Good Guys Links- Capitals

Hallo mein scheissehunden! (that's German folks, I think)

Welcome back to your usual sports banter here at the old Hangar. I took a little bit of a break yesterday but after putting up 10 posts in 2 days, I figured it was time for one. But we're back with the nonsense that the few of you that come here have come to know and love. We'll start the day off with some Good Guys Links- Caps Edition. Later today I'll catch us up on some Orioles stuff and then have a metal album retrospective and hopefully another episode of "Bad Movies I Love," time permitting. Hopefully I can come at you with a mix of sports and non-sports stuff to help bring balance to the Force. So, without any further rambling introductions, here's some Caps stuff.

- One thing I did not address in my Caps-'Canes recap from Saturday was the officiating. It was, how shall we say, a bit questionable. Here's Billionaire Ted's take on it from his blog.

- Then there is this dandy quote (per Puck Daddy & Tank) from Bruce Boudreau that will surely cost him some cash...
"I've looked at them five times in there and I can't see where these calls are," Boudreau said. "It's my humble opinion, but holy frig. Those are some, in my estimation, some really iffy calls."
"There's no chance [Fleischmann's penalty] was a dive," he added. "His leg got corkscrewed. Then on Green's, when they went to the double minor, they cross-checked him in the head and then Pitkanen went at [Green]. Pitkanen goes at him and Mike retaliates and there still was only two [minutes] given each."

- The much-anticipated Don Cherry reaction about Ovechkin's 50th goal celebration...

Here's some takes from Puck Daddy, OFB, and Peerless. My take? Now that Cherry has had his say, let's all move on with our lives. Please?

- Japer's on the Caps penalty kill.

-OFB has the brackets for this year's NCAA Men's Hockey Tournament, which will culminate at the Phone Booth this year.

- Finally, here's some highlights from the last time the Capitals visited Tuesday's opponent, the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Good Guys Links- Capitals

Since the Caps are in the heart of NASCAR country to play the former Hartford Whalers tonight, I figured I'd throw a Ricky Bobby reference out there. Here's all the links that are fit to quit to get ready for tonight's Caps-Carolina Hurricanes match.

- Tank says Mike Green should be in the lineup tonight. Greener, as you may recall (or may not), suffered what looked like a nasty shoulder injury Thursday night in Tampa. Milan Jurcina looks to be scratched.

- Chris Bourque (son of Ray) will take the spot in the lineup vacated by Boyd Gordon and Quintin Laing. Let's hope Bourque lasts longer than poor Laing did.


- One more from Tank - former Chicago Blackhawks and current San Jose Sharks forward Jeremy Roenick has no problem with Alex Ovechkin's celebrations. High praise from the greatest video game hockey player ever and the man who made Wayne Gretzky's head bleed in "Swingers."


- Since we're talking Ovie and celebrations (again), here's Tom Boswell's take.

- Japer's has this translated interview with Ovechkin by Slava Malamud of Sport Express

- Peerless is calling for a 5-3 Caps win.

- A brief preview of tonight's game from da bad guys perspective.

Good Guys Links - Capitals

'Cause I wanted to make it three for three in the links posts/English bulldog pics department. One more hockey post for now and then I promise the next few will involve something else. Here are some links to The Good Guys - Caps Edition.

- Apparently Mike Green isn't as alright as he said he was after last night's win in Tampa. The Caps can not afford to lose Greener for any length of time.

- Poor Quintin Laing. Guy gets called up from Hershey to fill in for Boyd Gordon (out 3-4 weeks) and promptly gets hurt in his first game with a torn spleen (ouch!). Laing is out for the rest of the season.

- Puck Daddy with more on the Ovechkin celebration.

- From OFB - a phone interview with Ovie and a post on how Carl Racki style "old time hockey" will not catch up to the Great 8.

"You wanna go pretty boy?"

- Bruce Boudreau says the Ovie celebration will not happen again.

- Billionaire Ted, Japer's and Peerless on last night's game.

- ESPN's Pierre LeBrun and Scott Burnside tackle the Ovechkin vs Malkin MVP debate.

