There have been many attempts at creating a digital currency during the 90s tech boom, with systems like Flooz, Beenz and DigiCash emerging on the market but inevitably failing. There were many different reasons for their failures, such as fraud, financial problems and even frictions between companies’ employees and their bosses.

Notably, all of those systems utilized a Trusted Third Party approach, meaning that the companies behind them verified and facilitated the transactions. Due to the failures of these companies, the creation of a digital cash system was seen as a lost cause for a long while.

Then, in early 2009, an anonymous programmer or a group of programmers under an alias Satoshi Nakamoto introduced Bitcoin. Satoshi described it as a ‘peer-to-peer electronic cash system.’ It is completely decentralized, meaning there are no servers involved and no central controlling authority. The concept closely resembles peer-to-peer networks for file sharing.

One of the most important problems that any payment network has to solve is double-spending. It is a fraudulent technique of spending the same amount twice. The traditional solution was a trusted third party – a central server – that kept records of the balances and transactions. However, this method always entailed an authority basically in control of your funds and with all your personal details on hand.

In a decentralized network like Bitcoin, every single participant needs to do this job. This is done via the Blockchain – a public ledger of all transaction that ever happened within the network, available to everyone. Therefore, everyone in the network can see every account’s balance.

Every transaction is a file that consists of the sender’s and recipient’s public keys (wallet addresses) and the amount of coins transferred. The transaction also needs to be signed off by the sender with their private key. All of this is just basic cryptography. Eventually, the transaction is broadcasted in the network, but it needs to be confirmed first.

Within a cryptocurrency network, only miners can confirm transactions by solving a cryptographic puzzle. They take transactions, mark them as legitimate and spread them across the network. Afterwards, every node of the network adds it to its database. Once the transaction is confirmed it becomes unforgeable and irreversible and a miner receives a reward, plus the transaction fees.

Essentially, any cryptocurrency network is based on the absolute consensus of all the participants regarding the legitimacy of balances and transactions. If nodes of the network disagree on a single balance, the system would basically break. However, there are a lot of rules pre-built and programmed into the network that prevents this from happening.

Cryptocurrencies are so called because the consensus-keeping process is ensured with strong cryptography. This, along with aforementioned factors, makes third parties and blind trust as a concept completely redundant.

OK. We’re all filled with schpilkes about the upcoming death march series with the Penguins. Rightly so. And now, to add to the agita, we find ourselves without Joe B. and Locker doing the call, supported by Alan May and Smokin’ Al rinkside.

NBC (Nothing But Crosby) takes over the TV broadcasts for the second round and beyond, and you know what that means, the capable but beige Doc Emrick, and Pierre McGuire (the surprise hit at RMNBX and as we learned at Iron Horse, a huge You Can Play Booster. We got a hug!). Despite their position atop the NHL broadcast food chain, the NBC “talent” pales in comparison to CSN’s dream team. And that doesn’t even take into account Roenick, Jones and the other clown. Though Liam is kinda dreamy….

We need every comfort we can get. And it’s no strain to say the our now-benched Caps call-line, the very best NHL PxP and color team in the solar system, will be sorely missed. But we have a solution. We have a fix for your fidgets. His name is John Walton, and you know him by his voice. And here is how you do it.

From the Bears to the Caps

“I’ve been calling Caps games for six seasons – a day before the earthquake. I’ll call my 500th game next season.” The 44-year-old John Walton is the definition of an optimist. Well…an optimist, who’s been around the Caps.

“I don’t think anyone who  has heard my broadcasts would say I’m fair and balanced, but it’s so important to be fair and balanced,” says the Caps radio voice. Fair and balanced…or perhaps we’ll just say, honest.  Walton grew up in Minnesota, listening to Bob Kirks and Al Shaver. “We moved to Ohio, at that time it was hard to follow a team from afar except for Ken Wilson on KMOX – I think I was probably modeled myself after Kenny,” says the booth veteran.

Some may see Walton playing second fiddle to the Joe B/Locker line, but consider just how more difficult the job of calling a hockey game for a radio audience is. “You try to capture a whole lot and digest it for someone who can’t see it,” he says. “You want to be able to give enough flavor to where the puck isn’t than is.

“On TV you can joke around a little more, because you have the picture. Radio is so different, so we try to bring the rink into the listener’s mind.”

Before being tapped to helm the Caps, Walton was the voice of the Hershey Bears – giving him unique insight into the players coming up through the ranks. “Doc was someone who was always encouraging to me,” Walton says, again giving credence that Emrick is a pretty good guy. From him and others, Walton says he honed his craft.

“Biggest difference between hockey and other sports to call is the pace. Baseball is a rocking chair; hockey is being like at the top of a rocket,” says Walton. “You don’t have as much time to add color because there’s too much going on. There’s so much more story telling in baseball.”

Anyone who’s listened to John’s call knows the joy and thrill of hearing – not seeing – a Caps goal. It’s an art that comes with practice. Radio might be even better than TV.

