Caps' Success is Begetting Bitterness, Lunacy

A curious thing may be developing here as the Capitals continue to slay dragons atop various division and conference standings: they are drawing some ire. It’s as if the team is supposed to be a perennial punching-bag, a franchise everyone else can comfortably turn up their noses at, and lazily bring them up as a candidate for contraction. Now that such talk can no longer conveniently be turned to whenever the team’s name comes up, some people are throwing daggers and slinging mud.

First, let’s look at Boston coach Claude Julien, and his pouting after Alex Semin beat the Bruins with a slapshot from well beyond the blue line: “I've heard them say that they're in our heads. They do a lot of talking. They're one-goal games. They could have gone either way. By all means, I don't think they scare us.” The simple fact is three out of the four games between the two went the Caps’ way. Sounds like perhaps some overreaction to Brooks Laich’s comments prior to the game about a victory over the Bruins scoring some psychological points should the teams meet in the playoffs: "Maybe they finish ahead of, maybe they don't. But now they're wondering, you know, 'We can't beat those guys.’” Maybe we wonder about Julien’s coaching acumen if he chose to complain about Laich’s apt analysis after the game instead of maybe using it as a means to try to coax his team with the shrinking first-place lead into actually beating the Caps in regulation for once.

As it is, his little rave-out after yet another loss to the Caps reminds us of Donovan McNabb’s equally insane insistence that the Eagles were better than the Redskins despite the latter’s sweep of the former in the season series. The after-the-fact bitterness in both cases illustrates the animosity our teams can expect to face as they rise (or prepare to rise) to heights the rest of the sports world seems to think they should not.

Speaking of such sentiment, by now we all know about Don Cherry’s insane Ovie-related rant. The bald absurdity of it all is self-apparent, and the motive behind it all even more so with the mentioning of poor down-and-out Sidney Crosby immediately before the Ovechkin celebration bashing began. People are on to the overrated-ness of Sid, realizing the greatness of Ovechkin, and Cherry and other Sid anointers are unable to deal with it.

It’s interesting that Cherry held up soccer players for ridicule because of some of their goal celebrations and then likened Ovehckin’s celebrations to those. We think a far more telling comparison between the two sports would be comparing this:



To this:



Now we get the analogy. Thanks, Don.

As has been pointed out pretty much universally since this nonsense hit the airwaves, the timing of Cherry’s idiocy is curious, coming at a time when Ovechkin’s star is very much on the rise and the sheen is coming off Sid exponentially as his whining, tantrum-throwing, and baffling suspension-less cheap-shotting increase (also curious that many of the Ovie clips shown have been around for at least a couple of years, and only now apparently has the outrage come forth in Cherry’s Canadian-centric mind). NHL players, at the very least, are starting to fully embrace the anti-Sid movement. Hopefully NHL marketers will come to their senses as well, and maybe even NBC will start to show a few more games not featuring the Penguins.

In the end, we at DCO are heartened by these anti-Caps developments, as it indicates that the Capitals will likely not be inundated with irritating darling-ism, such as been heaped upon every Penguins’ team since Cherry’s Messiah broke into the league and lost the Calder trophy to Ovechkin. Maybe they’ll just be allowed to go about their business bringing a Cup to DC, and to making the town a permanent residence for other trophies with names like Hart, Richard, Ross, Adams, Norris, etc.

Flyer Than the Rest of Em

I for one, have no problem with the democratic process. I am happy with the results of the presidential election, and whatever is coming up in light of that decision. I find voting to be a heroic act by those flexing their god-given freedom of selection. However, as we discovered eight and four years ago, oftentimes, the wrong mother-effer is picked number one by the voting public. With the big swearing in getting ready to absorb everyone in the district and outlying region's attention and Metro breathing room, it was nice to see that another major mistake made by voters was being rectified last night in Pittsburgh.

I don't know if you read another one of those seemingly ill-timed Mike Wise 'tism defibrillator charges that was printed in the paper yesterday, but it was something about how Washington Capital and Hart Trophy pwner Alex Ovechkin is essentially inherently superior to that oft-injured other occasionally mentioned in the same breath guy, and the NHL just can't bear to realize that. The results of the NHL's dubious marketing scheme led to a duo of out-of-contention teammates from Western Pennsylvania absorbing more votes than their far superior rival from DC. As was the case when W was elected twice, the voters got it wrong twice, and yesterday's convincing performance by the Caps was a personification of that. Instead of being seen chipping in on game-tying, -winning, and -sealing goals, the number-one vote getter was seem limping off the ice, trying in vain to dive into a game-salvaging poor referee call. Simply put, yesterday was Ovechkin's inauguration. Oh, and as for the #2 vote getter? Became suspiciously absent from the post first-period portion of the game, where the Caps wrestled away their rust and began their steady 6-cylinder firing. If there was any doubt that the preferable candidate was not properly chosen by the public, Ovie's third period sealed that doubt, much in the same way the Wizards seal down that number one overall lottery pick in their nightly efforts.

While I wasn't one of the supposed millions who somehow elected the guy pretending to be hurt all the time as the number one all-star, I may be able to understand if they find shock that their decision was made poorly. I'm sure those people who saw Katrina wash away much of New Orleans, the country toil in an unjust war, and grammatical atrocities becoming the latest bumper sticker slogans became ashamed as well. And they took action by electing Obama, right?

Yep, a far-reaching Washington-related timely metaphor. Sorry to steal your latest PTI bit, Kornheiser. I must say that I was inspired to put this piece together by another local superstar, Rapper Wale. After hearing it for the first time likely forever after everyone else did, I found what has to be pumping out Mike Green's Laborgini speakers: This Anthem. While it is known to the hockey savvy that Ovechkin plays in signature CCM skates, last night it became obvious that Ovie wears "Nike Boots."

Larry Brooks (kind of) Makes Amends

One day after we called for a Pulitzer for Dan Wetzel based on his marvelous accounting of the Great Dallas Implosion of 2008, we are treated to more journalistic magnificence from an unlikely source: the New York Post’s Larry Brooks.

Today Brooks argues, with 100% accuracy, that the NHL is doing itself and us all a great service with its never-ending Sidney Crosby glorification. He says that Alex Ovechkin could be a useful talent to promote (amongst others also shut out by the blinding light of Sid’s supposed combination of the greatness of Gretzky-Mario-Howe), and might even be the game’s best player (heresy alert!), despite what the well-documented fraudulence that is fan all-star balloting might indicate.

Whether this latest article is Brooks’ way of apologizing for his November 25, 2007, ill-conceived, ill-mannered, illogical assertion that Ovechkin should sign somewhere other than Washington (read: New York) as a restricted free agent, or is some under-handed way to somehow try to resurrect that long-settled issue, we at DCO always welcome any calling-out of the NHL and its Crosby hype-machine malarkey. Of course, that anti-DC rant of a year ago (recycling the tired and apparently now-defeated argument that DC is a backwater hockey town, unworthy of any stars, and that New York should have them all, etc.) precludes us from bestowing any honor like the DCO Hall of Fame upon Mr. Brooks, but we appreciate his jocking of Ovie nontheless.

