A Brawl with Atlanta

I must admit I turned the Caps game off against Atlanta when it became obvious that they were going to lose for the 4th time in 4 tries against this team. My intense frustration got the better of me so I missed Brashear Sutherby & even Olie & Hanlon getting into it with Atlanta's players & coach for going after the young blueliner, Mike Green. Thank you Japer's Rink for providing the video from You Tube so I could see the fights. The video doesn't show Hanlon "flapping his arms like a chicken" at Hartley as described in this Washington Post article. That is something I want to see.

So, I'll have to stop turning my TV off in frustration if the Caps are losing and hang in there with them. I'm glad Hanlon sent the enforcers out there since Atlanta continues to make cheap shots against the Caps and they deserved to get beat up a little. The Caps will be without Sutherby for 1 game and Brashear for 3, but the point was made that this team has pride & will fight for each other.

Non-fans that I talk to about hockey despise the fighting, but I think the quote from GMGM in the Washington Post article in today's paper, "Caps Get Penalized for Fight" reflects my feelings on the subject. McPhee said, "In contact sports like football or hockey, players have a code that goes beyond the written rule book. It's to prevent attempts to severly injure an opponent, attempts that would ultimately dimish the sport. The players usually know it when they see it. What was different about last night was there were two of those incidents." Well said.

During the actual hockey game, Matt Pettinger and Jakub Klepis scored the Caps two goals and Klepis assisted on Pettinger's goal. The Caps second line center position continues to be a problem and teams are throwing their top blueliners against Ovie's line, of course. But, Klepis played one of his better games on Wednesday.

Let's go Caps and end this 4-game losing streak against Toronto tonight!