Before the game last night, I read several blog posts and received many emails from the media, from fans and from message board posters. Most of them contained what I call “conventional wisdom” lazy cliches.
- ”The Capitals are a one man team. If Alex Ovechkin isn’t in the line up, you can’t win. Wait until you see what happens in Philly tonight.” Sorry. You can’t say that anymore. Check out our record without Alex in the lineup this season. Check out the team scoring stats. Alex isn’t even leading our team in points anymore. So mainstream media and some select fans - never darken your columns or emails with that comment again.
We have built a fully functioning team now around our superstar player. We are a team. Not a one man show. We have many great players. We have terrific role players. And Alex is still reigning league MVP and he will return to our lineup on Monday evening. We are starting to get healthy again. This is positive news for our franchise. By the way, we managed to squeak by last night in Philly without Alex. - “Without a big rugged ‘clear the crease’ D man on your own like the Flyers now have, you can never beat them and never be successful.” We have now scored 5 goals, 4 goals and 8 goals in three games against the Flyers this year. Six available points and we have 5 of them. We are competitive with them, don’t you think? This is a great rivalry for us. They are a great team but we play them very competitively of late. We certainly don’t play “scared” as someone mentioned to me in an email. We lead the league in goals scored. We are first in the East and second in the NHL to date in points. Somehow we are managing to get by with what we have in our lineup.
- “Without an enforcer to send a message and play rough and tumble, you can never beat a team like the Flyers in their building.”
Well, we scored three times on a 9:00 minute power play last night. I would much rather punish a team that way than by retaliating and negating the power play. By the way, we now have the # 1 power play in the NHL. I look forward to Jim Kelley’s column on the play; the penalty; the league reaction to the play; and the aftermath. I still haven’t heard an RSVP from Jim yet by the way on my invite. Jim - my email is Washingtoncaps@aol.com. We would let Jim interview Matt Bradley, when he meets with me too. - “A coaching change is always bad news for the visiting team. Ted - be prepared to get blown out. This could get ugly.” We won 8-2.
It is easy to write a column; a board post; or an email to me filled with conventional wisdom. On occasion though you just might get called out for it. But nicely.
We are humbled by our performance of late. We are grateful to our fans that support us through thick and thin. We are starting to get some of our injured players back into the lineup. Let us see how well we can play now with a fully functioning and healthy team. Go Caps! Enjoy the ride.
Loved your post, especially as a Philly resident but loyal Caps fan! The Caps are turning conventional wisdom on its head, thanks the team’s great leadership and prophetic vision about what it takes to win in today’s (and tomorrow’s) NHL. I think you said it well on a previous post — the absense of Ovie could, should make this team stronger, and it most definitely has. There is certainly more work to be done in some areas (defensive breakdowns are fewer but still too frequent, and backchecking by the offensive lines is still weak), but every part of the Caps game gets stronger every game. . . and everyone is contributing nicely (well, most of the time).
One thing you should comment on — thanking our fans for not being like the Flyer fans who cheered when ref Steve Augsburger was injured in Philly, then booed when he got up. That’s reprehensible, and I’m glad that wouldn’t happen in Caps land. Unlike Ed Snider, you would not tolerate it.
At least you have fans that care enough about the team to e-mail you.
Ted – You and GMGM have done an outstanding job of rebuilding the Caps and it’s minor league organization evident when call-up fill in for injured players and the Cpas keep on winning.
Remember, the regular season is only for placement in the Post-Season playoff picture. The higher we are in the standings only means home game standing in the playoffs.
Thanks for all you and GMGM have done to re-build the Caps; GO CAPS!!! From a fan for over 22 years.
Ted,
I took my family to the Wachovia Center Last Saturday night to see the Caps/Flyers game. I wore my vintage #6 Darren Veitch Capitals Jersey. After the second period, I was escoting my daughter through a crowd of people, when this guy in a Flyers jersey grabbed my arm and mockingly yelled “Dude, that’s a real old jersey, I remember when that team used to really stink!!” So I pointed at his jersey and yelled “Yeah, and I remeber when that team used to be really good!!”
Win or lose, I love the Caps and you are still the coolest owner in professional sports!
Thanks for making this the most fun time to be a Caps fan!!
But we do have an enforcer… Its called our Power Play!
Keep up the good work Ted.
Like the old song says:
“You can’t please everybody, so you must please yourself”.
My only complaints on the Caps:
1. The mysterious way Nyls have been treated
2. Lack of TV exposure relating to the team and the game (no personal stuff)
My complaints on the media related to the Caps:
1. Lazy and unknowledgeable reporters
2. Horrible play-by-play on TV – too much non-related game chit-chat.
Kudos to GMGM and his staff for putting a great team together.