“I think a lot of the same influences as we talked about, but Ken Wilson with the St. Louis Blues probably had a big influence on me, as did Mike Emrick and Marty Brenneman with the Cincinnati Reds. Ken would always build up a big save in a way that I thought captured the listener, Marty was always so smooth in his delivery, and Doc captures the spirit of hockey in my mind as well as anyone ever has.”

How We’ll Survive

So here’s the thing. Our CSN crew is sidelined for the rest of the playoffs. But you don’t have to just resort to the audio NBC offers. We’d never survive if we had to.

Here’s how to sync the Walton live cast with the TV signal, courtesy John Walton: “The best way to hear us – we’re about 30 to 45 seconds behind the TV signal. For syncing purposes, the Caps Radio 24/7 stream has a little bar at the bottom, with a pause button. The easiest way is the Caps Radio app [available from the App Store of Google Play here]. It’s better than FM and that’s about 30 seconds behind.”

If you listen over the air on 1500AM, you can always fidget with the pause button on your DVR. No matter how you tune in to John’s call, it will make for a much better game experience. Good morning, good afternoon and good night Pittsburgh, four times please!

“Few have the greatness to bend history itself. But each of us can work to change a small portion of events. And in the total of all those acts will be written the history of this generation. It is from numberless acts of courage and belief that human history is shaped.

“Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends out a tiny ripple of hope. And crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring, those ripples can build a current which can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.”

— Robert F. Kennedy

Hockey – at least the NHL – turns 100 years old this year. That’s longer than women in the U.S. had the vote. That’s significantly longer than African-Americans were provided at least the shield of equal education and access to the ballot. 100 years is a long time.

1917 isn’t remotely like 2017, yet the devils of the past continue. We still, too often, make judgments about each other based on utterly silly things: our hair, our skin tone, our bodies.

We’re especially attuned to those silly judgments. We’ve listened to Willy O’Ree talk about the struggles of being the first black NHL player. We’ve watched the Wounded Warriors take the ice and prove, once more, how sport can raise the spirit. We’ve learned from Fatima Al Ali that Muslim women can have sick stick skills. And we’ll witness something special Friday night, during warm-ups, Caps players’ sticks will be wrapped with Pride Tape, and Braden Holtby will sport his You Can Play mask.

Friday night at Verizon isn’t about any one group. Young, old and in-between, straight or otherwise, male or female, special needs or just needy – what we again will learn Friday is that, yes, hockey is for everyone.

As Braden Holtby, the Caps’ You Can Play ambassador, told us Thursday, “We include everyone, It’s great that the NHL is doing, You Can Play is based on equality. You want to make sure equality is the basis, and I think it’s been a huge part of that.”

We’re reminded of our friend, and Hockey’s Hemingway, Jason Rogers’ take on the sport. Hockey, he said, is not in any way about me or I. It is about team. As one player related, in many ways it’s a game of misfits – on both sides of the glass, and all are welcome.

Perhaps. But it’s also a game that develops the person inside. You learn to work with others, you learn you’re not the only one, you learn to play to each other’s strengths – in short, you learn so many good things that sport can teach. As the old saying goes: “Sports doesn’t build character, it reveals it.”

So on Friday night, as you crowd into the arena, ready for another Caps victory, take a moment to look around. At all the people sharing this experience with you.

And remember: they are all beautiful in their own right.

The Holtbys leads Caps fans of all stripes at DC 2016 Pride Parade

A question we get a lot here is “What’s it like to be a gay hockey fan?”

We’re never quite sure what people expect the answer to be. Are they curious if it’s hard, if we feel ostracized or just not quite the same as everyone else, if we just don’t fit in? We rarely have a snappy answer at the ready.

From now on, however, I think I’ll just refer them to the 2016 DC Pride Parade. I’ll tell them how everyone – absolutely everyone – associated with the Washington Capitals were on hand, smiling and joking and looking so damn happy to be there. I’ll tell them how the thousands – tens of thousands easily – in the crowds were screaming the heads off, yelling and clapping and high-fiving those of us in the parade. How Braden and Brandi Holtby were tirelessly working the sideline, shaking hands, stopping for selfies, and hugging countless Caps fans. In 95 degree heat, no less.

I’ll tell them how everyone there – Wes, the Rockers, management types, You Can Play reps, and especially poor Slapshot in what must have been a suffocating costume, marched in a surprisingly tiring parade and never complained once. Far from it: they were there for Caps fans and non-fans alike, throwing beads and slapping hands with Washingtonians anywhere on the spectrum of sexuality.

And I’ll tell them how overwhelming it all was, to be stuck somewhere in the middle, walking with a rainbow-taped hockey stick with a Caps flag attached that the wind would pick up and fly proudly, sending the attendees into peals of “C-A-P-S, CAPS! CAPS! CAPS!”, just the same as any game at Verizon. Don’t take our word for it; just check out the pictures below.

Or, when asked “What’s it like to be a gay hockey fan?”, I can say “Exactly what it’s like to be a hockey fan.”

Another happy attendee

The Rockers, and the Voice of the Capitals, Wes Johnson, armed with his super soaker

Slapshot deserves a medal for sticking it out with such good cheer

Brandi and Braden – so laid back and fun. We love you two!

