Last off season and pre-season, I received numerous emails and read some board postings from some of our fans on Nicklas Backstrom. Comments like “He is a bust”, ”Backstrom was at best a second round pick” and ”You blew this pick” came from some of our most earnest board posters directly to me. I think Nicklas Backstrom turned out to be a pretty good pick, don’t you? He is up for Rookie of the Year consideration. Alex Semin, Mike Green and Jeff Schultz all turned out pretty good too, didn’t they? Mike Green was picked 29th in the draft. Do you NOT think 28 other GMs are asking their scouts what went wrong in that draft?
Today I have received 3 emails - very, very deeply negative on Karl Alzner. What is up with these fans? He was Player of the Year in his league. He was captain of the Junior National team. He will most likely be a top 4 D-man in the NHL for a long, long time. Give the kid a break, will ya?
Tags: Hockey, Karl Alzner, Nicklas Backstrom, Ted Leonsis, Ted's Take, Washington Capitals
There will always be a few fruitcakes. I think it’s similiar to having protesters in front of the White House regardless of the administration. Their loud but few. You shouldn’t take their message to heart or give them too much consideration lest you see their message both loud and repeated in “numerous” complaints. The alternative would be like yelling back at the few fruitcake protesters around the White House - what’s the point? I guess a positive way to look at it is how many people didn’t say anything at all in favor of giving you guys nothing short of the respectful, silent nod of approval for a job well done over the last few years. Most people realize that building smart through a combination of free agency, draft picks, and organic player development takes patience. Your doing it right Ted, and we appreciate having you in the drivers seat as the managing, majority partner in Lincoln. Thanks!
Ted,
if there are thousands and thousands of Caps fans out there, most likely 50% are below average intelligence. Of that 50%, the top 80% are probably capable of operating a keyboard without injuring themselves. Of that 80% of 50%, 50% of them are probably capable of navigating their way to your email address that has been publicly posted for years. Of that 50% of the 80% of the 50%, probably another 50% are cranky enough to hit the send button when they want to gripe about something.
By my calculations, if only 3 or 4 idiots managed to send you negative emails, there must be overwhelming positive sentiment out there over the Alzner signing.
(Hi Caphky!)
Ted, please. The Red Wings and Penguins are playing in the Finals, some probably still feel cheated about our own playoff exit, there’s not a lot of Caps news anywhere else, and with all that, we Caps fans have got to find SOMETHING to grouse about.
You might make a killing if you got into the cheese business on the side: you’d have a ready-made companion to go with some Caps fans’ ever-present whine.
Awful puns aside, I think Alzner will do just fine. I’m still wondering why the Kings took a pass on the guy, but oh, well–their loss.
You can’t please everyone. Last year, the conventional wisdom was that we were in dire need of D-men, and lo and behold, arguably the best blueliner in the draft drops into our lap. Now, that same wisdom says the very same player’s no good, and never mind all the accolades he’s racked up this year in the WHL. Always nice to have a professional opinion.
Oh, wait–The Hockey News has Alzner ranked as our top prospect, and one of the top ten prospects in the entire league. My mistake.
Let your three correspondents bad-mouth him all they want now–they’ll be cheering him that much louder once he’s prowling the Capitals’ blueline.
Fans just like to complain. I know I do.
Don’t let them get to you Ted. They’ll be the one’s buying Alzner jerseys this spring. He’s going to be a leader on the Caps, and likely will be the anchor for the defense on this team. He is the heir to the throne of Labre/Picard/Langway/Johansson that this team has needed since Calle retired.
And this may be heresy, but he may be the best defenseman of that group (not the best ever, he will have a *long* way to go to be better than Scott Stevens, but anything is possible with a 19 year old…)
Just as long as he isn’t fragile like the last junior superstar this team had (Pat Peake) and the Caps will be fine.
Every team has fans like that. Most other owners don’t publish their own e-mail addresses and so never hear from them (unless they also happen to be local sportswriters/sportscasters.)
I was pretty stoked when I read that Alzner was named player of the year. I can’t wait so see him in a Caps uni.
Capital Spirit & Lorne are right: fans just like to complain. By the way Ted, i was with you until you mentioned Jeff Schultz.
I’m very excited about Alzner. He’s going to be just fine, Gabby is good with young players so I’m sure his development won’t be stunted at all. I do agree with doughless about Jeff Schultz, not a big fan of him. I doubt he was injured during the playoffs, but rather he just didn’t play well, which is why he was benched.
Ted,
Why do you let these idiots get to you? These are the same people who probably scoffed when we got Ovechkin. Screw them
Alzner is a great guy, and an absolutely killer player. He’s Captain material too, which means that you’ll have somebody in line for the job when the scoreboard falls on Chris Clark, or when he’s hit by a meteor (with his luck).
I met Alzner last summer at the rookie camp, and I was very impressed by his personality. He’s an absolute Champion. He could potentially be our next Rod Langway. Even if he falls well short of those lofty expectations, and if he ends up being just an average NHL defenseman (which won’t happen), he’s the type of guy who’s leadership will do nothing less than keep this team together in tough times, and put them well over the top as far as morale is concerned. He gets the very best out of himself and his teammates.
Ted, why even bring attention to these negative comments? These people are obviously fools.
