Catching up...a bit

Well, it's been a long, long LONG time since I've written about hockey, the Stars and the BoC. I've been in DC for months, with very little exposure to hockey (my housemates watched plenty of Versus, unfortunately it was of the rodeo and low budget UFC-ish league variety).

You'd think I would have been able to soak in all things Ovechkin, but I never had a chance to go to a game and only watched a few on TV. My, mostly unfair, thoughts about the Caps can be summarized real quick, as I know BoCers care little of the DC puckers:

1. Maybe this is due to my Crosby fawning, but although I endorse Alex O's talent, I wonder if he's not just a bulked up Pavel Bure. Yes, he makes my brain explode at times with his goal scoring ability. But I feel like he's one of those NBA shoot-first point guards at times: just as likely to shoot his team in the foot and turn over the ball/puck over badly as he is likely to score a breathtaking highlight reel goal.

I don't know if he's really going to be a winner and I don't know if he makes his teammates much better. He almost reminds of Washington's other fawned over, flawed superstar Gilbert Arenas.

2. That Bakstrom kid is really good.

3. When it comes to disappointment, V. Kozlov is like saying "Bertuzzi" in Russian.

4. No one in Washington DC seems to care about any of this. And the ones who do happen to make up its jawdropping blogosphere, most notably Eric McErlain. If not for Ovie, they wouldn't deserve so many bloggers.

Anyway, a lot of big developments have passed me by for the most part. I still need to do a double take whenever I watch a Stars' road game, with those weird Reebok demons (pictured above)

Ex-GM Doug Armstrong is replaced by a duo that includes...Bret Hull? Strange.

The Stars remain near the top of the Pacific. I'm starting to associate them with other teams who are experts at merely entering the playoffs: the pre-lockout St. Louis Blues, the long ago KC Chiefs. Might as well call them the Dallas Schottenheimers.

Anyway, I'll be around more frequently (though I still lack a stable Internet relationship) to throw some Stars and general NHL-related thoughts in when I can.