Working the crowd…

We never seen so many happy people on the streets of DC

Rainbow: Rocked. Thank you, Caps

Brandon hopes to attend the University of Maryland to major in journalism and statistics (good luck!) A Caps fan since birth, he’ll be out of country for the next few games as he tours Polish concentration camps, and visiting the final resting place of members of his family. So…a young man who understands the corrosive effects of hate and discrimination. 

This video is awful. The way these Caps fans made me feel can only be described as ashamed and embarrassed. This is not what I want people to think of when they think of Caps fans.

I am a straight male millennial. Yes. I am part of “the most privileged generation”. I recognize that. I recognize my “white male privilege”. However, I am also the future. This video is not the future. This is the past. To me, it is the same hate we saw in the 1940’s to the Jews, and in the 1960’s to the African-American community.

I see this hate all the time at school. I hear this kind of language all the time. Every single time I hear it, I tell that person to knock it off. It does not matter if I know them, or if they know me. It also does not matter if the person they said it too is gay or not. It is still offensive.

One of my really good friends is gay. (To me there is also a difference between a “gay friend” and a “friend who is gay”.) He hates the “f” word. Whether it is said to him or not. It is still hateful every time. Even if someone says it as a “joke”. It is not funny. I don`t care if people see me as a party-pooper or as someone who is “trying to make everything PC. I see myself as someone who stands up for those who are too afraid to do it for themselves.

I really hope that as a country, we can start to move forward. This is moving backwards. I am not going to make excuses for these fans. I am also not saying you should punch people in the face for saying this. I am asking you to keep in mind that just because the word might mean something different to you, that does not mean it`s not offensive to the person you are saying it to.

For the argument of “trash talking” I always say, “Trash the team, not the person”. You have no idea what that person has been through in their life, and you have no idea what affects saying these things on that person, investigate this site – SecurityInfo to learn more on how to protect your home.

“He’s definitely gone over,” producer Ryan Billie tells the crew over headset. “We’re over by :30.”

TV control rooms do not like surprises. They are dark places, populated by glowing lights and tense voices yelling out questions, requests, orders or expletives…or some combination thereof. It all lends an air of modest confusion and panic – two things that are not good in live TV.

But this one, Control Room A at CSN Mid-Atlantic headquarters in a downtown Bethesda office building, is relatively calm. Relatively. Throughout the last half hour, line-ups were juggled, graphics adjusted, plans changed and changed again. And now, Alan May has gone long at the telestrator and something needs to be done.

“What are we dropping?” asks the director. “I don’t know yet,” says Billie. He has about :20 seconds to make up his mind before the commercial ends and it’s back to live studio. Everyone’s waiting, but something will work out. It has to.

All in all, just another evening at CSN Capitals Pregame Live.

The Team Behind the Talent

Statistics don’t lie. It’s a flat fact that the 2015-16 Washington Capitals are perhaps the single best, most tenacious, most broadly talented team in franchise history. It’s also equally accurate that Washington hockey fans have probably the single most talented, capable and committed broadcast team to be found anywhere in the NHL…although statistics here are harder to find.

Earlier we profiled CSN’s field crew – the team that brings you the actual game, at home or away. Of equal importance is the group that brings viewers the pre- and post-game coverage, as well as filling the intermissions with crucial insights about what’s going right or wrong out on the ice.

Of course, Al Koken and Alan May are the faces we know best, but just like the field crew, there’s an entire team that clicks together game nights that make watching the Capitals on CSN only slightly less as great as going to Verizon in person. That team recently invited us to sit in and watch what goes into just one program – in this case, the pregame before the Caps match against the Bruins at TD Gardens on January 5th.

The evening actually starts in the afternoon for Ryan Billie. He’s the lead producer for tonight’s coverage, and by 2pm he’s already at work doing research, sorting through all the possible topics and video elements, and building the program’s rundown. Speaking as broadcast journalists (former and current), it’s very much like the work that goes into producing a nightly newscast: some elements you know, some you anticipate but get jettisoned, and some things just pop up clear out of nowhere.

The trick, says Billie, is being prepared for all of it.

“I’m from around here; I’m a Caps fan, so for me this is a thrill,” says Billie. “I have 23 minutes of content time. I put a show together, and it tells me I’ve only got a minute left, and six more minutes of stuff I want to do. But clearly, each evening the most important thing is the game coming up: we try to do as much about tonight’s game, but knowing that there are other stories lines that don’t always cross.”

Injuries, he says, are a good example. “Orpik’s out for this game, but he’s been out for a month. His absence isn’t ‘news’ – they’ve been playing without him for 20 games now – but it’s still a story. So if there’s a way to weave that in, it’s difficult but it’s worth it.”

“Holtby’s another great example,” says the former ESPN college football producer. “How many ways are there to say ‘Holtby’s great’? You try to; I mean, Braden Holtby is the best goaltender in the NHL. But even we get tired of it; even we’ve said it a hundred times. So we have to find a way to keep things new.”

Each person on the pregame program has a job. Keeping things new, “and real” as Billie says, is Courtney Laughlin’s. Among other duties, she tracks social media sites across the day – hearing what people are saying, engaging with what fans want to know, and then injecting that into the night’s program.

