Game on!

Washington Capitals individual game tickets will go on sale to the public Thursday, Sept. 15 at 10 a.m. Tickets may be purchased online through the Capitals website, WashingtonCaps.com, or through local Ticketmaster outlets, including the box office at MCI Center.

[ The Official Web Site of theWashington Capitals ]

Though Ticketmaster sucks, so buy them straight from the team...

The full schedule:

== October ==
Wed. Oct. 5  Columbus,             7 p.m.
Fri. Oct. 7  Atlanta,              7 p.m.
Sat. Oct. 8  at Atlanta,           7 p.m.
Mon. Oct. 10 N.Y. Rangers,         1 p.m.
Wed. Oct. 12 at Carolina,          7 p.m.
Thu. Oct. 13 N.Y. Islanders,       7 p.m.
Sun. Oct. 16 Tampa Bay,            6 p.m.
Thu. Oct. 20 at Florida,           7 p.m.
Sat. Oct. 22 Carolina,             7 p.m.
Wed. Oct. 26 at Buffalo,           7 p.m.
Fri. Oct. 28 at Tampa Bay,         7:30 p.m.
Sat. Oct. 29 at Florida,           7:30 p.m.
== November ==
Thu. Nov. 3  at Philadelphia,      7 p.m.
Fri. Nov. 4  Atlanta,              7 p.m.
Sun. Nov. 6  Toronto,              5 p.m.
Tue. Nov. 8  at Toronto,           7:30 p.m.
Fri. Nov. 11 New Jersey,           1 p.m.
Sat. Nov. 12 at New Jersey,        1 p.m.
Tue. Nov. 15 Tampa Bay,            7 p.m.
Thu. Nov. 17 at Buffalo,           7 p.m.
Sat. Nov. 19 at Montreal,          7 p.m.
Tue. Nov. 22 at Pittsburgh,        7:30 p.m.
Wed. Nov. 23 Tampa Bay,            7 p.m.
Sat. Nov. 26 at N.Y. Rangers,      7 p.m.
Sun. Nov. 27 Buffalo,              3 p.m.
== December ==
Sat. Dec. 3  N.Y. Rangers,         7 p.m.
Wed. Dec. 7  Nashville,            7 p.m.
Fri. Dec. 9  Detroit,              7 p.m.
Wed. Dec. 14 at Los Angeles,       10:30 p.m.
Fri. Dec. 16 at San Jose,          10:30 p.m.
Sun. Dec. 18 Florida,              6 p.m.
Thu. Dec. 22 at Atlanta,           7 p.m.
Fri. Dec. 23 Montreal,             7 p.m.
Tue. Dec. 27 Boston,               7 p.m.
Wed. Dec. 28 at New Jersey,        7:30 p.m.
Sat. Dec. 31 Philadelphia,         1 p.m.
== January ==
Sun. Jan. 1  Atlanta,              3 p.m.
Wed. Jan. 4  Ottawa,               7 p.m.
Fri. Jan. 6  Philadelphia,         7 p.m.
Sun. Jan. 8  Florida,              3 p.m.
Tue. Jan. 10 Chicago,              7 p.m.
Thu. Jan. 12 at Dallas,            8:30 p.m.
Fri. Jan. 13 at Anaheim,           10:30 p.m.
Mon. Jan. 16 at Phoenix,           4 p.m.
Thu. Jan. 19 St. Louis,            7 p.m.
Sat. Jan. 21 Carolina,             7:30 p.m.
Mon. Jan. 23 Boston,               7 p.m.
Wed. Jan. 25 at Pittsburgh,        7:30 p.m.
Thu. Jan. 26 at Boston,            7 p.m.
Sun. Jan. 29 Tampa Bay,            3 p.m.
Tue. Jan. 31 at N.Y. Islanders,    7 p.m.
== February ==
Fri. Feb. 3  Toronto,              7 p.m.
Sat. Feb. 4  at Tampa Bay,         7:30 p.m.
Tue. Feb. 7  Florida,              7 p.m.
Fri. Feb. 10 at Philadelphia,      7 p.m.
Sat. Feb. 11 Pittsburgh,           7 p.m.
Tue. Feb. 28 at Toronto,           7:30 p.m.
== March ==
Thu. Mar. 2  at Ottawa,            7:30 p.m.
Sat. Mar. 4  at Atlanta,           7 p.m.
Mon. Mar. 6  N.Y. Islanders,       7 p.m.
Wed. Mar. 8  Pittsburgh,           7 p.m.
Fri. Mar. 10 New Jersey,           7 p.m.
Sun. Mar. 12 Ottawa,               3 p.m.
Tue. Mar. 14 Buffalo,              7 p.m.
Thu. Mar. 16 at N.Y. Rangers,      7 p.m.
Sat. Mar. 18 Florida,              7 p.m.
Mon. Mar. 20 Montreal,             7 p.m.
Wed. Mar. 22 at Florida,           7 p.m.
Thu. Mar. 23 at Tampa Bay,         7:30 p.m.
Sat. Mar. 25 at Carolina,          7 p.m.
Wed. Mar. 29 at Carolina,          7 p.m.
Thu. Mar. 30 at Montreal,          7:30 p.m.
== April ==
Sat. Apr. 1  at Ottawa,            7 p.m.
Mon. Apr. 3  at Carolina,          7 p.m.
Wed. Apr. 5  Carolina,             7 p.m.
Fri. Apr. 7  Carolina,             7 p.m.
Sat. Apr. 8  at N.Y. Islanders,    7 p.m.
Mon. Apr. 10 at Boston,            7 p.m.
Thu. Apr. 13 at Atlanta,           7 p.m.
Sat. Apr. 15 at Florida,           7:30 p.m.
Mon. Apr. 17 Atlanta,              7 p.m.
Tue. Apr. 18 at Tampa Bay,         7:30 p.m.

