By Joe Pohoryles By Feb. 1, Alex Ovechkin was the only Washington Capital to play in every single game this season. On Feb, 2, that came to an end. A positive test put Ovechkin into COVID protocols, forcing him to miss Washington’s 5-3 loss to Edmonton. Ovi entering protocol was always a possibility, but theContinue reading “Chasing Gretzky XII: C(OVI)D Strikes Again”
Tag Archives: Capitals
Chasing Gretzky 10: Capitals Insiders Special
By Joe Pohoryles 10 editions of Chasing Gretzky; what a milestone. I expect 30-40+ of these when all is said and done, but by finally reaching double-digits, I decided to do something special. As part of a separate project for my college sports journalism class, I had the opportunity to speak to two Caps reportersContinue reading “Chasing Gretzky 10: Capitals Insiders Special”
Chasing Gretzky IX: A First Star-Level First Month
By Joe Pohoryles Between two lockouts and two other seasons shortened by the pandemic, every obstacle has been thrown in Alex Ovechkin’s path for the all-time NHL goal record. After injuries and a stint on the COVID list last season combined for one of his worst scoring seasons in recent memory (even with fewer gamesContinue reading “Chasing Gretzky IX: A First Star-Level First Month”
Chasing Gretzky 8: The Final Countdown
By Joe Pohoryles Alex Ovechkin is here to stay! The Great 8 signed a five-year/$47.5 million deal that will pay him $9.5 million per year until the 2025-26 season. He’ll be nearly 41 years old by the end of the deal, which is a lot of term and money to dedicate to a player ofContinue reading “Chasing Gretzky 8: The Final Countdown”
Unpacking the Caps Protected List for the 2021 NHL Expansion Draft
By Joe Pohoryles The 2021 NHL Expansion Draft is coming in two days, and the Seattle Kraken will soon have their first roster of players. The protection list deadline for the rest of the league (minus Vegas, who is entirely exempt from the draft since being an expansion team themselves just four years ago) recentlyContinue reading “Unpacking the Caps Protected List for the 2021 NHL Expansion Draft”
What to look for in Caps-Bruins series after Game 1
By Joe Pohoryles The Capitals opened the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs against the Boston Bruins last night, where goals from Tom Wilson, Brenden Dillon and Nic Dowd pushed the Caps to a 1-0 series lead. Despite the positive start, a tough series lies ahead. The biggest concern comes in net, as Vitek Vanecek had toContinue reading “What to look for in Caps-Bruins series after Game 1”
Chasing Gretzky VII: The Russian Machine Broke
By: Joe Pohoryles After a year of so many setbacks in the chase to 894 career goals, the seemingly unfathomable happened to make the road even more difficult: Alex Ovechkin got injured. Not including a 39-second shift on May 3 that was more of a test run than anything else, Ovechkin has not played sinceContinue reading “Chasing Gretzky VII: The Russian Machine Broke”
Chasing Gretzky IV: The Road Gets Bumpier
By: Joe Pohoryles With the NHL well underway and this being the first “eighth” of the season, the Chasing Gretzky series is finally back. Before the pandemic hit, Alex Ovechkin was a month removed from arguably the greatest scoring stretch of his career, and was contending with Boston’s David Pastrnak and Toronto’s Auston Matthews forContinue reading “Chasing Gretzky IV: The Road Gets Bumpier”
First impressions from the Caps’ opening back-to-back
Capitals hockey is finally back, and the team now sits 2-0-0 after a back-to-back with the Buffalo Sabres to open the season. This was the team’s first action since getting bounced by the New York Islanders in the 2020 postseason. A sluggish, frustrating performance in the NHL bubble led to a lot of questions surroundingContinue reading “First impressions from the Caps’ opening back-to-back”
Assessing the Caps roster with the Chara, Sheary additions
With the additions of Conor Sheary, Zdeno Chara and possibly Craig Anderson, the Capitals are putting the final moves in place before the 2020-21 season begins. As it stands, the team is more than $3.5 million over the salary cap (according to CapFriendly), but more on the cap situation later. For now, Chara becomes theContinue reading “Assessing the Caps roster with the Chara, Sheary additions”
The Wildcard 