BTW, did you hear about the 20 Orioles fans kicked out of Camden Yards for “cheering too loudly” for the Orioles? In the same game, they were recognized on the jumbo-tron for being “Fans of the Game.” Then, a group of Red Sox fans complained that they were cheering too loudly, and they were kicked out. The Orioles released no comment about specifically why they kicked these fans out, only saying why they would generally kick fans out. I’ve been to Devils’ games up in NJ, and I saw several fights between Devils fans and Rangers fans, and the Rangers fans always got the boot first. Now, in Baltimore, we can’t even cheer for our own ball club? Thank god I’ve got the Capitals to cheer for loudly.
Ted,
This is the downside to your being so involved and reading every email. Most folks in your executive and ownership positions have their emails read and filtered by assistants before they make their way to the top. You don’t have that layer of insulation/bureaucracy built-in, and because of that, most of us can reach you and are very greatful for it. There are always going to be naysayers and relative crack pots. Some are well-intended but ill-informed and others are simply rude.
Not every email can be positive. If someone has a gripe, they need to make their case by presenting a cogent argument with some basis of fact. Some are chronic gripers, while others I think write to see if they can get you upset.
Please relax, Ted. Enjoy the summer with your family.
Ted, man, given the Caps attendance some years I don’t think you should complain about ANY Caps fans. At least these guys care.
It’s a good thing you don’t read Tarik’s blog comments.
Ted,
As far as your new prospect…good for you for taking a risk on new players who show a high degree of potential. As far as fans go, we are waiting with bated breath for word on other existing Caps, let alone gettting excited about new prospects. We have seen a few contracts renewed, but we are waiting for the big guns to come out and ink their papers so we can rest easier over the break. Toss us a bone will ya?! No really…the Worlds are over…get on with it!! C-A-P-S CAPS CAPS CAPS!:-)
If I were a complainer I’d be complaining more about the fact that our only goalie signed right now is Brent Johnson and not about what kind of pick a 19 yr old is gonna be. OK so the IIHF tourney is over what the hell is going on with Huet? I’m sure he’d take Olie’s money. This team can ill afford a lapse in net or it’ll be 3 steps backwards for next year. Don’t even get me started on Federov. I think his short time here and time with the Alex’s in the IIHF warrant more than just a consideration for next year. Alzner can be another Green next year and it won’t matter if these 2 aren’t back.
Ted,
As you can see by “Jim in Colorado’s” comment many folks just don’t understand that as the Caps first pick in the 2006 entry draft, the Caps only had until June 1st of this year to get Alzner under contract. Further many fans really don’t understand how highly rated Alzner is “as the best defenseman NOT playing in the NHL last season” by most scouting reports. Instead they fret about why you haven’t signed the likes of Mike Green, a Restricted Free Agent, who you will no doubt be in contract talks soon with and whom you have the right to match anybody else’s offer too. Or perhap’s like Jim, they think you shopuld just give Huet the same deal Olie Kolzig had last year; as if he would take it or that would be smart Salary Cap Management on your and GM George McPhee’s part.
Sapper summed it up best just because they can afford a computer and internet access and can send you an email doesn’t mean they should do so; but there’s nothing stopping them. Also don’t sweat it - how much did your ownership group’s investment appreciate last year - just look at that and the overall increase in positive fan mail and attendance as the real measure of the overall fan sentiment to what you and the Caps are doing.
All that said I agree folks should give ALzner a break, the contract he got isn’t unlike the rookie contract Mike Green had and both are/were blue chip prospects; look how Green turned out with some of Gabby’s “seasoning”.
LETS GO CAPS!!!!
Ted. There is always a vocal minority that just does not get these things. I think a lot of people don’t realize that NHL players typically don’t jump from the draft into the NHL uniform like they do in other sports. Besides the occasional phenom (Crosby, Ovie, Lemieux, etc.), most guys take their licks on their Junior/College/Elite league teams before making the jump to AHL/NHL level.
Karl Alzner was the WJC team Captain, he just won the Western Hockey League’s Player of the Year (a league known for hard hitting defensemen) and he is still young. Maybe these critics should know that after Rod Langway was drafted, he played in the AHL and WHA for a year and a half before jumping to Les Habitans.
Alzner looks like he is going to be a defenseman that could be on a franchise level such as Stevens, Pronger, etc. Obviously, this is based on potential, but I think the pick was smart in that our defense got burned quite a bit in the playoffs. Maybe Alzner can clear people out from in front of the crease.
You see Ted people “like mark” not “like mike” put more into words than what is actually said. He states that fans like me don’t understand that we only had until June 1st to get Alzner under contract. What he fails to understand is that it still isn’t June 1st but how long has the IIHF tourney been over? He also must not be a long time Caps fan because anybody getting excited about “potential” certainly wasn’t around during the David Poile days. I still want to puke when I hear that word associated with young Caps players. When Mark states that I’m thinking giving Huet Kolzigs money is good cap management he obviously is oblivious to the rest of the league because Huet will get that money, it’s just a matter of whether it’ll be here or somewhere else. He has also probably failed to look at the UFA goalies around and doesn’t look at Huet as being our best option because maybe Hasek or Osgood would want to come play with the Russians and rekindle their Detroit days. So Ted for the future just read what is typed and don’t try to make more of it then what is actually typed.
Ted,
I personally, can’t wait to see him in action. I like the direction this team is heading and commend you, George and the rest of the front office staff for the long term vision you appear to have for the team. Let the ninnys say what they will. We have a good group of players on this roster and most fans can recognize that fact. Good luck in the upcoming draft…Hopefully we are able to land yet another guy who can be a long term player for this team and continue what has stated here.
Congratulations on an outstanding season and good luck as this team heads into 2008 season!!!