We have back to back games at home tonight against the Wild and then back to NJ against the Devils.
The Devils are playing great and it is a shame that we will have played them two times in two weeks without the services of Alex Ovechkin. Or maybe Alex will play - one never ones - but I don’t think he will but maybe, maybe not? Four weeks? Two weeks? This weekend? Stay tuned.
As noted, we are positioned well. We only want Alex to come and play when he honestly feels 100% and has no lingering issues. Patience is a virtue for all of us here and our issue is keeping Alex from being so revved up that he demands to play when he is only 90% recovered. It is a long season. We are winning games with Alex in the press box. We will always be conservative when it comes to the health of Alex Ovechkin.
See this blog post about the Devils vs. Pens last night.
The Wild play like the Devils too with a heavy D oriented system playing tough against your own turnovers and hoping to score on the power play. It should be interesting match-ups. See you all tonight. Rock the Red! Go Caps!
Tags: Hockey, NHL, Ted Leonsis, Ted's Take, Washington Capitals
Nothing like lowering expectations, especially against a team that blew a two goal lead against Tampa Bay last night, and is starting their 3rd string goalie. . . a little hard to do when you’re #1 in the Eastern Conference (congratulations, so far). But agree with you about Ovie.
Great game against the Wild. Only complaint: Varlamov deserved a star just as much as Harding did. His play was outstanding, especially in the first 10 minutes and the final 10. 1 goal on 30 shots is a heck of a performance.
You might check out the Wild’s website for their real time blog of the game: http://wild.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=506049. It is a pretty fair write up of the game, and their “Mike Vogel” (managing editor Glen Andressen) had nice things to say about the Caps crowd, specifically:
“7:55 - Have to mention that I am thoroughly impressed by the crowd here at Verizon Center. First there are very few empty seats, and almost everybody is wearing a red jersey or shirt. They are also loud throughout the game. I did not expect a great atmosphere here but I got it.”
Ted, this is shaping up to be another incredible season. Thanks for everything you’ve done. Go Caps.
Teddy, I’ll be leaving for The Caps / Devils game shortly. I got the cow bell from a friend who is a retired NYCPD Lieutenant. He has had this cowbell since childhood. You would think he was lending me a brick of gold! Now, I just have to decide who gets to wear the new “Ovechkin Jersey”. Rocking the Red. Lets Go Caps!!