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No championship season would be complete without the presentation of the Stanely Cup rings to the players and no millenium ring collection would be complete without the newest ring of the Penguins.
The rest of the rings from this decade can still be viewed here.
Tags: championship, hockey, NHL, rings, rink rat, Stanley Cup, therinkrat, therinkrat.com
That was in 1987. It was at Washington Capitals hockey camp. At the end of the week I got a Certificate of Completion signed by David Poile and Yvon Labre. I got my picture taken with future Hall-of-Famer Scott Stevens and I learned that you could actually play hockey if you lived below the Mason-Dixon line.
It’s interesting and amazing to see the way the residents of the DC Metro area have started supporting the Caps. It helps that they have Ovechkin, Green, Backstrom, Semin and are playing as good as ever but these seeds were sewn a long time ago.
Hockey didn’t just sprout in Washington, Virginia and Maryland overnight. It’s been growing for a long time. The Capitals have always been active in that regard. They allowed for the creation of a hockey community and then they fostered it and watched it grow.
They are responsible for more than just putting a great team out on the ice this year. They are responsible for having made a 34-year investment in a city and in a metro area that has not only grown as an NHL community, but as a overall hockey community. And the Caps are responsible for that growth. The Caps are also directly responsible for turning out some great hockey players.
Caps fans should be proud of what the 2008-2009 team has accomplished, but they should be just as proud as what the team has accomplished for the hockey community in and around the District since they entered the league.
Unfortunately, I did find a couple photos from some of those years at Caps camp. They might be a little embarrassing, but it could’ve been worse than just the bowl cut. I could’ve been sitting next to Larry Murphy.
Scott Stevens
Mike Ridley
Tags: camp, Capitals, caps, Mike Ridley, NHL, Scott Stevens, the rink rat, therinkrat
The playoffs progress. Two game sevens are scheduled for tomorrow. Two game sixes commenced last night and two more are ongoing at this moment. For the pure hockey fan the daylight hours signify a waiting, a need, only satiated when the puck hits the ice later that night. But those fans live for the purity of the sport. They are the ones who will come home or go out and default to watching hockey. Those fans don’t need their team to be playing to love the game. It helps. But since so many of those fans live in Toronto, they aren’t used to seeing their team in the playoffs. It doesn’t matter since they are just as happy to root against Montreal. Or maybe they will pull for Vancouver because of some OHL connection or because their grandkid lives in Pentiction,BC or some other city somewhere. Those are true hockey fans.
While those fans might need hockey as much as hockey needs them, they aren’t as invested as Aunt Edna living in New Jersey right now who’s not totally sure what icing is but is damn sure that Zach Parise is cute. Now I may not agree with her about Parise, but I will admit that such passion for an NHL team is what the playoffs are all about. They are supposed to insprire those fans that some call ‘bandwagon’ to rally behind their team. They are supposed to inspire a city. They are supposed to make Raleigh, NC and Calgary, AB scary places to visit. They are supposed to make you hoarse at work the next day. They are supposed to make you appreciate all those years your team missed out.
Tomorrow night will feature the first two game sevens of the 2009 playoffs. Four cities will watch and hang on every hit and every shot. On Wednesday some of those residents will go to work and get coffee and prepare for the rest of the year without the thought of hockey. Other fans will prepare for another series, another test of emotions and another step toward The Cup. And still others will be devastated. They may miss work. They may just exist in a haze. But they will survive. They will graviate back midway in the second round after the scars aren’t as raw.
Some city will suffer. That is what game seven does. It ensures elimination. One team will exit. I just hope it isn’t mine.
Tags: NHL, playoffs, the rink rat, therinkrat, therinkrat.com
Syd the Kid goes for a walk on a nice Spring day.
Tags: dress, evgeni malkin, hockey, NHL, outing, rink rat, sidney crosby, syd the kid, therinkrat.com
The trade deadline is approaching, the final quarter of the season is drawing near and it’s officially time for the same old questions to begin. Who will make the playoffs? Who will miss the playoffs? Why are they still running those terrible commercials on the NHL Network? How is the playoff seeding determined? And, what is the NHL’s tie-breaking formula if teams have the same number of points at the end of the regular season?
Here is the breakdown of how the standings will be determined for each Conference at the conclusion of the regular season, determined in accordance with the following priorities in the order listed:
a) First place in each of the three (3) divisions seeded 1, 2, and 3.
b) The higher number of points earned by the Club.
c) The greater number of games won by the Club.
d) The higher number of points earned in games against each other among two (2)
or more Clubs having equal standing under priority (b) and (c) **
e) The greater differential between goals scored for and against by Clubs having
equal standing under priority (d).
** NOTE: For the purpose of determining standing under priority (d) for two or more tied Clubs that have not played an even number of games with one or more of the other tied Clubs, the first game played in the city that has the extra game (the “odd game”) shall not be included. When more than two Clubs are tied, the percentage of available points earned in games among each other (and not including any “odd games”) shall be used to determine standing.
That’s it, plain and (relatively) simple. Don’t worry, the playoffs will be here before you know it.
Tags: formula, NHL, playoffs, rank, regular season, rinkrat, rule, rules, seed, seeding, standings, the rink rat, therinkrat, therinkrat.com, tie, Tie-Break, Tie-Breaking, tied
