Writing
I am an experienced sports journalist with a demonstrated history of generating engaging content in a major market. I have covered a variety of sports and events over my career, but am currently cover the Washington Capitals as a beat writer for NBC Sports Washington. I have been a member of the Pro Hockey Writers Association (PHWA) since 2016.
Please don't hesitate to reach out to me if you have any questions or (especially) if you want to talk sports.
Writing
Joe Beninati and Craig 'Locker' Laughlin knew each other only briefly before they were paired together to call Capitals games for the network that would become NBC Sports Washington.
The Seattle Kraken will be the 32nd team in the NHL and the franchise revealed its team name, logo and jerseys on Thursday. It's awesome. More importantly, Thursday was a good reminder that the expansion draft is just a season away.
When the Capitals take the ice each game, they represent Washington, D.C. Off the ice, however, the players are a collection of talent from all over the world. Washington is the team they play for, but neither Washington nor America is where many of them come from.
Tom Wilson has developed a reputation around the league, but the Capitals see something different in him. He has spent the 2018-19 season proving he is the top-six player Washington always thought he was, even if everyone else still sees him as a villain.
The rivalry between Alex Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby began as a media-driven storyline of two generational players entering the league at the same time. Whether they want to admit it or not, however, that rivalry has grown into one of the all-time great rivalries of the NHL and perhaps in sports.
Lars Eller saw his target. He quickly skated over to Boston Bruins forward Brad Marchand at the blue line and the two exchanged a shove. Eller immediately dropped a glove and grabbed Marchand's collar. Marchand tried to skate away, but Eller held tight, dropped his other glove and continued tugging at Marchand's collar even as a linesman stepped in between the two players.
Before Madison Bowey leaves for the rink on game day, he has to take a shower at home. Once he gets to the arena, he has to put his equipment on his left side first before his right. For Dmitry Orlov, part of his preparation involves a warm up with just his hands.
In the fall of 2004, Todd Reirden had a conversation that would change the course of his hockey career. Reirden's first season with the Houston Aeros of the AHL was not going the way he had hoped. A three-inch tear in his oblique meant that not only could he not play, but he could not practice or skate.
The Capitals adopted a new offensive philosophy last season, one that bucked the trend of modern analytics and it came from a very unexpected source.
As good as the Caps played to beat Pittsburgh, they played their best hockey of the postseason after defeating their archrivals in the second round. That's because they were a confident team after getting over both the second round and the Penguins hump that had plagued them for so many years.
How do you beat a two-time Stanley Cup-winning goalie? Shoot to the glove side. That seems to be the strategy the Capitals are taking against Pittsburgh Penguins goalie Matt Murray. In the three games of the series, the Capitals have scored 10 goals. One goal was on an empty net in Game 2.
With the regular season set to start in a week, the Capitals' opening night roster is slowly but surely coming into focus. On Thursday, the team reassigned defensemen Jonas Siegenthaler and Tyler Lewington, forward Travis Boyd and goalie Pheonix Copley to Hershey of the American Hockey League.
Audio
3 days after losing their playoff series to the Islanders and former Head Coach Barry Trotz, the Capitals relieved Todd Reirden of his coaching duties. Reirden's firing comes on the heels of back to back first round playoff exits after winning the Stanley Cup in 2018.
Jordan Giorgio, JJ Regan and Nick Ashooh got together one more time to finish out this 2020 Caps season and to discuss the Islanders 4-0 domination of the Caps in this game and throughout the series. With the season over the crew also looks to the off-season and what that might mean for some of the veteran players.
Rob and JJ are joined by a whole cast of characters to draft an all-time Caps team that includes 6 starters and 2 bench spots. John Walton, Joe Beninati, Ben Raby and Ryan Billie round out the participants, as they attempt to craft the best Caps Fantasy team of all time.
Rob Carlin, J.J. Regan and Brian McNally give an in-depth look at some of the most promising Capitals prospects from Hershey this season, including interviews with prospects Riley Barber (16:51), Axel Jonsson-Fjallby (24:51) and Riley Sutter (33:16).
Capitals insider JJ Regan of NBC Sports Washington joins The Morning Blitz with Al Galdi discussing why goaltender Braden Holtby being on the Caps beyond this coming season has become more unlikely and more on the Caps in NHL free agency...
For the first time in franchise history, the Washington Capitals are the Stanley Cup champions! It took the Caps just five games to dispatch the Vegas Golden Knights and bring Lord Stanley to Washington right where he belongs. JJ Regan and Tarik El-Bashir try to make sense of it all.
The Caps and Penguins split Game 1 and Game 2. Which team has the advantage heading into Pittsburgh? JJ Regan and Tarik El-Bashir are joined by special guest Corey Masisak of The Athletic to discuss the series so far, the NHL's decision not to suspend Tom Wilson and how the rest of the series will unfold.
Tom Wilson joined the podcast to talk about his big season and how he balances his offensive and physical play. Plus, we talk about T.J. Oshie's struggles and Alex Ovechkin's big season.