Ovi Plays Well To Give The Fans Free Chicken Wings

The Capitals continue to pull out great offensive performances in game after game.  So far in January the Caps have outscored their opponents 38 to 22 with a record of 6-2.  This all comes after Ovechkin was named Captain after their three game skid to end out December and start January.  The Caps seem to just be rolling once again and have established their offensive rhythm that we all love to see and watch. 

And what does 8 The Great have to say about their great offensive performance as of late?  "I just wanted to give the fans free chicken wings."  Ovechkin truly is a man of the people.  For those who don't know, Glory Days Grill is offering 10 free wings after every home game where the Capitals score five or more goals in a game.  This has happened at three of the four home games this month so far. 

Ovechkin will be looking to give the fans more free wings when the Caps take on the Red Wings on Tuesday.  The Capitals took control of the Eastern Conference with 66 points with their win today against the Flyers and continue to roll.

Agent Zero's Name Still Finds Its Way Into Verizon Center

For every game since Gilbert Arenas was suspended from participating in the NBA with the Washington Wizards, virtually every trace of his name was erased from Verizon Center.  Every piece of Arenas merchandise was taken out of the stores and he was edited out of the pregame video.  One player, however, still found a way to bring in his old teammates name into the game.

Deshawn Jackson took the court for warmups with the name "AGENT" and "ZERO" written in capital letters on the tape just above his ankles.  He said it was because he was still part of the team.

"He's still a part of the team, right?" Stevenson said. "He's still part of the team, he's my brother, so I'm going to stick to him through rough times. It's like my little tribute."

And as if removing Arenas' name from Verizon Center wasn't enough, fans at the game saw a banner focusing on the team's community service with the slogan "On your team, on the court and in the community, Wizards care."

Arenas Benched By Stern And NBA

This couldn't come soon enough.  Stern has finally dropped hammer on Gilbert Arenas after bringing guns into Washington's locker, violating NBA rules pertaining to guns.  Stern said the suspension starts now and that his actions will "ultimately result in substantial suspension, and perhaps worse."  The Wizards respected the decision by Stern saying

"We fully endorse the decision of the NBA to indefinitely suspend Gilbert Arenas," the Wizards responded in a statement on Wednesday. "Strictly legal issues aside, Gilbert's recent behavior and statements, including his actions and statements last night in Philadelphia, are unacceptable. Some of our other players appeared to find Gilbert's behavior in Philadelphia amusing. This is also unacceptable. Under Abe Pollin's leadership, our organization never tolerated such behavior, and we have no intention of ever doing so."

I agree with this suspension and wish it had come sooner.  The NBA is getting a negative image now that all these players are carrying guns around, which in fact is probably true.  But this image is the last thing that the NBA needs right now.  There is no reason that players should feel the need to carry their guns to games and keep them in their locker.  Even if you said you kept them on you so that your kids wouldn't get into them at home, that is no excuse.  Get a lock box and keep them at home!  In a normal job, if your boss walked in to see you keeping a gun in your desk and you used that excuse, you're going to be fired on the spot.

In Arenas' case, he had four guns.  Is this not a little excessive.  Not to mention his subsequent joking, apology, un-apology, and failed re-apology. Oh and to add to it, if your still not convinced try reading his twitter comments that just kept on coming. The NBA needs to, at the very least, suspend him for the rest of the season if not next season as well.  If anyone will do it, it will be Stern.  And a stiff suspension will send word to the rest of the NBA players that guns will not be tolerated in the NBA.

What should the team do?  It's time for a fire-sale.  I know most people won't like that phrase, but lets be honest.  We have the talent but we aren't winning.  It's time to start over, get some good prospects, and rebuild this team back into a winning team.  Seems like thats what every single DC team needs to do right now, excluding the Capitals and maybe D.C. United.

Dan Snyder Gets His Man

Yesterday Mike Shanahan signed his name on a contract that makes him the head coach of the Washington Redskins on a 5 year deal that would give him $7 million a year.  And not only that, the new offensive coordinator will be his son.

But how good will the Redskins be with Shanahan at the helm.  After all, most of his wins in the playoffs came from having John Elway at the starting quarterback position.  And lets face it, Campbell is no where close to being an Elway.

Shanahan's style may also prove a problem.  Shanahan loves to be in control and under the terms of the contract he will have the final decision on all team decisions.  Does this mean Snyder is willing to just sit back and let the people he hired do their jobs?  We can only hope.

With Bruce Allen and Mike Shanahan in control of the team I think the Redskins franchise can finally rebound and get back to its former glory.

BREAKING: Capitals Name Alexander Ovechkin Next Capitals Captain

Its better sooner than later in naming the next captain for the Washington Capitals.  After a three game skid this was the best thing the Capitals could do to help bring the team back together and get them playing back at the level they had been before the Capitals traded old captain Chris Clark.

Alexander Ovechkin has been named the 14th captain for the Washington Capitals.   In terms of skill, no one is better.  But just how good will Ovechkin be filling out the responsibilities of being captain of a team?  In my opinion he will do just fine.  I don't think there is a single person on the Capitals team that doesn't already look up to Ovechkin.