Besides, is this really the poster boy image the NHL wants (yes, this is from well over a week ago, but we must never let it die):

Nats Will Be #1 One Way or Another

It might seem hard to be optimistic about the Nats these days, with Elijah Dukes joining the mob of Nationals headed to or already on the DL, or with the team dropping six in a row, securing the least-good record in the majors. It seems hard, but it’s not impossible.

DCO has been silent on the Nats for a little while, searching for meaning. Meaning in things like 19 trips to the disabled list, 8 of 9 Opening Day starters missing time, injury diagnoses of 2-4 weeks or 4-6 weeks turning into 1-2 months (Zimmerman, Kearns, Estrada), or the entire season (Johnson, Cordero). Meaning in things like steadily improving players (Zimmerman, Milledge, Dukes) suddenly and freakishly encountering calamities taking them out of the lineup right when they were starting to make true contributions. Meaning in Shawn Hill straining his forearm yet again. Meaning in wondering if Ryan Wagner still plays baseball. Meaning in a Nick Johnson owie wiping out yet another summer.

Maybe there are a couple of larger forces at play here, providing a compelling explanation for this seemingly cruel injustice of a season being thrust upon the Nats. We’ll get to that. But first, let’s talk again about Dukes, he of the batting average surging to .263 in mere weeks after floundering in the sub-.100 arena for so long; he of the non-clubhouse-tearing-apart attitude since the forgotten brush-up with ManAct a few weeks ago. With his injury apparently comes great motivation, and Manny-like ‘tism, if his comments to the Nationals Journal from earlier this week are any indication. He wants to come back as soon as possible. He wants to continue to prove himself. He wants to help this team get better. Not the type of franchise disaster forecasted when he was first acquired and after his long-forgiven spat with the Master. This injury, while bad now, may yet serve to illustrate what a stroke of genius signing Dukes was for the future of the franchise. So there’s your optimistic take on that.

Now, the team as a whole.

It’s fairly obvious that this entire season is a design by God/Fate/Destiny to secure the #1 draft pick for the Nationals. With that draft pick, it is apparent the Nats are destined to select some sort of baseball #1 overall equivalent of Alex Ovechkin (it would serve as a nice tie-in to our analysis of last fall). This player will usher in a decade of dominance such as the one Ovie is bringing about, helping to lift the Nats from hacky joke to league-wide darlingism like that currently being enjoyed by the Rays. The Rays! Who saw that coming? The shock at Washington’s rise will be comparable.

To secure this pick/player for the Nats, it has been (painfully) necessary to inflict upon the team this utter cruelty of an injury-plagued (putting it lightly) campaign. It’s the only way. The team and its manager are too damned resilient to fall to the bottom of the league with anything short of extreme compulsion. This explains why so many rising youngsters have been cut down so relatively early in the season. If they were allowed to properly flourish, the Nationals would be back on last year’s track of shocking the league. Even Jim Bowden is taken aback by the unprecedented-ness of it all.

It may seem like DCO is throwing up their collective hands, merely accepting the Nats are the worst team in the majors with no hope. Far from it. Manny and the lads may yet pull it all together again, cruising into late summer and early fall with designs on ruining another Mets’ season (a snazzy performance from John Lannan and clutch pinch-hit home run by Jesus Flores last night provide hope for such a scenario). That would be wonderful. It may just be that all of this losing of players may be part of a PLAN even bigger than The Plan.

More Calming Perspective

Some of the early free agent period (and it is still early in the free agent period) angst rising amongst Caps fans with signings of Brooks Laich, Sergei Fedorov, Shaonne Morrision, that ever-so-easy-to-find-and-sign elite defenseman, etc. not yet in the books, it’s time to pause for a moment for some (final) thoughts on the Cristobal Huet non-signing, and to put some perspective in place.

Huet is now making more money with his non-Vezina-winning resume than Martin Brodeur is with his multiple-Vezina-winning ways, including one the year just past, in which Huet apparently earned his big contract for his post-trade heroics. That being said, he is, as we know, still not the highest-paid goalie on the Blackhawks. That distinction goes to $6.75 million lottery winner Nikolai Khabibulin.

This headlong recklessness is clearly not the operating style of the Caps and GMGM, and we should be grateful. Plus, the more we hear about how the Huet negotiations went down, the better it seems the Caps are for walking away. Getting desperate and panicky to offer up market-shifting sums to a player based on a few months’ of work (no matter how blissfully memorable those months were) would not serve us fans well in the future. Chicago may well learn that when their salary-throwing puts them in Penguins-like crunches a year or two from now. If Brian Burke is peeved at Kevin Lowe for driving up salaries last year, he surely must be saving some ire for Blackhawks’ GM Dale Tallon now.

Speaking of the Penguins, how about that Marian Hossa? Swell guy, that one. He makes a case for being the first non-DC sports figure inducted into the DCO Hall of Fame. But we’ll show some non-Tallon-like restraint and simply salute him for his choice of Detroit over Pittsburgh. That while we wait for the chorus of praise for Evgeni Malkin, he who unselfishly accepted $8.7 million a season to join the martyr Crosby in putting team above contract. They, of course, being the superior team players for not grabbing for Alex Ovechkin’s selfish $9.5 million (that cad; when he’s not being “selfish” getting a big contract he’s being “selfish” scoring too many goals and not compiling enough secondary assists, right?). Why with all that extra cap space the Pens might just be able to replace Hossa with Ben Clymer!

But back to perspective. With reports of Laich not being close to signing, let’s not assume the Caps are being cheap and not trying to get the deal done. It’s more likely that, as with the Huet dealings, they want to keep this guy. DCO loves Brooks Laich and wants his net-crashing acumen around for a long time. DCO also loves Nick Backstrom, Alexander Semin, and other Caps or future Caps who may need to be signed in coming years. Thus, panicky money should not be thrown at Brooks in a desperate attempt to keep him here, much as we would be pained to see him go. But we don’t expect it to come to that, and remain optimistic it will get worked out, unless Chicago or Edmonton throws a 5-year/$25 million contract at him.

Some admiration this free agency period should also to go Mats Sundin. While certainly no one would begrudge him from jumping at 2 years and $20 million from Vancouver, it’s heartening to see that gaudy figures alone do not drive this scorer of 78 points last season (34 fewer than previously mentioned “money-grabber” Ovie). Such a contract precedent might push similarly aged Fedorov out of the Caps’ reach. We still hope to see him around as well, dishing to Laich in front of the net and centering a third line of quality we have not seen since the Kono-Halpern-Dahlen days. Mrs. DCO pines to see Fedorov remain as well, as she will miss his "cute striped hat” if he’s not here.

Calm perspective. It’s still early and these things will work out.

Caps Love RFAs. UFAs Love Caps.

Two of the more trauma-inducing (to non-optimists) Capitals’ off-season situations received some trauma-reducing news this week. First, the bring-it-on statement from still-somehow-maligned, division-championship-team-building GM George McPhee that Restricted Free Agents will not be plucked away from the team, possibly by offer sheets from Edmonton. Offers will be matched, players will stay. In other words, Mike Green will be here next year. We’ll presume such an attitude also extends towards players named Laich, Morrisonn, Gordon, etc.

