stopper - Washington Capitals
Transcription
stopper - Washington Capitals
See Today’s Examiner Inside Call 1-800-947-Auto or visit geico.com for a free car insurance quote today. WEDNESDAY February 8, 2012 ADVERTISING FEATURE HGoalie Tomas Vokoun Finds His Form Inside: H One On One With Jay Beagle CAPS’ STALWART STOPPER H Washington Set For Nationally Televised Back-To-Backs H Flashback: Kolzig Puts Together Key Run The day after a Winning Game, Get 50% OFF ENTIRE ONLINE ORDER Regular Menu Prices Only 50%OFF Enter Promo Code: CAPS50 Valid the day after the Washington Capitals win with 4 goals or more. ONLINE ORDERING ONLY - 50% Off valid on regular menu prices only, cannot be combined with other discounts. Carryout or delivery, delivery charges may apply. C a p s E X T R A • W e d n e s d ay, f e b r u a r y 8 , 2 012 Residential & Commercial • Certified Mold Remediator Winter Cleaning 10% Off For Senior Citizens, Expectant Mothers & Military Specials Your family deserves fresh air! 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(VA) 703-595-2176 (MD) 301-637-7167 (DC) 202-350-9827 Free Estimates • 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed • Over 20 Years Experience www.environmentalCair.com Flashback: Feb. 3-15, 2000 Key Run For Vezina-Winner Kolzig Vokoun’s Improved Play Provides Boost Caps goalie Tomas Vokoun watches warmups before his game against the Philadelphia Flyers at Wells Fargo Center on Oct. 20, 2011. Ever since Tomas Vokoun’s first season with the Washington Capitals endured a 10-game bump, the twotime All-Star goaltender has been near his best. In 18 games from Nov. 29 to Jan. 24, Vokoun allowed more than three goals just three times and never more than four, while saving fewer than 90 percent of the shots he faced just four times. The 35-year-old’s .926 save percentage during that stretch would rank in the NHL’s top five and his 2.34 goals-against average over those two months would rank in the league’s top 15. That improved Vokoun’s season totals to 2.56 and .916 through his first 35 games, and his teammates were seeing the stalwart goalie they remembered. “Against Florida in my mind, it was like, ‘Vokoun is going to be there.’ He’s a hard goalie to score goals on,” Washington captain Alex Ovechkin said in January. “If he finds his game and he knows exactly what he has to do, it’s very hard to score against him.” A big part of Vokoun’s turnaround was a run of 10 consecutive games he started from Dec. 28 to Jan. 17. Backup goalie Michal Neuvirth had started the previous five games, leaving Vokoun on the bench from the start of the third period in Philadelphia on Dec. 13 to the middle of the first period at Buffalo on Dec. 26. Vokoun said consistent playing time helped him find his form. “I’ve been a starting goalie for 10 years now, so you’re used to when you have a shaky start, you get back in there,” Vokoun said. “But once you play, you get kind of in a rhythm just LET’S TALK SPORTS . Washingtonexaminer com/sports like everybody and it gets easier.” Even when Vokoun hasn’t posted pristine statistics in individual games, he has continued to come through for the Caps, which helped him become one of only two goalies to win at least 20 games each year since 2002-03. Vokoun stopped fewer than 90 percent of his shots (27 of 31) last Tuesday against Tampa Bay, but was a huge reason Washington was able to come back from two goals down, force overtime and earn a standings point before falling 4-3 to the Lightning. Two saves stood out above all. He stoned NHL leading goal-scorer Steven Stamkos on a breakaway early in the third period and made a spectacular stop in overtime, reaching way to his left to get a glove on Vincent Lecavalier’s shot toward a wide-open goal. “He cares and he wants to win,” Caps coach Dale Hunter said of Vokoun after the game. “He’ll do anything to win.” Although Vokoun admitted that this year hasn’t always been perfect and not exactly as he pictured, he has enjoyed it. He came to Washington after four seasons with the Florida Panthers, none of which ended with a playoff berth. Now he’s in the thick of a playoff chase, playing for a team with a large fan following. “It’s a nice change for me. I love playing at home. The games are great with all the fans,” he said. “I haven’t been used to that in my career, so that’s really nice to have a fanbase like that and to play in front of soldout crowds every home game.” UPCOMING GAMES Thursday, Feb. 9 Vs. Winnipeg Jets 7 p.m., Verizon Center CSN (HD), Caps Radio 1500 AM Goaltender Olaf Kolzig looks on during the Capitals’ 3-2 victory over the Florida Panthers on Feb. 23, 2000 in Washington. In 1999-2000, Olaf Kolzig had the greatest season of a tremendous decade between the pipes for the Washington Capitals. Kolzig set career highs with 41 wins and 73 games played. His 2.24 goals-against average was the second-best of his career and his .917 save percentage was his thirdbest. For his efforts, Kolzig became the second Washington player to earn the Vezina Trophy as the NHL’s best goaltender. Kolzig put together one of his best runs of that season at this time of that year. From Feb. 3-15, 2000, Kolzig allowed just four goals on 111 shots in a four-game stretch, all of which Monday, Feb. 13 Vs. San Jose Sharks 7:30 p.m., Verizon Center NBCSP (HD), Caps Radio 1500 AM Caps Week in Tweets, Quotes and Numbers Save of the year for Tomas Vokoun. –@SWhyno on Vokoun’s dive across the net to rob Tampa Bay’s Vincent Lecavalier in overtime on Jan. 31. Tough OT loss tonight... But we will bounce back tomorrow! The only thing I can say is that I wish I could be on the ice with the boys... –@backstrom19 on Jan. 31 after Caps fell 4-3 in overtime at Tampa Bay. “It’s an important game today. Other teams keep winning. You’ve got to keep winning or you’ll fall behind. Today, we played a strong defensive game, got timely scoring and Tomas was real good again.” – Caps coach Dale Hunter after his team’s 3-0 shutout win at Montreal on Feb. 4. “Brooksie made an outstanding play, a wonderful