We've Officially Bottomed Out

There is absolutely nothing going on in the hockey world right now. And as a result, there is not much to talk about.

• If you're looking for a great analysis of the Capitals defensive corps, check out On Frozen Blog's article here.

• If you live in the Hershey area, the Bears are looking for national anthem singers for the upcoming season. Check out the details here.

Hang in there, we're less than six weeks away from the start of training camp.

Where is the Technological Breakthrough in the NHL's Television Broadcast?

John from OnFrozenBlog asks the question after hockey fans "were promised bold new broadcast initiatives" following the lockout.

My suggestion: Look no further than the leader in professional sports broadcasting, the NFL, and their invention of the "Cablecam." If applied to the NHL this could dramatically improve their television presentation and at the same time put the league's failed "Rail Cam" out of commission.

What do you think? Is this the answer to the NHL's television problems? Or do you have a better suggestion?

On Frozen Blog Chimes In On CyberRadio

Thanks to John Keeley at On Frozen Blog for his complements in his most recent article about CyberRadio:

Add to the names of the Revolutionaries Allen Popels, who a few months ago asked the question, “Is it too much to ask that we the hockey loving and Caps’ fans have a broadcast fan forum for 30 or 60 minutes a week?” The Caps of course asked a similar question a few years back and answered it with the excellent “Caps Report,” hosted by Mike Vogel and Spike Parker. Popels wanted his own show, on the weekend, a fan-driven one. He had technology at his disposal and did something about it. Beginning earlier this summer, every Sunday, he began hosting his one hour on the frontier air of cyberspace, ‘CapitalFanatic: The Fan’s Voice of the Washington Capitals.’ (A podcast is available; and Popels makes his program available via iTunes.)

Yesterday Eric McErlain and Dmitry Chesnokov and I appeared as guests on Popel’s program, where we discussed the recently completed Rookie Camp and a few other tidbits puck. Interestingly, we had no shortage of topics hockey to discuss for the full hour in the middle of summer. If we’re invited back, we’ll return. Telling, though, isn’t it, that the region’s hockey fans have their hockey audio itches scratched by the Caps themselves and their fans . . . and not say local radio?......

......The remarkable irony now abundantly broadcast and published, and filling the vast void, is that by virtue of their abdication of covering hockey professionally, as their trade has ever required, local media have unwittingly bred a cottage alternative industry of impassioned experts.

Click here for the full article.

The Capital Fanatic.com Show: Development Camp Roundup

A special thanks to John Keeley of On Frozen Blog, Eric McErlain of Off Wing Opinion, and Dmitry Chesnokov of Sovetsky Sport for joining me on the show today for an in depth analysis of the development camp and the state of the Washington Capitals. You can listen to the show two ways, either by the media player on the right side of the homepage or by clicking the link below. Be sure to tune in next Sunday at noon for another live edition of the show.