“Social media is really a kind of story-telling,” she tells us as she preps in the control room. “We’re actually creating a package with a theme. Usually the night before the show, Ryan and I will talk and he’ll ask: ‘Courtney what are the common themes going on, what are the stories people are talking about?’ So we try to craft something that echoes that theme, and ask questions that generate conversation.”

This evening Laughlin continues that engagement right up into the broadcast, looking for ways to tell an improptu story, in effect, with no safety net. No small feat, given how unpredictable and snarky social media can get.

If Laughlin is there to share what fans want to say, then Alan May is the guy fans want to hear what he wants to say.

The Little Nuances of the Game

May arrives a little later than Koken, who has been pouring over the program’s elements to find the very best way to present it all to the audience. Both Koken and May are perfectionists: Koken, every inch the broadcaster, choosing his words with utmost care, and May reviewing piles of digital footage, looking for the one little thing on the ice that tells the greater story.

“When I first started I always had three words that wanted to come out, so I was always fighting to say just one and end up stuttering,” says May. “I always try to make sure not to be condescending to our viewers, but try to educate if we can. I remember one of our producers always saying ‘Oh, don’t you think that’s a little over the top?’ And I said if I show them, then they can say ‘Alan May showed me that’ and now they’re going to be looking for things that aren’t so obvious. Why they’re having failures and success; the little nuances of the game.”

Showing and not just telling – what colleague Craig Laughlin has called “The Why” – is what May excels at, and his tool of choice is the telestrator. Just as there’s nothing accidental about what comes out of Al Koken’s mouth during a broadcast, May’s telestrations are intricately choreographed.

“There’s a couple programs on TV they just talk but they’re not saying anything,” says May, declining to identify which ones specifically. “Is it because they just don’t know the game, or not willing to work hard enough? You can go on TV and do nothing, or you can go on and show people. If you show them, they start to become a better fan.”

Producer Ryan Billie says that from the moment it was introduced, May poured over the mechanics of the telestrator – learning what its limits were. “Smokin’ Al” says he’s equally impressed.

“He’s really embraced doing it,” says Koken, looking up from his stacks of notes for tonight’s broadcast. “Not just showing how a player gets from point A to point B, but the techniques, tools and abilities on that telestraitor to show someone where a play originated and how it developed. He’s unbelievable at that.”

“I’ve been extremely impressed with not only how quickly he grasped it but how eagerly he wants to do it,” says Koken of his colleague. “He makes it look outstanding; it pops off the screen. Like you said, if you watch, you get that full breakdown of what’s going on. I think it’s the best stuff we do on air.”

Al Koken may be selling himself a bit short. His role in all this is, in turns, both obvious and hard to pin down. Koken is clearly the voice of the program: the metronome, the man with the facts, the anchor that keeps the ship from drifting off course. If something has happened in Washington sports in the last 40 years, and maybe longer, Koken may well have been there.

But to watch Koken work is to see an old-school broadcaster in action – in the very best sense of the term. We’ve seen it in those we learned from decades ago, when being on TV was less about the anchor and more about the story. It seems for Koken, the less he says, the more he communicates. Words are important, and shouldn’t be use to just fill dead air. Al Koken is the guy who draws the outlines of a story, then lets others step in to fill it out.

Between them, and the other key members of the team such as the editors, director and graphics persons, they make a team that’s the rival of any other we’ve seen. It’s hard work, expectations are high, and we imagine the complaints many.

But there they are, every game day. Always trying to do better, to teach more…and to figure out what to do when you’re :30 seconds over.

For more than 20 years, Bob has been one of the NHL’s top go-to guys to perform the National Anthem before play, and like many of the crew that make up the Capitals family, we’ve been lucky to have him here in DC.

I say “perform”, but “present” might be the better verb. Some singers have become well known nationally for their stamp they leave on the song: witness Jim Cornelison’s enthusiastic kapowza ass-kicking, or Boston’s Rene Rancourt, whose style we’ll just call flamboyant and leave it there…although personally we think Bert Lahr as the Cowardly Lion did it better.

While Bob’s voice is certainly strong, his anthem is uniquely clean and clear, like a crystal glass allowing us to see the complex wine it holds inside. When McDonald reaches for those notes, it’s like he’s saying the music is what matters, not him.

Now an active duty Master Sergeant in the U.S. Army Chorus, McDonald’s love for the Caps, and sport in general, began in his McLean youth. After graduating from Oberlin in 1992, he was a bit aimless – and definitely broke. He moved back to town, took a job at Tower Records, and looking for a way to go see Caps games for free, auditioned to sing the anthem before games at the old Capital Centre.

Lucky for him, he got the gig.

And lucky for us, Bob and his sometimes singing partner Master Sgt Caleb Green will open up the Capitals regular season this Saturday with their interpretation of the National Anthem for, what he hopes, will be “…a long run into post-season playoffs.” From his lips to Lord Stanley’s ears.

We caught up with Bob recently to hear his thoughts on the Capitals fans, what singing the anthem means for him, and his hopes to one day hear all of Verizon joining in.