second effort to get the puck over to me. I went to shoot it. I don’t know if it jumped or if I just missed the puck or what happened. … I just wanted to spin around and throw it back on. It found the back of the net. It’s been a while, so it felt good.” –Forward Matt Hendricks on scoring his Photos by NHL IMAGES. By Josh Land H H H H H H H h H h H h H h H h H h H h HH h H h H h H It is never bad to play in Florida in January –@JohnCarlson74 on Jan. 30. Sunday, Feb. 12 At New York Rangers 12:30 p.m., Madison Square Garden NBC (HD), Caps Radio 1500 AM were wins. That gave the 6-foot-3, 224-pound netminder a 1.00 goalsagainst average and a .964 save percentage over those four contests. It started with a 2-1 win over the Carolina Hurricanes on Feb. 3. Kolzig followed with 24 stops in a 1-0 shutout at Montreal on Feb. 10. It was Kolzig’s fourth blanking of the year. He then beat the Nashville Predators 4-2 on Feb. 12 and edged the Colorado Avalanche 2-1 on Feb. 15. That came as part of a much longer run of quality play for Kolzig. He lost just once from Jan. 8 to Feb. 18 that year, going 15-1-1 during that time. Kolzig led the league in saves, shots faced and minutes played in 1999-2000. second goal of the year, on Jan. 31 at Tampa Bay. 65 Alex Ovechkin’s points tickets plea tickets please! tickets plea tickets please! WASHINGTON washingtonexaminer.com get incredible deals on dc sports and concert tickets! To get your tickets today, visit washingtonexaminer.com/tickets Powered by: total in 45 career games against the Winnipeg Jets franchise. The Jets visit Washington Thursday. It is the most points Ovechkin has recorded against any team. 4-1-1 The Capitals’ record in their last five trips to face the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden. 1.98, .927 San Jose Sharks goalie Antti Niemi’s goals-against average and save percentage in four career games against the Caps. San Jose plays at Washington Monday. 20 Washington goalie Tomas Vokoun earned his 20th win of the year on Jan. 24 against Boston. That made him one of two goalies with at least 20 wins in each of the last nine seasons. Orlov gets a biscuit to the grill for the second straight afternoon. #caps –VogsCaps on the young defender’s poor luck on Feb. 5 against Boston. advertising feature by the washington examiner advertising feature by the washington examiner • stairs extra • rooms over 200 sq. ft. considered 2 rooms CAPITAL GAINS IN NET W e d n e s d ay, F e b r u a r y 8 , 2 012 • C a p s E X T R A AIR DUCT & CARPET CLEANING Q&A with Jay Beagle C a p s E X T R A • W e d n e s d ay, F e b ru a r y 8, 2 012 advertising feature by the washington examiner Q: Even though you missed some time with the concussion, how do you feel your first full season in the NHL has gone? Q: How much confidence did it give you that when you were healthy, they got you right back out there? JB: Obviously you don’t want to have an injury at any point in the season, but then to have one early in the season, it’s tough when it’s your first [full] NHL season. But what doesn’t kill you only makes you stronger. So I’m battling to get back to where I was shape-wise and strength-wise. With the concussion, you can’t do anything to keep your conditioning up or your strength. But I started feeling better last week and I started to feel like I had that jump again. Obviously things happen in the season that you don’t plan for, so you’ve just got to be mentally tough and keep battling, and keep playing hard. JB: It was great. Obviously when you come back from injury and getting new coaches, it’s always stressful because you want to be there for when the coach is here. He showed a lot of confidence in me, playing me right away and I’m just trying to get better for the team and for the coaching staff and for myself and to help this team win. Q: With all sports being so cautious with concussions, how tough was that to go through, not being able to do anything for a while? This year marked the first time that forward Jay Beagle broke training camp with the Capitals. The 26-year-old center had some bad fortune, suffering a concussion on Oct. 13, in his second game of the season. He was out until late December, but returned to action on Dec. 28. Beagle played in nine of the Caps’ 12 games in January. JB: It’s the toughest thing in the world for anyone. Sitting around on the couch and just trying to sit in a dark room and rest your head for a couple months is absolutely miserable. That’s why they say you can get depression and stuff like that. It’s from the lack of being able to do anything. It was tough, but it makes you stronger and I learned a lot from it from sitting and watching the games. I just tried to continue to learn and get better. Q: Where some people have a game-speed and a practice-speed, you’ve been lauded for practicing at 100 mph. Where does that come from? JB: Every time I step on the ice, I want to give it everything I’ve got. If I’m not going to give it everything I have, then there’s no point in me being here. So I’m trying to get better every day. I’ve got a lot of stuff to work on and to get better at, and the only way to do that is to come out and practice your hardest, and to always get better every day. I know it sounds weird, but sometimes in seasons, you can forget and you don’t work on some stuff, and it’s almost like you’re back-sliding during the season and not progressing. I’m trying to always progress every day and get better, and also I’m trying to make the team better. If I’m going 100 percent, then the guys are going to have to go hard, too. … I was always taught to work my hardest and it’s just in my nature just to go. NHL and the NHL Shield are registered trademarks of the National Hockey League. © NHL 2010. All Rights Reserved. Some discounts, coverages, payment plans and features are not available in all states or companies. Government Employees Insurance Co. • GEICO General Insurance Co. • GEICO Indemnity Co. • GEICO Casualty Co. 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