Comments on: Open Letter is Well Done

By: andy

andy — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 17:41:37 +0000

i think its time to bring joe finley to the team we can afford him and he can play wing i know we have a lot of talented players in the wings waiting but they cant do what joe can do, remember the scouting report on him (big bag of knuckles) thats what is needed right now its not like he will be playing a lot of minutes and he will not have to play defense the players waiting for their shot have had their shot to unseat almost any of our wingers and failed to do so what is needed now is a for (lack of a better word(goon i think joe will be a good hockey in the future but his other services are needed now

By: Mike L.

Mike L. — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 14:37:07 +0000

Ovi will be the first to tell you that he’s not the Washington Capitals. He’s part of the team, and an important part, but there’s still Nick Backstrom (a top 10 scorer in the NHL last year), Alexander Semin (on a 40 goal pace), Brooks Laich (on a pace to finish with 30 goals), Mike Green (wasn’t he a first team all-star last year?), Jose Theodore (a former league MVP), Tomas Fleischmann (who has 3 points in 3 games), etc.

This is a team. If Ovi misses a week, or 2, or 3 now in November, the Caps will be fine. And come playoff time, instead of having 82 games worth of effort on his body, he’ll have a few less…and he might be even more of a monster than his 1.5 points-per-game pace in last year’s playoffs…

By: J. Stacy

J. Stacy — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 04:44:10 +0000

I love the Caps! What I don’t love is seeing our Alex out on the ice defending himself. When will you break down and get an enforcer. It wasn’t okay to have Alex going to the penalty box for something that Donald use to do for the team! Please get an enforcer or other teams will own us. Don’t you notice that Alex no longer plays fearlessly? Please notice it. He/They need(s) to play fearlessly, that’s who he is, that’s who they need to be. Please get an enforcer. And, I AM definitely praying for Alex’s speedy recovery/healing.

By: Kevin

Kevin — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 03:05:49 +0000

Thanks for posting the article Ted, I am actually working on a similar one.

I hate to be critical, but the lack of a major enforcer and the deficiencies of the blue-liners is making this season painful to watch.

A win is a win, BUT a one goal game where you led by four, or having teams throw your players around does not send good messages to other teams.

Again I hate to be critical and I have EVERY confidence these issues will be addressed by George, Bruce, and yourself.

I just feel you need to know that you have fans pulling their hair out and loosing sleep over these issues.

Thanks for reading!

By: Joe

Joe — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 21:45:04 +0000

I think this team isn’t tough enough. Frankly, I didn’t think it was tough enough LAST season. With the departure of Brashear, it was entirely predictable that opponents would begin to take liberties with some of the skill guys, including Ovie who is tough as nails but isn’t (and shouldn’t be) a fighter. Unfortunately, I suspect that yesterday will not be the last time that we will regret not having someone to watch the backs of the skill guys.

By: Bucknell Dad

Bucknell Dad — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 20:39:12 +0000

Kudos to you, Ted, for actually linking to a mildly critical — but spot on — blog post most of us would never have seen if it weren’t for you. Love the candor and, as Jim Collins would say, “confronting the brutal facts.” Any chance the players will see this?

By: R.Diehl

R.Diehl — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 20:34:44 +0000

Ted,

Well said…

~Ron

By: Heather

Heather — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 20:08:45 +0000

Lots of prayers…

I will say that being at VC last night and seeing how the team did step up was pretty impressive. But you’re right, playing tough and disciplined are 2 things to go hand in hand during every second of the game. That being said, it was a nice effort.