First off, you sing all over town. Anything fun coming up?

Glad you asked! You might know that this year is the 100th anniversary of Frank Sinatra’s birth. So I’m going to be working with some of the best jazz musicians to bring him and his unforgettable music back to life. It’s one show only, we’ve done this before, and I guarantee it’s going to be a sell-out, so if anyone’s interested they should get tickets now.

OK, let’s get to the Caps. After two decades, you must you feel like part of the Caps family.

Absolutely! This is my 23rd season doing this, and I’ve developed relationships where fans became friends and friends became family. There’s something unique about hockey I think that pulls people together like family…it’s just special. I sing all over, at FedEx Field, for state functions, the Kennedy Center, but I always think, “Oh, I miss Verizon.” It’s like going home.

What makes for a good performance of the anthem?

I’d like to think one of the reasons the fans like me is because I sing the anthem straight. I sing it at a speed which I believe to be appropriate in a key that’s approachable. And I do everything I can to not make it about me.

We know the fans aren’t there to sing the national anthem; they’re there to watch hockey. But at the same time, it’s important and many, many people – especially in this area – understand the deeper meaning of presenting the anthem.I think the short answer is I do it quickly, and I don’t make it about me.

Honestly, I can’t stand those Superbowl anthem performances that are so larded up with vocal acrobatics and fireworks; I just tune it out.

Absolutely. And every time that happens, it helps people like me who go out and sing it the way it was put on the page. Sing it with honor and dignity, and boom, it’s done. It’s not that hard.

Of course, that said, vocally it’s a very difficult song. When I sing O Canada for example, it’s ten times easier to sing than our anthem…

Yeah, those must be two completely different songs to sing…

The first thing with our anthem is it has a two octave range – that’s really quite rangy for a song. Then there’s the language – it’s not modern English, and it doesn’t trip off the tongue. O Canada is just a much simpler, naturally majestic melody. It’s just easier to sing.

I think a lot of people know that the Star Spangled Banner‘s origins began with a British drinking tune and a poem scrawled out by an amateur. Being a member of the military, I hear the Army Band do the national anthem all the time, and that really helps me frame and present it in an honorable way: it’s big and brassy and has a ‘Don’t Mess With Us’ quality. For all its difficulty, there’s a majesty and power there.

And of course, most people aren’t even aware that the song is all questions! “O say can you see…Whose broad stripes and bright stars…” Even the last line which sound so triumphant is really just a question.

Sometimes I actually get a little choked up singing the anthem. Do you have to keep your emotions in check?

Totally, totally. It can be very emotional. I think I did the first anthem after 9-11 at Verizon. It might have been Caps or Wizards, but needless to say that was a tremendous honor, just being back in uniform in front of 18,000 people…and all of us in a complete state.

But there have been a number of times, just personal stuff. For me, the anthem before I joined the army and the anthem after I joined are very different. While my job is not infantry, just being in that military world and knowing people who are serving overseas, that’s made the anthem a totally different experience…especially when I’m singing for veterans. We all know the power of music; those times I get to sing for our veterans, and the emotions that pulls out of them – there’s nothing cooler than that.

Are you ever disappointed U.S. audiences don’t generally sing along?

It would be so cool if we did that here. Part of what’s going on is the ease of singing it. One reason Canadians belt it out is that O Canada is just so much easier to sing.But look at European soccer clubs – those fans are singing all the time. Watch the Premier League – they never stop singing! I would love it.

There was one time I was doing a Bullets game years ago, and my mic went out. Now, I can make some noise, but I can only do so much. But the fans picked it right up and went with me; that was really nice. And yes, there have been times where I kinda wish that would happen at a Caps game, because I know the Caps fans would totally jump in and sing along.

When Wes announces me I think he says something like “please sing along loudly and proudly.” I would love it if the fans joined in. I even sing it in a key that’s easier for the average person – I hover around A-flat.

Of course, Caps fans do sing along at two specific points…is that a distraction?

It’s not a distraction but only because I’ve been doing it for so long and am used to it. You can sense when people come into Verizon or Camden Yards for the first time and they’re not used to that.

I’ve had a lot of fans come up to me and say “I think that’s so rude, I don’t know why we do that.” Compared to some arenas, like New York, they just yell through the entire anthem. I have to say that when you sing at Verizon, it’s as quiet as can be, in the best possible sense. They have respect. So they yell “Red!” and “O!” – that’s fine, that’s a fandom thing.

Caleb and Bob = best

You and Caleb harmonize so well. Did that take long?

It just sort of evolved. We sang it just a few years ago for the first time and it’s grown in frequency. We’re both professionals, so it was just working a few things out. Caleb takes the melody, so I try and remember what I’m doing on harmony.

Because I’m in the Army Chorus, I’m used to doing four-part harmony. I have so many anthems in my head. I have a Baritone line for a full-part men’s chorus, I’ve got the duet version with Caleb, I’ve got the times where it’s just me. It’s like “which one is it tonight?” But we love doing it together – and we’re kicking off the Caps season Saturday night.

Don’t get me wrong: you guys are great. But why aren’t there more singers, or different groups, like at other barns?

