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The Joe B. & Locker Glossary

Artwork via capitalsart.blogspot.com

As I watched the Caps’ games on Comcast SportsNet last weekend, it became abundantly clear that for one to fully understand the broadcast one must be schooled in the appropriate game terminology. All actual hockey terms aside, I’m talking about Beninati and Laughlin-isms – the creative, wacky explanations of play-by-play announcer Joe Beninati (Joe B.) and color analyst/former Washington Capital Craig Laughlin (Locker). Whether their quirky terms are totally original, or a mixture of traditional hockey lingo and an exhausted thesaurus, it doesn’t matter. What is real is that these two are more than just announcers. They are our friends, and they function like a well-oiled comedy team to entertain viewers through all the highs and lows of Caps games.

To enlighten those who scratch their heads and frantically leaf through their copy of Hockey for Dummies to no avail, here is an unofficial and certainly ever-growing glossary of Beninati-Laughlin-isms:

  • Bing bang play – quick shots on goal
  • Bouncing biscuit – bouncing puck
  • Chiclets – teeth
  • Chisels – quickly taking the puck down the ice
  • Cutesy passes – soft passes
  • Freight trained – checked hard
  • Going up the gut – skating up the middle of the ice
  • Hackin’ and whackin’ – fighting
  • Harlem Globe Trotter game – continuous skating back and forth with no checking
  • Howitzer, bullet, scorcher, blast — slap shot
  • In his grill – in his face
  • Pancake – when a player is checked, sandwiched between two opposing players
  • Production line – good hockey line
  • Pulled the trigger – shot the puck
  • Pup – young player
  • Shake n’ bake – quick moves to fake out the goalie
  • Soap on a rope – player has the puck for a long time
  • Spark plug – a good, quick player
  • Tic-tac-toe – pass from one player to another, and then another, usually resulting in a goal
  • Twig – hockey stick
  • Woodwork – the boards

So, the next time you watch a Caps game on CSN and you have no idea what Joe B. and Locker are talking about, consult this list. Keep watching and, with time, you will add to it. They are always coming up with something clever and fun. It’s just not a Caps game without them.

Know more? Add them to the comments.

Barbara Banks

Barbara Ann Banks is a freelance writer out of Rockville, MD.

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