Ted, you are great and the Caps are great. And I am not being sarcastic. But do you disagree that the playoffs are a totally different game than the regular season? Its a whole different story when you have to bang against a team for 7 games. That is where you definitely need more grit, if not why did the Caps go out and get someone like Knuble? They got him for the playoff type of hockey. I hope you are right but we need an addition of that type on defense for the playoffs. Of course, still a lot of time before now and April.
Nice win, however it’s all about winning in playoffs these times in the Caps land.
Go Caps!!!
Ted, Once again, thanks for all you do. Your good works are an inspiration to us all.
Specifically, I would like to thank you for defending the Great 8”s and “our” teams style of play. Clearly, Ovie must continue to play an aggressive game. Any attempt to tone-down or rain-in his style would be a mistake. Would any clear-thinking big league manager caution Nolan Ryan to not pitch inside so much for fear of putting men on base? No. No. No. Every batter who ever came to the plate The Ryan Express knew the price to be paid for crowding the plate. Let Ovie be Ovie.
How great was it to see a TEAM respond to an individual’s act of goonishness by filling the net with pucks. Take that Carcillo.
Keep up the good work and GO CAPS!
Ted-
When are you going to realize that no matter what happens on the ice, some people won’t be happy. it won’t be enough for them.
we don’t need one of these chest-thumping blog posts after every Caps win. if you think this team is ready to win a Cup, you have another thing coming. there’s a big difference between regular season and playoff hockey.
can this team win a cup? with a couple tweaks, i believe they can. but damn, enough with these blog posts about people complaining! it’s going to happen NO MATTER WHAT!
Grow some thicker skin, man!
Ted: I think its great that you call out the idiots and naysayers that email you crap that ends up getting thrown back in there faces.I see it like this;if people are gonna ridacule you and send you idiotic emailos then why cant you send them one back putting them in there places.Your doin a great job ted and what youve done for this team is so well beyond anybody having the right to tell you less.You FIGHT FOR THE RIGHT and thats what we love about ya.And the caps are great so…keep on keepin on!GO CAPS!!!
Please lock up Semin good and tight. He is the one I have enjoyed watching the most the last few years. He seems important to the team’s success and he seems to have terrific chemistry with linemates. I never want to see his talent on another team!
Ted:
Appreciate the great job you and the caps front office have done to reshape this team from what it was 5 years ago to today. However, before touting how wrong everyone is you may want to wait until they achieve REAL success. That is, in the spring
If they can off a Pittsburgh/Philly in a 7 game series then you will be vindicated. The Cup isn’t won with a regular season vistory in early December
We are so lucky to have an owner like you Ted. Continued good luck and hopefully this team can win you the championship you and the real Caps fans deserve!
Hi Ted,
First of all, thanks for being what I consider the best owner in all of sports, even better than George Steinbrenner (I am after all a native New Yorker)! I have followed the Capitals since 1978 when I lived in Washington DC and I continue to follow them daily. Your points in this blog entry bring to mind how little respect the Capitals get around the NHL sphere and as I look over our team I have to wonder why? Not only do we have the best player on Planet Earth (God I love to watch Ovechkin play!), we have players that any other team in the league would love to have in their lineup, whether they want to admit that or not. Nick Backstrom is absolute poetry with the puck night in and night out. His faked drop pass kicked back up to himself in the Flyer game was every bit as highlight reel worthy as Ovechkin’s pass to himself versus Montreal in my opinion. Alexander Semin is the very epitome of a sniper and his wrist shot is second to none! Brooks Laich does the things every teams needs to in front of the net, and it is no fluke that he leads the team in PPG this year (although that might change once number 8 gets going again). Mike Green is a top flight offensively minded defensemen that reminds me of Brian Leetch who is probably my very favorite defensemen of all time, with the way he plays and sees the net. Knuble, Steckle, Gordon, Poti, Fehr – I could go on and on but you know your team better than I do and you know that each and every one of them, including our fine young players that get called up from here in Hershey, bring something of quality to our team.
So thanks Ted. Thanks for making this team a reality and thanks for being a proactive owner and sticking up for them in the blogosphere the way you do. Anyone who can’t appreciate the caliber of this team is simply not a fan of great hockey. While it might not get printed by the NHL’s elite writers, every coach with the Caps on their schedule are certainly fully aware of the damage this team can do to you on the scoreboard AND in the win column. Kepp it up sir!
Stephen Rybacki
Newville, PA
The Nylander situation is dragging on forever. How about trading him to Toronto Blake as he is on the 4th line with a comparable contract. He might fit better.
