Game On: Back to Hockey
Tuesday, 10.04.2011 / 3:53 PM
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The Washington Capitals open the 2011-12 NHL regular season on Saturday, Oct. 8 at 7 p.m. with Opening Night presented by GEICO at Verizon Center. The Capitals are coming off another stellar season which saw them earn the top spot in the Eastern Conference in back-to-back seasons. Their streak of four-consecutive Southeast Division titles is tied for the longest active streak in the NHL and is the longest in Capitals history. Washington finished the 2010-11 regular season with 107 points, tied for the third-highest total in franchise history.
During the past two regular seasons, the Washington Capitals have recorded 102 wins and 228 points. No other team in the National Hockey League has compiled more points than the Capitals over the last two campaigns. The Capitals are once again poised to contend with the NHL’s elite as they search for their first Stanley Cup.
Washington enters the season with the core of their team entering their prime. Captain Alex Ovechkin is one of only seven players to start their NHL careers with six-straight seasons of 80 points or more. He, along with Nicklas Backstrom, Alexander Semin, Mike Green and Brooks Laich, will look to lead Washington to yet another postseason.
The Capitals welcome a number of new faces to the locker room this season including, Tomas Vokoun, Troy Brouwer, Joel Ward, Roman Hamrlik and former Capital Jeff Halpern. Brouwer won a Stanley Cup in Chicago while Joel Ward was one of the top scorers in the postseason last year. Vokoun and Hamrlik are former NHL All-Stars while Halpern returns to the place where he began his hockey career.
The Capitals will open their schedule at home and play five of their first nine games at Verizon Center. Washington closed out the 2010-11 regular season home schedule with a 25-8-8 record and the second best home winning percentage in the NHL (.707). The Capitals also had the least amount of regulation losses at home and finished second, behind Vancouver (59), in points earned at home (58). The Caps have finished ranked in the top three in home record in each of the past three seasons, pacing the league with a 30-5-6 record last year and finishing third in 2008-09 (29-9-3). Their 84 wins at home in the last three seasons are tied with San Jose for most in the NHL during that span.
2011-12 looks to be another promising year for the Washington Capitals. Make sure you are there when it all begins on Saturday, Oct. 8 vs. Carolina.
During the past two regular seasons, the Washington Capitals have recorded 102 wins and 228 points. No other team in the National Hockey League has compiled more points than the Capitals over the last two campaigns. The Capitals are once again poised to contend with the NHL’s elite as they search for their first Stanley Cup.
Washington enters the season with the core of their team entering their prime. Captain Alex Ovechkin is one of only seven players to start their NHL careers with six-straight seasons of 80 points or more. He, along with Nicklas Backstrom, Alexander Semin, Mike Green and Brooks Laich, will look to lead Washington to yet another postseason.
The Capitals welcome a number of new faces to the locker room this season including, Tomas Vokoun, Troy Brouwer, Joel Ward, Roman Hamrlik and former Capital Jeff Halpern. Brouwer won a Stanley Cup in Chicago while Joel Ward was one of the top scorers in the postseason last year. Vokoun and Hamrlik are former NHL All-Stars while Halpern returns to the place where he began his hockey career.
2011-12 looks to be another promising year for the Washington Capitals. Make sure you are there when it all begins on Saturday, Oct. 8 vs. Carolina.
