Let The Circus Begin

I hate to quote Washington Capitals' coach Bruce Boudreau for anything. In fact, I'd rather he keep his mouth shut, BUT ....... he's right about the fact that the 2nd round series between his team and the Pittsburgh Penguins is likely to be a media circus. And as discussed yesterday, rightfully so.

I'll share links to just a few of the pre-series pieces talking about the matchup in a minute, but before I do that, there was an interesting word coming out of the Nation's Capital yesterday.

Alexander Ovechkin didn't practice with the team.

Apparently, he did some strength and conditioning work, but word is that he may be battling a little bit of a leg problem.

Ovechkin brushed it off when he participated in a national conference call, saying he felt good and would be ready to go without any problems for game 1, but it may be something worth watching over the course of the series.

On the Penguins' side, it looks as if coach Dan Bylsma is going to stick with RW Miroslav Satan in game 1, and keep RW Petr Sykora on the bench for now. Satan skated with Malkin's line in practice and it appears that Sykora was simply an extra forward.

It also looks like D Kris Letang is going to play as well, and that D Philippe Boucher isn't getting any lineup consideration at this point.

As I mentioned earlier, the hype leading into this series is nearly off the charts nationally. Here, from various sources, are just a few of the better articles talking about the Penguins/Capitals matchup:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/29/AR2009042904941.html

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=276921

http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/playoffs/2009/news?columnist=burnside_scott&id=4111485

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/sports/penguins/s_622952.html


And with that, there's only so much more to say about the game.

It's time to strap up and play hockey.

Before I go, however, I want to mention one final thing.

I'm going to try incorporating a new feature into this forum for this round 2 series against Washington. At various times throughout the round, my entries will include various references to my "Capitals' insider". A colleague of mine who I go back with for decades, and who has been following the sport for about the same 25 years as I have, lives near the Washington DC area. He follows the Capitals fairly closely, even to the point of attending their practices, and has agreed to offer me keen insight throughout the series on Washington and what the word is surrounding the team in the Nation's Capital.

So look for those special additions to my entries during what should be some great theater between these two clubs.

It's time for game 1. Recap over the weekend.

Let's Go Pens.