Simeon Varlamov Is A Wizard
Saturday, May 02, 2009
Obviously I'm biased here, but Simeon Varlamov could have quite possibly made the best save of the Playoffs just now. Nearing the end of the second period, Sidney Crosby did a wonderful drag and drop with Chris Kunitz, and had a wide open net to shoot at. Somehow Varlamov dove backwards and kept the puck out of the net with his stick.
Just insane. Great game so far, 2-2 after two, and I'll keep adding videos if craziness like this keeps happening.
ESPN Got Pranked Yesterday
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
On Sports Center yesterday, ESPN reported that both Mike Green and Donald Brashear of the Capitals had been suspended. Everyone in DC scrambled to confirm the story for the next hour, but ESPN suddenly retracted their original report by saying just Brashear had been suspended. However, that wasn't the end of it. From there, Sports Center aired two more retractions before finally saying that just Brashear would be heading to a hearing at 1pm. You can read about the whole day at the Capitals Outsider.
Crazy day for Sports Center but it's not necessarily their fault. They were prank called by someone posing as a Washington Post reporter, and went with the information provided by the prankster....
"I was on my way to the rink this morning and my buddy called me and was a little upset I was missing Game 7," said Capitals defenseman Mike Green, a finalist for the Norris Trophy given to the NHL's top defenseman.That's just so random. In the pantheon of prank calls, that's probably the worst one ever. Why someone would pose as a Washington Post reporter for kicks is beyond me, but whatever makes you happy.
"I had no idea what for. It kind of caught me off guard."
ESPN SportsCenter hosts Josh Elliot and Hannah Storm relayed that Green and teammate Donald Brashear were suspended under a "Breaking News" banner Monday at 9:52 a.m.
Within a half hour, ESPN retracted the story.
"Our news desk received the call from someone representing themselves as a Washington Post reporter," ESPN spokesman Dan Quinn said.
"We didn't follow our own fact-checking procedures and mistakenly reported the story.
"We apologize for the error."
Prankster dupes ESPN with bogus report on NHL suspension (USA Today)
From Working On The Net To In Front Of It
Saturday, December 13, 2008
If you played hockey at any point in your life for fun, you know what happened, especially when you were a kid: usually the biggest dude just got thrown right in front of the goal because it was hard to get the puck (or if you played in the street, the ball) around him.
Now, I know Brett Leonhardt played goalie at the Div. III level, and when Jose Theodore had a hip flexor problem, the Washington Capitals had to call up a backup from the AHL -- but someone had to fill in until the guy got into town. So, Leonhardt, the team's web site producer (gotta stay around hockey in any way you can, right?) suited up, took some shots in front of the net, and was ready in case something happened to starter Brent Johnson.
Man, can you imagine actually being able to get into the game? Hey, you might be the weak link, but you'd try your hardest. If he'd gotten in and done well, there's a movie script right there.The 26-year-old Leonhardt played two years for Oswego State in New York and two years for Neumann College in Pennsylvania before graduating in 2007. He has worked for the Capitals’ website for about a year and has taken part in drills during practices when the team needed an extra goalie. He wore one of his college masks from Neumann during warmups.
His chances of playing Friday weren’t exactly remote. Johnson had a sore hip from a fall during Wednesday night’s victory over the Boston Bruins.
Even if he had played, Leonhardt wouldn’t have received an NHL check. The special amateur contract pays nothing.
“I should pay them for being able to do this,” he said.
