(D.Nichols/Caps News Network)

Washington Capitals defenseman John Carlson threw out the honorary first pitch before the first game of a doubleheader between the Washington Nationals and Los Angeles Dodgers Thursday afternoon.  Luckily for all, there was a long enough break in the rain, at least downtown, for the event to not get washed out.

Carlson spoke to a few reporters from the press box high atop Nationals Park after the ceremony about his experience, the upcoming NHL season, and recent tragedies that have affected the hockey community.

Asked if he'd ever done anything like that, Carlson replied, "No.  I've played baseball but never at that length, from the mound.  It was interesting.  It was fun."

Joking on if his pitch was a strike, Carlson laughed.  "It was inside, right on the plate.  It was looking pretty daunting once I got up there [on the pitching mound], but once I threw it I was decently happy with it."

"I was most happy when it was over with," he kidded about the pressure of being on a Major League pitcher's mound, "But it was fun."

(C.Nichols/Caps News Network)

On trying his hand in a sport without skates on his feet, Carlson responded, "It's different.  I played soccer this summer too [in Mia Hamm's charity event] and that's a change of pace for me. I'd never played soccer.  That's what everyone says about something like that, but what if they get on the ice?  It's a different story then."

Nats relief pitcher Collin Balester, a southern California native, was Carlson's catcher, and made a point to mention to him that he was a big Anaheim Ducks fan as they made their way off the field. Nats relief pitcher Tyler Clippard is also a big hockey fan and roots for the Tampa Bay Lightning. "They're big hockey fans.  You can't expect everyone to be from Washington," Carlson rationalized.

The Caps and Nats have done quite a bit of cross-promotion over the years, and Carlson thinks it's good that the D.C. teams support each other.  "It's great.  It's great to meet them, it's great that all the D.C. sports [athletes] intermingle and I think that I've seen them all at our games now and I love coming out to [Nats] games, I love going to Redskins games and D.C. United.  It's great to see all different types of sports and all these elite athletes."

With training camp a little over a week away, Carlson's excited to get back with his teammates -- returning ones and the new additions.  "It's gonna be exciting.  It's gonna be different.  I'm looking forward to a new season and a new team, too."

"Our mindset right now is first off getting to camp, working our hardest as a team, to get to where we need to be for the first game of the season."

The Caps have added several new players to their mix, so this year's training camp is going to have a little bit different feel to it.  "It's gonna take a while for us all to get used to each other," Carlson said. "They're all great players -- all of the new guys.  I'm really excited to have them on the team and it's gonna be fun."

The mood turned serious for a few moments when Carlson reflected on Wednesday's tragedy in Russia, as a plane carrying the team of KHL's Lokomotiv Yaroslavl to their season-opening game crashed just after take-off, killing all but two passengers.  "The hockey world is fairly small, I think, and instances like this, people are affected.  It was kind of a gloomy day outside too and [the weather] seemed like it just fit right in with the mood.  You never want to hear about something like that and when you talk about it being the whole team, it's just terrible news. Everybody around was affected by it."

The event in Russia adds to a particularly sad off-season in the hockey world, with three NHL players and a minor league player all passing this summer.  Carlson tried to accentuate the positive as the hockey world, a tight-knit community to begin with, has become even closer under the trying circumstances.  "You see all the support from everyone which is good.  Everyone's kind of rallying around each other to stay with it and try to figure some of these things out, and also to mourn the loss of people, and now [Lokomotiv]... It's devastating. But you have to look at is and see what the problem is and go from there."

Updated with Video of First Pitch:

Stan Kasten (via Nats Journal):

"I have to tell you, I just don't know anything more about this story than what you've read. Truly. I don't have any more information than that. I've spoken to MLB; they didn't have any more details on the story we all read this morning. ... I don't have any particular concerns, because as you've seen in recent times, baseball has the most stringent testing for performance-enhancing drugs. Players run afoul of rules, they're caught, and they're disciplined."

"My reaction," he added, "is limited to the things I hear authoritatively from MLB. That's the only time I would have a reaction."

