It is ironic that a team in Washington DC is playing a team from Pittsburgh PA and that the team in DC is considered the insurgent - the under dog, the newcomer - and has the odds stacked against them. Some people think of Washington DC as the “most powerful city in the world” but that doesn’t translate to the NHL.
A really smart fan of our team emailed me this story from the New Yorker magazine. It is a long one but well worth your time in reading. Click here to read it and reap. I show this article to our fans to say that David can beat Goliath and that we do have hope. Pittsburgh is a great franchise. They went to the Stanley Cup Finals last season. They have won Stanley Cups before. They have a bevy of great players and a great history. But insurgents can and do win so keep the positive vibes a-coming. We will need them tonight.
Some notes:
As I have noted on my blog and in communications to everyone for a decade, emails and message board posts and messages on my blog all leave a digital fingerprint. We have all been taught by NHL Security and local law enforcement to take certain threats seriously and to turn over communications that have selected terms and words to local law enforcement agencies. Local law enforcement agencies then make the call to decide if a threat is to be taken seriously. It is their call as to whether to take any action on the perceived threat. It is unfortunate that some threats have been generated against certain players on our team. I have also received some threats in the past as well. We must take these threats in context and to treat them by the process we have been taught. The Washington Capitals also cooperate with law enforcement regarding posts on our message boards and email as well. So please, dial up your decorum if you feel overly passionate about a subject. Sports are all about emotions and about competitiveness but there is a line that no one should cross. I am hopeful that our fans can be made aware of these issues and please act accordingly. I don’t know how we can be more explicit in our requests to our fans to please show some dignity and to NOT threaten anyone in any manner. Thank you to everyone for understanding the issues associated with these matters.
And I guess I owe everyone a sincere apology. I don’t know what I was thinking and if I offended anyone I sincerely apologize for my observation regarding traffic. DC traffic is worse than Pittsburgh traffic. What was I thinking? Please forgive me if you took offense at my observation about rush hour traffic. There is no rush hour traffic ever in Pittsburgh. The roads are clear. The drive is pure and smooth. The lights are always green. And when it rains in Pittsburgh, the rain actually makes the traffic flow smoother unlike here in DC. I hope this sets the record straight. 
Wish us well and we will see you all tomorrow night at Verizon Center. Go Caps!
To Tim–all I need to say is Kunitz’s crosschek to Varly’s neck (no penalty) and Orpik’s stick to Semin’s crotch. No further discussion needed.
So, Tim, the highsticking that Orpik laid on Alexander Semin, resulting in stitches, during game 2, that was okay?
And, Tim, please explain the Orpik crosscheck to the back of Semin’s head, resulting in Semin’s chin smacking the crossbar of the goal net in game 4?
Oh, and please, don’t forget Chris Kunitz’s lovely “I can’t control my stick” slash at Varlamov’s neck.
“Hypocrisy.” Look it up. The Penguins are just as guilty of dirty play as you accuse Ovechkin and the Capitals of being.
Threats are usually done in desperation and rarely amount to anything, especially when generated by a 17-year old blogger. The area where decorum needs to be dialed up is on the ice, where golden boy Alex Ovechkin has continually taken cheap shots at Penguin defensemen. Every game this series he takes at least one, but usually three or four, late hits that are straddling the line between dirty and clean. Now the Penguins are missing their biggest blue-line threat and one of their most insightful veterans because of Ovechkin’s foul play.
Regardless of his intention to injure or not, he was planning on putting a late hit on his friend and country-man. It would have been dirty if nobody had been hurt. It was extremely dirty because of the lasting impact to the Penguins.
I don’t expect this post to stay on Ted’s page for very long. I just wanted to put a legitimate gripe on this site, since we’re so used to seeing typed whining about the officiating or the scheduling here. This is a legitimate complaint instead of that. OV will not be suspended, just as he did not get a 5 minute major penalty, because the NHL wants him on camera, regardless of what he deserves or what is fair.
I’m sooooooooooo tired of the Caps losing to Pittsburgh in the playoffs. They’re 7-0 in game 5′s against the Caps so I took the game 4 loss almost as hard as a series loss. I mean if the Caps are going to go down yet again can’t they at least go down scratching and clawing like David. Is it asking too much to outwork and outshoot the Pens for just one game? Where are Semin and Green?
Wait, the 2-seed, back-to-back Division Champs are the “insurgents?” And the 4-seed are the “establishment?” What does that make Boston–the “Taliban?”
Ovi should be suspended a game. He didn’t want to injure Gonchar but he tried to hit knees which is a big no-no in any professional sport. 1 game suspension should come out of that. Sad.
Just wondering who would be defending Pittsburgh’s traffic? There are less cars because of less people, but the roads are not at all logical and the topography makes driving around difficult. I know….I’m a native. That was lame if people took offense to and complained about that comment you made. Pittsburghers complain about the traffic themselves! I have to admit, though, that I did take some offense to your comment about the red at Caps games is better somehow than the free white out t-shirts. I guarantee that, if you asked the Pens fans to wear a certain color, they would do it in a hearbeat. Just that the teams colors (home jersey is black and the one most people own) are not very rally-friendly (and make it difficult for the goalie to see the puck). You see a lot of throwback blues at the games, too, because fans love those jerseys. What’s wrong with letting a local business give away free shirts to the fans and get some publicity? The white is actually kind of cool. Have you ever seen the white-outs at Penn State? Very cool. No need to criticize each others’ fans/teams. We all care a lot about our teams. Obviously there is already enough smacktalk happening on the internet.
I personally think we are equals in ability but anyway I like the line from the article…”David can beat Goliath by substituting effort for ability”
‘effort’ that’s what it always comes down to, creating opportunities and chances
Ted,
The tunnels on the east and south end of the city never get backed up either in Pittsburgh. Always clear sailing. … and people never slow down to a crawl inside a tunnel just because it is a tunnel, thus creating the huge delays during rush hour or big events.
I’m glad you liked the article.
And you are _so_ right about the “threats” being tossed around. As a high school teacher, it’s something I am acutely aware of, and it’s sad that such behavior is so rampant. The “tough talk” has apparently become more and more socially acceptable, without regards to the fact that it is the equivalent of crying wolf. And when something happens, people say, “He said he was going to do that, but I never though he would.” If more people could understand that there are consequences to not just their actions, but also their words, I think there might be a lot fewer instances of hot-headed emotional outbursts.
a few thoughts I wanted to share
* it surprises me how you manage to stay positive in situations like this
* your life experience is something that we all can and should learn from
* showing sense of humor when you are under so much stress ! – thats nice and classy
* question: how can an average Joe get on a path that would lead to buying a team of CAPS magnitude ?