Photo credit: Tim Stough / Sweetest Hockey on Earth

A year ago Caps defenseman Tom Poti was considered washed up. After a pestering groin injury and a broken pelvis, which apparently is an actual thing that can happen to a person, his future as a pro hockey player was dubious at best. Fast-forward to January 2013. Tom Poti has recovered. He passed his physical in DC and got sent to Hershey on a conditioning stint. Poti proved himself capable on Sunday night, scoring a power play goal in 5-0 rout over the Whalers.

Kyle Mace at our sister site, Sweetest Hockey on Earth, has the full story on Poti’s big night in Pennsylvania. Read it and then tell me you’re not rooting for the guy to come back to the Caps and do great things.

Our brotherblog Sweetest Hockey on Earth has great coverage of the Hershey Bears’ new logo, jerseys, and mascot. The new debut was made to celebrate the team’s 75th anniversary. We all think the new design is fantastic, and Coco’s six-pack abs are okay too.

Go read about it over at Sweetest Hockey on Earth.

Photo credit: Kyle Mace

The Hershey Bears lost to the Adirondack Phantoms 4-3. The game was played at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia, home of the Phillies, in front of the largest audience in AHL history.

Our sister blog, Sweetest Hockey on Earth, has comprehensive coverage of the game. There’s Brian Mills’ pre-game reminiscence of outdoor hockey, Kyle Mace’s magnificent photos from outdoor practice, the team picture, the pump-up video,  the recap of actual game, and a billion photos of the game.

NHL Network will broadcast the game at 4 PM on Saturday, so, ya know… spoilers.

Down on the Hershey front, Kathryn spoke with goaltender Jared DeMichiel who picked up his first career AHL win last Friday. Head over to SHOE and give it a read!

Now, let’s do the Machinist!

Most Popular Posts of the Week:

1. Our Readers’ Valentines For Their Favorite Capitals Players
   Ian had the enlightened idea to have our readers submit Valentines’ cards for their favorite Caps player. Since you guys are awesome, this happened.
2. Alex Semin: Bettman Has Never Been to Siberia!
   Igor translates what Sasha Minor had to say to Pavel Lysenkov of SovSport.
3. Is Alex Ovechkin’s Contract A Good Deal?
   Neil finds out the answer once and for all. His verdict: Yes… and no.

Posts You Might Have Missed:

1. Second-Line Centers and Unicorns
   Neil doesn’t believe in Marty Reasoners. Wait, huh? Looks like I might have gotten lost somewhere.
2. Feed The Machine: Should The Caps Trade For Stephen Weiss?
   Mr. Greenberg followed up on the post above after some of you asked: “Hey, what about Stephen Weiss?”.
3. Video: Children With Disabilities Skate With Caps After Practice
   Bravo, Caps!
4. Video: CRL Goes Behind The Scenes of Ovechtrick Commercial
   Did someone say Ovechtrick? ::starts writing new post::

Game Recaps:

• Well, That Went Well: Kings Drop Caps, 4-1
  Just over a minute into the contest, Alex Ovechkin ripped the Capitals only tally past Kings goaltender Jonathan Bernier. The goal came the moment I was settling in with my nachos at Verizon Center. Coincidence? I think not.
• Caps Fall to Coyotes, 3-2, on Valentine’s Day
  Before Ovechkin signed his endorsement deal with Gillette on December 8, the Russian Machine averaged over a point per game, tallying 12 goals and 23 assists in 29 games. Since then, he has nine goals, 12 assists in 28 games. The Capitals were 18-8-3 with a bearded Ovechkin but are significantly worse with the clean-shaven one at 11-10-7. Someone hide his razors!
• Alex Semin’s Fourth Hat-Trick Leads Caps Past Ducks, 7-6
  They gave Corey Perry the number one star of the game and not Semin? That’s like throwing a party for Al Gore after he lost the 2000 election. Nice try. Good effort. Decent creativity. But a loss is a loss.
• The Streak Continues: Sharks Bite Caps, 3-2
  It’s now been more than 17 years since the Capitals last won in San Jose. The last time Washington was victorious in the “Shark Tank”? October 30, 1993. The Sharks netminder for that game? Current Caps goalie coach Arturs Irbe.

This photo is up for grabs today.

Our humble little blog, Russian Machine Never Breaks, spent the last year cutting our teeth writing about the Washington Capitals. Through our labors we learned about the team’s secret weapon: the Hershey Bears. This Pennsylvanian cache of dynamic, young talent kept us entertained long after the Caps took their early curtain call at the playoffs. The Hershey Bears marched dutifully to their 11th Calder Cup championship led by guys like Andrew Gordon, a right winger with bright prospects whose only mistake in his young career was to blog with our lowly ilk.

The HBH-ers inspired us, and we decided they deserve more than a measly category on this site. So all of the Russian Machinists got together one night, drank a couple root beers, one thing led to another, and now we have a bouncing baby blog in the family.

Ladies and gentlemen, we are proud to present to you

Sweetest Hockey on Earth

Piloting the new site will be Kathryn Hedrick, intrepid reporter and author of Flashy Glove Save, and Kyle M., photographer with a sports-coverage pedigree. Together they will relay to you the promise and excitement of the Hershey Bears Hockey with the same gusto, pizazz, and thesaurus-ness you find here on RMNB proper.

So join us in bookmarking www.sweetesthockeyonearth.com on your laptop (and iPad), following @SweetestHockey on the Twitters, liking us on the facebook, and plugging this RSS feed into your feed reader. We’ll make it worth your while.

To celebrate SHOE (oh dear, is that really the acronym?), we’re holding a little contest. Among those of you who network up with us and help spread the word on Friday, we’ll select the most enthusiastic to receive some free RMNB merch and the signed photo above. We’ll announce our winners before Hershey’s home opener on Saturday Night.

Go! Bears! Go!