WASHINGTON CAPS' ALEX OVECHKIN, ALONG WITH ANDERSON AND TKACHUK, NAMED NHL STARS OF THE WEEK

The Washington Capitals' Alex Ovechkin was named first star of the week on Monday.

Ovechkin posted two goals and an assist in the Capitals win over the Boston Bruins -- the team's regular season opener. And he followed that with a goal and two assista in a 6-4 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday.

Colorado Avalanche's Craig Anderson, a goaltender, was announced as the second star, and St. Louis Blues' center Keith Takchuk captured the third star. Sphere: Related Content

WASHINGTON CAPITALS -- A TERRIFIC SEASON START!

Watching the Capitals win is always a great thrill -- and reading about the team's win is simply icing on the cake!


At the Washington Capitals website, the Caps-Bruins game recap began:

"Strong Start – The Capitals struggled through the first few minutes of Thursday’s season opener against the Bruins in Boston, but goaltender Jose Theodore was sharp between the pipes He made several strong stops early to keep the Bruins at bay until Washington could find its legs and get its offense on track."

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In other Capitals coverage:
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CAPITALS OPEN WITH A BANG -- BY COREY MASISAK, The Washington Times

"BOSTON | Sign up Washington Capitals coach Bruce Boudreau for 81 more of those.

The Caps opened the 2009-10 campaign Thursday night with a 4-1 throttling of the Boston Bruins at TD Garden on the strength of a stout defensive effort and a pair of goals from both Alex Ovechkin and Brooks Laich.

"If you could bottle that game up, we'd take it every time," Boudreau said. "We weathered the storm in the first six or seven minutes, and"

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THEODORE REDEEMS SELF -- The Baltimore Sun, BY TARIK EL-BASHIR, The Washington Post

"José Theodore waited more than five months for the chance to redeem himself after his shaky performance in the playoff opener last April.

On Thursday in the Washington Capitals' season opener at TD Garden, the veteran goaltender made up for lost time. Theodore made 19 saves, including 10 during a frantic first period, and Alex Ovechkin"

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ALEX OVECHKIN SEALS SPOTLIGHT -- BY STEVE CONROY, Boston Herald

"The Bruins [team stats] opened their season last night to great fanfare and incredibly lofty expectations, from Stanley Cup-starved fans as well as puck pundits throughout North America.

But it didn’t take long for Alexander Ovechkin to steal the show."


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Final: Capitals 4, Bruins 1 -- BY FLUTO SHINZAWA, Boston Globe

"At least there are 81 games remaining, right? Because it can't get much worse than Game No. 1, which saw Brooks Laich and Alex Ovechkin score a pair of goals and the Bruins commit mistake after mistake."

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THEY BARELY GOT STARTED -- BY KEVIN PAUL DUPONT, Boston Globe

"It’s much too early to issue a wake-up call, but the Bruins definitely didn’t hear the alarm clock go off on the opening night of the season, when they showed up at the Garden ill-prepared to play 60 minutes - and ripe to be embarrassed by the Washington Capitals."

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NHL OPENING-DAY ROSTERS

Washington Capitals Opening-Day Rosters

Nicklas Backstrom, F; Matt Bradley, F; Chris Clark, F; John Erskine, D; Boyd Gordon, F; Mike Green, D; Milan Jurcina, D; Boyd Kane, F; Mike Knuble, F; Brooks Laich, F; Quintin Laing, F; Brendan Morrison, F; Shaone Morrisonn, D; Michael Nylander, F; Alex Ovechkin, F; Brian Pothier, D; Tom Poti, D; Jeff Schultz, D; Alexander Semin, F; Tyler Sloan, D; David Steckel, F; Jose Theodore, G; Semyon Varlamov, G.

Injured reserve: None.

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EXCITEMENT IS IN THE AIR -- FOR THE WASHINGTON CAPITALS AND OVECHKIN!

As the Washington Capitals forge into the regular season opener for 2009-10 season, news outlets have highlighted the excitement with numerous articles devoted to the Caps, their management and their players.

But Caps fans -- and, of course, Ovi fans -- had to especially love an article in The Washington Times titled, "Is Ovechkin the next Great One?"

The article, written by Corey Masisak, reads: " Wayne Gretzky's career total of 894 goals is supposed to be unreachable, but if Alex Ovechkin were to duplicate what he has accomplished in his first four seasons three more times, he would begin the first year of his new contract within reach of the Great One's hallowed achievement. "

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Team fans obviously think that they know the answer -- Of course, Ovi is the next "Great One!"


