Clank! We hit the post. Clank! We hit the post again.
We lost by one goal. We lost yet another player to injury.
Last year, we were fourth in man games lost to injury. We are giving it a good run again this season to be a leader in man games lost.
Tom Poti was hurt in the first period. Hence we didn’t have Poti, Jurcina and Morrisonn on D in the lineup. We didn’t have Semin, Knuble, Gordon, Laing and Nylander in the lineup front. We didn’t have Theodore either in goal. That is goofy, huh? $25 million in payroll NOT playing.
We still could have won that game but missing this many players does scramble the game plan and the rhythm of the team. No one feels sorry for us. We can’t use injuries as an excuse. We just have to tough it out.
And because the hockey gods are angry, we play yet tonight - in Toronto - back to back games.
I shall make my sacrifices to the hockey gods this afternoon. Try to appease them and make them take pity on our mortal souls. As is said, “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.” Go Caps!
Tags: Hockey, NHL, Ted Leonsis, Ted's Take, Washington Capitals
Or maybe the Hockey Gods are upset because your game night presentation people keep infuriating your fans who are ready to Unleash the Fury.
Teddy, Tell the guys, Get Well, Get Well, Get Well! We could have won that came and we came darn close! The Caps were rocking & rolling in the third period. All things were possible. It really is a game of inches. Rock the Red Lets Go Caps!!
Kind of lame of you to use the injury excuse given your opponents had at least an equal share of injuries.
This silly thing is that it doesn’t matter. I would rather see this team cruise control to a 3rd seed in the playoffs, rest the players, go into the 2nd season healthy and ready to fight for the Stanley Cup.
I may have little expertise in this area, but I feel we already have the goalie we need. Varly has to be one of the most dedicated goalies I have ever seen. When I watch him, he HATES to see the puck get by him. Not only is he talented, he is a baby. He will only get better with age, but he needs the experience. I don’t know if it is true, but I feel the reason he hasn’t been integrated into the team is because of language barrier. I just would like to see him more often, and see what he can do. Also I want to tell him how much I love him, but I don’t know Russian. Can you please tell him to get a Google Wave account?
Ted,
What can we do to get CSN+ on Verizon FIOS in Howard County?? I’ve probably missed more games this season, because of the Caps being put on plus, than I’ve missed in the last five years!
It’s great that even though we do have those 25 million dollars worth of players on the sideline, there are guys in the organization like Carlson, Alzner, Perreault, and Neuvirth that can step in and play at a high level. Patience has really paid off.
David
Sacrifices from here in Baltimore as well.;)
“This too shall pass.”
Rockin the Red in Baltimore
Well said, Ted. Can’t wait for tonight’s action. Let’s Go Caps!
Are you seriously putting Nylander amongst that group of missing?
Injuries can sometimes equate to critical rest time and be an advantage down the road when you get those players back in the lineup later in the season. Pray Ted! Pray!
Putting Nylander on that list couldn’t be any more disingenuous. Everyone who pays attention knows that the only reason that Nylander is not playing is because you and your management team have decided that he won’t play. You are choosing to pay a guy $5.5 mil and let him take up $4.875 mil in much needed cap room while he sits at home. He can play, he wants to play, and he would help the team, especially at this point with all the injuries. And for you to be pretending that isn’t the case while trying to pull the wool over your team’s fans is ridiculous.
Drafting better in later rounds would have avoided a lot of these problems. Until Perrault there really had not been an impact player added to the team past the first round. Over 92 picks resulting in nothing for the Caps :-(. That would have helped a lot with injuries and the high salary’s of the injured players. Less UFA’s
Draft better. Gordon isn’t a big miss because of Perrault. Missing Laing hurts.Knuble wouldn’t be missed as much if Laich would do what he’s suppose to do consistently. The defense has been neglected since McPhee took over as GM. He’s gotten Alzner and Carlson in the last 2 years but what happened in the 9 years before. Tha same with goaltending. Nylander being mentioned is a joke. You don’t play him. He’s healthy, but not played. Managements decision.