Strike a blow for continuity. Nothing to worry about here, just as there turned out to be no worrying necessary with the Why Isn’t Alex Locked Up Yet minor crisis earlier this year. That turned out better than any of us hoped, and with that as precedent, we look forward to seeing Mike Green weave between opposing forwards and around their defensemen to score more Orr-ish goals against their goalies. All this with an increasingly un-Gonchar-like commitment to his “proper” end of the ice. We already know certified elite player and NHL-bound defenseman Karl Alzner looks up to him, too, so put “mentor” into his job description for the next decade as well.

Now the other "worry": the unrestricted free agents, those often-elite, often offensively minded players the Capitals would desperately woo in an off-season, only to be refused by the likes of Roenick, Turgeon, Tocchet, et al. Times have changed, and DC is apparently a desired place to be for soon-to-be-not-rented Sergei Fedorov and Cristobal Huet.

Fedorov, that perfect-for-the-third-line veteran whose enthusiasm for the sport was rejuvenated in Washington after enduring a couple of life-sucking years in Columbus under Ken Hitchcock, was long-rumored to want to stick around, rumors seemingly confirmed by his buddy/prodigy/countryman Ovie last month. A cagey veteran third-line center with Selke-worthy shutdown skills and an offensive upside? Possibly out there with a crease-clogging, 25-goal-scoring Brooks Laich? Sounds pretty good.

Huet seemed equally smitten with the burgeoning DC dynasty, having himself contributed in a big way to getting it started. His division-clinching and nearly-playoff-series-clinching win streaks established him as a must-have for next year (as did the sad departure of Olie) as we hope to see that much-talked-about “bridge” established to the fine crop of young goaltenders the Caps are raising. Huet is apparently quite willing to be that bridge, even looking for the same sounds-so-perfect three year deal the Caps should hope for. Deal term was a potential worry, but no more. And if the Caps are apparently so willing to ante up to match RFA offer sheets, they should conceivably be willing to make money a non-issue with equally (more so?) critical-to-keep Huet.

As nice as the last off-season was, with the needed injection of offense in the acquisitions of Michael Nylander and Viktor Kozlov (remember when everyone was ragging on Kozlov early on? Seems pretty silly now, with those 51 points and team-leading +28 and all), plus the heralded minutes-eating ability in Tom Poti, this summer looks even better. This time, the needed pieces are already here, just waiting to be signed. A free agent or two would be nice, but it doesn’t have quite the desperate urgency that was felt in some quarters last year with the “GMGM better score big or he needs to go” attitude floating around. The braintrust pulled it off last year and this time around, with the help of some willing non-free-market-hitting potential UFAs, we’re optimistic they’ll do it again.

Looking For the Sweep (Ovie and Otherwise)

Just a little more than an hour from Alex Ovechkin’s completely in-the-bag grab of trophies Hart and Pearson. News-leaking t-shirts aside, there wasn’t all that much suspense to begin with. The one true-but-still-minor threat came from Evgeni “Sid’s shadow” Malkin, but looking past the blinding He Saved Hockey When Sid Was Hurt hype, Ovechkin really stood alone with his 65 goals, 112 points, double-digit game-winners, etc. And no slight to Jarome Iginla, very much Ovie-like in his own right and very un-Crosby-like in his complete aversion to diving (full disclosure: I signed him as a UFA in NHL 08; best move by a fake GM ever).

So there’s part one of the slight fulfilling of our somewhat-maligned-yet-eerily fruitioning (and somehow popular Google-search destination) pre-season awards predictions. Bruce II should be the other lock for a trophy. If not, what's the point of the Jack Adams? The only even miniscule question mark is Nick Backstrom and the Calder. He may unfairly suffer from this “stats padded by playing with Ovechkin” nonsense, and it would be a shame to see him locked out because of that (or by that, um, incident against the Penguins). Regardless, we came to know the studdy playmaker Backstrom is, the clutch OT goal-scorer he can be, and the hands-down winner of the Calder Trophy For Best Team-Promoting TV Commercial By a Rookie. Steeeel see it.

The Nightmare is Over

Mrs. DCO probably put it best when, shortly after Marian Hossa’s wouldn’t-have-counted-anyway last-second shot trickled harmlessly if-tantalizlingly through the crease, she said, “Someone had to lose, and I’m glad it was the Penguins.” With this godsend of a loss, we are now free from the mental anguish that has plagued us all since Pittsburgh threw their final regular season game against the Flyers so they could match up against Ottawa in the first round. Yes, the Senators, who were swept in the regular season by the Capitals long before it was fashionable, and common, to sweep the Senators. The Peguins’ shell-curling-up-in on that last day denied the Caps a chance to again take down Ottawa in four, and left the Chosen One and his lackeys an open door into the second round and beyond.

We watched in horror as we realized we had to first choose between the Penguins and Rangers. After but a few moments, it was clear we had to, extremely grudgingly, root for New York (I still choke on my keystrokes writing that). Once that trial was passed, it was on to perhaps the greatest conundrum in Washington sports outside a Cowboys-Eagles NFC Championship: Flyers vs. Penguins for the opportunity to play for the Cup. Was there more a sinking feeling in recent hockey history as knowing that one of these reviled franchises, one with the aforementioned Anointed One and one with Danny Briere, would be within but four victories of defiling that fine silver chalice? It was enough to (almost) make an optimist’s heart wilt.

But we got through it and, as always, were able to find something positive in the experience. A celebration of a quarter century of Philly sports dominance was worth seeing the Penguins become Eastern Conference champions – provided they lost the next round. And lose they did, despite Sidney Crosby’s “performance for the ages” in Game 3 and Evgeni Malkin’s imminent breakout heralding, accidental game-winning-goal-assisting Game 5. Rescuing us from more Crosby coddling was Conn Smythe winner Henrik Zetterberg, who tied lil’ Sid for the playoff points lead (often scoring goals) and denied him yet another pair of his birthrights: leading the playoffs in points, and possibly the Conn Smythe itself.


The last week has been a hectic week for DCO, with both members immersed in working obligations in the Central timezone, hence the paucity of posting. All is well now, however, and we are ready to bring you another summer of Nats’ successes (on the field and in the draft room), Capitals’ trophy-collecting and roster-strengthening, Redskins’ gearing-up for a season of continuity, Wizards’ doing the same, and United’s staging of another comeback from a less-than-ideal start. That we get to enjoy such a summer without glowing stories of Crosby’s heroic secondary-assist dishing, his superior “vision” for being able to skate into the offensive zone and drop the puck to a defenseman (a move nobody else has ever pulled off, ever), his unprecedented two-goal game in the Finals, and Malkin’s inspiring 3-point Cup Finals performance makes it all the sweeter.

At last, the only hockey news in front of us is good news. Alex Ovechkin will collect a couple of trophies on June 12. Bruce should collect another, and Nick Backstrom is a prime deserving candidate for yet another. Then we wait on imminent signings of next season’s third-line center Sergei Fedorov, and next season’s starting goalie, Cristobal Huet. Still more goodness follows, with a key free agent signing here and there, followed by a training camp featuring a healthy Michael Nylander, Chris Clark, and Brian Pothier, then on to a division-title-defending season culminating in a Cup run, perhaps with a sweep of the Penguins thrown in. It’s (finally) going to be a good summer.

