Caps v Lightning (Feb 18)

Talkin’ bout hockey.  Girl Style.

Behind the men of Action on the Ice stand two women, Deanna and Megan. Deanna has been with Nick for 2 years and Megan has been with Andrew for over 4 years. This blog post is where we make our feature as guest bloggers on Action on the Ice where a womanly perspective will enhance the normal blogging our men give you from game to game! Enjoy while you can, because after this we probably won’t be allowed to do this again! So... Welcome to Action on the Ice. Where the points don’t matter. That’s right, the points are just like penalty minutes to Semin!

    So why are the girls doing the post tonight? Well, our boys have had an easy week with most of the games appearing on the NBC Sports Network and then two games in a row? Well..That isn’t fully correct. We took the opportunity to write on this blog with pride, but boy was it hard to write the post for a game that really couldn’t compare to the show the Caps did last night. Good for you though! We aren’t tasked with giving out points, that is apparently a man-only field.
   
    The pregame show was actually amazing tonight. The time before the game was well spent as Alan May gave us a nice interview with Papa Bear Dale Hunter talking about the win last night and how proud he was of his boys. They even talked about the high save percentage Vokoun had against Florida! How could we possible lose with Vokoun who was in the 90% for saves?! Alan May even dropped hints that Mike Green may be playing tonight, and guess what? Alan May was correct. This was the first game Mike Green was back after his surgery! Being an avid Nuevy fan my night was crushed as I did learn that Vokoun would be playing because of that high save percentage. There was more talk of the trade deadline and Joe B asked the tough question of Halpern of “how does it feel with the deadline approaching?” It was a really interesting question to get into the psyche of this player, and I think if I was giving points Joe B and Alan May would definitely have top spots. The sad thing though? It was another night without Backstrom as they told us he was still out indefinitely. Feel better, Backstrom!

    The game started off giving us hope. The clip of the CAPS men appeared, they were all dressed to the nines in suits, making us forget their toothless grins and misaligned faces. They looked like men, and dashing men at that!  However this was a ploy. This was all apart of the plan to make our CAPS boys, men, when in fact they played on the ice like babies!  The announcers had to include calling “Ovie”, “OV” which thoroughly annoys me but nonetheless, I digress. They began talking up the game, telling us to prepare for a game filled with bloodshed, gore and tears in between action shots of men getting slammed against the boards. I respectfully cleared my throat in preparation for the screaming to come, the image of the referee getting the puck in the face from last nights game still fresh in my mind.

    Both of us girls went into the game hopeful after all of this. How on earth could the caps lose? They had an amazing night the night before and the announcers were really playing it up...but then it hit us. The Tampa Bay Coach, Guy B. looked like an infamous bond villain. “Do you expect me to choke?” cried the Caps. “No, I expect you to get penalty minutes, Mr. Semin.” (I think we all expect Semin to get penalty minutes though). Semin did not disappoint as he ended up negating the power play we got in the first period due to his usual shenanigans. The best part out of all of this? Joe B pointing out the Lightning were in blue tonight. I would never have guessed the men on the ice in blue were the Lightning, I always thought that the Caps wore blue.... and then BAM.. a little over two minutes into the game and the lightning scored a goal. I think this was partially due to Locker and Joe B. jinxing us and talking the lightning up but I will let that slide. I would have a man-crush on the lightning too because of Stamkos. Lucky for us the announcers ended this period by chatting about Matty P as the camera focused on him as he skated around with his scruffy French Canadian baby-face. (Part of me believes Matty’s power comes from the scruffy unshaven look... He absorbed the power from Ovechkin after Ovechkin sold his soul to Gillette...).Matty P really took the pain away from a period full of disappoint and lack-luster performance from the Caps. For a moment, I even saw Matty P outshining the beloved Ovechkin with his butt pad protective gear hanging out of his pants, over top of his jersey, a style made popular by the one and only Ovechkin himself.

   
    The intermission followed with a short segment from CSN to then shoot it over to Joe B and Locker. The CSN intermission did not even talk about the caps for the short segment it was on, but rather focused on high school lacrosse. It was odd and I forgot what I was watching for a second. Joe B and Locker did not disappoint when it got sent to them though, they seemed in a chipper mood despite the sad start. Joe B even joked around that he needed to get Locker a monocle so he could read the teleprompter. Locker quickly replied he had binoculars for that. I did not know what to make of it, but I would rather broadcasts have Joe B and Locker in monocles and top hats from now on. CSN, can this become a reality?

The second period opened to a play that should not have happened. Stamkos took the puck and ran down the center of the ice to juke Vokoun out, now making the score 2-0. Vokoun couldn’t even be blamed for this as there was nobody helping Vokoun out. It seems the team is too used to goalies standing on their heads. Locker went on a rant about how much he loved Stamkos, and then the love for Garon started. There was a scuffle by the net and Locker stated that Garon seemed a little worried that his ear had gotten cut by the skate. How is that possible, Locker? He was wearing a goalie mask. The second period gave us a closeup shot on Ovie smooth as a baby’s bottom clean shaved face.  We pondered for a second, why hasn’t he had the scruffy look for awhile? Then we remembered, Gillette sponsorship.

Second intermission Locker interviewed Mathieu Perrault, who we lovingly call, Matty P.  While not much was said during the interview this provides us with some time to mention a few things that we love about Matty P! He’s the dark horse, doesn’t see a whole lot of playing time (until recently) but put him in the game and expect great things like a hat trick! He may not be the biggest guy out on the ice, but his determination is large.  He puts all the effort out on the ice and leaves it there. He always looks like he is having the time of his life out on the ice and always looks like he wants to play. That is what we like to see!  A nice French Canadian man, with a face not yet destroyed by the game of hockey with a genuine smile! 

    Third period opened with a hope the Caps would close the gap but we were sadly disappointed, no matter how hard the boys tried. The only solace I had was the banter on Garon as Joe B. and Locker talked about his flexibility with Joe B. stating, “Holy Flexibility, Batman!” Craig and Joe even decided they had been around long enough that they needed bobble heads. I would buy a Joe B. bobblehead just to shake it at times and say “Why would you say that!?” So the period then ended with the Caps losing 2-1. It was an uneventful game, but at least the announcers seemed to brighten it up with their banter. Matty P also tried his hardest for us, and both of us girls really appreciate the extra camera shots on him today. The only thing that would have turned this game better for us? If we saw Neuvy in net.

    Post game was basically all the broadcasters being really upset, more like really pissed, none being more upset then Alan May.  He didn’t hide his feelings and called out several players for not playing like they should in a very important game.  In particular, Johanasson was a target of Alan Mays fury. We are being Alan May’s fury though, and believe seeing Johanasson in the press box for a game wouldn’t hurt. He needs to play better more often if the CAPS want to make the playoffs, especially with Backstrom still hurt and out of the game.  

So that was Megan and Deanna making our first guest appearance on the Blog!  It may not be how things are normally done on Action on the Ice but we did things our way tonight! Hope you enjoyed reading the first ever girls only post of Action on the Ice!

Next game comes on Monday against the Canes.  Leave some comments below to let the girls know how they did.  Thanks for reading and see you then! -Dru

PS.  Look for an annoucment to come in the coming month about a new blogging project to replace AOTI during the off-season.  Fantasy Town USA!