Locker puts on a smile after Washington’s Game 3 loss.
No matter what happens to the Washington Capitals in their first round matchup against the New York Rangers, we won’t be hearing Joe Beninati and Craig Laughlin after next week. Once the Eastern Conference Semifinals roll around, NBC has exclusive rights to the games. Locker, it seems, is going out in style.
During Monday’s Game 3, the former Cap was in top form. It started when the Caps took a 1-0 lead. Despite taking a couple of penalties, the Capitals were weathering the storm in first period, so well, in fact, that the Madison Square Garden crowd started booing as the final seconds ticked off Joel Ward’s minor.
“You couldn’t script it any better for the visiting Washington Capitals,” Laughlin exclaimed, finishing his sentence just as Brad Boyle unleashed a wrist shot to tie the game.
Washington Capitals color guy Craig Laughlin is an expert telestrator. And he knows it. That’s why tonight, after he drew up Joel Ward’s first period goal, he completed his telestrating by signing my TV (again). I equate this to a rapper dropping the mic after a sweet verse. Thanks, Locker. I’m going to put this up on eBay ASAP.
Without a season to cover, Caps color man Craig Laughlin has found a new outlet for his talents. Laughlin has joined the E.Y.E.S. Radio Network, where he will host a weekly radio show called Lunchtime with The Locker: The Craig Laughlin Show.
The two-hour program will begin on Wednesday, January 2nd, and will apparently include comedy and politics among the hockey talk. We are so there.
We’ve been through this before. No matter how poor I am, my frugal instincts go out the window when Washington Capitals treasures are unearthed online. So that’s why on eBay last week, I shelled out even more cash on some vintage postcards depicting two iconic Capitals in all their early 80s glory.
Not all of the people iconic to Caps hockey are the players on the ice. Joe Beninati and Craig Laughlin are a part of the experience all year, holding our hands through nail-biting overtime games, hugging us after crushing defeats.
"Even after surgery, he's still rockin' the red! He doesn't miss a beat. #WinItForLocker" (Photo credit: Courtney Laughlin | @courtlaugh22)
Those who follow Craig Laughlin on twitter were probably aware that the Caps announcer was going under the knife today. It’s not a surprise for him, a long-planned hip surgery made necessary by Laughlin’s long hockey career, but the Caps fanbase rallied around him anyway to wish him well.
Laughlin made it clear that he didn’t intend to miss any Caps games, though, even from the hospital. Later in the day he tweeted the above picture, and his daughter tweeted another.
As promised — he didn’t miss a game, and even though we miss his voice on CSN, we’re happy to see him healthy and smiling. Send your well wishes to him on the twitter machine at @Laughlin18, email us, or link your your Get Well Soon cards in the comment section! Scribbles, noodle art, Photoshops, anything that expresses your love for one half of our broadcast team. We’ll post our favorites in this post.
Way back in the eighties when trading cards were still packaged with a stick of bubble gum, a young, bright-eyed right-wing by the name of Craig Laughlin was featured on his first ever card. O-Pee-Chee, a Canadian candy company, produced the 1983-84 season set which also featured rookie cards for Scott Stevens, Phil Housley, and Brian Bellows.
Fast forward 28 years, Laughlin can now be found in the Capitals broadcast booth alongside play-by-play man Joe Beninati. The broadcast duo has been calling Capitals games together for 17 years. While the two took completely different paths to get to their current jobs, The Panini Group has now distinguished Joe B. with the same honor Laughlin received in his playing days. Yes, Joe B. now has an official trading card too. And it comes signed!
As you know, we don’t think it’s cool to give female hockey fans a hard time for liking the players. But it’s okay to differ on matters of taste. Evgeni Malkin, for example, has some kind of nerve-damage thing happening on that face that only a mother could (or should) love. But we see people holding signs for the guy anyway.
During Friday’s Jets-Caps game, these two sophisticated mamas made a tandem proposition to DC’s broadcast team of Joe Beninati and Craig Laughlin. Bravo, ladies. You have our complete support.
Sometime later, Laughlin, who is always a smooth character, was caught signing autographs for fans who were throwing up items to him in the booth. This town certainly loves its announcers.
George McPhee and Mike Knuble pose with the silver stick. (Photo credit: Mitchell Layton)
With the drop of a six-ounce disc of vulcanized rubber, 39-year-old right wing Mike Knuble became the 269th player in NHL history to play in 1,000 career games. While only a small percentage of players ever reach that milestone, an even tinier amount do it at age 39. Consider, Knuble is the second oldest player to ever reach 1,000 games, trailing only ex-Capital defenseman Grant Ledyard (who was 40).
Kanoobs, a veteran of 16 career NHL seasons, won back-to-back Stanley Cups with Detroit during the 1996-97 and 1997-98 seasons – his first two years in the league. However, it would take him four more years to finally have a breakout year and establish himself. In 2002-03, after Sergei Samsonov suffered a wrist injury, Knuble was asked to fill the void on the first line alongside Joe Thornton and Glen Murray with Boston. The gritty, two-way forward responded by finishing the year with 30 goals and 59 points. Knuble’s never looked back since.
Entering this season, Mike has recorded eight straight 20-goal seasons. Even more remarkable: Knuble’s scored 221 of his 271 career goals after his 30th birthday. That’s more goals than Steve Yzerman and Wayne Gretzky racketed up during the same playing age. This stat speaks volumes about Knuble’s relentless work-ethic, high hockey IQ, and professionalism. “You spend the first four or five years of your career trying to lock up a spot in the league and try to prove to everybody that you can play,” Knuble explained after Capitals practice Monday. “That’s enough of a battle. Once you get over that hump and you’ve proved you can play, then it’s a question of just being able to play that long and staying healthy.”
Naturally, the Capitals organization went all out to celebrate the assistant captain’s achievement tonight.
