Just saw this over on Japers’ Rink and had to share. This video won a three 2007 Golden Matrix award from the Information and Display and Entertainment Association (IDEA): Best Music Video, Best Overall Video Display (hockey) and Best Overall Video Display (overall). More details on Kukla’s Korner. Congrats to the Caps PR team.

Next season is only a little under three months away. Given the moves the Caps have made this off season, next season should be a sight better than last season. Playoffs? Maybe. Contending for playoffs? Probably? Cup Contenders? Check back in a couple more years!

Washington Capitals record in the past four games: 4-0
Washington Capitals record in the past ten games: 4-4-2

That is what in the business of hockey you call “streaky”.

When your recent winning streak includes wins over Dallas (16-8 at the time, 19-9 now) and Eastern conference leading Buffalo (20-3-2 then, 21-4-2 now), you can feel pretty good about yourself. Being only one point out of the playoffs doesn’t hurt either.

On the other hand, the East is a beast this year. Only Florida and Philadelphia are below .500. Everyone else is in the thick of the playoff hunt. Another six game slide would really hurt the Caps’ playoff chances. By comparison in the West, seven of the fifteen teams are below .500 (i.e. everyone not currently in a playoff spot). Dallas, at ten games over .500 is 3rd in the Pacific Division behind Anaheim (+18) and San Jose (+12).

Finally, it’s always nice to be looking down on the Penguins in the standings. But their not far behind. Their 26 points puts them in 13th place in the East, but they’re at .500 (11-11-4) and only five points out of a playoff spot. Next Monday’s game should be a good one. It’s even on national TV in HD!

The 06-07 NHL season finally starts tonight. This offseason feels longer than most, probably because I’ve been more involved with hockey this past offseason. But the opening night rosters are set and the Sabres and Hurricanes face off in just over five hours. Here are a few quick thoughts:

• NHL.com has gotten a make over. I don’t know who their designer is, but somewhat should clue them into “less is more”.
• There’s a new beta service called NHL Connect. Looks like forums and blogs and profiles right on NHL.com. Looks cool, but currently it’s invite only. I would hope it would open up soon. Nice to see Caps fans representing – the Washington Capitals Official Group is tied with the Kings for most number of members (so far).
• Via Off Wing Opinion I found this article by Dave Fay about the NHL’s point system. His recommendation: “winning a game in regulation should be worth three points, winning in overtime should be worth two, winning in a shootout should be worth one. Losing at any time should be what the reward has always been for losing — zero.” I could live with that. I’m also cool with two points for a win and none for a loss, regardless if it goes to overtime or shootout. I’d even be OK (but not elated) with three for a win in regulation, two for a win in overtime or shootout and one for a loss in overtime or shootout. But the idea that you had out more total points for an overtime game than a non overtime game is just stupid.

This just came across my news reader:

Washington Capitals will face the Philadelphia Flyers in preseason exhibition tonight. Bummed that the game is not being televised? Never fear, WashingtonCaps.com is broadcasting the game via broadband off their website. However it is restricted to the Washington area only.
[Caps Live Via Web – Puckhead’s Thoughts]

Wow! I mean, I still can’t watch the game <grumble grumble> and it is still pre-season, but this is pretty significant. More details in the press release:

The Washington Capitals exhibition game against the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday, Sept. 26 at 7 p.m. will be broadcast live on WashingtonCaps.com through the use of B2 Networks. This will mark the first time in NHL history that a game can be viewed exclusively via broadband.

The game can be seen free of charge on the Capitals’ website, WashingtonCaps.com. Fans will need a high-speed internet connection and Windows Media Player 9 or higher. Capitals’ radio network play-by-play announcer Steve Kolbe will call the game with Mike Vogel, senior writer from WashingtonCaps.com, providing analysis. Due to NHL broadcast restrictions, the game can only be viewed by fans living within the Capitals broadcast area.

B2 Networks is a provider of secure international television and video broadcasting systems, pay-per-view and billing systems. During the past 12 months, B2 has broadcast more than 3,000 hockey games from all levels including the championships from four leagues. B2 is the digital distribution rightsholder for the United Hockey League, American Hockey League, ECHL and USHL, along with baseball’s Northern League. B2 recently broadcast the National Lacrosse League championship to fans on four continents.
[Capitals Preseason Game to be Broadcast on WashingtonCaps.com via B2Networks]

The Caps and their owner are aggressively pursing avenues outside of the main stream media (which for the most part ignores hockey). First, they come up with Guidelines For Issuing Press Credentials To Bloggers and now this.

Of all the major sports, hockey seems to have the most to gain from both the HD revolution and media decentralization. Hockey is so fast and the puck is so small, you spend most of your time tracking the puck when watching in standard definition. In HD, you don’t have to watch the puck, you can watch the play. This isn’t to say that other sports aren’t gorgeous in HD, but the difference in the experience between SD and HD just isn’t as significant for other sports. As for media decentralization, the reason hockey has the most to gain is because it has the least coverage in the mainstream media today. So there’s no where to go but up.

However, the NHL broadcast restrictions stuff has got to go. Come on Ted, you’re a “pioneer of the Internet and new media”. Get those guys at the NHL to wake up and embrace the new media! How come EVERY game isn’t available this way?

For those who don’t keep a close eye on my Xbox playing habits, I picked up NHL 07 last night. There are two hockey franchises for the Xbox 360: EA Sports and 2K Sports. I’ve been a 2K fan for several years, but I didn’t think much of their last effort on Xbox so I never bothered to pick the 360 version. Of course, EA Sports skipped the 360 last year so I’ve been without next-gen hockey since I bought my next-gen console.

Now there’s a new version of both major hockey franchises, just in time for the opening of training camps. Each has had an entire year to innovate, and it’s interesting to see where each title has spent that time. 2K Sports has created “Cinemotion”, which is an entirely new presentation system which is more like an “interactive hockey movie” than a TV broadcast.

EA Sports spent their time on an entirely new control scheme called “Skill Stick”. Basically, while the left thumbstick still controls player movement, the right thumbstick controls the player’s stick. It’s taking time to get used to – hey I’ve only had the game a few hours – but so far I really like it. I was playing the XBLM Demo and scored on a sweet spinorama move with the skill stick. That pretty much hooked me on the spot. Most of the reviewers have singled out the skill stick as the reason for the generally favorable reviews.

Plus, EA picked Washington Capitals superstar Alex Ovechkin for their cover athlete. Barring awful reviews, I pretty much decided to pickup NHL 07 as soon as I heard that.