NHL Statement (via Caps Insider):

"The Washington Capitals have no knowledge of any aspect of this allegation. Capitals players were subjected to no-notice testing three times in each of the past two seasons pursuant to the terms of the Collective Bargaining Agreement and there was no indication of any improper conduct or wrongdoing.

"Even though there are no specifics provided in the story and we have no reason, at this point, to believe the allegations are true, the National Hockey League takes all matters of this nature very seriously and will conduct a prompt investigation."

Capitals President Dick Patrick (again, via Caps Inisider):

"We have no reason to believe there is any merit to this story, but the National Hockey League and the Washington Capitals take all such allegations seriously.

Capitals players have fully participated in the NHL's random drug testing program, and at no point has a Capitals player tested positive. In addition our players have been tested at international events, such as World Championships and Olympics. We welcome and will fully cooperate with the NHL's investigation."

Capitals Owner Ted Leonsis (via Ted's Take):

Trust but Verify

There are now 178 news stories listed in Google News about today’s allegations coming out of Florida.

I am personally very committed to being responsible and cooperating with the league in all of its research regarding this matter.

Here are the official statements from the NHL and from our team which are just now being released.

I hope you all understand that while there is research and investigating going on that we will have to be silent as we cooperate and hope to exonerate our team and players from these allegations. Thank you for understanding.

The disturbing part of all this so far is the local law enforcement division's willingness to release this information last night without corroborating the story or doing any additional investigation.

Then today, to show he didn't make just a simple, one-time misjudgment in announcing the statements, Polk County sheriff Grady Judd called into a radio station in Toronto to repeat the currently unfounded allegations on a live radio program. Judd even went out of his way to mention that Thomas' statements had not been corroborated yet.

Among other things, Sheriff Judd suggests that Richard Thomas was proud of his accomplishments and supposes the suspects motivation in why Thomas named the Nationals and Capitals in his arrest. Seems to me Thomas isn't the only person proud of his accomplishments in this matter.

One of Judd's super-professional comments on the matter:

"I can tell you this, there will be a whole lot of people puckered up after the morning news,'" Judd said.

Here's hoping the Feds get to central Florida and take this investigation over before Sheriff Judd does any real damage.

A Lakeland, FL man and his wife were arrested yesterday for possession and intent to sell or deliver anabolic steroids, and the man implicated professional athletes as clients, including players on the Washington Capitals and Washington Nationals.

According to the Lakeland Ledger, Richard Thomas identified himself as "the largest anabolic steroids dealer in Central Florida," upon his arrest, and that he provided steroids to professional baseball, football and hockey players.

The Thomases failed to name any particular athletes during the warrant and seizure, where police collected an estimated $200,000 in illegal steroids and multiple weapons.

Richard and Sandra Thomas are each charged with 10 counts of possession of anabolic steroids with intention to sell and deliver; one count of possession of a firearm in commission of a felony; 10 counts of importation of anabolic steroids in Florida; and one count of maintaining a residence for selling drugs.

"This is beyond any doubt the largest seizure of anabolic steroids by the Polk County Sheriff's Office," a police spokesman said.

While the initial report is certainly troubling, from the tone of the initial reports, police seem to be skeptical as to whether Thomas is telling the truth in his claims. In a segment aired on WFLA-TV last night, the sheriff's office made a statement that they have no evidence of specific players involved in this investigation to this point.

Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said, "The only thing [Thomas] said specifically was he sold to the Washington Capitals and the Washington Nationals. We asked him, because we knew that would create a firestorm, on two more occasions because we don't want to be quoted as saying that. Richard Thomas told us that he sold steroids to ballplayers on those teams. Now is that one ballplayer? Is that two ballplayers? We don't know."

We don't know. Yet. But if this guy's claims have any validity, we'll find out soon enough. Hopefully the investigation will be swift and whatever conclusions are drawn can be handled expeditiously.

It's a shame that after such a terrific season, this comes out. Hopefully this guy is filled with delusions of grandeur and the police don't find any evidence connecting the Capitals with the investigation.