Jim Williams, The Examiner
Oct 6, 2006 5:00 AM (2 hrs 47 mins ago)
Current rank: # 2 of 7,266 articles
WASHINGTON - Hockey fans in the area are thrilled the Capitals’ season has started and you can put the team’s play-by-play man, Joe Beninati, atop that list.
“Joe B.” will call all 81 Caps games, primarily on Comcast SportsNet. He will do at least another 18 nationally-televised NHL games as a member of the Verses broadcast team.
Add in his college game work for CSTV and Beninati will call over 125 games before the puck drops on the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
I spoke to Joe about Caps star Alex Ovechkin as well as the team’s overall outlook as the season gets underway.
Beninati on Ovechkin: “When we go into an opposing team’s locker room before the game, the first thing guys talk about is Alex. They want to know about a goal he has scored or a pass he has made and this is coming from guys who have been in the league for five-to-eight years.
“He is a real rock star in the NHL. But I think the most impressive thing about Alex is how well he gets along with the other guys on the team. He really loves being part of the Caps team and he is not aloof; he is just one of the guys.”
Beninati on the Caps’ season outlook: “The 2006-07 Caps are still a young team in the process of building for a long and successful future. Making the playoffs this season will take very consistent play and in particular they need to play solid defense ahead of the rock of the team, goaltender Olie Kolzig.”
Beninati will again join color analyst Craig Laughlin on CSN to form the best broadcast team in hockey. That duo is complemented by the pre- and post-game show tandem of Al Koken and former Cap Joe Reekie.
And don’t forget: All Caps games can be heard on radio as Steve Kolbe subtly calls the action on WTEM and occasionally WTNT.
Working overtime
» Mark Brunell, Santana Moss and the rest of the Skins weren’t the only ones who put in a little extra effort on Sunday. Washington topped Jacksonville in overtime, 36-30. D.C.-area viewers earned the broadcast a 25.3 rating and 47-percent share, made it the No. 1 show of the week locally. Again.
Jim Williams is a seven-time Emmy Award-winning TV producer, director and writer
Examiner
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