Hockey Talk: Capitals and Penguins 24/7 (Ep. 1)

After watching the first episode of "Capitals and Penguins 24/7: Road to the Winter Classic" three times--yes, three times--I feel able to comment.  I just watched it twice back-to-back, and of course once last night when it originally premiered (although an hour late since I was at the Preds game...I recorded it).

Let me start by saying that this is one of the coolest things I've ever seen on TV...EVER.  Probably because I'm already a hockey fan, and a Caps fan, and am going to the Winter Classic, but HBO gives it the typical HBO Sports treatment and it's just plain awesome.  Anyone who's not a fan of the game should watch at least one episode and then revisit their feelings. 

Mainly I'm pleased to find out that the coaches pretty much feel exactly like I do.  I'm pretty sure Coach B and I said the exact same thing at the end of the 2nd period in the rangers game on Sunday, which was: "Are you fucking kidding?" 

It was also super cool to have the players miked before a fight.  I've always wondered what the exchanges were between two players before they dropped the gloves, and it was pretty much as you'd imagine.  And comically simple.
Pittsburgh Player: Fuck you!
Toronto Player: You wanna fucking go?
Pittsburgh Player: Let's fucking go!

As you can tell, there are alot of f-bombs in this show.  Again, kudos to HBO for giving it to us raw and uncensored!

I also get the impression that the majority of the Penguins are gay.  Not that there's anything wrong with that.  But one wore what can only be described as a woman's Christmas sweater to the team party, Crosby looked like he was wearing lipstick the whole time, another player talked happily about getting to "sleep next to each other" on the road, and Crosby and Fleury seem to have a more than platonic bond.  Just sayin'.

They didn't show much of the Caps that's really worth discussing.  They've been having a rough go of it, so most of the parts about them sucked by default.  I am glad to be vindicated in my previous assessment of the team's woes, however.  It makes me feel smart, and like I might actually know something about hockey!  I stated that I believed the team was moving toward a more defensive posture, which is not their typical M.O., but was the strongest criticism of them after the last two playoff exits.  This was stated explicitly as what they are trying to do, so I feel really cool for noticing that.  And also glad that I'm not just pulling things out of my ass.

It was also super cool to hear one of the Caps assistant coaches use the phrase "grab some sack" since Kirby uses that pn a regular basis, often when referring to hockey.

Can't wait for the next episode on Wednesday, and the first matchup between the teams the following night.  Should be tons of fun...for me anyway!