Thank You Capitals

It has been a memorable year.  We knew at the outset that we would have a good team.  We fully expected that we would make the playoffs.  Done.  We were pretty damned sure that we would win the southeast.  Done.  Not sure that we really expected to be second overall in the conference and to have such a great record against the other divisions, but that was done as well.  We knew that we had to get past the first round of the playoffs for our year to be considered a success.  Did that too.

As we stare at the ice in disbelief at a seventh game collapse, we need to take a second and consider the entirety of the season that has passed and balance it against our disappointment.  This year we supported the Caps like never before, with the most shutouts in history, filling the seats at an average per game rate of 97% capacity.  Washington area TV ratings for games were also excellent.  For an entire season this team was the talk of the town.

We had the pleasure of seeing another season of the most prolific scorer in the game.  We had the opportunity to share in his endless enthusiasm and excitement with scoring and delivering huge hits.  He will win the Richard trophy for the second straight year, as well as being in the running for the Hart and Pearson.  With over 200 goals and over 200 assists in his first four years, we can only expect more of the same to come.

We saw Mike Green set the record for consecutive goal scoring games for a defenseman.  He also scored 31 goals, the first time a defenseman had scored 30 in over a decade.  He is also in the running for the Norris.

The Capitals rewarded our faithfulness at the ticket booth by tying the total number of wins in a season at 50.  They also recorded the most number of points in the history of the organization.

There were also high points in the post season.  They came back from a 3-1 deficit against the Rangers to win the series in 7 games.  We had to beat one of the best goaltenders in the game to achieve that.  In the second round, until this last game, we managed to play neck and neck with one of the better teams in the league.  A team that is just as explosive as we are offensively.

This post season we have also seen possibly the future of our goaltending.  Stepping in to releive a shell shocked Theo, Semyon VarLAmov was the backbone of this team as we moved forward.  Playing in more post season games than regular season ones, he made incredible save after incredible save, never getting rattled.  If he can manage to play 11 excellent games for every 2 bad ones, like he has done in these playoffs, he will be incredible.

We have also seen the emergence of a third line of the type we had been missing since Dahlen, Halpern, and Kono.  Bradley, Laich, and Steckel just flat out got it done.  They forechecked, the held the puck, they tired out the defense, and they created scoring opportunities.  This was the grit line that we had been missing and will be the key to our future playoff success.

And lets not forget the guys we have waiting in the wings.  Hershey will begin playing for the eastern conference finals this weekend.  If Varly isn't our goalie of the future, Neuvirth has been excellent in Hershey.  Or Holtby.  The talent down there is excellent.  Bourque, Osala, Aucoin, Pinizzotto, Giroux, Della Rovere, Bouchard, Perreault, Alzer, Carlson, Sloan, Collins, Kronwall, Lepisto...damn training camp is gonna be interesting the next couple of years.

Not to say that everything is rosy.  This last series has repeatedly exposed some flaws in our team that have to be corrected for next year.  Someone other than Ovechkin has to score on a regular basis.  At some point everyone on our team has to learn how to anticipate and read pucks off the wall...Pittsburg just killed us on the walls.  We need more speed on defense, indirect passes just killed us as the puck repeatedly went past our defense hitting forwards in stride for way too many 2v1 and 3v1 on our goalie.  The forwards need to learn how to support our defense on breakouts when the other team has a strong forecheck.  All of this should be fixable.

Overall there is a hell of a lot more positives than negatives.  Through the tears and the heaviness of heart, remember that you got to watch the most exciting team in hockey, and the future looks even more bright.

Well, I have to go.  My wife is behind me with a smile and a razor.  Be safe, stay faithful, and continue to rock the red.