Ted's Take

We have come a long way. This is a very smart open letter to the team.

It basically says ”really good isn’t good enough.” I agree. Our best October ever in terms of points, who cares? Second in the East is NOT good enough. Fourth best record in the NHL, so what? We only have two regulation losses, second least in NHL. But it seems like we are always losing, doesn’t it? I got no problems with this one. I agree with it for the most part. Our expectations are really high.

I will add that I hate this schedule. Playing four games in less than six days is tough on the body, the soul and the players. It is very difficult to gather up the focus, attention and energy to play committed and passionate playoff like hockey when you have a big lead in the division and you seem to get standing points every single game you play. A season ticket holder sitting in front of me said, “Ted, I am exhausted coming to these games and watching them on TV. I can just imagine how the players feel right now!” Well said, too. Indeed.

I had a bad feeling about yesterday’s game. I mentioned that to several people during the pre game and I hate being proven right.

I loved the way we played after Alex Ovechkin left the game. We played tough ‘in your face’, ’storm the net’ hockey. We deserved better. Some undisciplined play leaving us short-handed did us in but still the intensity level was there and we deserved a better fate.

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