Many fans and members of the media have reached out to me to ask my opinion of the Penguins win of the Stanley Cup; what it means for the Caps; and my thoughts as to how well we played against them in our series.
And here is my answer: It means absolutely nothing to us. This year’s version of the Penguins was the best team in the NHL. They proved it outright and they deserved to win the championship. That we played them well in our playoff 7 game series offers me zero solace. We lost and they won. Next slide. There is no consolation prize in sports. We don’t get graded on efforts just on outcomes. We want to win a Stanley Cup. We didn’t get it done. The Penguins won the Cup and deservedly so.
Next year our team will be composed differently and their team will be composed differently. The Red Wings will be a different team as well. We all start all over again, 0-0. And that is the beauty of sport.
Here is a very good Puck Daddy overview of the season that just ended, a Top 10 Moments listing. Click here.
The Capitals figure in two of the top five moments. It was nice to watch these clips. Enjoy them. Then we all have to move onward to next year. Stop talking about “could have done and should have done” and start to focus on what we must do to improve and move forward. Go Caps!
If you watched NHL hockey this year and did not believe Malkin was the best player in the league, you are seriously biased.
Ovie may have been more valuable to his team, but Malkin was just flat out better. I guess only time will tell career-wise.
@nathalie
How on earth WOULD you define “best team this year” other than the one holding Lord Stanley’s Cup? Maybe you’d prefer to celebrate individual award nominees or video game cover spots? Let’s throw a victory parade for Ovie appearing on the NHL 2K10 cover!
Things seemed to be arranged?
So the Pens performance this year was arranged?
10th place and 5 points out of the playoffs in February. Arranged?
Firing the coach midseason? arranged?
Losing Gonchar. Arranged?
The power play struggling. Arranged?
Hey Keys, your a joke bro, do you even watch the games or check the box scores and cry when your boys in red fail to put the puck in the net. Also Defense, your team should learn some of that and not worry about what men in stripes are upto okay? You know your finished when you start complaining about the refs, i guess that’s why you don’t get very far. Guess what, complaing about the refs doesn’t get you more calls it gets you less cause it seems like your trying to embarrass them. Have fun
@Dragnet
I didn’t say anything about the Caps at all, or furnish any opinion as to their performance this year, or who they would or would not have beaten this year. I only expressed my thoughts on the performance of the Penguins this year, nothing more.
The real take away lesson from the Pen’s victory — skill counts, but determination and sacrifice count a lot too. Playoff hockey isn’t always pretty and the Pens passed the ultimate gut check. The Caps could learn from the Pens’ workmanlike performance in games 6 & 7. Many observers discounted their chances without big contributions from Crosby & Malkin, but all 4 of their goals in those games came at even strength from the 3rd line down, and Malking/Crosby combined for 1 assist with Crosby missing much of game 7.
You guys are getting warmer, but you’re not there yet. We’ll send you a postcard from the City of Champions (and the Pirates too).
@ Andrew: So, Ovechkin’s knee-to-knee on Gonchar that partially tore his MCL (and went undiscliplined) was something that went the Penguins’ way, too?
@ Nathalie: That is absurd. The Caps wouldn’t have beaten the Flyers this year, even with Varly’s outstanding play in the net.
You both need to stop making excuses for a team that doesn’t backcheck, support the puck, or play as a team. The Caps quit on you. When you have a group of men that are committed to playing together and paying the price to win the battles, there will be a Stanley Cup in D.C..
@ Ted: I applaud your willingness to be accessable via your blog and your honesty with the discussions. However, I doubt that you can stand behind your fans who assert that there’s a conspiracy theory one way or another. You have a lot of positive things going your way with the young stars and the farm seems to be rich with talent.
For 2009-2010 I agree the Caps need to promote Alzner who from my point of view is a superior defenseman to Jeff Schultz already. Morrisonn should be allowed to depart in free agency. Disagree with all the grumbling about goaltending – Simeon Varlamov emerged one year earlier than expected, why is that a bad thing, fans?
In free agency the team has to be careful. While the draft and trades have brought in some great players and prospects, free agency has netted us two players in Theodore and Michael Nylander that have not met expectations. Nylander was an 83 point center his last year with the Rangers and if he was even remotely the same player at 36 he was at 33 that might have been enough extra offense to get the Caps over the hump against Pittsburgh.
I agree that the team needs whether from internal callup or trade or FA, a power forward to convert in front of the net. Laich and Bradley are game but are smallish and don’t have the skill of guys like Tkachuk or Tocchet that made a living in the playoffs scoring from in close.
Ted: Your prediction before the Stanley Cup Finals started that the Penguins would win because “it is their time” seems chilling. I don’t think the so-called “conspiracy theorists” about how the “fix was in” for Pittsburgh are all that off the mark. Everything went their way in the playoffs – not a single thing went against them. I guess Bettman told all the owners before the playoffs began that the Penguins would win…and the refs would kick the puck in the net if they had to in an effort to ensure that outcome. I didn’t watch a single minute of the finals because the outcome was predetermined for the Penguins. Hopefully, Bettman gives everyone an equal shot next year.
Maybe you should start with asking your premier player to play defence once in a while if you want to look for answers as to why your team has yet to reach its potential.
Ted, I disagree with you in the fact that we now have more reason to win the cup. Now that Mr. Bettman got his golden boy the Cup before Ovi, now it is Ovi’s turn. If ref. Bill McCreary starts calling penalties against Pittsburgh this year and the Caps get more powerplays on his watch, then I’ll know the games had official help. McCreary has been keeping the Pittsburgh Penguins alive all year. He gave them cart Blanch (SP?) in the playoffs and now his work is done. Hey, When is he going to retire? Ted, you guys built a great system three teams down, now let’s see what we can do with it. Cheers.
