We have come a long way as a franchise and as a fan base.
We now can draft, develop, and sign here for a long period of time some of the very best players in the NHL.
It started with Alex Ovechkin. He loves it here. He trusts us and he signed a mega deal. He will be here for a life time it seems!
And now Nick Backstrom has signed a ten year deal. Nick and Alex are certainly 2 of the 10 best players in the entire league and form the basis of our core. And they like and respect and trust one another.
And let us NOT forget that Mike Green. He signed a 5 year extension too. He is a first team All star. Make that 3 of the 10 best players in the NHL here for a long, long time.
These young players all want to be here. They love it in DC and love playing for our fans. They all deserved to be rewarded with long term deals and with our support.
I would much rather commit to young players that we have grown to know and trust than players on other teams that come to us as free agents.
That is our commitment. That is our plan. We want players who want to be here and want to help us to win a championship in DC. That is all that Nick Backstrom talks about. He “gets it”. He is a wonderful, reliable and productive player. He is a great team mate and leader. He has never missed a game and he is exactly what we want to build around.
We thank Nick and his family for their belief in what we are trying to do here in DC. We now have secured a big part of our future, together.
We also know that Nick will be a fantastic mentor for our new rookie “Viking” and we are excited to have two young, talented centers signed and announced all in one day. Let us all welcome Marcus Johansson to DC as well. We are all excited about his potential to become a wonderful two way center.
I bet these two young players form a strong center ice for us for a long, long time.
Thank you — Go Caps.
Ted: Any Caps fans worth his or her salt wants to win the Cup. However, I am concerned you are creating an expectation difficult to be met by saying as you did at the National Press Club it is one of three pillars of success for the Caps in the years ahead.
First, by placing all the emphasis on winning the Cup, you are devaluing the regular season. Do we really want to wind up seventh or eighth seed in the Eastern Conference next season so we will be “rested up” for the playoffs? I don’t think so.
Second, you cannot play to win the Cup…there are too many things outside of your control…what about injuries, running into a “hot” goalie like Halak, and the unforeseen like the team plane being diverted to BWI and waiting for Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to show up.
Third, as a season ticket holder, I loved our performance in the regular season and winning the President’s Cup. I may be a voice of one, but I believe the 2009-2010 season was a great success even with the first round elimination.
I love the Backstrom signing Ted. While Alex definately is our captain, I truely believe Nick is the engine that keeps the caps moving forward. He was our best player from day 1 this year and having him and Alex signed long term gives fans sooo much hope that the Caps will bring a Cup to DC.
Congrats Nick and Go Caps!
^ I agree with that comment. Wizards is one of the dumbest names for a sports franchise that I have ever heard of. It has nothing to do with the Capitol or DC. Let’s change that.
And also ted, can you please consider changing Mike Green to a Forward? He has the skill needed to be one of the leagues top forwards and we mis-use him as a Defense man. It’s a waiste of his talent.
Thank you for signing Backstrom so quickly. You & your staff have done a great job building the team and sticking with your plan. In this internet age where everything is readily available, we tend to forget that things don’t happen overnight. Looking forward to next season & the playoffs!
IIRC Greenie signed a 4 year contract (wishing it was for
5 years).
Signing Bacstrom is great news for the the Team, the fans, D.C., and Ted! Congrats to all!
Ted, not a comment on this post, but wanted to quickly get an idea to you. I imagine I’m not the only one who ever suggested this, but how about changing the Wizard’s name to “Ballots” instead of Bullets? Seems to me to be a great compromise that would allow you to pay homage to the history of the team and to Mr. Pollin himself. It expresses the sentiment behind Mr. Pollin’s name change and you incorporate use some of the more classic logos and uniforms, just changing the word Bullets to Ballots. A lot you could do with it.
Just a thought from a lifelong (and it’s been a long enough life to have gone to games at the Baltimore Civic Center with my father)fan.