Keys to the Series vs. Philly

Like many Caps fans (and possibly members of the Penguins’ organization), I had initially hoped the team would draw the Senators in the first round. To again quote the brilliant sage in the men’s room following the playoff-clinching victory over the Panthers, “We dominated them (Ottawa) when we sucked.” It looked like a nice cakewalk through the first round, the kind of cakewalk the Penguins are apparently on their way to enjoying, if their seemingly effortless 4-0 victory in Game 1 is any indication.

Upon further review, however, I welcome the series against Philadelphia. Perhaps you have been like me in recent years, becoming complacent in your disdain for all things Philly. Maybe the feverish dislike for the Flyers waned along with the relevance of the Philadelphia franchise, particularly last season, when a sad, last-place Flyers team was swept in the season series by the Capitals. We’ve also been further distracted by this nearly three-year wave of newfound darling-ism cascading over Pittsburgh and Sts. Crosby and Malkin, refocusing our ire on a team that, like the Flyers, slipped to the brink of being an afterthought.

This series against the Flyers offers a chance to bring back the warm feeling in one’s heart that comes from despising Philadelphia. Judging by the Pennsylvanian-disparaging Caps fan I encountered on the Metro last night, that feeling is making a comeback. His harsh words regarding those who would come here and root for wretches such as the Penguins and Flyers perhaps heralded a return of those old days at the Cap Center, where Philly and Pitt fans showed up but were not tolerated, were not allowed to out-cheer the home crowd. So bring on the Flyers, and let’s take a look at some key match-ups in this series.

1. Danny Briere’s stick blade vs. Capitals’ groins – How many cowardly spears Briere is able to dole out could well affect the outcome of this series. Past spearing victims Alex Ovechkin and Milan Jurcina can vouch for the potential game/series-ending injury that can result from such an action, particularly when Lil’ Danny works his trade while hiding behind a large teammate. Unrelated note to Sports Illustrated: why must you insult Paul McCartney? The Ovechkin comparison was kind of funny, but that was just flat out unnecessary.

2. Mike Wise vs. Thomas Boswell – Who can write the more poetically waxing column? Boswell fired the first shot, invoking the image of a fairy tale within the first ten words of his post-division-title piece. Wise shot back three days later with his touching tale of a rejuvenated Sergei Fedorov hoping to re-live past glory with the Capitals and guiding the Caps’ talented youngsters with his sage-like 38-year-old wisdom. Wise even called up on the memory of Vladimir Konstantinov and the way Fedorov and the Red Wings were inspired by their severely injured teammate to take down the Caps in four games in the 1998 Finals. He closed with the “new lease on life” angle to sum up Sergei’s current condition. These two could battle through the first round, and possibly beyond, for saccharine supremacy. We look forward to it.

3. Caps impending first-round victory vs. Specter of Pittsburgh in Round 2 – Thanks to the Penguins inept tanking (intentionally or not) in the season finale against the Flyers, not only do we have Philly coming to town for Round 1, we very well could see Pittsburgh in Round 2. Will haunting memories of things like 3-1 leads vanished and 4-OT-games-with-muffed-penalty-shot lost creep into the heads of Caps players as the first round wears on? Of course not. Nothing would be sweeter than knocking off the Flyers and Pens in succession. Let’s do that.

4. Caps fans vs. Invading Flyers fans – During the last couple of years, Philly fans have either been fewer in number or just not as loud at games in Washington, at least in my experience. There just hasn’t been the noticeable split in crowd loyalty that there used to be, or the fairly large number of inevitable confrontations between a Caps fan and some tool from Camden. This could all change, of course, with the Flyers having recovered from their brief down-turn. We’ll see if Verizon Center is invaded by those frontrunning-fans-who-never-get-called-out-as-frontrunning fans. If so, silencing them will be an important aspect of this series.

Well, the day is finally here: the beginning of the fruitioning of the now-officially over re-build. It was, at last, done properly (just look at that vaunted core of home-grown youngsters), and this promises to be a team not designed for just a one-year playoff run followed by salary cap hell disaster (hello, Pittsburgh). So you want a prediction? Fine. Here goes: the Flyers may well goon/spear their way to a victory or two, but the Caps will ultimately prove superior to the glorified “physical” play of Philadelphia. Washington in no more than six.

Revisiting Pre-Season Predictions

In this basking-in-it time between the Capitals utterly improbable run to the post-season and their equally improbable run through the post-season, let’s look back to the predictions we made back in June regarding the 2007-2008 NHL awards. This tiny post has been one of our most accessed, with hundreds of unsuspecting Google and Yahoo! searchers seeking information on award prognostication finding their way to our DC-centric forecasts. We will now examine these predictions, assigning each a grade based on hindsight benefited by ten months and an NHL season, plus a statistical probability that our optimism will be rewarded.

Calder
Prediction: Nicklas Backstrom
Grade: A
We in Washington of course knew of the potential dynamo we had quietly finding his way into the Caps lineup, while much of the rest of the league drooled over names like Kane and Toews in Chicago. While one of those two may yet take the Calder (benefiting somewhat from the absurdly lacking-in-logic argument that Backstrom’s numbers are inflated because he happened to play with Alex Ovechkin), but this was a solid pick.
Probability: 75%

Selke
Prediction: Boyd Gordon
Grade: C
The pick was based on solid logic in June, even though it may look a little flawed now in April. Gordon definitely looked to be on the rise (and still will be) as a top-notch defensive forward with that always-desired third-line offensive upside. He did get a little derailed by injury early on, which is why we cannot completely discount him as a potential Selke nominee in the future.
Probability: 0% Another time.

Norris
Prediction: Soon-to-be-acquired (by trade or free agency) elite defenseman
Grade: C
Partial credit. What, you say? How can we justify this seemingly completely wrong prediction with a generous middle-of-the-road grade like C? Well, the partial credit comes from a couple of aspects. Around the middle of the season, Mike Green started getting some attention for his swift skating, penchant for OT game-winners, and speed that allowed him to jump up into plays while still granting him time to hustle back down the ice and be defensively sound. His name and “Norris” were uttered once or twice, and the general sentiment was (and remains) that he will blossom into an elite defenseman. So he could be construed to be our unnamed-in-June man. The only thing preventing this from being a higher grade is that tricky phrase “soon-to-be” in front of “acquired”. While Green was acquired with a draft pick obtained a trade, it happened back in 2004.
Probability: 11% Nick Lidstrom, anyone?

Vezina
Prediction: Olaf Kolzig/Brent Johnson
Grade: B-
Again, partial credit. Right team, wrong player(s). In a way, we could claim to have been a little mixed up in our predictions for Norris and Vezina, for an elite player was acquired via trade, but it wasn’t a defenseman, it was elite goaltender Cristobal Huet. Did his playoff-cinching nine-game winning streak, 11-2 record, 1.63 GAA and .936 save percentage in 13 games with the Capitals come too late for consideration for the Vezina? NO!
Probability: 17%. Might grab some consideration, a la Manny Acta and his should-have-had-it Manager of the Year award.

Lady Bing
Prediction: Donald Brashear
Grade: Incomplete
Ha, ha! See the irony. You see (snicker), Donald Brashear does not play a gentlemanly form of hockey (chortle). Therefore (suppressed giggle), he would never garner consideration for the Lady Bing. Oh the hilarious irony.
Probability: < 0%

Jack Adams
Prediction: Glen Hanlon
Grade: B
Again, right team, wrong man. Can there really be consideration for anyone other than Bruce Boudreau? His only potential derailment comes from optimism-haters and their nit-pickery about not coaching an entire season. That of course can be easily remedied when Boudreau leads the Caps to the Presidents Trophy next season, but for now it’s really his only obstacle.
Probability: 95% It’s gotta be Bruce.

