Thanks, that is nice to hear. Now delete these pixels. Success is earned on the ice and not in the media. We haven’t done a thing yet. We have lots of work to do before we are considered a power player and a shoe-in for a playoff spot. Check out this ESPN.com article. Our success will pivot around health, execution, team chemistry, how the refs handle key decisions and a little luck to help us to get to the 5th spot this year. Wish us luck and good fortune but I don’t believe any of these rankings. The game is played on the ice. I know I can’t wait to see how we do this next season.
Ted's Take
You’re right, prior to last season, Montreal was ranked 12th or lower by most pre-season publications. These rankings are useless for anything besides entertainment. The Caps will finish at of near the top of the conference.
Why do you even pay attention to ESPN. That channel hasnt been viewed on my tv since just after the lockout when they put a silent ban on hockey. There sweting now that they see the league building again and returning to numbers met before the lockout. Like the NFL network, the NHL network is were you can go for hockey news. ESPN are slowley making themselves irelivent. Look at the ESPY’s and the NHL player of the year pick. They didnt even pick the best guy on a team much less the NHL. How about we put a ban on looking at anything ESPN has to say about hockey. It only gets on hockey fans nerves.
The rankings are interesting, and the Caps do ok in that they’re the top team of the Southeast grouping. Personally, I see the Caps a bit higher in the East, with only Montreal in the same level (Pittsburgh took a hit with Hossa leaving and they’ll realize it in January… they’ll be pressed in that division too, with NY, Philly and Jersey all being good teams).
Getting hockey information from ESPN (apart from their well-maintained statistical database) is like trying to get information about quality motor cars from strict Amish. Forget ESPN, they gave up hockey for poker and eating contests four years ago.