Monthly Archives: March 2010

Not As Bad As it All Seems

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I am not happy with the loss last night in OT. I know you all aren’t either. I apologize. I empathize.

The players aren’t happy and the coaches aren’t happy. We are short handed. We aren’t playing at 110 percent intensity and we aren’t as motivated as we should be since we clinched the Eastern Conference crown. It is human nature and it is a challenge to stay “up” these last six games.

But… We did get a point. We now have 110 points with 6 games left to play.

In our last 10 games with 20 points on the line we have garnered 13 points. OT losses and shoot out loses aren’t fun but we do gain points in the standings. We are 5-2 and 3 in our last 10 games. We haven’t collapsed. We aren’t playing playoff like hockey. On that I agree but last I checked the playoffs don’t start until April 15th.

If we play just 500 hockey here on out we will end the season with 116 points. San Jose is right behind us in points they have 104 points. They have 6 games left to play as well. If they win out all 6 games they would get to 116 points.

The world isn’t ending.

We need to get healthy. We need a bit better goal tending. We need to amp up our intensity level without getting crazy before the playoffs.

We all want the season to end. We all want the playoffs to start. We all want to get healthy and get refocused.

It isn’t the best of times but it certainly isn’t the worst of times either. Keep it in perspective… Go Caps.

Blind Luck?

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I received a very interesting email from a local sports fan today. It snarled that the Caps were good just because we were lucky that we got to draft Alex Ovechkin. I disagreed on the overall sentiment of the email but I do agree that luck has a lot to do with success. Not as much as having a plan, a strategy, a culture, and an infrastructure focused on excellence but luck is a key component. We did also draft Semin, Green, Backstrom, Carlson, Schultz, Varlamov, Nuervirth, Fehr, and Alzner too. Lucky bastards that we are :-) . Malkin was the second pick in that draft that Ovechkin went number 1 too. Penguins got lucky too, I guess.

So if we are just lucky then I guess the Penguins were just lucky that they drafted Sidney Crosby first the next year or Tampa Bay in that they drafted Vinny Lecavalier and won a Stanley Cup. Or the San Antonio Spurs, they got lucky twice with David Robinson and Tim Duncan (championships followed). The Chicago Bulls so lucky they drafted Michael Jordan and won 6 rings. Cleveland Cavaliers… Yep Lebron James was number 1 pick. Orlando Magic got Dwight Howard. I mean how lucky was that? He was top 3 pick. Miami Heat? Dwyane Wade was drafted .They got a ring. Kobe Bryant and the Lakers… So lucky to be drafted via a trade of players for a first round pick.

My point: We may all be lucky. Maybe drafting well creates luck or luck is in drafting high. But at some point the results of drafting and developing great players becomes more than blind luck don’t you think? In the NBA or the NHL drafting high makes you really lucky! And eventually good. Call me lucky. Lucky Leonsis.

Very Classy

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Dan Snyder and his wife Tanya sent me a nice note and a nice little something as congratulations on clinching the Eastern Conference title. Dan and his family are very generous and his gesture is very much appreciated here at our offices. I am hopeful to repay the kindness next season to the Skins. “Hail to the Redskins”. Thank you Dan. That was very nice of you.

Soldier Girls

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A tough film to watch on how women are treated in the US Army. “Soldier Girls”  is a nonstop tough review of a troop of woman being trained to protect our nation.

The inside story. It is 30 years old. The more things change the more things stay the same. Watch this one. Be enlightened.

Much Ado about Nothing

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The fans deserve our best effort.

We have lots of injuries.

We want to win and gain points so everyone has to play. We have depth and we have goals unmet.

We will do our best from here on out for the last 7 games of the season.

We will be playing some highly motivated teams in Atlanta and Boston. They are in a playoff spot fight to play us as the 8th seed. We play both teams twice.

These games matter to us and to them.

We will provide our fans with our best lineups in our last games. We have to give and everyone deserves our best effort even though we have clinched a playoff spot, the division crown and first place in the East. We can’t go on vacation now or we will go on vacation by end of April.

I want to win tonight. We want to win tonight. We always want to win.

Good Stuff from Peerless

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I like reading about this kind of stuff. These awards even if they are individual awards are of interest. We all still do remain somewhat vested in the outcomes as described herein.

I have a hunch that Alex will end the season with most goals and most points scored in the NHL and the best plus/minus. On the team that has the best record in hockey where he serves as captain. If all that plays out then I believe he is a certain 3 time repeat MVP. Time will tell. Nothing about all of this really matters as we all know but it is interesting stuff to ponder. Thoughts?