Hart
Prediction: Alex Ovechkin
Grade: A+
Not exactly a profound prediction, though doubtless many a Canadian media member and resident of Pittsburgh and West Virginia took extreme umbrage at any pre-season notion that their anointed one would not take home a second straight MVP. They likely still hope for a Pittsburgh Hart in the form of Evgeni Malkin, since that in a way would pay proper deference to their tragically injured diety.
Probability: 99% I’ve never been one to encourage or condone rioting, but if Ovechkin does not win the Hart, I encourage and condone rioting.

Conn Smythe
Prediction: Brooks Laich
Grade: B+
We invoked the memory of Druce on the Loose in penning this somewhat obscure up-and-comer in for the playoff MVP. Coming off a career regular season, it might not be that absurd a premise. We’ll start to see come Friday.
Probability: 21%

Caps Set to Cool Off Another Opponent

Fresh off of cooling down those red-hot Hurricanes, the Capitals are now threatened with the red-hot Jeff Halpern, he of the 15 points in 13 games. Or is that the Treasonous Jeff Halpern? Maybe. We did appreciate Halpern’s time in Washington, particularly his enthusiastic dislike for all things Pittsburgh; everyone can get behind that. We appreciate almost as much the irony in his bolting of the young, struggling, re-building 2005 Caps (not to mention his captaincy, after that lovely season-closing speech on Fan Appreciation Day) for the lush, contender-laiden fields of Dallas, only to end up in imminently struggling, re-building Tampa. From his perch as a center in the Lightning lineup, he will have a fine view of his now-division-rival Caps as they ascend to the realm of Contender he so eagerly sought (perhaps as eagerly as that $2 million/year salary he got from the Stars). Oh the irony. Jeff Hamlet.

Expect a couple of things from tonight’s game. First, expect to see Alex O. further extend his lead in the NHL scoring race against a dilapidated Tampa lineup. Evgeni “not MVP” Malkin has helped already with a pair of consecutive pointless games (hmm, sounds like a certain teammate’s last two playoff games), and Ovie can do a big part in putting that race to rest tonight. Second, expect the Caps to be tied for that eighth spot in the Conference by about 10:30 PM. Boston may have fought off Toronto on the road earlier this week, but they’ve lost 8-2 at home against the Leafs before and they can do it again. So in tomorrow’s “If the playoffs started today…” columns, we’ll see Montreal vs. Washington as the first matchup. And disregard Boston’s precious game in hand. Such things mean nothing to a fraudulent, slumping team.

As if that weren’t enough to look forward to, we can also eagerly anticipate a flood of glowing stories tomorrow morning dramatically chronicling the return of everyone’s favorite anointed golden boy prince. He feels “strong”, and “a lot better”. Wow. If that doesn’t spell “sizzle” and/or “dazzle” I don’t know what does.

Honoring Ovie and Debunking Myths, All In One Article!

The March 24th issue of Sports Illustrated contains a (prophetic?) feature article on Alex Ovechkin and his now-completed quest for 60 goals. It’s a fine piece of sports journalism, one rife with complimentary superlatives from foe and friend. Perhaps the most remarkable aspect of this article, however, was the complete absence of any reference to Sidney Crosby. Finally, perhaps, Alex has shed nearly three years of his name never being more than a breath away from Sid’s. Even at the All Star Game, Ovechkin’s potential solo-ness was overshadowed by the fresh grief of NHL writers everywhere over Sidney’s tender little ankle.

Brilliant article penner Michael Farber caught the attention of DCO Hall of Fame ballot-casters with his masterful tribute to the quest for 60. This work does indeed make a strong case for his induction, though the DCO HOF ultimately decided to exercise prudent restraint, knowing that the hallowed halls honoring DC names such as Stevenson and Lannan must be carefully guarded. While Farber is on a short list of potential future inductees, we must always be wary of a backslide into robotic Crosby worship, which would clearly be an embarrassment to the DCO HOF (and make for some awkward situations in the Deshawn Stevenson Accurate Player Assessment Wing). For the moment, however, well done Mr. Farber.

We at DCO also appreciate a small, easily overlooked portion late in the article that helps to debunk some Ovechkin myths. First, the silly notion that Ovie’s stats are padded by playing in the Southeast Division. Farber statistically annihilates this nonsense. Second, Alex’s growth as a “playmaker” are acknowledged, in that he “passes smartly and uses his teammates more effectively than he once did.”

This last part especially is important, since it contradicts the top knocks on Alex by Crosby apologists who positively bristle at any perceived threat to their Anointed One’s status of Greatest Hockey Player Forever mantle. These knocks include the notions that Ovechkin is “selfish”, “not a playmaker”, does not possess “good vision” (i.e., the ability to consistently blindly and randomly throw the puck into the crease, occasionally resulting in a good-looking goal) or “not good at defense”.

Last week’s game against the Predators contained concrete examples to debunk such absurd detractions. Selfish? Not a playmaker? See the beautiful, hockey-vision-aided set-up of Nicklas Backstrom in the first period for a 2-0 lead (a similar but more beautiful set-up was seen in the win against the Thrashers). Selfish? Not good at defense? See the heart-stopping, potentially foot-breaking, body-bruising shot blocking, particularly towards the end of the game with the Predators’ net empty and Nashville pushing hard for the tying goal. See also the lack of an attempt to wildly fire the puck towards the empty net. See the calm, time-killing easy chip out of the defensive zone that just happened to result in an empty net goal. Unselfish, team-centric play rewarded. Unselfish, team-centric style of play also confirmed by his +23 this season.
More on “not a playmaker”: this derision likely stems from some sort of misguided mathematical notion that one must have a certain proportion of goals to assists (that is, more assists than goals) to qualify as a truly well-rounded player. So a player like Crosby or non-MVP Evgeni Malkin might more readily qualify as a “playmaker” because they score fewer goals and rack up a few more secondary assists, comfortably “balancing” their stat lines towards the assists column.

Ovechkin makes plenty of plays, too, they just happen to be goal-scoring plays. Lots of them. Ironically, perhaps too many of them for the “playmaking” crowd’s liking. If he were sitting at 45 goals and 46 assists instead of 60 goals and 46 assists, he might more readily be called a well-rounded player, and not a “selfish” one. And what’s that all about, “selfish” being the go-to derisive label for prolific goal-scorers (at least those without the aforementioned cozy goal-to-assist ratio)? Is a league-leading total of ten game winning goals selfish? Those helped the team quite a bit.

It is perhaps ridiculous to sit here and complain about the detractors when Alex is rightly piling up accolades as he churns towards multiple trophies and the Caps churn towards the playoffs, but it’s always good to brush up on counter-arguments to ridiculous statements made by ridiculous people who blindly accept ridiculous proclamations on who is supposed to be the NHL’s best player.

Thus the NHL's non-anointed-from-birth best player leads his team against the Hurricanes tonight; those pesky Hurricanes who just will not give up their division leading perch. They're 11-2 in their past 13 games. Pretty hot, you could say. But we know what happens when the play hot teams, don't we?

