Thank you. This articulates what we have been planning and hoping for as part of our rebuild.
It was such a difficult and painful process and it had so much risk inherent in it. And it isn’t completed. But my sincerest desire is to not only win a Stanley Cup but for the team to be really good for a long, long time. I believe that is the deliverable: Keep a very good team together for a long time to the benefit of the fan base and the franchise itself. And win the franchise’s first ever Stanley Cup trophy. We made one tiny step last season. We have to get our team into its prime together. The window has opened and now we need to jump through it. This article on the Outstanding Six and best practices is a must read. How does a team build itself to compete at the highest levels over a long period of time and win a championship? That is the key question and one we are trying to answer correctly!
Ill admit I was ticked when you made Bondra cry on the news but I understood. When you signed Ove I really understood. Watching the replay of the PHI series on the NHL network, it couldnt get any clearer. Watching Semin and Backstrom tick TICK tac toe it, Ove crushing the D into the boards and taking over a game, Laich takin punishment infront on the PP, Green lighting it up, and there KIDS! At times they took over the game holding PHI to as few as 1 shot on goal in a period. Consistency is all they were missing and that comes with experiance. Now they have that, the strongest center core in the NHL, and wingers like Semin and Laich on the verge of monster seasons. And best of all they get a full season with Federov to help them on and off the ice. His contrabution to this team is imesurable. What you and McPhee did with this teams build was as close to perfect as you can get and as a fan I say THANK YOU!!!!
I have not been this excited about the start of a season in a very long time. You can sense that this is a team that is ready to break out in a big way. Think about it… this will essentially be last years team minus Huet and Cooke, but adding Jose Theodore and Karl Alzner. Take into account that we will have a healthy Michael Nylander and (hopefully) Chris Clarke and you’ve got some great depth. Hershey will likely be loaded as well this season. Training camp can’t get here soon enough!! Let’s Go Caps!!