and only) trip to the Stanley Cup finals. They lost to the Detroit Red Wings, but that was a foregone conclusion: circa 1998, God could have been the opposing goalie and the Wings would have found ways to win. Perhaps more importantly, Olie the Goalie, also known as Godzilla, remained the face of the franchise when they eventually fell on hard times after the 2003 season (a season when they were stacked with talent and laden with the mercurial Jaromir Jagr who mostly underwhelmed and underachieved during his very expensive tenure in D.C.). Olie, at that point could –and perhaps should– have headed for more winning, not to mention lucrative, destinations. But he made it a point that he hoped to play his entire career as a Capital. He was a first rate goalie and a first class guy the entire time. Indeed, it got to the point in the middle of this decade where it was fair to say the franchise didn’t deserve him.

But he never complained and once the team started to assemble some young, precious talent (including the incendiary Alexander Ovechkin, a lottery jackpot the team earned by being so awful in the aftermath of Jagr’s unceremonious departure; a very large blessing in disguise that saved the team money and made them bad enough to land that coveted pick: the rest is history unfolding before our eyes), he was a mentor and a role model.

olie2

Kolzig, for all his heroics on the ice, has (and will) arguably make a more significant mark off it. Anyone who has even a passing interest in hockey is well aware that Olie has been a steady and dedicated advocate in the fight to cure autism. In fact, he co-founded Athletes Against Autism to promote awareness and raise funds for research (Kolzig’s son has autism, which initially drew him to the cause). His impact was indelible and he is one of those rare athletes who actually makes a difference. It’s easy to imagine him taking on an even more active role now that he’ll have some well-earned time on his hands. (I could also envision him as a very effective commentator should the networks come calling.)

It was probably inevitable, and definitely unfortunate, but Kolzig did not end his career in D.C. and the end was not pretty (it seldom is). Pushed aside, understandably, because his replacement could not lose during that incredible stretch run leading into the 2008 playoffs, Kolzig bristled. This was a tough one for true fans. Hockey is such a streaky sport, and goaltenders ride streaks like no other position in any sport (baseball pitchers cannot pitch in consecutive games; football games are weeks apart, and basketball players can be on fire one night and ice cold the next and it won’t necessarily derail the team’s chances): in hockey, if you have a hot goalie you can win. If you don’t, you will lose. So nobody could deny that Olaf watching from the bench was unfair, but it was unfair in the way that life is unfair; it was business, not personal. Nevertheless, the proverbial writing was on the wall: the team was getting younger and faster, and Kolzig, after holding down the fort for more than a decade, was not long for this town. He left in a cloud of acrimony, more likely because of his pride and competitive juices. Still, the team could have handled it better, and Caps fanatics held out hope that when the time came they would do the right thing.

The time has come. Without hesitation, ask Kolzig to retire as a Capital and raise that jersey to the rafters. Kolzig is not only unquestionably worthy of this honor, it’s literally the least this franchise (and city) can do for him. He is, without any possible exception –including the beloved Rod Langway– the most important player in Capitals history. Period, end of discussion. He was a local treasure for years and for the majority of those games near the end he was the only reason to watch the team. In some regards, his stewardship and integrity helped pave the path for success the team seems set to skate on for quite some time. Bring him into the fold, welcome him home, and give him the public honor he so richly deserves.

Back To The Future With Old Time Hockey?

Raise Number 37 to the Rafters