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Good Guys Links - Capitals

'Cause who doesn't love UGA or English bulldogs. I've wanted to get a bulldog for sometime now and whenever I get one, I want it to look like UGA. Only instead of a University of Georgia jersey, I want to get it a Caps, Orioles and Ravens jersey for the different seasons. The spiked dog collar is choice as well.

Here are some Caps links for ya in preparation for tonight's game with the Tampa Bay Lightning. I'll have a postgame recap as soon as the game ends. I know you will be panting like a dog in anticipation.

- Speaking of bulldogs, Billionaire Ted Leonsis is also singing the praises of Brooks Laich. The Owner also raises the good point that Brooksie was acquired for Peter Bondra during the great fire sale of 2004.

- According to Tank, Simeon Varlamov will get the start against the Bolts while Brian Pothier and Quintin Laing should also play. Laing will make his 2008-09 debut, probably in place of Boyd Gordon, who is nursing an injury. Pothier will replace John Erskine, who is a healthy scratch.

-Peerless and Japer's preview tonight's game.

- OFB on Alex Ovechkin's MVP chances.

- Another one from OFB, this time on the bracket all of us over the age of 21 would like to enter.


- A preview of tonight's game from the Tampa Bay side.

Links ahoy...

What ARRRRGGGGH ya doin' out there internets?

Time for another lazy links post. This may be it for today as far as posts since the day job is going to take up much of my time. Thus, no game recap from Caps-Thrashers tonight unless I manage to get out early. I can hear the weeping from Delaware to Slovakia now. I'm going to do this in a little different format, so if you like it, let me know. And if you don't like it well, IDONTGIVEAFUCK!

"Sasha, what the fuck are you doing?"

Good Guys Links:

-Orioles take two more exhibition games from the Boston Red Sawx. That's a sweep in Grapefruit League competition. If only they could do this when the games count. And if only slapdicks like this didn't show up at Orioles Park in spades...


- Brian Roberts had a big game for Team USA in its bounce-back win over the Netherlands in the World Baseball Classic.

-Radhames Liz - future bullpen arsonist. If he doesn't have Jorge Julio written all over him I don't know who does. And yes, I am still bitter at Julio for murdering my fantasy baseball team a few years back.

- The Ravens and O's are teaming up for a doubleheader promotion on April 25. The Ravens are hosting a "FanFest" type of event and those that buy tickets will also get admission to the O's-Texas Rangers night game.

- Jake Arrieta, Chris Tillman and Brian Matusz are all headed to the minors as predicted right here on Hangar 39!

- Brian Pothier may make his first appearance in two years during tonight's Caps-Thrash game. Glad to see Brian was able to make it back after suffering from post-concussion syndrome. Caps owner "Billionaire" Ted Leonsis sums it up pretty well.

- From Japer's - God wants Alex Ovechkin to get #50 tonight. I agree with God on this one.

- JP and Peerless have previews of tonight's game, which will be on Versus at 7 pm.

-Also, Peerless rightfully calls out Tweedle-Dee and Tweedle-Dum, aka NBC's Pierre McGuire and "Mad" Mike Milbury for the dated criticism about Jose Theodore. The "Caps can't win the Cup with Theodore" stuff is about as dated as a 90s Mike Myers movie.

Non-Good Guys Sporting Links:

- Auf wiedershein Matt Jones. My only regret is that he didn't pull a Robbie Fowler and snort the endzone line.

- Via Puck Daddy - The Calgary Flames are drawing musical inspiration from...Lady Gaga? Who the fuck is Lady Gaga?

Non-sporting links:

-R.I.P Ron Silver. Loved you as Senator Darren McCord in the Jean-Claude Van Damme blockbuster "Timecop."

Silver also delivered the immortal line from the short-lived Fox TV show "Skin" -"HIS FATHER IS THE DISTRICT ATTORNEY!!!"

- From the Icon - The lack of creative imagination in Hollywood continues. Now we are apparently getting a "Macguyver" movie. Other than Patty and Selma from "The Simpsons" is there anyone out there excited about this?

- Dick Cheney - still delusional.

Finally, today's YouTube clip to swing your heavy metal hair to is "One Shot, One Kill" by Maryland's own Dying Fetus.

