Caps vs Pens Last Night: A Thriller Once Again. And New Headshot Rule

If you didn't catch the Capitals and Penguins game at the Verizon Center last night here in DC, then you missed a great one. Washington won the game via shootout style 4-3 on home ice. Yes, I understand that some of you may be turned off because of the media hype between the Crosby and Ovechkin "rivalry." But you must not be a hockey fan if that alone makes you ignore such a great matchup and ultimately, and great game.

The Caps were down 2-1 entering the third period when Alex Semin began the surge with a shorthanded goal to tie the game, followed by Eric Fehr's 21st goal of the year to give Washington the lead. However, Jordan Staal of the Penguins tied the game again at three, and the game went into overtime.

In the shootout, things looked bleak early on for Washington, as Kris Letang and Sidney Crosby lifted the Penguins to an early twi goals to none lead. Alex Ovechkin, who has not always been so successful in the shootout, scored, along with Alex Semin and Mike Knuble, who recieved his first career shootout goal. Along with Jose Theodore stepping up in net after the first two Penguins goals, the Caps ended up winning 4-3 on home ice against Pittsburgh.

For a full recap of the game, check out my post on The Hockey Writers at http://thehockeywriters.com/capitals-penguins-game-3

While I claim this game to be one of the best games to watch all year, the whole first half of the game was dominated by the team in black and white - yep, the referees. I try to avoid making complaints about officiating these days, but when it was as blatant as it was last night, it's hard to avoid the discussion.

The Capitals had five penalties called against them, while the Penguins had one penalty. What was hilarious was how the Penguins power play dominated the flow of the game. The Caps penalty kill was rather impressive, allowing only one goal, despite the constant pressure the PK unit faced.

It was difficult to watch the seemingly uncompetitive matchup. Still, the Cardiac Caps did a great job of persevering through all of that and ultimately winning the game in the shootout, which isn't always the case in those situations.

Nonetheless the officiating was HORRIBLE and ATROCIOUS! Like as if it was illegal to call a penalty on Pittsburgh. It's one thing to see a lot of calls, but for it to go all one direction is ridiculous. Even the most neutral of spectators got livid at the number of missed calls that should have been on Pittsburgh (tripping anyone?).

Whatever, the Caps won, and are up 3-0 in the season series with Pittsburgh. I look forward to leaving the series to the regular season. I want to see the Caps win a Cup after all (will be revisted at a later date).

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Also, today it was announced that the NHL has approved a new rule prohibiting "a lateral, back-pressure or blind-side hit to an opponent where the head is targeted and/or the principal point of contact..."

...Meaning, they're disallowing headshots... which I thought was already kind-of-sort-of against the rules, but I suppose not if they just approved of one today. Ottawa Senators center Jason Spezza called the decision a "band-aid" solution. According to The Ottawa Sun, an unnamed player says this is partially because the players had wanted this rule implemented last season, and it was not put in until this season as a result of the outrage from the Matt Cooke incident.

That is a little unfortunate, since concussions were an issue the League was trying to look at before, and logic tells me that cutting down on head-hunting and risky hits would help decrease the number of concussions players were experiencing. But since when did logic matter in sports?

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Finally, as if anyone's bracket wasn't already burned, shredded, or eaten up by some animal/child/adult-person, the wildness continues. Cornell is out of the tournament though! The one underdog team that I was willing to cheer for is now out. You don't go with logic when it comes to this.

In fact, I heard some guy's 6-year-old was on point this year with some picks based on mascots... If there's something I NEVER put money on, it's NCAA basketball. Every year. I get angry watching some game because I did not pick that team to win, and they go almost all the way, if not entirely to the final two.

*If you were unaware, I don't like underdogs. Davidson? I hated them (I can revisit this later too)... well, unless they were American University *open bias*.

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I' will be at the Calgary Flames/Capitals game at the Verizon Center on Sunday. The game starts at 3pm. Follow me @LadyHatTrick1 for in-game updates and commentary.

NHL or the Olympics? And Opening Night for the NFL!

NHL superstar Alexander Ovechkin made a profound statement Wednesday to ESPN.com about going to the Olympics: "I don't care... I'll go play in the Olympic Games for my country. If somebody says to me, 'You can't play,' see ya."

