It's Washington Capitals Day
I just got back from the Wilson Building, where Jack Evans and the rest of the DC Council presented majority owner Ted Leonsis (and defenseman Shaone Morrisonn) with a ceremonial resolution declaring today Washington Capitals' Day.
I had been under the impression that this was going to be Washington Capitals Week. At least that's what I heard yesterday. But I guess the team will have to settle for Washington Capitals Day. Either way, the council honored the team for its stunning turnaround and return to the playoffs.
"The Council of the District of Columbia salutes the Washington Capitals for its spirit and countless achievements in advancing sporting excellence in Washington, DC and recognizes its role in elevating our city to prominence in the National Hockey League," the resolution read in part.
Council Chair Vincent Gray singled out Morrisonn during the presentation for playing hurt in the playoffs. We all knew that Morrisonn was playing through an upper body injury (it turns out that the injury was dislocated collarbone). And that he later suffered a broken jaw. But I didn't realize how badly Morrisonn was hurt until today, when I chatted with him on the walk from Verizon Center to the Wilson Building. He intentionally avoided reporters during the playoffs so no one would know.
Morrisonn's jaw is still wired shut and will be for another two weeks. He's been living off smoothies since Game 3 against the Flyers, and as a result, has lost five pounds. He thinks his jaw was broken by an elbow thrown by either Scottie Upshall or Scott Hartnell.
"It's terrible not being able to talk properly and watching people eat juicy burgers and sushi and all of the good stuff," Morrisonn said. "That's the hardest part."
Before the presentation, Evans jokingly took credit for the Caps' turnaround. At some point during the season, it was brought to Leonsis's attention that some fans were upset about the street parking situation around VC. Apparently, many metered spots had been reduced to three hours from four hours. Leonsis told Evans and Evans sprung into action. He got the meters changed back to four hours - and that, Evans said with a laugh, was the reason the building was filled so often down the stretch.
On another subject, the NHL announced the first round draft order this afternoon. The Caps will pick 23rd.
By Tarik El-Bashir |
May 6, 2008; 12:54 PM ET
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Posted by: Capsfan | May 6, 2008 1:26 PM
How does one celebrate Washington Capitals Day?
Posted by: Caps 423 | May 6, 2008 1:31 PM
And it still took 7 games for the Flyers to get by, with help from the refs. Mo stands for Monster.
If you dont make it past the first or second round caps day can't possibly have a game on it? Why not make it Caps day during the hockey season, instead of the middle of spring when the teams not playing? Yup. Sounds like the DC Govt all right.
Posted by: oo7 | May 6, 2008 1:36 PM
[quote=Caps423] How does one celebrate Washington Capitals Day?
- Day on the Golf Course without pay?
Posted by: SlavaKM | May 6, 2008 1:42 PM
Q: This was the first year you played in the NHL playoffs. Are these really such special incomparable to anything else games?
"Actually, yes. During the Stanley Cup playoffs every game is treated as if it's the final battle. How can I explain it? Do you remember the Olympics in 2006 in Turin when we had a great game against Team Canada in the quarterfinals [2:0 - Ovechkin scored the game winner]? So with Washington I played seven such games against Philadelphia! When we needed either to win, or to die."
"Everyone want to win the Stanley Cup. Believe me, these are not just empty words."
A great Ovechkin interview at Onfrozenblog and Vogel's blog.
Posted by: Seminfan | May 6, 2008 2:03 PM
OV just scored on the PP, primary to Feds, secondary to Kovalchuk.
Posted by: jmu_capsgirl | May 6, 2008 2:08 PM
How about we celebrate by all screaming Flyers suck.
Posted by: dave | May 6, 2008 2:10 PM
how does one celebrate washington capitals day? Well according to Peerless from the Capitals boards....
Top Ten ways to celebrate "Capitals Week (day)"
10. Spray paint the Washington Monument red.
9. Start a "Flyers Suck" chant at the office
8. End every sentence with, "eh"
7. Walk up to the ticket counter at Verizon Center and ask when tickets go on sale for opening night
6. Go to the Segway store and ask for the "Capitals discount"
5. Go up to a co-worker and ask, "ya wanna go?"
4. Hold a brown-bag lunch discussion on automatic icing.
3. Get in your car, and do nothing but Zamboni turns on your street for an hour
2. Wives...at bedtime tonight, ask your husbands to "unleash the fury"
...and the number one way to celebrate Capitals Week...
1. March up to City Hall and shout, "I'm proud to be a citizen of the District of Ovechkinia!"
Posted by: Sombrero Guy | May 6, 2008 2:17 PM
@ sombrero guy -- #2 is an instant classic!
Posted by: Go Skins Go | May 6, 2008 2:34 PM
Man, I wish I had known about this. Are DC Council proceedings open to the public (he asks as a life-long DC resident)?
I could have dealt with a bonus excuse to leave work for something Caps-related this spring. Heh!