I still hope the Caps can get a D to play with Mike Green. Names like Kaberle, Steit, Souray come to mind but Markov comes first.
Ted:
Well said. I wrote a letter to Mr. Kelley after reading his article…it was irresponsible, misleading and it virtually character assassinated Ovechkin, yourself and your team. My first thought was that he probably wrote the article off of highlight reel clips. His convenient twisting of what was said in interviews by your staff and Ov himself is a house of cards and wont be able to stand against the truth. I love the quote that “Ov’s a great player, but he’s an even greater human being,” and if Mr. Kelley had done anything resembling research he may have found some of that. Ov could be more prudent in his ferocity on the ice but that will come as he matures. However, his character shouldn’t be questioned and comparing his play with the violent incidents in Kelley’s article is pure drivel.
I doubt he’ll show up for your invitation, cowards like him never do, but if on the off chance he does, don’t go Dominik Hašek on him (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Kelley)! lol
Ted:
Jim Kelly is an ignoramous just looking to stir the pit and play to the masses. If he were in ancient Rome he would spend his time throwing loaves of bread to the rioting crowds in the colliseum, instead he is a sports writer who probably didn’t even watch a replay of either of Ovies hits on Kaleta or Gleason beofre writting his article or if he did choose to ignore the facts.
In any case he isn’t worth your time.
LETS GO CAPS!!!
Seriously: between the weird emails you get, and you thinking that it’s a good idea to repost them here for the public, I’m having a hard time deciding which is more ridiculous. If you’re going to “rise above”, doing it quietly and privately would be better, yes? -JW
I was actually up there with the Fan Club to watch that game, and watching the Caps undress the Flyers in their own barn was a blast.
Re your third point–the final score on Carcillo’s cheap shot: Carcillo, 29 PIMs, an ejection, and a four-game suspension that will cost him north of 43 grand; Bradley, some stitches and the hard hat; Flyers, 9 minute penalty kill; Capitals, 3 power play goals en route to an 8-2 thumping.
The game is won or lost based on G’s, not PIM’s. And if other teams get the idea that a cheap shot against the Caps will get them humiliated on the scoreboard–perhaps even in front of their own fans–that may be a much more effective deterrent, in the long run, than the presence of a dedicated pugilist.
Pundits will always speak their opinion, and fans will always second guess the leadership. It’s their job. Your job is to be the best owner in all of sports. Everyone is playing their part. You’re doing well. Thanks, Ted.
I think all of your points are spot on for the team now. Everyone has their legs now and the team is running full steam.
However, it does feel as though the Flyers have imploded some since the begining of the season. The team was a straight match for the Caps earlier in the season and now, not so much.
For some idea of where I’m coming from, I’ve just recently gotten back into the game after a long hiatus from back in middle school. And for that, I have the Capitals play off performance of last year to thank for that. Since then, my wife and I have moved to the DC area thanks to work, and attend games as often as we can, you can usually catch us in section 100.
It’s the Capitals style of play that draws us to the team, not a single player, though of course Ovechkin is definitely a heck of a player to watch! It’s Backstrom, Semin, Varlamov, Knuble, Green, Theodore, the list goes on as we see more and more of the team and as more and more each line steps up in the absence of key players from early in the season.
All the best from my wife and I for putting such a talented and exciting team together. Hockey is again one of my passions in life.
I loved last nights game, I loved that the Caps retaliated in a way that showed up on the scoreboard. I love that the Caps are scoring on all lines, are playing like a team and are showing all the NHL that there is more to the Washington Capitals than one player. I have known this all along, I have believed in this team’s ability and possibility and to see everything starting to click into place, to see our the injured slowly start to return, oh the excitement of what the Caps will do next! I don’t expect a perfect season, I don’t expect continual shut outs and non stop goal scoring from everyone, no I am more logical, more rational than that. I believe the Caps will continue to play hard, I believe they will continue to improve as the season moves forward, I believe they will continue to dominate in standings. I believe in the Caps!!! I just wish that all the non believers would find another team to beat up on!!! Let’s Go Caps!!!
that was an ugly knock out by Carcillo – feel sorry for Bradley. However, there’s no question we do need an enforcer.
Hi Ted,
I am certainly enjoying the ride. Thanks! And quit paying so much attention to the naysayers. You know, I know, all Caps fans know that we are a team, not a one man show, and we can compete with anyone, anywhere. I’d like to see YOU enjoy the ride a little more, Ted. Be confident in your decisions and in the plan you put in place (I know you are) and the silly people won’t be so bothersome.
Peace, and GO CAPS! God I love this team and this game.
Paul R