The Comeback Win of a Comeback Season

Could last night’s stirring third-period storm-back against Atlanta have been more representative the Caps’ season? Coming back to win a game when trailing after two periods (by two goals no less), after compiling a record of 0-45-5 in their last 50 previous such situations? Could this be, on a smaller scale, equivalent to coming back from a record of 6-14 (last in the Eastern Conference) in November to make the playoffs in April? Yes.

Losing to the Thrashers would not only have been a horrid blow to post-season hopes, it would have been completely, maddeningly frustrating, seeing as how Atlanta has been utterly useless of late in helping the Caps gain ground in the playoff hunt. Their apparent punting of their season a few weeks ago at the trading deadline was almost as much of a blow to the Caps’ chances as a loss last night in Atlanta could have been. With the teams the Caps are chasing piling up wins and points at the Thrashers’ expense, it was important for Washington to do so as well.

Perhaps Nicklas Backstrom is finally heeding the call to shoot more when presented with an open lane to the net, rather than making the final, perfect pass for the exceedingly beautiful goal (which he is capable of making). His two-goals-in-32-seconds were a harbinger of seasons of greater goal-scoring prowess to accompany his already well-established assist accumulating acumen. Call his saving of this game and season yet another exhibit for his Calder trophy case. Once that trophy is in hand, perhaps he will no longer be confused with similarly named players.

Then of course there’s Ovie and his 60 goals, a feat last accomplished in the NHL when he was ten years old. How appropriate that the March 24 issue of Sports Illustrated featured an article on this now-completed quest. More on that, and a debunking of some cruel Ovie myths, in another post.

More Hex-Busting, More Reason To Think Playoffs

We already know hot teams are no match for the Capitals. Well, now we know that completely non-hot teams, like the Thrashers, losers of 10 of 12, are fodder as well. Further, with last night’s 4-1 win over Atlanta, we see another curse apparently broken. Recently, the Caps have solved Boston goalie Tim Thomas and the entire city of Buffalo, and now they can check Kari Lehtonen off their list of tormentors, he being the tormenting type that annoyingly likes to stop almost 40 shots, turning away a dozen or more quality scoring chances in the process (there’s still that irritating Pittsburgh hex to work on, but that could be taken care of by, say, a playoff victory this spring).

The moment the Lehtonen hex was lifted was easy to spot. It happened mere microseconds after Alex Ovechkin’s wrist shot brutally tore through his five-hole. The scored-upon-four-times Atlanta goalie smashed his fists on his pads in obvious frustration, perhaps rage. The game was already quite over by that point, given the constant Washington domination that preceded it, but that goal sealed the game as securely as Atlanta’s non-playoff fate is sealed.

Even when Slava Kozlov’s tricky little shot snuck past Kolzig to put Atlanta up 1-0, ‘tism levels in the arena noticeably did not take a hit. It clearly had something to do with the magnificent tilt in the ice last night towards the Atlanta defensive zone. Maybe it also had something to do with the massive deficit the Thrashers were accumulating in shots. Maybe the 18,000+ in attendance felt that, this time, all those chances against the mighty Kari were going to lead to something.

Of course, they were right, and optimism was rewarded just a few minutes later when Brooks Laich, clearly becoming a fan favorite if the pre-game introductioncheers are any indication calmly roofed his 18th goal.

Laich was at it again a couple of minutes into the second period, getting Verizon Center vibrating (and my ears truly hurting for the first time at a Caps game all season) by grittily poking the puck into the net as it was about to be knocked askew. At that point in the game, Brooks had as many goals as Atlanta had shots (their last shot coming on their goal 11:41 into the first period). He continues to form into the player I had always hoped Matt Pettinger would become: that grindy, gritty player who could park in front of the net, kill penalties, and score 30 goals a season while doing it. Hmm, sounds like a soon-to-be-returning injured captain, doesn’t it. Two guys like that on a team offer all sorts of line balancing combinations. Put Laich in line just behind Mike Green as the next player in need of a 13-year contract extension.

The highlight of the second period, though, had to be the Trade Deadline Payoff Play, brought to you by George McPhee. Fedorov assists Cooke on a shorthanded breakaway goal. Fedorov almost did it again about a minute later, brilliantly setting up Matt Bradley for a layup on a 2-on-1 break. Just barely not enough air for Brads, though. Oh well. Point made. The only thing that could have made the sequence more perfect (vindicating?) would have been an electrifying save by Cristobal Huet on the penalty kill. As it was, Kolzig had it well in hand anyway. Thus the period ended with the Caps up 3-1, holding the Thrashers to all of six shots, and making my neck sore from having my head turned towards the Atlanta goal for almost all of the period’s 20 minutes.

In the third, Fedorov kept it up with all that faceoff winnin’ and started a power play that ended with the aforementioned lethal Ovie wristshot goal. Laich also reminded us what a stout defensive player he is with a blocked shot on a penalty kill that boomed and resonated throughout the areana. Later he assuaged fears he might have been injured by the shot, declaring it only hit his shin pad. Still, it sounded dramatic enough to be injury-inducing.

Bruce II summed up the game nicely afterwards, calling the team “determined” and christening the Caps’ effort “as complete a game as I’ve seen.” Hard to argue with that. And with the Hurricanes suffering a hopefully confidence-and-season-crushing 7-1 defeat to Buffalo, the division lead suddenly doesn’t seem such an absurd goal again. Five points back, one game in hand, two games vs. Carolina. Pretty good. Regarding the fall-back plan of the #8 seed, they are three points behind the Flyers, who are soon to lose to the Bruins, who are in turn set to lose to the Capitals on Sunday. Thus the circle is complete and the Caps are closer to the postseason.

So you still can’t count the Capitals out of anything. As the soon-to-be-20-goal-scorer Laich said, “We were written off early in the season too”, and we know how that turned out, so it is way, way premature to write off their chances to catch the Hurricanes.

One Streak Ends. Another About to Begin

Well, that was fun. Forty-eight games without back-to-back losses that put the Caps onto the fringe of the playoff picture (and, for a few wonderful days, into that #3 seed) was a fantastic ride. Now that the streak is over, though, it’s time to look to the next streak: the ones that will put the Capitals firmly into the playoffs.

It’s a potentially dark time for the team, seven points out of the division lead and six points out of the eighth seed. These potentially dark, playoff-threatening times were of course brought about by this weekend of nearly indescribably maddening hockey. Whether it was a whistle happy native Bostonian referee or a crease-clearing attempt gone horribly wrong, it apparently just wasn’t the weekend for standings point collecting.

However, we see some similarities here to another team’s playoff-threatening loss. Back when the Redskins lost to the Bills they were 5-7 and not in anyone’s conversation regarding the postseason. That, of course, turned out great, what with the 4-game winning-streak and wild-card berth and all.

It can happen with the Caps, too. Nick Backstrom knocking the puck into his own net with less than thirty seconds left in the third period to give the Penguins a win (and set off the avalanche of Sid Is Better Than Alex, Again headlines)? Why that’s just Joe Gibbs calling double timeouts with a similarly limited amount of time left in the fourth quarter to hand the Bills a victory. ‘Skins players stayed with and defended Gibbs, much as the Caps will rally around Backstrom as he gets back on track for the Calder starting Wednesday.

