’20090506-IMG_2634′ courtesy of ‘avanluven’
And well-deserved. Back in February, who would’ve thought this Penguin team would be repeat contenders for the Stanley Cup? I’ll admit I had my doubts, but I was pretty confident the Penguins would go far.
And far they did.
Not bad for a team whose mascot is a flightless bird.
‘Ovechkin and Malkin, Friends at Last, Friends at Last’ courtesy of ‘clydeorama’
[Note: Normally I don't cross-post from my stuff at WeLoveDC. But I'm in a bind today, writing-wise, and while I'd like to have a more Penguins-centric and snarky article dissing the Caps, I'm going to instead opt to just reprint my article from WLDC instead. It's close to what I wanted to say anyway, so...
I will say here, though, that I'm glad that all these games are national coverage. Despite my disdain for NBC and Versus coverage and commentary, I loathe Comcast's Caps broadcast team even more, because Joe Laughlin makes me want to scream. Joe, btw - it's MALL-kin, *not* MAAL-kin. Freakin' do your research.
If, however, Comcast flexes its blackout rules and forces me to watch the games with the bumble-twins, don't expect me to be in a good mood the morning after a game. Just sayin'. -BHR]
I’m in hockey nirvana.
When the NHL playoffs were finally set, one of the first things many fans here and in Pennsylvania did was figure out when and if the Capitals would actually face the Pittsburgh Penguins during hockey’s “second season.” It was a bit convoluted to work around, since both teams were highly seeded, and it looked – for about a week – that this year wouldn’t see the match-up we all secretly wanted, and dreaded. But then the Caps figured out they were actually in the playoffs and executed a very stressful and tense comeback from a 3-1 series deficit to stuff the Rangers.
And when Carolina shocked New Jersey with two quick goals in the last two minutes of their own Game 7, it was as if the hockey planets aligned. The match-up the NHL slobbered for had arrived.
Penguins. Capitals. Stanley Cup Semifinals.
And it promises to be one extremely wild, crazy, emotional ride for both cities. Find out why after the jump. Continue reading
