How unreliable are rumors from Russia? Way back on May 5th, journalists from Sportsdaily.ru were declaring that Olli Jokinen would sign with Dynamo Minsk of the KHL. The rumors seemed so concrete, in fact, that it inspired Peter to write a goodbye post to his favorite NHL Player. Well, just in case, he thought we should hold onto this until the deal is completed. Good thing he did, because Olli never signed. To our horror, Jokinen signed with the Calgary Flames on the first day of Free Agency and will hang on to his dreams of drinking Hawaiian Punch from the Stanley Cup for another two years. Well I still wanted to share this with the world, and with some aptly placed strikethroughs, I think the post is as good as gold. Don’t you?

Our intention for RMNB is to discuss all things hockey that fascinate the Washington Capitals fan.   Today is auspicious, for there is nothing more fascinating that the physiological absurdity that is Olli Jokinen.  While he is neither Russian nor a Capital, Jokinen’s pending move from the New York Rangers to the KHL’s Dynamo Minsk NHL’s Calgary Flames is a wonderful excuse for us to marvel at how weird looking he is.

Olli is a high-scoring grunt who has been trapped on middling teams during his 14 seasons in the NHL.   He’s made only two short trips to the postseason, racking up impressive totals in neither.   Despite his impressive points output, the Finnish centerman’s career would be less noteworthy if not for this incident with former Cap Richard Zednik.  Readers, if you’re not into arterial blood spray, feel free to just skip right over this video.

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Who’s the best #8 seed for the Caps?

caps-score-goal-against-bruins

I posted on Twitter (in haste) that I would like to see the Boston Bruins in the first round of the playoffs as the 8th seed, but upon further review, I’m not so sure.

I took a look at the Goals Finished/Goals Allowed for WSH, BOS, NYR and PHI, both on the road and at home, and came up with expected winning percentages for each team. I then used Log5 to predict the Caps chances of winning each game whether it is played at home or on the road.

The expected Win % for the Caps and their possible first round opponents:

  • WSH, .670 Home, .613 Away
  • BOS, .490 Home, .521 Away
  • PHI, .579 Home, .458 Away
  • NYR, .533 Home, .475 Away

For example, if the Caps meet Boston in the first round, Washington has an expected winning percentage at home of .670 while Boston is expected to have a win % of .521 on the road. Using Log5, we can determine that the Caps have a 65% chance of winning a game against Boston at the Verizon Center.

I then figure out the Caps’ win % based on every possible outcome of a 7 game series – and yes, that includes ALL possible combinations for a 7 game series (WWWW, WWLWW, WWWLLW, etc.).

Intuitively I wanted the Caps to face the Marc Savard-less Bruins in the first round, but based on the chances of the Caps winning against Boston in a 7 game series, I have changed my mind. Here’s why:

The Caps have a 78.1% chance of beating Boston in a 7 game series. Not bad, considering that they have a 77.44% chance of beating Philadelphia. But the best case scenario for the Caps, based on probability of winning, is meeting the New York Rangers in the first round – where the probability of winning a 7 game series is 79.25%.

(ed note: Excel gave me wonky %, which have been updated, however NYR remains the best possible opponent)

The-Rime-of-The-Ancient-M-0

What have we done to earn the ire of the hockey fates?

Here’s a sobering thought: I’ve never seen the Caps win in person. Not against the Flyers in 1996. Not against the Kings at the home opener in ‘00. Not when they lost in round 1 of the playoffs to the Penguins in ‘01. Never.

It’s a fact: Russian Machine Never Breaks is bad luck for the Washington Capitals.   We’ve tortured ourselves over whether to disclose these sad facts to you, but in light of our attending tonight’s game with the Ottawa Senators, we feel we must let you know: We are cursed.

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Theodore and Caps Shut Out Rangers 2-0.

Even Rangers Fans heckle John Tortorella

Because we’re all getting laid tonight, our gamer is gonna be up very late. So while we’re gone, let us know what you thought about the Caps 2-0 victory. And oh yeah, Jose Theodore’s third shutout of the year. WOOOOO!! Special Thanks to BoycottSnyder for the photo.

Emily Karol Shares Her Experience at Madison Square Garden

Emily Karol awaiting to enter Madison Square Garden

Emily's View from her Madison Square Garden Seats where the Caps celebrate 12th Straight Victory

Emily's View from her Madison Square Garden Seats where the Caps celebrate a 12th Straight Victory

One of my Christmas gifts this year was a ticket to see the Washington Capitals play the New York Rangers at the infamous Madison Square Garden. I didn’t realize on that rainy Christmas morning that the ticket would gain me admission to witness the record-shattering winning streak, Alex Ovechkin’s 500th career point and Bruce Boudreau’s 200th game as the Capitals bench boss. Wow. To say I was anxious to attend the game, would be an understatement. I had never followed a team into a rival arena, and there I was amongst all the of the Rangers faithful. The Rangers were having a rough time recently and the Washington Capitals were unstoppable for 2 weeks. All the elements were in place for MSG to get rocked last night.

I had been in Manhattan the week prior to the game trying to find an apartment to move into. This gave me a chance to figure out the NYC public transit (FYI, DC’s is far superior and a whole lot less confusing). So after taking the green 4 to the gray S, to the red 2, I arrived at Madison Square Garden, total trip time: 45 minutes to travel a little over 4 miles (Oy!). I figured I could follow the masses of blue and red to the main entrance of MSG. Wrong! The Rangers fans don’t support their team the way Caps fans Rock the Red. I made it through the bag check and up to where my ticket was going to be scanned and was halted. It was 15 minutes before 6pm, and no one was allowed inside the arena yet. So there I stood in my red coat concealing my Capitals gear, surrounded by people much bigger than me decked out in blue. It took me 10 minutes to work up the courage to show my Capitals pride, that and it was hot as hell and I couldn’t take it anymore.

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