Mr. Churchill Says

"If you're going through hell, keep going." ~ Winston Churchill

Churchill was unquestionably a badass. In addition to that pearl of wisdom, among the countless other inspirational quotes he dropped on the world was this one: "A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty." I'm not sure the Caps are quite going through hell (yet?), but things have certainly gone from bad to worse for them lately. And while I'm no optimist, one doesn't have to look far to see that opportunities abound, both for the team and for individual players.

Can the team win games (or at leat remain competitive) without their leader? Can the power-play regain its effectiveness? Can Glen Hanlon keep the team's morale up? Can Alex Ovechkin step up and carry the team the way another super soph is carrying his squad? Can Brent Johnson justify the extension he recently signed? Can Jeff Schultz and Eric Fehr continue to play at an NHL level and make the decision to send them back to Hershey all the more difficult? Can fee-agents-to-be Brian Sutherby, Brooks Laich, Milan Jurcina and Steve Eminger prove to the team that they are worth re-signing?

There are as many questions facing this team and its players as ever before, but many of them will be answered over the course of the next two months on the ice by the team itself. After all, it's just as Churchill said: "Difficulties mastered are opportunities won."

UPDATE: It looks like Caps Nut and I are on pretty much the same page.