Exciting Times This Weekend

Here’s to hoping that George McPhee and staff have a productive weekend in Montreal. Click here for a very good article about the team and its desires this weekend at the draft.
 
We believe we have a very good team but need to improve to become an elite team. The way that we will improve mostly is that our core group of young players will mature, gain experience and learn what it takes and the price to pay to compete and win a Stanley Cup. We are fortunate that our core group is growing and includes players such as reigning league two-time MVP Alex Ovechkin, Alexander  Semin, Nicklas Backstrom, Mike Green, Brooks Laich, our two young goaltenders; and perhaps John Carlson, Karl Alzner and Anton Gustafsson. That is a great group to build around and that group is a very young core of players. We also have several good young players who have tasted great success in Hershey who will push people for minutes in the NHL. This internal competition should raise the state of play of everyone on the team.
 

Some Perspective on Our D Men Tonight

We pay – collectively - the six starting D men this evening what we pay Mike Green.

Our D is missing Green, Schultz, Poti, Erskine and on an ongoing basis Pothier.

We are missing five key starting defensemen for our club and if you add in Fedorov, who can also play defense, you can see how shorthanded we have become on the blue line.

More Progress

We are committed to keeping our team together and to coming into training camp in September with continuity and a team that is healthy and confident. Signing both Laich and Fedorov are two more signs of that ongoing commitment to our plan.

I view these signings and meeting that commitment of continuity and loyalty to the current team as a major deliverable of ownership to our fan base and to our core group of players. They have earned the right to compete as a unit next season. Onward to get the rest of job done and then to training camp in September. Thanks for your ongoing support.