#1: Jonathan Toews – Winner winner, chicken dinner.  I love JT so much he should just join the damned Penguins already.  Oh, to have been in the meeting where someone said “Toews” and “squats” in the same sentence.  That sound you hear is my dead body hitting the floor.

#2: Ryan Miller – Miller Time!  He makes me want to sing the National Anthem.  The idea of this drill makes my left hand hurt, and I’m pretty sure this is my old neighborhood in Queens.  Bonus points for excellent hair.

#3: Sidney Crosby – Could have been better.  And by ‘better’ I mean ‘lower.’  Still, he is so impressive you don’t need to see anything but his sneakers and his face.

#4: Ovi – This one’s for Dawn.  I can’t rank him above Sid (ever) and I think he could have been wearing a tank top.  Right?  But the man is a beast.  I feel like this rope workout is a favorite Russian pastime.

#5: Mike Cammalleri – I don’t like you.  Stay in this parking lot all season and don’t bother us.  I would have picked someone else for this slot – think of what we’re missing!  Shawn Thornton, Jarome Iginla, hell even a Flyer (but not Pronger).  Eh, 4 out of 5 ain’t bad.

NHL, HBO announce 24/7 series featuring Washington Capitals, Pittsburgh Penguins and NHL Winter Classic

The NHL and HBO Sports announced Thursday their partnership for a groundbreaking, four-episode series as part of the network’s 12-time Emmy Award-winning “24/7” reality TV franchise that will go deep into the inner workings of the Capitals-Penguins rivalry leading up to the 2011 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic, which will be played Jan. 1 at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh.

The series will debut with an hour-long show Dec. 15 at 10 p.m. ET with an encore at 11. Ensuing episodes will debut at 10 p.m. ET on the subsequent Wednesdays — Dec. 22, 29 and Jan. 5 — all with an encore at 11. All four episodes will have multiple replay dates on HBO, and the series also will be available on HBO On Demand. [NHL.com]

ALERT: Caps reaction video, in which Mike Green almost smiles!!  Also Ovi promises to swear in Russian and Greener talks about having “grown up” and being less “colorful.”  That had better not be too true.

HELP ME - This is turning into a Caps blog!

Well, there goes December.  But first we have to make it that far!  Last night, all the WUYS fave teams got off to strong starts:

– The Pens broke in the CONSOL Energy Center with a 5-1 spank of the Red Wings, including goals from Mr. Hilary Duff and Crosby, and assists for Sid and Letang (Love. His. Hair.)

We want to brush it.

– Patrice Bergeron treated Chuck to 2 goals as the Bruins beat Montreal 4-2.  He’s not Chuck’s fave, but she’ll need something to do all season if Savard’s post-concussion syndrome is as serious as feared.  And Seguin is too young, unless he’s also a werewolf in which case we have no problem being Team Tyler.

Aimez-moi, s'il vous plaît.

– The Capitals downed Columbus 6-2.  Neither Ovi nor Greener skated, but Tomas Fleishmann got 2 goals.  And his nickname is Flash, like the dog on The Dukes of Hazzard.

Flash hated Boss Hogg.

– The Lightning beat the Blackhawks in Winnipeg, putting a sad face on Captain Serious‘ return to his hometown and causing him to lose customers for his summer lawn mowing business.  Later he swam away his sadness in the lake they named for him.

Seven more games tonight, including a mini-set between the Coyotes and Kings.  BizNasty will undoubtedly report what they have for dinner and how many girls swoon over Taylor Pyatt.  Breaking news, people.

Zach Parise is so cute.

The rest of the NHL Media Tour crew was there, including Malkin, Toews, Kaner and my second-favorite Staal, Eric.  We bet Kane’s the only one who had any fun, hopefully joyriding around NYC in Lundqvist’s special edition bus.  After Ovie ditched me and Mike Green (apparently not on the guest list), he graced the party with his presence.  In a t-shirt.

Sid and Ovie did a photo shoot for an upcoming issue of Vanity Fair.  If you listen closely, you’ll hear a lot of screaming between Seattle (Dawn) and San Francisco (Pants).  There’s plenty of video and photo content of yesterday’s media tour at NHL.com, including Dion Phanuef talking about what makeup he likes to wear and EStaal talking about his butt.  Quality.

Before the party, Dawn and I let Mike Green and Ovie take us to a Russian restaurant.  Except they sat next to each other, so maybe we should be worried?  Dawn took this photo with her decoder ring camera, so as not to appear all fangirl in the moment, then ran to the bathroom and totally spazzed out.  Ovie had 11 shots of vodka and asked to borrow Mike’s Lamborghini.  I pretended to know what borscht was and tried not to think about Mike’s bathroom.  I’m pretty sure Mike was thinking about Mike.  As usual.

I would only eat borscht for Mike Green.

(Photo from @washcaps, which I think must be run by a girl because it’s pretty awesome.)