All quiet in the Hangar

Apologies for both my loyal readers here but it's a busy weekend for your friend and humble narrator. Yesterday I bypassed an extra blog to meet up with my old buddy Pat Thomas Esquire and company to catch "Watchmen" up in Annapolis. My opinion: B-. Loved the action, loved Jackie Earle Haley's character (who would have thought Kelly Leak from the original "Bad News Bears" could play such a badass?) loved the CGI stuff and the gal playing Laurie was sneaky hot. On the other hand, the movie was too long, the plot kinda wanders all over the place and there was far too much male nudity.

Today, I'll be on the road again, this time back to Rehoboth Beach for two Cape Gazette assignments and then off to Laurel to meet up with "Maki At The Movies" creator Greg "Snake" Maki for a free show with Burn Halo and the Charm City Cobras (who sound like either a gang from "The Warriors" or an 80s hair metal tribute band. Snake assures me they have an AC/DC kinda sound. We'll see.)


So that means there will not be much up here in the Hangar, although I may be able to find time to write about a metal album I'm addicted to. Anyway, just a couple orders of sports business to take care of...

- Samari Rolle is getting his wish and will be released by the Ravens. Good luck Barksdale. Was it really just three years ago when Samari and Chris McAlister were considered one of the best cornerback tandems in the NFL?

- The O's split an exhibition doubleheader with the St. Louis Cardinals.

- The WaPo's Katie Carrera, filling in for Tank, gives the lowdown on the offensive struggles of any Caps not named Alex Ovechkin, Alex Semin, Sergei Fedorov, Nicklas Backstrom and Brooks Laich this month.

- OFB on the post-deadline Caps.

- Japer's on Jose Theodore's rebound control. Or lack thereof sometimes.

- Alex Ovechkin's Easterns Motors commercial outtakes make SportsCenter. They show hockey there? I would have missed it in between the Sacramento Kings-Charlotte Bobcats highlights, another Manny Ramirez story, another Yankees story and another Terrell Owens story.

From outside the Hangar's range:
- Torry Holt was released by the Rams. Hmm, would he look good in purple and black?

- Carrie Underwood AND Hilary Duff are dating Ottawa Senators players. See, once you go hockey player, you never go back. Well played Mike Fisher and Mike Comrie, well played indeed.

Non-Sporting Link:

-I forgot to put this one up yesterday but it's brilliant work by Jason Whitlock of the Kansas City Star (and a lot of other outlets) on "Comedian" Rush Limbaugh. This is Whitlock at his finest. Now, pretty much take everything Whitlock said about Comedian and switch it with Don Cherry and you will have my personal opinion of Cherry.

So that's it for now. As for some entertainment, here's a cool highlight package by NFL Network from the 2008 regular season.


...And a YouTube clip you can swing your heavy metal hair too? How about "Swamped" by Lacuna Coil, which not only features the always aesthetically pleasing Christina Scabbia but also allows me to have the line "DESTINEEE!!" stuck in my head all day.

Short Links/Hockey Brawl Of The Week

Because we are not above "little people" puns here at Hangar 39, we have the late, great Joe C. Kid Rock got about 90 percent less cool when he lost the man that was "3 foot 9 with a 10 foot dick." Today we don't have a lot from Ravens or Orioles world but plenty from Planet Caps. So let's get on with the show.

- The Schmucker on the O's looking into signing Pedro Martinez, who hopefully will bring his little Dominican friend with him.


- The Sun with an interesting story about Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti and his buddy, Maryland hoops coach Gary Williams.

- Caps winger Donald Brashear is still a little shaken up following his KO at the hands of Nashville enforcer Wade Belak and could miss tonight's tilt with the Philadelphia Flyers.

- More from Tank and Brash, this time on fighting.

- Japer's with some nice work on Eric Fehr's contributions to the Caps this year and Brian Pothier's attempt to comeback after missing almost two years with concussion issues.

- For those in the Hershey, Pa area, the Stanley Cup and the American Hockey League's top trophy, the Calder Cup, will be on display. (Per On Frozen Blog)

- From the Philly side of things, Caps Public Enemy #1B will likely play tonight. That's right, Danny Briere and his emo bangs will be on the ice. No word if Panic At The Disco is doing his entrance music.

"Hey guys, is this where I can pick up my Jimmy Eat World tickets?"

