A Tribute to Jeff Halpern

A couple of days ago, while Willie Mitchell was taking up all the Caps news because of his workout for the team, something slipped through the cracks.  There was another non-cap skating at Kettler that day too.  His name was Jeff Halpern.

Caps fans know him well, and he will always have a special place in the hearts of locals.  Halpern is from Potomac, M.D., a suburb of D.C. (and the current residence of yours truly).  He went to Churchill High School, where there was no hockey team at the time.  Thus, he left home and transferred to St Paul’s School in Concord, N.H.

After graduating from Princeton, Halpern began his NHL career with the Capitals in 2000.  He was never drafted, and signed as a free agent with the Caps after graduation.  He was only the second NHLer from Maryland in the history of the league, and the fact that he was a local kid who grew up admiring the Capitals instantly endeared him to fans.

A New Project

As some of you may already know, I accepted a position today to cover the Washington Capitals for The Hockey Writers.  Because of this, I am changing the makeup of this blog slightly.  All my Caps analysis posts and things of that nature will now be found posted on thehockeywriters.com.  I am still going to keep this blog for any Nats, Skins, or Wizards posts and for more fun, satirical posts on the Caps.  Please follow me over to the Hockey Writers during this transition!

Thank you all for your support and taking the time to read my posts.  Hopefully, there will be better things to come!

Willie Mitchell to Caps?

Something that the Capitals have been lacking in the last couple of year is a sound, veteran, physical, stay-at-home defenseman.  There were several names that came up not only at the trade deadline, but also at the start of free agency that could potentially fill this void.  One of these names, Willie Mitchell, has become a very interesting option.

The defensive defensemen has spent the last four seasons with the Vancouver Canucks, amassing 10 goals and 58 points in that time with 233 PIM.  What he is most known for, however, are his crushing hits.  He laid a hit on Jonathan Toews last season that knocked the Blackhawks Captain out of commission for six games.  The best part? It was completely clean.  Toews even admitted after the game that while it was a hard hit, he should have had his head up and it was his own fault.

Glimpse of the Future: Patrick Wey

To get us through these last couple of months until training camp, I will look at some of the lesser-known prospects in the organization who have unexpectedly impressed.  This will be called "Glimpse of the Future" and this will hopefully be the first of many I am able to do. Enjoy!

Patrick Wey let out a sigh of relief this morning when he was not among those who received the news they would be leaving Lake Placid, N.Y. and the United States National Junior Team Evaluation camp.  The Capitals’ fourth round (115^th overall) pick in the 2009 Draft is safe for now.

At last month’s development camp, Wey impressed.  His skills appear to be coming along, and the more time he gets playing with older, larger players at Boston College the more he will develop.  The 6’2 200lb physical yet well-rounded defenseman began his elite hockey career with the Waterloo Black Hawks of the United States Hockey League.  The Pittsburgh native moved to Iowa to play for the Black Hawks at the tender age of 12.