World Junior Championship 2011 Preview

A look at this year's World Junior Championship, which starts tomorrow. Team Canada and Team Russia will face off, while Team USA will play at 8pm on NHL Network.  Team USA looks to win just their 3rd gold medal in tournament history and their 2nd in two years.



Who do you think will win the tournament? And which of the Caps prospects will impress the most? Will there be another John Carlson-like moment, and if so who will have it? The journey begins tomorrow. Comment or email in your thoughts!

Caps Bear Down in 5-1 Win

The 2010 Calder Cup championship team seems to be the gift that keeps on giving.  Three representatives of the 2009-2010 Hershey Bears scored tonight in the Capitals’ 5-1 win over the New Jersey Devils: Andrew Gordon, Jay Beagle, and John Carlson (in that order).  At a time when the teams’ top players are dry on offense, it was a boost the Caps needed.

The youthful injection was visible from the start.  The Caps’ younger Gordon scored at 16:41 into the game, a game that had little momentum or intensity until that moment.  It was his first career NHL goal in his fifth career NHL game.

“It’s a weight lifted off my shoulders,” Gordon said, “I came here wanting to contribute and show I could do it up here.  I’ve had a couple of opportunities the last few games but finally got a nice one to squeak through on a great pass.”  Gordon later added an assist on Jason Chimera’s goal, recording the first multi-point NHL game of his career.  Chimera reached a milestone on the play too, notching his 200^th career point.

Beagle would be the next Bear to contribute.  His goal came almost halfway through the game, at the 10:01 mark of the second period.  It also felt good for Beagle to get a goal against Martin Brodeur, a player he grew up watching.  “Marty, you know, he’s an intimidating guy,” Beagle said, “I saw him in warm-up, and grew up watching him, and to score on him was obviously a great thing.”

Tuesday Puck Talk Week #10

We skipped over week 9, but here is week 10. I talk Perreault, 24/7, Pens and more.

Capitals @ Bruins Preview (Video) 12/18/10

A look at tonight's fourth and final meeting between the Capitals and the Bruins.



Remember to send in suggestions for Tuesday Puck talk! Leave them in the comments or email in at kgsdistrict@gmail.com

Apologies and Looking Forward

A Surprising Balance

Last night, the hockey world watched the premiere of HBO’s 4 part series, 24/7 Penguins Capitals: Road to the Winter Classic.  Expectations were through the roof, and HBO Sports had a lofty history of the 24/7 series and Hard Knocks to live up to.  It did that: and then some.

Every single aspect of this show was impeccable.  I will get to the editing and production in a little bit.  An entire book could be written on that alone.  The first thing I noticed when the show started was how even it was.  They must have taken a stopwatch to the footage to be as accurate as they were.  There was the exact same amount of time spent on each team and its players.

You may say “Well, that’s their job,” and you’d be right.  But the fact is that objectivity is hard to fully achieve.  While everyone in the media is supposed to be completely unbiased, that isn’t the case.  Just tune in to any locally broadcast sporting event and you will see the bias.  It isn’t intentional, but when you spend enough time with someone, you tend to take their side in matters.  Beat reporters are glued to the hip of their team, and it can result in coverage that is a little slanted.

Using this same logic, you would think that the HBO producers would have developed biases by now, seeing every aspect of the life of every player on each team.  If they have, none of it showed through in the broadcast.  Not being partial after following someone for 24 hrs a day is incredible to me all on its own.

And that’s before you get to the actual production of the show.  Let’s start with the editing.  I don’t know how many of you have ever edited video, but it’s a fairly painful process.  It’s awesome to watch the final product come together, but you want to include everything.  You can’t but you want to, and it makes cutting very difficult. 

They have 24/7 footage of two teams, their coaches, and select players to go through.  That’s not including game footage.  Snipping all that down to 55 minutes is difficult enough, even without the quick turnaround.  The show aired Wednesday and contained material from Sunday night.  For some perspective, I did a 1-minute sports update every week for our TV station that included B-roll. It took me 20 minutes to edit. Now imagine having to do that with 24/7 worth of footage for a 55-minute show.  Yeah, not a single member of that crew slept the last two nights.

The most impressive part of the show for me was the scene that tracked the Caps’ 7-0 shutout loss at Madison Square Garden.  The music choice was phenomenal, building a mood that brought you through what the players were feeling.  The lack of narration gave it such a feel of raw emotion.  One of the most personal speeches given was also heard during the 2^nd intermission, when assistant coach Dean Evanson told them to “Pick up your sock,” and “F-ckin’ compete.”  It was an emotionally charged segment that really gave the audience a look into the psyche of the Capitals.

If this is a glimpse of what is to come, than yes please.  The opening episode had all the makings of an Emmy Award-winning series.  Hopefully the fates of the teams will change slightly so that we can get a more complete look at all the personalities, but so far, this show gets a huge A+.

Panthers @ Capitals Preview (Video) 12/9/10

Here is a preview of the first meeting of the season between the Florida Panthers and the Washington Capitals.  The Caps swept the series last season.





Remember to send in questions for PFC Dowd to kgsdistrict@gmail.com.  Its also never too early or Puck Talk suggestions!