What a weird three game road trip.
We only played two outstanding periods of hockey out of nine. We won two games and came back with four of six possible points. We have to be honest. We are lucky and fortunate. We have work to do to prepare for next week where we do it all over again playing three games on the road. We need to be humble and realistic and play much better hockey the next six games. I thought the team showed its heart and commitment to each other in the 3rd period last night. Seeing Alex Ovechkin flying all over the ice the entire game, netting two goals and claiming his 60th, was amazing. Also his pass to Backstrom on the ultimate game winner was sweet as well. I am also proud of Nicklas Backstrom. As I noted after the Pens game "he will win 100 games for us in his career with the Caps". Those two goals were huge for us and for his confidence. Now we need to bottle up the way we played in the first period against Nashville and the third period against Atlanta for the remaining six games. On a side note, I am friends with the owners of the Atlanta Thrashers. They are very committed owners. They love the game and they are very classy folks. We talk a lot and have deep empathy for each other. Their team got out to a bad start this season and had to make a coaching change and then they started to play quite well. We then went into our slump and Atlanta beat us pretty badly during Thanksgiving week. I remember a couple of the Thrashers players going on TV and commenting about our team; its prospects; how our team was playing to get its coach fired; players offering their opinions to our players through the media, etc. etc. I remember thinking to myself that this was not the respectful thing to do as a player. The season is a marathon. We play each other so many times per season that we have a natural rivalry. One of our key leaders confided in me and said, "Let’s see how the season ends. Hockey has a natural way of serving up some humble pie." Well, we are in the playoff race and Atlanta has won twice in the last seventeen games. It shows why we as a team and as players must always be respectful to the game and to each other. In this division, we play each other many times. I believe in being humble, having empathy and being positive. I hope our players took note of how words about competitors can come back to haunt them. We should and will always take the high road. We will never comment on another team, its prospects or its state of play.
Any doubt about who the NHL’s MVP is had to be erased last night. Alex took the team on his shoulders and scored the goal to break the ice in the 3rd, and also set up two more. Great players rise to the occasion and he did. So did Nick Backstrom and he may have sewed up Rookie of the year last night as well.
I bet the folks who sit on the one side of the rink (at th right on the TV) felt a bit ripped off in that all the goals were scored at the other end of the rink. Then again, where I sit at Verizon, I kind of hope for that, as I sit in the Caps defensive zone for 2 periods…
As for the trip, and the nine period played:
Outstanding: Nashville 1st, Atlanta 3rd
Good: Atlanta 1st
So-so: Nashville 3rd
Not-so-good: Nashville 2nd, Atlanta 2nd
Bad: Chicago 3rd
Worse: Chicago 2nd
Dreadful: Chicago 1st
If we try to do that over the last 6 games, the Caps won’t make the playoffs. The good news is that the Caps are playing three teams they *should* be better than for all six games.
As usual, well said.
Ted,
This is your best post ever. You are right on.
Mr. Leonsis:
I feel the Caps actually outplayed the Thrashers all three periods last evening - the statistics also would generally indicate the same. I know the second period special teams play had issues (2 scoreless/almost shot-less powerplays and allowing a PP goal and a “shortie” by Atlanta) but, the real difference that kept Atlanta in the game for 50 minutes was kari Lehtonen.
You reflect similar sentiments to that expressed by Comcast and Lisa Hillary after the game. To both of you I say look at the whole body of work and the facts, do not react emotionally to the scoreboard or the negatives. Humans such as ourselves always seem to amplify the negatives. Look at the facts and do two things: 1) reconsider this post and 2) pull Ms. Hillary’s ad from the Caps Websites till she recants her comments from last night’s post game show and reports the facts. LETS GO CAPS!!!!