The skilled Washington Capitals winger is referring to the NHL's proposal to suspend players for going to play for their respective countries in the 2014 Olympics, which will be in Sochi, Russia in order to discourage NHL players from interrupting their seasons with the NHL to go to the Olympics.

One reason many owners and NHL exceutives are concerned about their players and the possibility of injuries that affect their playing status when they return to the League. The risk of injury in the Olympics is possible and it has occurred before.

The most recent and crucial injury suffered in the Olympics by an NHL player was former goaltender Dominik Hasek when he was with the Senators. Of course, as NHL followers know, Hasek never really recovered from that injury and the goaltending duties were eventually handed to Ray Emery, while Hasek left the team and retired.

However, major injuries from the Olympics are not common, and players often come back and after a game or two get back to regular season action. As for Alex Ovechkin, tough as he is, he would probably come back to the Capitals first game back.

The other concern is the break that the NHL takes in the middle of the season. Games are stopped for about two weeks in February for the Winter Olympics and teams are concerned about the mindset of teams after that break. Also of course, is the concern over time lost in gaining money from games.

But if players, especially at the caliber and celebrity status of Alex Ovechkin, want to play for their country, and make statements like Ovechkin did, it would not be wise for the NHL to go through with suspending players for wanting to represent their country of origin. Considering the next Olympics take place in Russia, and the number of players that are originally from there, it would be a BAD look for the NHL to do that.

If the NHL were to seriously suspend or discourage players in anyway for wanting to win their country a medal in 2014, I see it happening like this: Alex Ovechkin could very well go ahead and play in the Olympics. The NHL will suspend him, along with a couple of other players. What happens then is that not only do fans get angry, but players get angry. It's also a possiblity that other leagues will take note, and all those international players the NHL get will transfer to those leagues for more personal freedom.

Therefore, the NHL needs to be smart about this one. Do they really want to lose fans and players over a couple of weeks in the season? The NHL already suffers from poor decisions made by executives and the commisioner Gary Bettman. They do not like to focus on the correct way to make business. But if they want to remain a league, they will have to refrain from suspending players for being patriotic. You don't want Ovie to ruin you. The loss from suspension is greater than the gain.

Note to NHL: get it together.

Notes...

NFL Opening Night

Today was the opening day for NFL football. I was very excited to come back from a long hard day and a fire drill to kick back and watch some football.

It turned out to be a really exciting game. The Pittsburgh Steelers seemed to have the upper-hand most of the time, with the Tennesee Titans showing up on bursts of energy and skillful performance. And despite the fact that it was low-scoring all night, there was much intensity and aggresiveness from both teams - remained action-packed. The only thing is, that it's games like this where you wish that they could play more overtime instead of the anti-climactic first possession ender on a field goal.

What I'm concerned about though is this Madden Curse that is oh-so true... Troy Pololamlu... And you want to tell me that him being out 3-6 weeks possibly has nothing to do with being on the cover of Madden 10? Those who don't believe in it are in denial...

Now for Sunday, I'm going to go out and enjoy a full-fledged day of football, and watch my team, the Cowboys, play :)

Still not the Hamilton Coyotes?

Jim Ballsillie (I saw someone joke around and call it Balls-silly - which made my day).... I'm getting REALLY tired of seeing text after text every day from my NHL notifications that tell me the NHL has denied the Phoenix Coyotes from moving to Hamilton, Ontario.

My issue is that WHO CARES ABOUT THE COYOTES?! For real though? Who does!? People are not really fighting to keep the Coyotes in Phoenix, so why not make more money with the team and move them to a market that ACTUALLY CARES about a hockey team? Try again in Phoenix when the NHL is a major sport again. This may be continued at a later date.

The Caps' starting goalie is...

And finally, I'm happy to see Simeon Varlamov loving Arturs Irbe, his new goalie coach, and his new mask. Although coach Bruce Boudreau has stated that Jose Theodore is the official starter, he also claims that if Varlamov ends up playing better than Theodore, then he could very well then be the starter over Theodore at a later date. I'm pulling for Varly, but whoever starts needs to get my hockey team to a Stanley Cup!