Straight out of Toronto:

The National Hockey League and the National Hockey League Players' Association have reached an agreement in principle on the terms of a new Collective Bargaining Agreement.

[ NHL.com - News ]

Next step: learn the roster for the Washington Caps, since I think they traded away every player that I knew.

There is hope yet:

...disappointed hockey fans can still watch the puck drop in more than 50 million U.S. and Canadian homes when the defending Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay Lightning face off against the Philadelphia Flyers in the season opener of the video game NHL season on G4techTV. The hard-hitting action begins with highlights, scores and stats, airing daily on the network's sports program “Sweat,” premiering October 13 at 10:00 PM ET/7:00 PM PT.

[ G4tv.com - Press Releases ]

Time to stock up on soft pretzels, peanuts, and alcohol-free beer! I'll just throw a slab of ice down in my living room, and it'll be just like the MCI center!

They warned us:

The current collective bargaining agreement between owners and players expires at 12:01 a.m. Thursday. With no talks scheduled, a lockout is a virtual certainty once the NHL board of governors conclude a Wednesday meeting in New York.

[ Yahoo! Sports - NHL ]

Props to Dari.

Maybe I should switch sports and start following Football, Basketball, or Baseball? Baaaah, that's insantity...

Sergei Gonchar came to Washington as a shy, fresh-faced 20-year-old defenseman with a world of promise and just a few words of English in his vocabulary. On Wednesday, Gonchar departed DC as the NHL's leading scorer among defensemen and one of the top blueliners in the league.

[ Washington Capitals- News ]

Maybe DC is getting good value for the trade. Maybe this is a good move for them. But I don't like this one bit. Who's next?

The Washington Capitals fired coach Bruce Cassidy yesterday three months into his second season in the NHL, citing the team's poor record and performance. The Capitals, with the second-worst record in the league (8-18-1-1) and slim hopes for the playoffs, named assistant coach Glen Hanlon as their new head coach.

[Washington Post]

I'm going to the game tomorrow night, I'm sure that the new coach will have the team turned around by then, and I expect the best game that I've attended since the last game that I attended.