Now that the void is filled, will we see a spark in the Capitals play?  We should see tonight when they return home to take on Montreal.  

Varlamov Expected To Miss 2 More Weeks

The rehab game went well in Hershey in terms of Capitals goaltender Semyon Varlamov in terms of his performance.  He made 28 saves and gave up only one goal in the game against Adirondack.  However in the game he tweaked his lower body injury that has kept him out since December 7th.  This tweak during the rehab game will keep him out for about 2 more weeks. 

Varlamov was chosen for the Russian Olympic team on Christmas Day and the injury, so far, will not keep him from participating in the Olympics.

Redskins Resign Nine Players

Nine players, all of which were on the Redskins' practice squad at some point this year, have been resigned into future contracts.  Running back Anthony Alridge, who was released at one point and then resigned to the practice squad, was among those resigned.  The complete list is below.

• Anthony Alridge - RB
  
• Anthony Armstrong - WR
  
• Doug Dutch - CB
• Antoine Holmes - DT
• Clint Oldenburg - OL
• James Robinson - WR
• J.D. Skolnitsky - DL
• Lee Vickers - TE
• Darrel Young - LB

This seems like a strange move considering the head coach (Shanahan) has not yet been made official.  I would have expected resigns to happen after a head coach was named and a plan was drawn out with Bruce Allen and the future coach.  This may, of course, be Snyder's micromanagement of the team.  If it is, I fear the Redskins' woes are going to continue. 

Message to Snyder: You have Bruce Allen and, soon, Mike Shanahan in place.  Time to step back from the team and let them do their jobs. 

One Last Step For Shanahan and Redskins, A Contract

According to reports Shanahan, who spent yesterday and last night in Washington talking with Dan Snyder and Bruce Allen, has summoned his agent to Washington.  His agent arrived recently in D.C.  What does this all point to?  A contract will be in creation between Shanahan and the Redskins starting today.  Expect the Redskins to make an announcement no later than the end of this week saying that Mike Shanahan will be the next head coach of the Washington Redskins.

Gilbert Arenas' Statement On Gun Incident

Gilbert Arenas released a statement yesterday on his incident involving guns and a fellow teammate.

"On Monday, December 21st, I took the unloaded guns out in a misguided effort to play a joke on a teammate. Contrary to some press accounts, I never threatened or assaulted anyone with the guns and never pointed them at anyone. Joke or not, I now recognize that what I did was a mistake and was wrong. I should not have brought the guns to DC in the first place, and I now realize that there's no such thing as joking around when it comes to guns - even if unloaded."

The league is currently waiting on the criminal investigation to be completed before dishing out a public to Agent Zero of the Washington Wizards.

Boudreau Staying Positive Despite Losing Streak

After reading Bruce Boudreau's "Behind The Bench" I came away with one thing, trust in Boudreau and the Caps to get it done tomorrow night.  Boudreau said that the team was not playing with the same emotion in its loss to Carolina and that carried into the San Jose and Los Angeles games. 

We had emotional wins against Buffalo and New Jersey before the Carolina game, but we should have been emotional against Carolina as well because they always play well against us. They just played better. They came out and scored early and often and we had to play catch up. We did not do the things that we are capable of doing, but they played a game that left us asking, “How are they in last place?”

Boudreau also talked about preparing his team for the coming games.

Today, we went through a lot of stuff that makes us good and we went through a lot of positive film clips. We want to keep everything upbeat and get things back to where we were a week ago. I have not been involved in too many long losing streaks but this is the formula that I use to hopefully get out of them.

 I trust Boudreau to right the ship and bring the Capitals back into their winning ways again.  Luckily for us, we aren't in much danger of losing the southeast division with the Thrashers on a horrible 8 game losing streak while maintaining a 12 point lead over them and Tampa Bay. 

Boudreau did say that he and the team could not wait to return to Verizon Center to take on the Montreal.

We are looking forward to getting back in front of our home crowd tomorrow. There will be a lot of enthusiasm and hopefully we will be a better team.

Shanahan To The Redskins?

It's beginning to become more and more clear that Mike Shanahan, former Denver Broncos head coach, will be the next Redskins Coach. According to reports he was flown into D.C. today on Snyder's private jet, Redskins One. 

This is not very surprising as the Redskins have been trying to lure in Shanahan since Allen took over as General Manager.  It is good to see that they aren't wasting much time in filling that coaching position and in their pursuit of Shanahan after the Zorn firing.

I'm expecting an agreement to be made within the week due to the friendly history between Shanahan and Snyder.

Read more.

Black Monday - More On The Firing Of Jim Zorn

"Today starts our 2011 season."  The words of the Redskins new general manager Bruce Allen today after the firing of head coach Jim Zorn at 4 a.m this morning.  Just from listening to him talk about Jim Zorn and the coming days, it is apparent that Allen means business.  If anyone could turn this franchise around, it sounds like it would be Allen.  I hope I'm not the only one getting excited about the prospect of, dare I say it, a winning season next year.  