YOUR HOCKEY BRAWL OF THE WEEK
In honor of tonight's Caps-Flyers rivalry game, I present this line brawl from the early 90s between these two clubs. Observe Officer Don Koharski taking notes while all five guys plus the goalies go at it. Way to go Officer Koharski!


Non-Sporting Links:

- The Quantum Mechanics of Bloomfield loves him some bailout humor.

- Maki At The Movies has all your entertainment links that are fit to print.

- The Icon has the word on The Rock's steroid use in college.

"The Great One says inject his ass jabroni!"

- More info from the Icon on the upcoming Nine Inch Nails-Jane's Addiction tour.

- Finally, your YouTube clip to swing your heavy metal hair to is "Get To The Choppa" by Austrian Death Machine. We here at Hangar 39 fully support the integration of brutal death metal and Arnold Schwarzenegger lines.

Linkage is back...

Because we frequently pay homage to bad movies here at Hangar 39, here's Matt Damon and Greg Kinnear helping kill the Farrelly brothers career with "Stuck On You." What does this have to do with links? Absolutely nothing. So, with that being said, here's some links about the Good Guys with some non-sporting links thrown in. Accumulated by me, so you wouldn't have to look for it.

- Ray Lewis' deal: 7 years $44 million with a $12 million signing bonus. Interesting deal. A 7 year contract for a guy who will be 34 years old come regular season? I know the Sun is saying that it's basically a three-year deal but knowing Ray Lewis, there has to be something else here. My hunch is that there has to be some sort of handshake agreement to keep Ray Lew in a prominent role after he retires. He can't play until he's 41 right?

- Longtime readers of Hanger 39 (both of you) will know I've sung Derrick Mason's praises before as one of the nicer Ravens. Um, yeah, I may want to revise that in light of his new contract demands.

- Tank and Japer's have the recaps of last night's Caps-Predators tilt.

-Excellent get from Dan Steinberg over at DC Sports Bog: an interview with the founder of Easterns Motors about Alex Ovechkin's upcoming ads. If these results are any indication...


...Ovie needs to sing more often. It's a tough call which clip is better. The Easterns Motors clip is catchier, even more so with Ovie's Russian accent. But at the same time, it's hard to top his "Washington DC...ARE YOU READY TO ROCK!!" combined with Mike Green and Jose Theodore's emo eyeliner and Brooks Laich's Mark Tremonti guitar poses.

- In the days since my last links post I missed three Orioles spring training results (not that they matter): a 2-0 defeat to Minnesota, a 9-8 loss to the Mets and a 5-1 win over the Red Sox.

- The Sun on Aubrey Huff's metamorphosis from useless free agent bust to "guy who could fetch something nice in a trade this summer".

Non-Sporting Links:

- Sad stuff out of Alabama and Germany.

- Bernie Madoff may get 150 years in the slammer. I imagine Bernie in jail will be just like Albert Brooks in "Out Of Sight." BTW, if you have never read Harry Markopolis' whistle-blower report that brought Madoff down please do. Here's an HTML link to it from the original PDF format. It's a truly fascinating read, even if you don't know what the hell a hedge fund is, like me. I just love the Madoff case because it's brought the term "Ponzi Scheme" back into the national consciousness.

- The Bushies are still pushing Dubya's "legacy." Please, people, you've done enough, really.

- From the Icon, they are making a movie based on N.W.A. and "Straight Outta Compton." Better than a remake I suppose. Just as long as "I Ain't The 1" is in it, I'm cool.

- Finally, today's YouTube clip to swing your heavy metal hair to is "Institutionalized" by Suicidal Tendencies. All the guy wanted was a Pepsi!

Caps 2 Predators 1 (OT)

First off, before we start I must toot my own horn and say thanks to Japer's Rink for the shout-out on his blog. If you love the Caps, do read Japer's, it's probably the best Caps blog out there (along with On Frozen Blog).


Now, as for tonight, THAT was a hockey game. Two desperate teams playing with great flow, great hitting, outstanding goaltending, few penalties and great chances at both ends.