Time for a Redskins-like streak into the playoffs. It can start with a three-game tear at home this week and continue until the Capitals have either the third or eighth playoff seed. Here’s kind of hoping for #8, with Pittsburgh as the opponent, and a chance to put all this Sid-fawning to rest, at least until next fall.

What We're All Up Against

Did you hear that Sidney Crosby is back?

Let’s review some excerpts of the AP account of his return against Tampa Bay.

“Sidney Crosby sizzled in his first game since mid January”
“The Pittsburgh star made a dazzling return in his first game in 6 ½ weeks”
“…it was Crosby’s night.”
“Crosby was as fast, fluid, and creative as ever.”

Wow. Sounds amazing. Too bad I didn’t see the game. It must have been an incredible, point-racking-up, dominating performance! I’d better look at the box score to see how many goals and assists he accumulated as he climbs the points standings. What a return! He really is The Next One! Wait, what’s that in the game summary?

One…secondary…assist. ONE…SECONDARY…ASSIST.

This, obviously, is the most heralded secondary assist of all time. There were nine other secondary assists on nine other game-winning goals Tuesday night, but they all obviously are incredibly insignificant. More insignificant: the goal-scorers themselves, who are practically invisible in their non-Sidney-ness. Such scores and assists certainly lacked the grandeur of:

“Crosby cut through the right circle before sending a backhand pass that deflected off a Lightning player and teammate Pascal Dupuis to Talbot in front of the net.”

Hmmm, a blind pass and a couple of lucky deflections to a wide-open teammate. Sounds like dozens of goals scored in the NHL every season. Clearly none as important as Crosby's, though.

A detailed read reveals more of Sid’s heroics:

“He took Talbot’s excellent cross-ice pass near the edge of the left circle and barely missed an open net after being on the ice for perhaps 20 seconds.” A missed open net! The mind is baffled by the magnificence.

“Crosby missed scoring chance after scoring chance before finally setting up Maxime Talbot for the game’s first goal.” Wow! He failed and failed before stumbling into a couple of deflections for his game(hockey?)-saving “setting up” of Talbot.

“He came off the bench and immediately got loose on a breakaway, kicking the puck to his skate while beating defensemen Paul Ranger and Alexandre Picard. But Smith closed his pads to make the save.” Stopped on a breakaway! Good lord! That never happens! All hail Sid!

Anyone else think that perhaps this “Crosby Triumphantly Returns” piece was written immediately after he was injured a month and a half ago? That maybe Alan Robinson, AP Sports Writer, was going with the angle that, no matter what actually happened, “Sid the Kid” was going to “sizzle” in his return (and what’s with Pittsburgh and lame nicknames? Sid the Kid. Big Ben. Pretty creative)? Write up a few generic superlatives, craft a story around them. That seems to have been the plan. I guess we're just lucky he wasn't a star of the game. That would have fanned the flames of fawning passion amongst NHL writers to dangerous levels.

This is what the Capitals face in addition to the Penguins on Sunday (after dispatching Boston again, of course): salivating Sidney apologists just waiting for the chance to write about him “reclaiming” the Best Player in the NHL mantle from Ovechkin (if they ever gave it to Alex in the first place, having knee-jerkingly, perhaps lazily, merely looked one line down on Pittsburgh’s scoring list for the next best player). All it takes is another dazzling assist or two. Then come the stories with leads such as “With all due respect to Alex Ovechkin…” and “Alex Ovechkin must have enjoyed his moment in the sun with Sidney Crosby out…” Actually those aren’t plausible lines, since they mention Ovechkin ahead of Crosby. That’s just sinful.

Want more? Eric McErlain writes about who the best player in the NHL could be. As he says about early this season, “Nobody dared question the supremacy” of Sid.

Crosby is said to have “gutted it out” in the playoffs last season with a broken foot, providing a convenient excuse for his two pointless games to close out a first round loss. Ovechkin, on the other hand, was described as having “flamed out” for going seven games without a goal. The fact that he kept scoring points to stay in the thick of the scoring race is omitted. Also, there is no mention of his debilitating flu during that time.

Then there is the obligatory mention of Malkin and his sans-Sidney rise. At last, in the final, truly damning paragraph, questions as to the potential continued success of Ovechkin and Malkin are raised. Who’s missing? Right, the golden boy. No question about his supremacy or continued success. McErlain does not dare raise this heresy. Sid does no wrong, because it’s been ordained that way and we must follow.

None of this should overshadow the tremendousness of the Caps’ accomplishment last night, of course. Putting a dent in Buffalo’s playoff plans in Buffalo is always a sweet thing (though clearly it will never be as nice as Game 6, 1998. THAT was a Brian Bellows/Joe Juneau-applied dent). Having the somehow-still-reviled-in-Buffalo Alex Ovechkin have a heavy hand in it is even sweeter. And seriously, why still boo him. The turning-into-a-check-from-behind Danny Briere is gone. He bolted from your town and your team. Boo him. That is, when he returns from his shoulder injury. It’s his spearing shoulder, so he can’t play without it.

The huge, huge win keeps the Hurricanes solidly within reach, with the Caps soon to reap the Atlanta-playing benefit the ‘Canes enjoyed last night. Twice. Those four points, plus the two from the game in hand, plus the two from beating Carolina on April 1 = division title. In short, nothing has changed. The inevitable #3 seed remains inevitable.

This complaint-filled rant breaks no new ground, I know. Who hasn’t bellyached about “everybody loves Sidney” outside of Pittsburgh and pseudo-Pittsburgian enclaves in West Virginia? But it’s important to always be mindful of this insidious undercurrent of Sid-worship, and how it threatens to stain everything and everyone in the NHL. It’s decidedly un-dazzling.

Caps' Successful Non-Losing Streak Continues

The Capitals again continued their almost-three-month-long streak of not losing consecutive games in regulation. We could feel bitter that it’s their third straight non-win, and fifth non-win in six games, but why, when they remain solidly in contention for the division lead and even still a sixth, seventh, or eighth playoff seed? Besides, some are much worse off.

Again helping us feel better about our team are the Philadelphia Flyers, who were good enough to not win for the tenth straight time. For the second time in a week, their OT loss point seems less beneficial than the Caps’ similarly gained point. It’s all about perspective. While the Caps fought for a point during a temporary-yet-season-preserving up and down stretch, the Flyers flailed for a point while grasping desperately during a nothing-but-down stretch that first destroyed their division title hopes and now is threatening their playoff dreams. I don’t know how I missed this before, but this beautiful streak of rotten Philly phortune began at the hands of…the Capitals. How about that? An rival's distress hasn’t felt this satisfying since that little Mets collapse of this past Fall. But enough about that.

The Southeast Division race is clearly far from over, the momentousness attached to last night’s defeat to temporary division leader Carolina notwithstanding. Five points back with two games in hand is not a terrible place to be. A couple of wins here, a beating of the Hurricanes there (i.e. March 25 and April 1), and it’s right back to where we were a couple of weeks ago: on top. Isn’t it simply grand we’re even talking about single-digit point deficits and a division race after all that happened in October and November? And they’re still above .500, such as .500 is in these days of OT losses. The Rangers even did the Caps a division-related favor by managing to not blow a 5-0 lead in beating the Panthers today, giving our team one less nuisance to worry about. No reason to feel glum here.