Posted by: Goat | May 6, 2008 2:36 PM
1) Tarik: How did the Caps get hosed to pick 23rd? It would seem that the 14 non-playoff teams would go first, then the first round losers(8 more teams) would go 15-23. How did the Caps get the last pick of that group??
2) They must have had fewer points during the regular season than some of the other 'losers'.
http://newfaux.blogspot.com/
Posted by: fauxrumors | May 6, 2008 2:39 PM
I happened to be in D.C. in Jan. and was lucky enough to see the Caps play Montreal. I am a huge Habs fan (from Canada), but I wanted to see Ovechkin. He did not disappoint with four marvelous goals including the game winner in OT. For me, that was Caps Day and I am now a huge Ovechkin fan. It would have been great to see the high flying Caps and skilled Habs in the Eastern Conference finals - NO MORE TRAP HERE!
Posted by: Johnnybarfly | May 6, 2008 2:40 PM
@ fauxrumors
teams that get eliminated in the first or second round of the play offs who did not win their conference get picks first. Teams that won their division get picks after. that is why the caps are at 23
its all on nhl.com
Posted by: | May 6, 2008 2:45 PM
I read about this in the Express and On Frozen Blog today. I was amused to learn about Washington Capitals Week on Tuesday, and even more so now to find out about Washington Capitals Day when it is already half-over. Way to render it meaningless, DC Council.
Congrats to Ted, though. And it's always great when the team gets extra publicity.
A couple of side notes:
I'm pretty sure I would have lost more than 5 lbs if I had been living on smoothies for 2 weeks. Then again, to me a smoothie is a concoction of fruit, juice, yogurt and ice. ShaMo must be liquifying some steaks and potatoes in the blender.
Also, I would love to know where these 4-hour meters are...
Posted by: Jill | May 6, 2008 2:46 PM
Anyone with a legal background should read the actual wording of the resolution, it's hilarious.
excerpt: "WHEREAS, The Washington Capitals stunned the NHL and fans alike by coming back from a slow start to make the Stanley Cup playoffs for the first time in five years; and
WHEREAS, The Washington Capitals Rocked the Red in the 'Phone Booth', displaying tremendous skill, spirit, and athletic achievement on the ice;"
Posted by: honed | May 6, 2008 2:48 PM
P.S. Hey Tarik, how does one talk when one's jaw is wired shut?
Posted by: Jill | May 6, 2008 2:50 PM
@Jill
- clench your teeth and try to speak. Same basic effect. A friend of mine had their jaw wired shut from a car crash a few years back.
Posted by: Sombrero Guy | May 6, 2008 3:16 PM
I will celebrate Washington Capitals day by checking my boss into the wall next time he walks past my cube.
I will probably be working late, so when the guy comes by to vacuum...FACE WASH!!!!
Posted by: Arthur on the Rocks | May 6, 2008 3:38 PM
C.Ward is getting done for team Canada... however, Tim Thomas is not...
USA leads in SOG 13-6
Canada is up 2-0
Posted by: JSchon | May 6, 2008 4:03 PM
new thread
Posted by: | May 6, 2008 4:13 PM
I think its kinda lame if we have a caps day just because of a relatively successful season. And the burgundy and gold day a couple of years ago when the redskins won a playoff game for the first time in a while.
It think the Wizards, Caps, Skins, and Nats should all get their own week. And it should be in or towards the end of the regular season, so it can be EVERY YEAR! And, unfortunately, people can't root for their favorite teams a ton EVERY day during that team's season. So we might as well give it a week. This way it doesn't make the champions (if not from DC) look at us and say we are stupid fans, celebrating for making the playoffs. Instead, it will look like we are fans with lots of spirit. This will also affect fans of other teams and maybe spark more interest in certain teams, especially the Capitals (less hockey fans but their should be more) and the Nationals (new team = more local fans of other teams).
So the Wizards, Capitals, Nationals, and Redskins should all have their own weeks.
DC is the perfect example of a sports town. Just we don't seem to have as much spirit as other places. I say it's the perfect example because we have 1 team for each of the four major sports leagues (and a good soccer team). 1 is better than 2 (like New York) because if a team is doing well, only half the people like it and there is much less spirit. But places like Detroit and DC have fans that have common beliefs because of one team that everyone roots for and represents them
Wow, this is now more of an essay and less of a comment. whatever.
Posted by: Lucas | May 6, 2008 5:58 PM
Actually, the problem with parking around VC is that the metered parking used to expire at 6:30 pm, making it ideal to park on the street before a 7 pm start. Then it was changed to 9:30 pm with a 2-hour limit, making it ideal ... for DC to raise revenue from fans who attend games once their meters expire (unless they leave after the 2nd period).
Posted by: Jim H | May 6, 2008 6:15 PM
Tarik -
Any word on the RFAs? Eminger comes to mind...
Thanks.
Posted by: YourMom | May 7, 2008 6:56 AM
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first
we should get a day off...