This was the best overall game the Caps have played since the Pittsburgh win two weeks ago. It looked like it was going to be another shaky outing against a Western Conference team as the Predators jumped ahead 1-0 within a minute. But the Caps turned it up and were, dare I say, dominant the rest of the night. Only the outstanding goaltending of Nashville's Dan Ellis kept the Preds in this game. The Caps worked hard and deserved the two points tonight. The thing is - they have to play like that ALL THE TIME!

-Some random notes -

- First Star? Ellis. He made some unbelievable saves tonight, especially against Alex Ovechkin and Brooks Laich. This thing would have been a laugher if Ellis did not play out of his mind tonight.

- The line of Alex Semin, Tomas Fleischmann and Sergei Fedorov played their asses off tonight. Semin has been the Caps best player by far this month. He looks inspired and pairing him with Fedorov has really settled his game. Flash played his best game in a long time, showing a grit and hustle he hasn't shown since the turn of the calendar to 2009. Flash has been struggling to score(he had one tonight that was disallowed) but if he plays like that more often, he's skilled enough that the goals will come. Feds played a strong two-way game all night and he was rewarded with the game-winning goal in overtime.

- Does Alex Ovechkin have a hole in his stick? The puck has been bouncing around on him a lot lately.

- Shaone Morrisonn has taken a lot of criticism from Caps fans this year but he played a whale of a game tonight, making a great defensive play on a Preds 2 on 1 and sending Jason Arnott to Dream Street with a tremendous open ice hit.

- Speaking of hits, have you ever seen more big hits in one game than tonight? Jordan Tootoo (the ex-Mr. Kellie Pickler) flattened Donald Brashear, Morrisonn creamed Arnott, Mike Green put Vernon Fiddler in the weight room with a lovely hit and so on and so on.

- Here's hoping Brashear and Matt Bradley are OK after their tussles with Wade Belak and Tootoo, respectively, did not work out so good. Brash never came back to the game after Belak went all Mr. Sandman and KO'd him. Bradley did come back to the lineup but not before Tootoo did his best Super Macho Man impression (see, not one but TWO! "Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!!" references)on Brads' face.


"Is this Belak and Tootoo?"

- Both the Caps goals tonight, by Nicklas Backstrom and Fedorov, were the exact same play - they deked Ellis to the forehand, got him out of position and beat him with a backhand. BTW, the pass by Viktor Kozlov on Feds' game-winner? Pretty nice Kozzy, pretty nice.

So that's it for this game as the Caps end that pesky four-game losing streak. Getting on the road again seemed to help as the boys came out with a lot more focus than they had during that lonnng homestand. It won't get any easier for the Caps as they are back on the ice Thursday night in the Chamber Of Horrors - Philadelphia. Thankfully, Scottie Upshall's Diving School is no longer open in the Illadelph. Until then, lets chalk this one up as one more...for the good guys.

Friday lazy links..

Hello to all out there, you cheeky bastards. I'll have a couple of posts later today, the first will be getting a Redskins fans' take on the signings of Albert Haynesworth and DeAngelo Hall and the second will be related to my babysitting of two small dogs. I'm sure you're waiting with baited breath. Until then, here are your links...SUCKAAAASSS!!!


-Here's the lowdown on last night's Caps win from from Japer's and the Tank.

-The Orioles won their first exhibition game of the season, 11-3 over the St.Louis Cardinals. The Sun has the details.

-Another O's story, this one about new shortstop Cesar Izturis. He may not be able to hit a lick, but there's not a chance he's any worse than Freddy Bynum or Alex Cintron.

-Free agency has begun in the NFL and Bart Scott, Ray Lewis, Jason Brown and Jim Leonhard are all out there for the Cowboys and Redskins to overpay for. I love Ozzie and I trust him, but how in the world could he not get a deal done with ANY of these guys before they hit the market?

-From last night's Caps game, my new Facebook friend Donald Brashear vs. Eric Boulton.


Non-sporting links:

-Icon vs. Icon has some info about Kiss, who are going into the studio to record their new album "The Search For More Money."

-More from the Icon regrding DMX beating up a prison guard. Nice to see that life behind bars has changed him.

-Finally, today's YouTube clip to swing your heavy metal hair to is "Let Me Give You A Hand Throwing Yourself Out" by Killwhitneydead. One of the most violent music videos ever made.