After a few days off, I’ve recovered sufficiently to say something about the Capitals. (Literally recovered. I have scabs on my knee from my nails cutting where I was clutching it during Game 7.) Unfortunately what I have to say is “what a shame.” These Caps really had the look of a team that could go all the way. Or perhaps what I mean is that we could have looked that way, but factors against us combined to make it not so… And thus took us, I think a few years further away from a Cup.

First, we will bid adieu to Tomas Vokoun, who signed an astoundingly cheap contract knowing full well he would only be here a year. He has in fact complained before at how homesick he was. There’s nothing wrong with missing your family, but perhaps he could’ve considered the before he chose the career of “professional athlete in a country that is not your homeland.” Personally, I don’t have a lot of sympathy for him. Maybe I would have more if he had ended up being that Cup-contending goalie he was meant to be, instead of putting up average to good reg season numbers then getting injured immediately before the postseason began.

Secondly, we will almost definitely bid adieu to Sasha Semin, who, while never the lynchpin of anything, was always a welcome addition to our offense. To me, his gorgeous sniper-like wrist shots made up for the lazy offensive zone stick penalties. Even when they made the coach do this. I understand why he would want out, but I’m going to miss him.

Also on the list of players I would miss: Mike Knuble. He’s 40 and coming off an unimpressive season thanks to Dale Hunter Hockey (TM), but I think we can squeeze a couple mil under the cap to retain his services, eh GMGM? He says he both feels fine and wants to keep playing, and even if he didn’t get the 20 goals he wanted, he still has grit and adds the presence of a grizzled veteran. And may I remind of you of when he outraced a man half his age to wash out an icing in the Rangers series? The man still has the internal fire.
» Continue reading “A Look At Capitals Free Agents, Part 1″

I’m leery of accidentally jinxing the Capitals with what I’m about to say — after all, Holts had a shutout going until the NBCSN morons actually said it, because they hate the Caps — but for significant stretches of time this team reminded me of… well…

They reminded me of the 2009 Capitals. On multiple occasions they set up their PP-style cycle at even strength, they were putting on consistent pressure that created odd man rushes, and Ovechkin nearly scored while seated on the ice, which happened second most memorably in 2009 (the first most memorable being, of course, the goal).

Notes I Took During The Game:
-Brilliant start. We came out like a team with a major chip on our shoulder (which we were), and the Rangers didn’t know what to do. They didn’t regroup until about halfway through the first, and then only sporadically. We looked good. I mean, real good.

-Number 8 scored at 88 seconds in, which was a delight. I will give you zero dollars (Canadian) if you can guess how he beat Lundqvist. Plus, he had assists from 19 and 52, which bodes well. Green’s looking like he did in — well, you can probably guess.

-What a PK. With no Beagle and Laich in the box for the first one, that was huge. Anything after that would be trivial. Even a double minor. Killing that was a huge momentum swing and confidence boost for the Caps. Really exorcised the demons from last game.

-On that subject, are the Rangers blading or something? I’ve been hit in the face with a baseball hard enough for it to leave stitch imprints, and I’ve never started bleeding. Are these guys anemic?
» Continue reading “Capitals Force (Surprise, Surprise) Game 7 Against The Rangers”