A friend of mine wrote me with a link to this story with a cute quote.."Better a "has been" than a never was".

For those of us who stayed up late, the Caps completed a very nice west coast swing taking 5 of 8 points on a long tough road trip. It was gratifying to see Richard Zednik break open his play with two goals, an assist and nearly making a hat trick as well. I think the math associated with 5 of 8 points over a full season is pretty positive. Does anyone anonymous care to do that math now and comment for us?

Note that the AP reporter reminds us that we have lost only twice in regulation in the last 10 games. We are making progress, the team is playing well and we have superior goaltending to date.

It is ironic that this morning, the only two emails I received were from fans asking me to reconsider signing a former Caps player. What do I have to do to get our fan base to fall in love with this generation of Caps players? Tell me.

I will be first in line to buy this the new biography on Harry Houdini. Houdini is a great hero to everyone who has ever dabbled in magic. He was a giant personality, a great performance artist and who knew, a spy and an undercover agent for Scotland Yard.

Yet, another love letter to Alex.

I received an email from a friend in Canada, who said that traveling with Alex is like traveling with the Beatles. He is truly beloved in Canada, with multiple cover stories in every newspaper; hundreds of people milling around the hotel lobbies in the hope of catching a glimpse of Alex and getting his autograph.

As George Mcphee said to our fan club, “this is a once in a generation time to watch a historic figure emerge in our league".

"Sort of a Mark Messier with hair", this is a great quote from Dave Fay.

It is a sad time for professional sports, for Washington, DC and for the NBA. We lost a giant in the field with the passing of Red Auerbach, a great personality, great coach and all around “winner”.

It is a sad time for professional sports, for Washington, DC and for the NBA. We lost a giant in the field with the passing of Red Auerbach, a great personality, great coach and all around "winner".

I knew Red Auerbach and he was very gracious to me with his time, his advice and his counsel over the years. Some of the advice he offered to me I have tried to incorporate into my daily life as well as to my operating style in building my sports teams. He was always focused on character, team excellence, and sacrifice and on pragmatism. He was also funny, telling great stories that endeared him as a ring leader to local personalities

Having grown up in the Boston area in my teen years and now living in DC – I can’t think of a sports figure that cut a more historic path than Red. He will be missed.

Can we chill out just a bit, please?

So, the Caps played at 10:00 PM EST last night in Vancouver, game 2, of a very tough road trip.

First period we were dominated 2 to 0, then were out shot 16 to 1 and we look disorganized.

Things got better as the game progressed with Alex Ovechkin scoring to tie the game. We then lost in the shootout, but came away with 1 point. Two road games we totaled 3 points – we were given a point on the road even though we didn’t play very well. Additionally, two games in a row Kolzig played great, which helped lead the team when the going got tough.

This morning when I turned on my computer and I had 27 emails, some time stamped between the first and second period and some appeared to have been sent to me from the arena during the first period. Here are some comments from these emails….

“What is wrong with your team?”

“What is wrong with Alex Ovechkin?"

“Why didn’t you sign any free agents during the off-season?"

“Your power play stinks."

“I am so disappointed in this team".

“You should have signed (name of old player), then you would have been able to score some goals."

“Trade (name of young player) he is awful."

You get the picture.

Let’s review. We have 10 points in 9 games, our best start since the year we went to the Stanley Cup Finals.

Alex Ovechkin has the EXACT same amount of points and goals as he did after 10 games last year – on pace to score more than 50 goals.

Brian Pothier, one of our FREE AGENTS leads all NHL defense men in assists and is top 10 in ice time.

The Caps are 5th in the East;

Since we went to a new power play lineup four games ago, we are at 33 percent success rate going 5 for 15.

The Caps are 4th in the NHL in goal scoring.

Our defense is young and will have off nights, but that is how we will learn. We have to be patient. We are NOT trading our young assets because of a bad period of play on the road.

That said, we are open to constructive criticism on how to improve our team and we know we have lots of work to do, BUT I do think we can chill out just a bit – we got a point on this very tough road trip.

Tonight we play against a Stanley Cup finalist from last year – wish us well.

Thank you Michael for the nice words – come by the owners box when you attend the game, as I would like to meet you and your wife and welcome you back. Go Caps.

I remember like it was yesterday – seeing Bruce Springsteen play at RFK Stadium in downtown Washington, DC the year that he was pictured on the covers of both Time magazine and Newsweek. I can