The Washington Capitals are up with a good start as they defeated the Boston Bruins in their season opener game Thursday night with a score of 4-1.
The Most Valuable Player of NHL for two times in a row, Alex Ovechkin, piloted the Capitals’ play that led to their victory. He had two goals and an assist during the game. His teammate, Jose Theodore, stopped 19 shots during the game that made it even harder for the Bruins to score.
Dennis Wideman, Bruins defenseman, said that Ovechkin is really the league’s superstar that works very hard and also hits strongly. He even compared Ovechkin to Rafael Nadal.
Other members of the team performed great during the play as well. Brooks Laich had two goals and an assist. Alexander Semin had two assists while Nicklas Backstrom had three.
The Capitals led the game during the second period as Semin had a drop pass to Ovechkin and made it right through Tim Thomas.
Ovechkin also said that the second goal on the second period was a big shoot. He also added that their defense was great during the play.
Bruins coach, Claude Julien, mentioned that they only had the worst condition for their best players during the game. He further said that they do not want to take away the credit from Ovechkin for doing great last time but there are still a lot of things to expect from their players if the condition turned out to be healthy for the Bruins.
Both teams won their own divisions during the previous season but did not further make it in the game because of their individual opponents. Boston did not grab the title last year after being defeated by Carolina while Washington was dumped by the last season’s champion the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Ovechkin just stated that their team wants to bounce back this time. They want to defeat everybody else and become the best team this season.
Julien just ended the night by saying that after their defeat, Bruins will even got better and that the Capitals and other teams should look after that.
San Francisco 49ers is entrusting their offensive streak to rookie running back, Glen Coffee, in their upcoming games while Gore is still recovering from an injury he had during their play with Minnesota.
Due to the injury that the team’s regular starter, Frank Gore, is suffering, the 49ers stick their hopes on their new running back for the next few weeks. While Gore will be spending some time to recover from his right ankle injury, Coffee will take his position and will control the offensive attacks of San Francisco.
According to Coach Mike Singletary, they will not be changing any of their techniques despite the absence of Gore. They trust Coffee’s ability and that he can perform the 49ers’ tricks without any problems. Though Singletary admitted that the team will not be having one of the league’s best backs in their upcoming games, he is still confident that Coffee can take on the role.
The 49ers already looked for someone to be the back-up of Gore since 2006 when he became a full-time starter of the team. Fortunately, Coffee took the position just this year and is the only one that takes on the ball so far.
Coffee admittedly says that he is sorry for what happened to Gore and that he has a big shoe to fill. But because of these, he is more challenged to give his best.
As for the preseason record, Coffee displayed superb performance fit for the position he will be playing for the NFL season. He is already the leading rusher as he gets a record of 42 carries in 249 yards.
The team is planning to put up three active running backs in their next games. The players that will join Coffee will be the reserve halfback, Michael Robinson, and starting fullback, Moran Norris.
Norris mentioned that he really thinks Coffee can do the job well because of the rookie’s physical strength. He also added that 49ers’ fans can still expect the same game that they always do with the new running back around.
Coffee will remain the focus of San Francisco’s offense until Gore fully recovers from the injury.
The Chicago Blackhawks and Florida Panthers are set for the start of the playoffs beginning Friday and Saturday at Hartwall Arena in Finland. This would be the first time for Finland to host NHL.
Blackhawks are composed with a young team with offensive players. They advanced in the Western Conference last season where Detroit defeated them.
Panthers want to play the same way they did last season where they emerged from the bottom of the Eastern Conference. Peter DeBoer, Panther’s coach, explained the slow start of the team last time was because of the new coach. The group needed to adjust with the situation then. This time, the team already managed to deal with the matter and they have a better start now.
He also mentioned that Blackhawk is a good team with great skills and talents. He had this observation based on the plays that the opponent showed last season.
Panthers’ coach Joel Quenneville saw the game of Panthers versus the Finnish team Jokerit last Wednesday where the former won over the latter.
Coach Quenneville was impressed with the speed, skill, and energy of the Panthers during the last preseason game. He also added that the mobile defense of the team was remarkable. With this, they are expecting a tough challenge and assured that their team is competitive enough to fight the Panthers.
The Blackhawks will have Patrick Kane, Patrick Sharp, and Jonathan Toews as the front line. These players are just around 20 to 27 years old. They also scored 85 goals last season with 95 assists and additional 23 goals during the playoffs. John Madden, a winner of Stanley Cup for two times already, will also be having his debut with the Blackhawks.
Quenneville added that the addition of Madden to the team serves as an experience for them which is composed of young players. This player is a pro and knows his way around the rink. He is also a good teammate.
Panthers, on the other and, is still undecided on who to put up on the season’s lineup. This is because three of their defensemen still have flu and Stephen Weiss is recovering from the groin injury.
One of the most awaited soccer games would certainly be the game on Wednesday, where the United States would be playing against Mexico. Bob Bradley, the coach of the Men’s National Team of the United States, has already made the announcement as to which players would be playing on that particular game. In a recent press release made by Bradley, it was said that the team is excited regarding the game and this opportunity is indeed something to look forward to. It would definitely turn out to be a game that everyone should watch our since the Mexican team plays well. The team of the United States is aware about how successful the Mexican team is. Aside from this, it was also made mention that every game played is considered to be very important since this would help the team with regard to qualifying. The team would make certain that it would do its best.
The players that would be part of the team would consist of 17 players that became part of the Confederations Cup this summer and you would surely be glad to know that nine of the players were part of the victory against Mexico which happened in February. Defenders would include Jonathan Bornstein, Jonathan Spector, Chad Marshall, Carlos Bocangera, Steve Cherundolo, Jay DeMerit, and Oguchi Onyewu. For the goalkeepers, players would include Tim Howard, and Brad Guzan. Some of the forward players would include Conor Casey, Brian Ching Landon Donovan, and Charlie Davies. Midfielders would include Ricardo Clark, Clint Dempsey, Benny Feilhaber, Michael Bradley, Jose Francisco Torres, and Stuart Holden. With all of these powerful players, this game would surely be the game that would definitely not miss, and may even keep you at the edge of your seats, whether you are just watching on TV, or you are actually within the area.