Daniel Snyder also sounded off about the firing of Jim Zorn publicly taking some of the blame for the teams recent troubles:

“This has been an extremely difficult season for our organization and for the fans. Bruce Allen spent many hours examining the football operations, and we are both determined to do whatever it takes to build a championship team. That process begins today.     

“No one in the organization is satisfied with our record over the last two years, and I am sure that Jim would concur with that statement. It has been painful for him too. I certainly accept responsibility for mistakes that I have made. I am hopeful that our fans will accept my commitment and pledge to deliver a franchise that can compete in the NFC East every season.

“Finally, I am mindful that this is a tough day for Jim and his family, and I do want to wish him success in his next endeavor.”

 Despite my opinion on Snyder, I think I can finally trust him to do something with this team other than bringing big, under performing names to the Redskins.

In other Redskins news, the team nabbed the 4th overall pick in the 2010 draft.  Here's hoping for a good rookie quarterback.

The Caps Rap

Have you ever wondered how many 'guins would Ovechkin eat if Ovechkin could eat 'guins?  Well now, thanks to Mike Shwedick and Andrew Bowser, we have an answer to that question.  There aren't many other things I can say about this so you better just watch it.

Capitals Fall In Power Rankings

The new ESPN NHL power rankings have been posted with the Capitals falling from 2nd to 4th.  NHL Fanhouse's power rankings also put the Capitals at the 4th spot.  This, of course, comes after the Caps 3 game skid last week so its no surprise here.

I expect a rebound tomorrow when the Capitals return home to yet another sold out game.

Capitals For Winter Classic 2011?

This could very well be the case.  Tarik el Bashir from the Washington Post recently reported that the Capitals could be the front runners in the leagues pick of the teams for the 2011 Winter Classic game and that they would be part of the Classic is some fashion.

"The league will be looking to work around the Capitals to get them into this game," said the source, who requested anonymity because league executives have not yet begun formal discussions for the 2011 Winter Classic.

I don't think anyone could dispute picking the Washington Capitals.  They do have the leagues premier and most dynamic player Alexander Ovechkin,  causing sellouts not only at home, but also in away games.  Of course, this would most likely leave out Canadian and Western Conference teams which are looking to take a spot in the Classic next year.

I'm expecting the Capitals to have it next year, whether at home or not. 

Zorn Dismissed As Redskins Head Coach

The news was inevitable and expected for months, but it is finally official.  Jim Zorn is fired, done, gone.  After having a 12-20 record over two seasons Snyder and the Redskins are finally replacing Zorn.  Who will replaced him has yet to be announced but expect it in the coming days.  Former Denver Broncos' head coach Mike Shanahan is the supposed front runner for the job.  It's good to see Snyder actually caring, even if just a little, about putting together a successful franchise rather than looking to put together a profitable franchise as the changes just keep coming.

But then again this is the 7th coach that Snyder has thrown under the bus in his 11 years as owner.  The loss last night came to a team that was coached by Norv Turner, a previous Redskins coach who was also fired.  If the next coach ends up getting thrown out like the last 7 I say its time for a new owner and a public call for Snyder to sell the team should be made, despite it already happening this year.

For The Redskins, Seasons End Means Big Changes Are Coming

The end of the Redskins season was, yet again, another disappointment.  Under any other circumstance I would not be complaining about a Skins loss, especially to the talented San Diego Chargers who I believe is one of the strongest contenders for the Super Bowl.  However, the fact that, except for the first two drives by Rivers, San Diego was playing their second string.  The Redskins finished their season with a 4-12 record.

If it wasn't already set in stone yet, this loss caps a complete overhaul of the Washington Redskins staff and team.  Earlier this season General Manager Vinny Cerrato was replaced by Bruce Allen, a huge move that made change an official part of the coming off season.  I expect the firing of head coach Jim Zorn, who is likely to be replaced by Mike Shanahan, to happen no later than tomorrow.  The next coach would be the 7th coach in Daniel Snyder's 11 years as franchise owner.  It will then be up to Allen and Shanahan to build a successful football team that seems to be currently stuck in a decade of mediocrity.

The biggest question among the roster is what will become of Jason Campbell and the starting quarterback position.  Campbell's rookie contract ended at the end of season. He will become an unrestricted free agent if the NHL team owners and the players' union reach a new collective bargaining agreement.  If they do not, Campbell will become a restricted free agent meaning the Redskins could match any team's offer.

What is most likely to happen?  If Campbell becomes a restricted free agent, look for the Redskins to attempt to keep Campbell only one more year.  Matching any offer of more than one year is highly unlikely.  But this would only be to keep Campbell as a backup.  The Redskins have been scouting college quarterbacks heavily this year and with a very high first round draft pick, look for them to begin anew in the search for a franchise quarterback and pick up one of the top prospects in the draft.

Expect big changes to begin starting this week.  Maybe for once the phrase, which seems to have turned into the Redskins motto, "It's a rebuilding year," will actually be true.