The entire game against the Devils was much like the first period against the Hurricanes (though I can’t speak for today’s overtime, being deprived of it as I was due to the vagaries of DVR non-overtime-recording). That is, the Caps likely should have lead 6-0 at some point in each. It was the offensive-pressure-filled hockey we enjoyed during the season’s initial three-game win streak and for weeks at a time during the Boudreau era.

Finally, look who’s back in the scoring race, and doing it with assists as he waits for the inevitable return of the goal-scoring touch. Certainly Alex Ovechkin’s four (primary) assists in the last two games (not to mention several magnificent passes that could have resulted in more) are an affront to some analysts who bemoan his supposedly subpar “playmaking” ability (this statement usually seen in head-to-head comparisons with Sidney Crosby and, more recently, Evgeni Malkin).

So there you go. Despite a couple of weeks of relative non-success, there is still a quarter of a season to go, and really no all that much ground to make up. It’s still looking very good.

Capitals Also Not Losing Playoff Positioning

Even with this little “slump” the Capitals are in the last couple of weeks, they nevertheless remain in prime position to either jump into the Southeast Division lead or the eighth seed in the East. I say “slump” because even though it might seem the Caps are losing an awful lot lately, there have still only been two pointless evenings this fortnight. Let’s compare this to the Flyers SLUMP, which saw them go seven games without a standings point before last night’s heroic overtime loss to the Senators. That SLUMP has pushed Philly and Lil’ Danny Briere to Atlantic Division irrelevance and a tenuous hold on the playoffs in general. Not so with the Capitals who, despite sloughing through the least-prolific period in the Bruce Boudreau era, remain on the fringe of postseason greatness.

Likewise, Alex Ovechkin, three scoreless games aside, remains solidly in control of the goal-scoring race, and is still in wondrous position to regain the scoring lead and win the scoring title. This we must all hope for, and not just for the sake of rooting for our hometown superstar. No, Ovechkin must also win this scoring title to save us all from story after story of Evgeni Malkin the Savior, who saved the NHL playoffs (i.e., kept Sidney Crosby in them) by winning the title and propelling Pittsburgh into the postseason. If you thought Sidney-fawning was bad, Evgeni-worship could be much worse. Alex can’t let that happen, he won’t let that happen, and he can’t let that happen.

But on to last night’s game. Everybody dislikes blowing a 2-0 lead and losing in overtime. However, everybody absolutely HATES blowing a 5-0 lead and losing in overtime. As the Flyers helped us put the Caps “downturn” in general into perspective, the Rangers help us see how not terrible this one specific game was. While a point is a point as they say, this Capitals’ point earned vs. the Islanders must taste worlds better than the Rangers’ point earned vs. the Canadiens. And anyways, we all know that the Capitals specialty is coming back from two-goal deficits, not holding on to two-goal leads. We’ve seen enough Washington comebacks to know that.

So all is well. Two points back from Carolina and two games in hand. Still sounds like a division title.

A Team Holding Steady, and an MVP Reconsidered

After a long weekend away Up North, including a return trip that featured a series of wrong/missed turns in northern New Jersey and southeastern Pennsylvania (curses forever on Allentown), I’m pleased to return home to find the Capitals holding steady. There they sit, still in a second-place tie with Atlanta and only two points behind destined-for-not-first-place Carolina. One game in hand over the former and now back to two in hand over the latter. Holding steady. Good stuff.

Also holding steady: Alex Ovechkin as the league’s leading scorer, still a full solid point ahead of New Savior of Hockey Evgeni Malkin, despite apparently playing the last two games with the flu.

Brief aside on Malkin: It’s hard to poo-poo his recent hot streak of 25 points in 13 games, but it’s not hard to suggest we should all give real consideration to revoking Sidney Crosby’s MVP award from last season. An assumed premise of awarding the Hart trophy is that the MVP makes his teammates better. It’s astoundingly clear given Malkin’s sans-Sid performances the last several weeks that Crosby’s presence and media-imposed “shadow” did nothing but severely impede the development of Malkin. Yes, Malkin won the Calder last season, but was that nothing more than the hockey media’s way of repenting to their deity Crosby for not granting him his birthright of the same award the previous season? Did they do this even perhaps knowing that their MVP god was holding back his supposed prodigy? Is this ranting perhaps being propelled by the delirium resulting from a rather frantic and stressful seven and a half hour drive down the East Coast? Probably. Nevertheless, the Canadian media should immediately begin penning articles to the effect that Evgeni Malkin should be signed by the Maple Leafs or Canadiens, because his talent clearly deserves a greater stage than will be provided in Pittsburgh once Sidney retunrs. End of no-longer-brief aside.

So where were we? Oh yes, Caps still very nearly on top, Ovechkin still on top. Even the seventh or eighth seed Plan B looks good, with scant points between the Capitals and those positions should this Southeast Division title miraculously not prove as imminent as we believe it to be.

Two final positive items of note: it seems that secondary scoring we’ve been hearing is so necessary picked it up a bit while Alex was bravely fighting through his flu bug. Newly extended Tomas Fleishmann picked up a couple goals, and Alex S. took a break from hooking and slashing to record a game-winner. All the while, Olie Kolzig continues his recent run of success. I’m truly sad to have missed his reportedly masterful mastering of the Lightning. Look: the GAA is now below 3 (2.99)! And look out Johan Holmqvist and Ray Emery: you’re about to be vaulted in terms of save percentage. Like the Caps as a whole, Kolzig is on the rise late in the season after a rough start. We see that save percentage settling nicely in the respectable area of .900, just as we see the team settling in the most respectable area of #3 seed.

We're (Almost) #1

It’s become a series of (welcome) trends: the Capitals laugh at two-goal deficits; the Capitals absolutely refuse to go two games in a row without grabbing at least one standings point (two-plus months and counting); Alex Ovechkin, night after night, seems to be desperately seeking a 70-goal season while making ridiculous plays to carry the team. Not even cement-footed, Shaone Morrisonn-tripping Bill McCreary could ruin last night’s comeback.

The division deficit is back to one point. With a chance to finally make up one of those two games in hand over Atlanta and Carolina, first place is within the Caps’ grasp tonight. A win in Philadelphia (site of Bruce II’s first game with the team and one of his greatest triumphs) and first place is secure, making Friday’s contest with the Hurricanes an important pad-the-lead type of game.

How about Tom Poti? Throwing hits, blocking shots, scoring a tying goal so stunning it took a replay to confirm it, deftly playing cross-ice catch with Ovechkin on the overtime winner. There’s a reason he quietly eats up so much ice time every game, derisions about his very occasional defensive zone turnovers aside.

Yes, just like the season as a whole, last night looked really bad before it looked really good. Now, suddenly, as the Capitals found themselves needing just one goal for a win last night, they find themselves needing just one win for first place and a three-seed in the standings. We eagerly await seeing such standings. In addition, we eagerly await the debate with a new set of optimism haters who will poo-poo such a lofty status for the Caps and who will ridicule the weakness of the Southeast Division and declare the team somehow undeserving of a conference rank higher than Pittsburgh (likewise we await the detractors of imminent scoring champion Alex Ovechkin. Detractors who will wave the But Sidney Was Hurt flag. Their efforts will also fail).