I don’t think the Penguins were “the best team in the NHL” this year. I don’t think they were even the best team in their conference this year. And with the way the playoffs went, you can’t really knock all the people who say things seem to have been arranged to make sure that they were the team to win the Cup this year.
Ted
The Pens won the Cup back to back in 91-92 and both those times they made deadline deals to get Tochett and Rechi and Francis. This year they got Geurin. GMGM didnt want to deal cuz POthier was coming back…. wel…. I dont call for the heads of GMs and coaches but I do think we need one D and one F. Please get them.
Hi Ted.
It should mean nothing to you because the Capitals are a different team than the Penguins. What a stupid question and what a waste of space and time in making an effort to answer it. I am really sorry for you in that regard.
Take solace in one thing: at least fans in your town are not quite as bad a Floriduh Panthers fans. These are people who have to be fitted with special electrodes on their sculpted and newly-botoxed fannies that prompt them to clap, cheer, and chant at the appropriate times during a match. Were it not for this mechanism, and were it not for a team of specially trained ushers, they would wander aimlessly through their building and on to the ice with zombie-like abandon.
When in your building, they can easily be identified as the ones who wear the name “Jovo-cop” on their 1996 vintage #55 sweaters taped haphazardly with plastic rats, and they are constantly looking for Lindross and those Avalanches from Colorado (even though Eric Lindross played for the Flyers).
They have even had to train their gift shop staff to guide the fans through the purchase of souvenier goods. Without their help, thousands of Floriduh fans would be donning Oakland Seals jerseys and be wearing out-dated Atlanta Flames hats, Colorado Rockies lapel pins, and Seattle Metropolitans underwear instead of the strapping new Panthers jerseys introduced this year.
So take some solace in the fact that your fans are not one of the hockey undead and that, while being ignorant and misguided, your fans are living humans with a pulse. Hey, it could be worse, you could own the Panthers and have to deal with a small but persistent number of brain-dead fashionistas!
Keep up the good work on your blog and thank you.
PS- a “shout-out” to Jack Farrel: GENERAL (to you sir) Robert E. Lee lost the war anyway. He and the Confederacy surrendered around 144 years ago. The war is over, put away the flag, go back home and mow your lawn. Turn on the TV mindlessly watch NASCAR until you run out of drool, and don’t ever disrepect a military genius like that again. To add insult to injury, the metaphor was REALLY bad, sir. Not even close. Go read a book or something.
@ Ben, Re: Season tickets:
Dude, You’ve finally got season tickets and now, one trade deadline without a big move and you’re ready to sell? I sincerely hope that comment was made in jest, or as an idle threat, because it sure was asinine. I realize you’re entitled to spend your money the way you see fit, but comments like that are why Caps fans are seen as bandwagoners. What the Caps need are fans that will stand by the team and be patient while a Championship team is built.
The Caps are building a solid group. If, and/or when, Valarmov becomes a solid goalie its going to be scary. So, Ben, stop being stupid and start being a fan.
ted: a suggestion. NEVER proclaim again, from the owner down to the team, that “this is going to be a seven-game series,” especially when your team has taken the lead. It is an excuse for losing three games, at least, when what you want to be doing is putting your skate on your opponent’s throat. It’s akin to Robert E. Lee saying, “Well, we don’t really need a win here at Chancellorsville, there is always tomorrow. It’s going to be a four-year war.”
I LOVE that answer, Ted. You are absolutely right. The Pens winning means nothing to us. Let’s get some more guys in here willing to pay the price in the playoffs. LET’S GO CAPS!
Right on! We’ll get ‘em next year. I can’t wait.
ted- no doubt if puckdaddy did the ten funniest moments–the number one moment would be in the game after tortolella sprayed the water bottle,the caps fans seated behind the rangers bench showed up in raincoats–an alltime classic…kudos to those fans or perhaps your marketing department.
btw- i agree with you -bottom line for next season-move on
http://hockeymomablog.wordpress.com/2009/06/14/and-the-cup-goes-to/
Let’s hope “WE” get it done for the coming season.
I as many STH and fans expect to see the Caps make it to the finals next year.
If the Pens can do it so quick then the Caps should be able to also. After all “WE” have the best player in the world to build around.
The coming season should be interesting.
oh, and this penguins team that was supposedly the best team in the league, was in 10th place like 3 months ago. they made a coaching change and made trades, that while they may have been risky, they obviously were worth the reward.
what did we do at the trade deadline, with obvious holes in it? stand pat, of course. then GMGM says “We could not have upgraded our defense”. that is BS. he didn’t want to risk giving up one of the 9,000 prospects in our system.
the time to win is now. we can’t keep saying we have the best “prospects in the league”. it’s time to turn those assets into assets for the Caps. time is now, Ted.
i have season tickets for the first time in my life next year because i can finally afford them. i don’t want to be selling those tickets off because of what is NOT done in the off-season.
really??? it means nothing to us???
well i’ll tell you what, it means a hell of a lot to Caps fans and we are sick and tired of it.
NOW is the time to do something about it. NOW is the time to bring in Alzner and Carlson if they earn a spot out of camp. i don’t want to hear about how players like Schultz and Jurcina have “experience”. we want the best players on the ice, whether they should be coming from the minors, the current team, or outside the organization. this especially includes the goaltending.
this DOES MEAN SOMETHING, Ted. it DOES. whether or not you would like to admit it, it does. pittsburgh, chicago, st. louis, boston are all teams on the rise and we can’t just expect OV to carry us all the way. this team needs help, and we expect it as fans to be given to us this off-season. we have one 2nd round playoff appearances in 11 years. that is waaaaay too long.
when is GMGM going to get us over the hump? if he can’t, we need to find someone who will.