At The Washington Post, Tarik El-Bashir had his own article asking, "Is This the Year for the Caps?" And a secondary title reads, Ovechkin Leads Core of Talentedd Players Who May Have Their Best Shot at the Cup.

This article begins: "For the past four seasons, the world's best hockey player has performed in Washington. As a member of the Capitals, Alex Ovechkin has won a scoring title, led the National Hockey League in goals twice and been named MVP two years in a row." And it goes on to say that the prize that Ovi is expected to deliver has eluded him so far.

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And Reuters also posted a captivating headline: "Caps' Boudreau thinks Ovechkin's best is yet to come" The article, written by Steve Ginsburg, begins: "Washington Capitals coach Bruce Boudreau believes he has yet to see the best of two-time MVP Alex Ovechkin.
"He can get a lot better and I think he will," Boudreau told Reuters. "Offensively, I don't know. But we need to see him do it both offensively and defensively. There's a lot of room for improvement in his game. And that's something because he's really, really good right now."

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The Winnipeg Sun asked their panel of hockey experts from across the country to name the top 50 players -- and the result was, "One area where there was little debate was the NHL's best player. Alex Ovechkin. Electricity on ice. The Washington Capitals star was close to a unanimous choice as the NHL's No. 1 player, with Pittburgh Penguins' Sid "The Kid" Crosby getting the only other first-place votes. "

Those experts once again answered the often-asked question of who is best, Ovechkin or Sidney Crosby -- and the experts, it appears, did it decisively!

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Throughout the U.S. and Canada, excitement is in the air -- and this year let's hope that the excitement lasts all the way to hoisting the Stanley Cup!

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FIRST WASHINGTON CAPITALS CONVENTION -- A WHOLE LOT OF FUN!

The first ever Washington Capitals Convention this past weekend was a roaring success -- an all-day extravaganza for fans of the entire Caps team and individual players.

My daughter and I attended together -- a wonderful mother-daughter bonding day. But in saying that, it sounds like the two of us are Caps fans -- and in actuality, every member of our family follows and roots for the team. In fact, my first game was with son, Stuart. At the time I was completing a media analysis for the Capitals as my college internship, and Director of Public Relations Lou Corletto offered two prime-location tickets. Stu and I had the time of our lives watching the Capitals win -- and we were hooked! In fact, it was such fun that it became a tradition that Stu gave me Capitals tickets as a Christmas gift each year. And later it became a tradition for the whole family to go to a game during the holiday season.

But to get back to the convention. Right off the bat, Drew and I stood in line for an assigned time and table in order to collect autographs -- and, as we were standing there, we glanced up to see owner Ted Leonsis walking by us. Thrill number one for the day! Since our time was limited, we opted for the earliest autograph time slot -- each taking a different table so that our autographs would not be identical.

Next, we scoped out the Convention Hall -- joining the large crowd gathered for the Opening Ceremonies and later searching though the used hockey equipment for some "gem" used jerseys. And then it was on to the shop where we stood in line with other excited fans to buy Capitals sweatshirts and jerseys. Drew bought a Clark t-shirt, and, while I wanted one for each player -- there was no way to bypass the Ovechkin one! Everyone loves Ovi!

And the Capitals' trophies were numerous and amazing! Our race horses have won quite a few stakes level trophies -- but none of the trophies in our sport could compare with those awarded to the Capitals!

But I had just one "absolutely must do" item on my convention list -- attending the Let's Make A Deal session with panelists George McPhee and Dick Patrick. The event was to provide a glimpse into "how a trade is constructed and how it progresses, who is involved and what actually is in the Caps 'war room.'"

Now for what might be a stunning confession -- as much as I enjoy watching the Capitals play and was eager to see favorite players, most of all I wanted to attend vice president and general manager George McPhee's session! No question -- I must be his biggest fan! I have admired him for the excellent decisions he has made in structuring his career, his talent on the ice as a player and also for his brilliance at the helm of the Capitals. It seems incredible to be so skilled and talented on so many levels. So nothing could have been more exciting than his glimpse inside the Capitals operation -- a chance to hear his beliefs and thoughts on the trading process.