In a word: logistics. The Army Chorus sang the national anthem for a Caps game several years ago. There’s 24 of us – that’s 24 people you have to maneuver on and off the ice, set up the microphones all around them, and clear it out for the players.

The winter Classic was just the opposite. I think the NHL was holding the anthem for a star – I can’t say for sure – but they eventually chose us, which was a great honor. When I started chatting with the producer, it seemed to make more sense to have the whole Army Chorus do it. They wanted it big – it’s a big stage, after all. I said, why don’t we put me and Caleb in the front, but musically it makes much more sense to have the big group out there. In the end, that’s what happened, and it was a slam-dunk home-run.

I think the Caps are happy with their anthem situation. There’s tons of really talented people in this town who would love to sing, but the Caps really like the fact that we’re their go-to singers.

The PuckBuddys have an idea. As we open up the 2015-16 season – a season that may be one for the books – we’d like to help Bob and Caleb out. This Saturday, put modesty aside for a few minutes and sing the anthem out – loud. Let’s let them hear us.

We know how loud we can rock Red; Saturday night let’s try and rock the Red, White and Blue.

(Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)

While Caps fans in DC are likely celebrating – with good reason – the announced trade that’s bringing Blues stand-out TJ Oshie to Washington next season, so too are longtime fans from his days playing at the University of North Dakota. 

Which means that Michele Johnson – Caps fan, UND grad, and all around hockey sharpie – is probably more excited than almost anyone right now. Michele has been watching Oshie’s play since he came to Grand Forks, and can’t wait to watch him now, years later, at Verizon. 

Although she’s in North Dakota right now, she couldn’t wait but to share some thoughts on why TJ is such a big deal in DC. 

One cold Saturday morning in 2014, I set my DVR for Olympics hockey and headed out to Congressional Cemetery to walk my dog.

With TJ Oshie and Zach Parise strapping it on for the  USA, and Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews doing the same for Canada, I was confident the alma maters of my alma mater – the University of North Dakota – would represent.

This edition of Olympic hockey meant pretty much everything to me. So it shouldn’t have been a surprise, half way through my walk, to get texts such as “OMG!” “OSHIE!” “Are you losing your mind?!?” and “Go Sioux!”

I knew it my bones: TJ Oshie, former Sioux standout, had saved the day for the U.S. team and electrified fans across the nation. Just as he had back at UND.

Oshie was a star for the Fighting Sioux and is still a huge supporter of the college program. Before this year’s Frozen Four, he tweeted well-wishes, all the while sporting UND garb in his Facebook and Twitter presence.  At UND, he starred on the “DOT Line:” that was Ryan Duncan (Hobey Baker winner), Oshie, and Jonathan Toews. How’s that for a college hockey line?

My TV boyfriend Jon Hamm is also an Oshie fan, vowing to name his first born, “TJ Oshie Hamm. Boy or girl.” TJ’s joy for the game is palpable and his skill for making a difference in key games is undeniable.

So as a UND fan and Caps fan, this is a red letter day. Or a green one. And the icing on the cake? When Oshie comes to DC, he’ll reunite with former Fighting Souix teammate Taylor Chorney, who played with Oshie in three Frozen Fours.

As for North Dakotans, I happen to be in Grand Forks today, and the TJ Oshie deal is a lead story for the local sports broadcast. God bless America!

We, the hockey faithful, clearly are living in the Era of Ovechkin. Years from now, young fans will ask in awe whether you saw ‘The Great Eight’ play…much as I recall asking about ‘Mr. Hockey’ – the incomparable Gordie Howe. Both of them bold, brash…the hero who lifts his team to new heights.

But no team soars just by one star. Thus we in DC are privileged to also be witness to the Age of Backstrom – one Lars Nicklas Bäckström to be exact.

If you ever needed convincing of this, our current play-off series with the New York Islanders makes the case abundantly. In the dot, he’s quiet brilliance. During the PP, he’s the effortless conductor and composer of play. If there’s sustained fore-check and scoring possibilities, he does what’s needed to see the team gets it done.

And when you are just about to collapse waiting for that last-minute goal that keeps you in the game, or sets you over the top, quietly, like a Nordic snowfall, 19 will make it happen.

Nick Backstrom, in his nine years with the Caps, has entered into the already crowded Swedish Hockey Hall of Heroes – standing, though often in the shadows, of legends as Henrik Lundqvist, Peter Forsberg, Henrik Zetterberg, the Zedin twins, and Niklas Kronwall, to name only a few. Just this year we saw him, without much comment, become the Capitals’ franchise leader in assists – 60 so far this season.

As Ovi exemplifies the best of Russian hockey, so does Nicky 19 show off the very best of what we might call the Swedish Style of Hockey. Elegant, speedy, cerebral, and always ready to help his teammates, Nicklas Backstrom is today the pre-eminent model of everything that’s best about Swedish hockey: he’s quick, powerful, and beautiful.

As part of our recent discussions with ambassadors of the Great Hockey Powers, we recently had the great luck to speak with His Excellency Björn Lyrvall, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Sweden to the U.S.

