Our AHL affiliate, the Hershey Bears, closed out their series last night with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins with a 3-0 win in their Game 7. The Bears now move on to the Eastern Conference finals.
The Bears won their first two games of the series; then lost three; won one to tie it up; and won the series in Game 7 at home.
Here is hoping we are a mirror image of the Bears. We are very proud of the team and its staff and players. We have many fine developing prospects on the team and we also have another great goaltending prospect in Hershey who pitched a shut out in a very tense situation last night. We have a perfect partnership with Hershey. Kudos to them and congratulations to their great fan base as well. We were all with you in spirit last night in Hershey and I listened to the game on my desktop PC. Way to go! Go Bears!
And now the focus of our city, community and fan base turns to our Game 7 tonight at Verizon Center. It is a joy to play in Game 7’s at home. They are special one of a kind events. We must embrace these moments; play with passion and with pride; be loose; and come out with a “carpe diem” mentality.
Very rarely does a series live up to its hype although I must say that the NHL playoffs all around the league are sensational with the remaining series in Boston and Detroit all going to Game 7’s as well. Ours is the kind of series that makes people talk for years to come and fans will be telling their friends, “I was there when…” It has been great theater and great action and an honor for all of us involved.
So you know the drill. Be positive. Remain calm. Have faith and believe. Send us your positive vibes. Come out to the arena. Wear red. Be loud and proud. Please be respectful to the game; to our city; and to each other. This is a lot of fun. Enjoy the ride. Go Caps!
Tags: AHL, Hershey Bears, Hockey, NHL, Ted Leonsis, Ted's Take, Washington Capitals
Ted, we will be there tonight in our 404 seats. I am so excited to have a second game-7 like this. And against the Penguins, after a terrific series. This is about as good as it gets! I will be wearing my lucky red Caps hat, which was signed earlier this year by Ovi and Fedorov, the two greatest Russian players of all time. I wear it only rarely, but last wore it to the Rangers game-7. Tonight, it will bring a 4-3 victory, with the winning goal from Ovi or Fedorov!
Inside our own zone, clear the puck over the blue line. In the neutral zone, put the puck deep past their blue line.
It’s simple, perhaps overly so. But it’s the lock that must be fractured and will light the way toward ultimate victory.
Success in series beyond is never guaranteed. Fans can dream and wonder - but for our team, it’s go win one game, once. Be smart for 60 minutes (or more, if need be). We have the best player in the world. We have the best goalie in the series. But if we aren’t smart, it’ll all go for naught.
Many of us have been in the stands since the mid-1980s or more. We’ve had rare glimpses of glory muddied by landslides of disappointment. We think we’ve seen it all - yet something will happen tonight that will challenge that notion.
Be smart.
Win one game, once.
Nothing is guaranteed. We may never be here again. Be smart, boys.
GO CAPS!!!
As Ovechkin says…..Today is going to be a great day to play hockey.
Ted, As a fan of the Bears,and I think I speak for 99.9% of Bears fans,we couldn’t be happier with the affiliation with the Caps. Seeing you in Hershey to watch games if just awesome. Seeing alot of our former guys(Stecks,Brooks,Green,Sloan,Beagle,etc.) and Bruce makes us feel just as much apart of the Caps as anyone. We look forward to a win tonight against the Pens down there in DC. We also look forward to seeing you and the Caps fans in Hershey as the Bears push towards their AHL record 10th Calder Cup. Go BEARS and GO CAPS!!!
I can’t spell..lol.. Seeing you in Hershey to watch games is* just awesome.That’s what I ment to type.
You, George, Bruce, the Caps, the fans, the town…we all deserve very much to advance. Hockey Gods willing…
Let’s Go Caps!!!!
Congrats Bears !!! In just a couple of hours the Caps will do the same and win their 7th game. Go Caps Go !!!
This has been a great season let’s hope it’ll last a little longer. The team has been playing exceptionally well all season long. I’ve been enjoying every single moment that I watched.
You’re right Ted, this one is for the ages. It’ll be remembered for a long time. Finally all the years of hard work and dedication are showing dividends. Go Caps !!!
[...] Bears beat Baby Pens (Ted’s Take) [...]
Teddy, Tonight will be a Big Win!
The Caps are focused and will POUND the penguins with shots on goal. There are plenty of GOOD VIBRATIONS coming up from the North. Rock the Red. Lets Go Caps!!
[...] is hoping we are a mirror image of the Bears,” Leonsis wrote on his blog. “We are very proud of the team and its staff and players. We have many fine developing [...]
I wonder if CSN would do Hershey home games next year on nights when the Caps are not playing? They would have to get more viewers than poker tournaments or bull riding or whatever else they show.
Good luck tonight Ted, no matter the outcome you have built a franchise that will be envied by not only your rivals but teams and fans from any league and any sport.
Ted: First thing you gotta’ do in the offseason is upgrade this defense; they showed tonight how feeble they really are and were exposed for a bunch of goals. Most fans were incredulous this year with this shoddy group of defensemen. What a horrible performance tonight; truly disapointing. We can’t want it more than the players and I guess they didn’t want it at all. This is nothing to build off of; this was embarassing.
I was there when…the Pens smoked the caps, again, in the playoffs, after coming from behind.
But you won’t have the stones to post this will you?
Ted: Gotta’ talk to Gary Bettman about the officiating in this series; tongight, I find it hard to believe that sixty minutes went by and not a single penalty was committed by the Pegnuins? Clearly the refs did their part to get the Penguins in the Conference finals - how badly does Gary Bettman want Sidney in the Cup Finals again? I think the Caps got screwed; all the calls go the Penguins way all the time. Like you said, “when was the last time the Caps had a power play in overtime?”
Ted-
I want to thank you for all you have done for Hockey in DC and for your vision and leadership to bring us this far. That said i think you should refund all of us who paid to see Game 7 Last night….the most humiliating Game 7 defeat in Stanley Cup history in a later Round.
Also - those guys in the front office need to tighten up their game Defensemen like Boumeester and Morris were available at the deadline this year and could have really helped. We are the Colts of the NHL- we need to learn, as they did (I guess through some miserably hard lessons in the post season as they did) that while its Sid vs. Ovie for the networks, its Orpik and LeTang vs. Morrison and Pothier that really matters.
We have faith in you! But the sting of this one will carry over until this team reaches a Cup Final, just as last year’s carried over until we got past the First Round.
Best Wishes,
Ernest- Season Ticket Holder.