Washington Post sports columnist Mike Wise attempted to prove a point on Twitter the other day that no one checks sources anymore, so he wrote that Ben Roethlisberger’s suspension would last five games. While this turned the heads of many and earned him a month-long suspension from his job, it made me wonder how much worse this could have been. Forget Roethlisberger, let’s say he were a Pittsburgh-based journalist, or wrote something about the Redskins, or worse – something about the Caps.

There isn’t a piece of Capitals news these days that isn’t devoured by tens of thousands, and had he written virtually anything about the Caps, the rabid fans would have believed it, bloggers would have written about it, and we’d hate him for it. But what could he have written that we would have actually believed? (Warning: These are fake and not funny)

It’s a sad day for Caps fans who enjoy the coverage as much as they do the game. CSN reporter Lisa Hillary is leaving for a gig in Philly. D.C. Sports Bog and On Frozen Blog (who had this story last week) have the details, but we here at Capitals Outsider, who spent some time with Lisa outside the interview scrum around Alex Ovechkin in the Caps’ locker room, will remember her as a talented journalist who made it a delight to watch the postgame interviews. Capitals Outsider wishes her well with the Flyers.

We’ll now play our favorite Lisa Hillary moment one last time. Enjoy.

Bye Lisa, we’ll miss you!

Most fans know George McPhee as the humorless, stone-faced General Manager of the Washington Capitals. In fact, most journalists know McPhee that very same way. Needless to say, he was quite a fighter back in the day. You know, in 1999, when he gave Chicago coach Lorne Molleken a black eye after an exhibition game.

But McPhee was also a force to reckon with when he played with the New York Rangers.

(Videos after the jump)

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With the Capitals’ blogosphere growing, it’s likely that some talented writers are hesitant to join the crowded marketplace and write about their favorite players. But there’s still one place left that won’t ever be lacking in well-written, fact-based content: Wikipedia. The one glaring omission of current Caps in this online encyclopedia is goaltending prospect Braden Holtby. Starting with a blank slate, you can author this page. With all the Washington hockey writers out there, it’s the perfect opportunity to contribute information on the Caps’ future netminder on a site that people routinely turn to for information.

So get started writing about Braden Holtby before he turns into the next Olaf Kolzig!

If you haven’t done so already, go to CapitalsOutsider.com, scroll down, and play Know Your Caps? in reverse chronological order (20 questions total). If you’ve already played, the answers – and what people guessed – are after the jump.

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Yes, he got his own bobblehead.

Answers are coming soon, now that we’ve picked a team’s worth of players.

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This guy is likely the smartest player the Caps ever had.

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As we continue killing time before the season starts, we came up with the Capitals Dream Team using the best possible lineup of current or former Caps while in their prime with the team (so no Red Wing Sergei Fedorov). There are a few ways of doing this. The first is to pick the best lineup of players, in their natural positions, who would compliment each other. These are not necessarily the top 20 players in Caps’ history, but ones that together would make one heck of a team. First, the forwards (after the jump).
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