Amb. Lyrvall, to no-one’s surprise, has spent much of his career in high-profile assignments, from the former Soviet Union to present-day Russia, Bosnia, London and Brussels, among others.  He graciously took time with us to discuss another matter of great international importance – hockey.

Amb. Lyrvall, what does hockey mean for, and in, Sweden?

This is the game in Sweden. It’s clearly the most popular sport, along with soccer. If you look at statistics, this is the sport that draws the highest number of spectators. Our players there are superstars – very much in focus. Swedes love hockey; they very much love their national team – the “Tre Kronor” [or “Three Crowns”] – they’ve been doing very well over the years. They’re one of the top teams in the world at the World Cup and Olympic Games. And add to that, we have a very popular women’s national team – the “Damkronora” [or “Ladies’ Crowns”] – doing well over the last few years, and won a couple bronze and silver medals at recent Olympics.

Amb. Lyrvall with Rep.Hultgren, exchanging sweaters.

Why so many great players from such a small nation, population-wise?

Well, I think it goes back to the culture of organized sports in Sweden. There are lots of local clubs and teams and district ice hockey associations that organize the training – they start early. We’re a Nordic country and people love their winter sports. The tradition was established a very long time ago, back in the early 1920’s, and has been built over the years and by now is very well established. And of course, we have a very, very good set of coaches – notably at the local level, where young players learn very early fundamentals of the game.

I think you see that here, when Swedish players come to play in the NHL, they’re pretty good on the ice. They’ve got a good tactical view, good at skating and good behavior on and off the ring. We are pretty pleased with the kind of players we have; after Canada and the US, Sweden is now producing the most players for the NHL.

Are there particular teams or players you follow here in the U.S.?

Well of course back in Sweden we all have our local favorite teams in the Swedish Hockey League – mine is Leksands which is seen as one of the most interesting teams to watch. In the NHL, well, I’m here now so I follow hockey with the Capitals.

This is what Swedish hockey looks like

Nicklas Backstrom of course I like a lot; Marcus Johansson and Burakovsky I watch with great pleasure. Another great player I like to watch a lot, although he’s injured right now, is of course Henrick Lundqvist, the King with the Ranger. I haven’t been following the Wings all that closely now, but of course I admire Henrick Zetterberg, the Zedin brothers out in Vancouver. There’s a lot of Swedish players that not only I follow but many others as well.

How closely do Swedes follow NHL hockey?

They have a really great following in Sweden. People stay up at night watching the NHL. I know for sure a number of Swedes are actually staying up following the NHL games live when they are broadcast – there’s a six hour difference remember. We also have newspapers covering the on-going games, live-blogging going on while the game’s are being played, interviews with the players are given lots of space in Swedish media. There’s considerable interest, and those Swedes who love hockey, they really know their NHL teams really quite well.

What would you say are the hallmark of Swedish-style play? The Finnish Ambassador Koukke-Ronde told us that there’s something in the Finnish soul that makes them excellent goalies.

When it comes to goal-tending, of course, we’ve had some of the very best goal-tenders in the world, so I wouldn’t say the Finns have a lock on goal-tending. But I do have to say the Finns have sisu– they are real fighters in the best sense.

I think our hockey is characterized by great versatility, good skating, good passing. Look at Peter Forsberg for example; he’s a master of that, and the Zedin brothers as well. Nicklas Backstrom is one of the best in the NHL in my view.

Good vision for the game, good skating is what characterizes Swedish players in the NHL. Our players behave very well on the ice as well as off. They are pretty disciplined team players. They’re good at the passing game – not necessarily the guys who want to take the shot by themselves, but they’re very good at passing game.

Who are the Swedish father figures in modern hockey new players look to? 

I would mention three immediately, Börje Salming a great player in Toronto many, many years.  Mats Sundin, Peter Forsberg are there. And also of course Zetterberg.

But the player who really had impact, was really a success story in the NHL, at least for the Swedes, that was Salming. He kept playing in Toronto year after year, I don’t know how many seasons he actually played at the end of the day,but he was a star there, and an example of someone who made it. Forsberg, of course, rates also just because of the number of points he scored.

Do Swedish players maintain contact with the homeland, and help Swedish youth hockey?

That’s very much the case. Of course when we had the strike you had all the NHL players coming back, taking part in the Swedish hockey league But these guys are playing here, in rather challenging circumstances – lots of games, lots of travel – they love to go back to Sweden to be with their families but also be with the young players coming up.

And there are some very interesting young players coming up in the NHL – we’ve seen some very promising young players this season alone. Peter Forsberg in Nashville, John Klingberg in Dallas, Hector Carlson …

Now playing in Nashville…

Forsberg is still a touchy subject here in Washington…

(laughs) Yes, well…but he’s still doing well!

Do you have the chance to meet with the players?

I’ve met with a few of them. Most recently I was up in New York with my prime minister; we watched the game and afterward met with Henrik Lundqvist and also Carl Hagelin, who’s also doing very well. Occasionsally we’ve had some of the Capitals visit the embassy for one occasion or another.

Did you play hockey as a youth, or even now?