The session was everything that I expected -- enjoyable and instructive. I've never heard GMGM speak without learning something. The only disappointment was that occasionally, at least were we were sitting, the sound system was not perfect so that we could not always decipher what was being said. Still, it was a minor point -- and the session lived up to expectations as the highlight of the day! In fact, it was so enjoyable that we regretted that we could not stay for all of the sessions throughout the day. But that will be the plan for next year!



Collecting autographs was the final event in our plans -- but the lines were long so that we didn't have the time -- so simply walked around the convention hall for a glimpse at the players who were there to sign. That actually was a whole lot of fun -- especially for my daughter who saw her long-time favorite Peter Bondra. Once she had snapped a few photos of the Capitals' once superstar, she quickly phoned her older sister, and exclaimed, "Guess who I saw! Peter Bondra!" She knew that would stir up a bit of envy!

It was a terrific day -- one that we will never forget! And you can count on the fact that we'll be back there again next year, hopefully with more time than we had this year! Sphere: Related Content

CAPITALS WIN FINAL PRESEASON GAME WITH A 4-3 WIN OVER RANGERS

The Washington Capitals capped preseason play with a 4-3 win over the New York Rangers.

Brooks Laich had a goal and an assist, while goals were also scored by Alexander Semin, Chris Bourque and Mike Knuble. And the Caps' goaltender Semyon Varlamov stopped 28 shots.

Scoring for the Rangers were Artem Anisimov, Evgeny Grachev and Donald Brashear.

The Capitals' finished the preseason play at 4-2-0.

After Laich's initial goal, Semin added another giving the Caps a two-score lead. Then they added two more goals at early in the second period, giving the Capitals a 4-0 lead. But New York got on the board when Anisimov scored on a power play in the third period. Grachev next scored -- followed by Brashear with just four minutes left to play.

The Rangers garnered only 11 shots in the first two periods, but upped that to 20 in the third. Lundqvist faced 24 shots during two periods, then was replaced by Stephen Valiquette.

The Capitals open the regular season in Boston on Thursday night. Sphere: Related Content

OLIE THE GOALIE HAS RETIRED!

Awww, it sort of tugs at the heart -- the end of an era, even though it ended with the Washington Capitals before today. Still, there is a bit of -- actually, let's face it, a whole lot of -- once a Capitals player, always in our minds and hearts. And Godzilla was so incredibly great -- so totally amazing!

"South African-born German international goaltender Olaf Kolzig, best known for his years with the Washington Capitals in the NHL, announced his retirement on Wednesday," according to Reuters. "Kolzig, an NHL All-Star in 1998 and 2000, played most of his career with the Capitals who drafted him in 1989."

Yep, of course he was known for his years -- heck, his career -- with the Caps! Those of us who are long-time Caps fans could never forget our own Olie the Goalie -- Olie the Great! -- and can still hear the chant, O-lie, O-lie, O-lie!

"The 39-year-old goaltender made eight appearances last year for Tampa Bay Lightning before injury cut short his season and although he was traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs he did not feature for them."

Wow! Olie is 39! How quickly the years do pass. And if he's 39, how old does that make us?

"It was in the U.S. capital, though, where Kolzig made his name after several years learning his trade in the minor leagues," reported Reuters. "He won the Vezina Trophy as the league's top goaltender after posting 41 wins in 1999-2000, and also helped the Capitals reach the 1998 Stanley Cup finals."

It's a record to be proud of. Olie will certainly never forget the Caps -- nor will we forget him. He was one of the best, and seemingly one of the most underrated.

"While I appreciate everything the game has given me and certainly will miss it, I am looking forward to spending more time with my family and remaining involved in hockey in some capacity," Kolzig said in a statement released through the NHL Players' Association, the news release concluded.

There is no doubt, Olie was and remains very respected and loved by his Caps teammates and fans, and always will be a part of the Caps family!

Olie, thanks for the good times and the memories. Best of luck -- have a healthy and happy retirement!
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Statement from Capitals chairman and majority owner Ted Leonsis:

“Olie was the face of the Capitals franchise for years, on the ice, in the locker room and around Washington, D.C. He was a great Capital and the organization and our fans will always have fond memories of ‘Olie the Goalie.’ We wish him and his wonderful family all the best in his retirement.”

Kolzig retires with a number of Capitals goaltending records, including:

- Career games played (711), minutes (41,259), wins (301), save percentage (.906), saves (18,013) and shutouts (35)

- Single season games played (73, 1999-00), minutes (4,371, 1999-00), wins (41, 1999-00) and save percentage (.920, 1997-98) Sphere: Related Content