I don’t really play now but of course I did attempt to play a bit whne I was younger in school. I was goalie for a few years there, but I can’t say that was my strongest sport, although I enjoyed it very much. And of course I skate, and continue to do that with my children now, and play hockey with them. And I still watch a lot. I grew up in a part of the country that had real hockey culture and some good players from my own village made it into the NHL as well.

Is stopping pucks good training for diplomacy?

Ha! Yeah, I think part of the job here is to try and avoid catastrophe!

Lastly, what is it about the game that you enjoy so much?

It’s a game where there’s a lot of energy in it. There’s a beauty in a good passing game and the quick movements you see on the ice with skaters, with all that energy and commitment you see in hockey. I keep coming back to it: it’s quick, beautiful and powerful.

Love him or hate him, Jagr is one of the all time greats

Havlát. Eliáš. Hašek. Holík. The names are as familiar as sometimes their spelling seems foreign. These are just a few of the many great hockey players the Czech Republic has sent to the NHL – and this only since becoming it’s own distinct nation, separating from it’s brother state in 1993. Not bad for a nation of only 10 million.

Washington and the Czech Republic have had an unusually close relationship over the years – at least when it comes to what goes down on the ice. A surprising number of Czechs have spent time right here with the Capitals: Robert Lang, Martin Erat, Tomáš Vokoun, Petr Nedvěd among them.

But of course, there’s one name missing. One name arguably at the top of the list of all-time Czech greats – heck, one of the best players ever. And one name that stirs conflicting emotions for Caps fans like no other: Jaromír Jágr.

As part of our on-going interview series with ambassadors who represent the great hockey nations, today we take a moment to contemplate the many great things the Czech Republic has contributed to this greatest of games. And also, Jaromír Jágr.

Czech Ambassador Petr Gandalovič

We were scheduled to meet with His Excellency Petr Gandalovič, Czech Ambassador to the US, but it fell on a day when snow blew through DC, airplane schedules were snarled, and we weren’t able to meet with the Ambassador face-to-face.

He was gracious enough, however, to share some thoughts with us via email, which we share after the jump. What role does hockey play in Czech culture – how important is it to people?

Hockey is one of the most favorite sports in the Czech Republic and plays a very important role in our culture.

For a relatively small nation, the Czech Republic has produced a huge number of very talented players. How would you explain that?

While our country may be small there always has been a very complex system of working with young talent. All of our players dream big and have their hearts set on the NHL.

Finland’s Amb. Koukku-Ronde told us she thought there was something about being a goalie – about fighting it out alone in the net – that felt very Finnish to her. Is there an aspect of Czech culture or the Czech soul that finds expression in the game do you think?

As I mentioned, we may be a small nation but our people are very talented and have lots of drive. I think our players have proven that on the ice worldwide.

When I think of dominating Czech players currently, I think of Tomas Vokoun, and Jaromir Jagr who’s still going great in his early 40s. Who are some of your favorite players, either currently or from the past, you enjoy watching? And do you keep your eye on any NHL teams in particular?

Yes, both players Tomas Vokoun and Jaromir Jagr are hockey legends in the Czech Republic. I always enjoy watching them.

Jagr: an all-time great who will never live this down.

It is undeniable that Jaromir Jagr is one of the best players in hockey history. Although he will turn 43 this year, he is not slowing down anytime soon and the NHL statistics reflect his amazing accomplishments. He just recently proved that he is a phenomenal player when he became the oldest NHL player ever to record a hat trick.

Tomas Vokoun is an awesome goalie. It is sad that he had to retired early due to his medical problems.

I further have to mention Dominik Hasek, who is also an outstanding goalie. He twice won the Stanley Cup with the Detroit Red Wings. Moreover, the Buffalo Sabers, the team for which he played the longest in his career, inducted him into their Hall of Fame and officially retired his number “39.”

When I have time, I keep up with the New Jersey Devils because we have four Czech players with them right now. I am still hoping that they will make it into the playoffs.

Slovakia’s Amb. Kmec told us that Peter Bondra did and still does play a sort of fatherly role, helping new players when they come to the States. Have there been Czech players who’ve served that role, or after retiring served as a sort of goodwill ambassador, working to build bridges between the US and Czech Republic?

Yes, we also have players who serve in that capacity. Petr Svoboda, who played 19 seasons in the NHL, works as a hockey agent and also as a mentor.

In addition, Czech hockey players, Milan Hejduk (Colorado Avalanche) and Jiri Fischer (Detroit Red Wings) were both significant personalities on their teams. After they retired from playing professionally, they were offered the opportunity to stay on with their teams to work as managers and coaches for young players so that they could pass on their experiences to the next generation.

Lastly, even though he is not retired, I would like to point out that Patrik Elias of the New Jersey Devils has been the Czech Republic’s Good Will Ambassador to UNICEF since 2006.

Are you, or were you, a hockey player, and if so, could you share some of your memories?

No, I have never been a hockey player.

Finally, how much good-natured competition do Czecks feel with Slovak, Finnish, Swedish or Russian teams, and is there any national squad in particular it’s always satisfying to defeat?

The tensest games are usually against Slovakia, Russia and Canada. These games are always very emotional and our fans have high expectations.