Washington Capitals Never Disappoint In Disappointing Fans

Thursday, May 5th, 2011 at 8:31 am  
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It looks like Alexander Ovechkin will get onto the golf course early, yet again, this off-season as the Washington Capitals were swept in the 2nd round of the NHL Playoffs by the Tampa Bay Lightning. This marks the 2nd straight season where the Capitals were a #1 seed that could not make it past the first or second rounds of the playoffs. Despite what Ovie thinks, the Caps by no means dominated the Lightning in this series.

At times the Capitals played some very inspired hockey, most notably in my mind was the the 2nd period of Game 3 where they dominated the puck for the entire 20 minutes, but in general the Caps looked sloppy against the sharp play of the Lightning. Sure, maybe the Caps just ran into another blazing hot buzzsaw of a team (this is the Lightning’s 7th win in a row during the playoffs) just like when they got bounced by the Canadienes last year but I don’t know if anyone actually believes that this is the case.   The system and team that Tampa’s coach Guy Boucher and GM Steve Yzerman put together played right into the Captials’ main weakness, utter lack of discipline.

The Lightning could basically sit back and wait for the Capitals to make a mistake because everyone in the building knew that they would screw up somewhere and whenever it happened, the Lightning would strike (pardon the pun) and generally it turned out in their favor. The Caps can talk all they want about the lucky bounces that the Lightning got throughout the series but, to me, that is loser talk. Most successful people say that you make your own luck. Preparation, practice and most importantly execution make your luck. The Captials, despite having several days to prepare for this series, in hindsight were never prepared for this series.

The coaching staff didn’t adjust, despite ample time to come up with a game plan for the Lightning, the players couldn’t adapt to the circumstances and they regressed to the sloppy/over-aggressive play of the last few years (or just stopped playing whatsoever [see Backstrom, Nicholas or Semin, Alex]) and the team’s management and fans could only sit and watch as yet another season as a top seed gets wasted away.

As a lifelong Washington Capitals fan, being disappointed by this team is by no means a surprise. They always disappoint. Its what the Capitals do. Its happened one way or another every year that I have followed this team. Its par for the course. I feel at this point that if they ever do win the Stanley Cup I might just be disappointed that they finally did not disappoint me. I can’t start thinking that way though, I’ll just get let down again somehow.

 

Reading Between the Headlines

Friday, April 30th, 2010 at 12:09 pm  
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Was there a major upset in hockey this week?  I must’ve missed it.
 
Ok, I’ll take the hit, let’s have it.  The Capitals lost and my inspired prediction for this year’s Stanley Cup Playoff is already busted.  But as Smooth Jimmy Apollo once said, “When you’re right 52% of the time, you’re wrong 48% of the time.” 
 
Watching the Capitals the last three games of their series with Montreal was incredibly painful for any DC hockey fan.  Instead of the wide-open, rush-the-goalie style they’ve employed all year, they were completely unaggressive, playing not to lose.  Thirty-three times in this series the Caps had a power play opportunity and failed to convert on all of them but one.  Their three goals in Games 5-7 were the lowest three-game output they’ve had all year (previous low: 6 [!]).  And as a final kick to the nether regions, this is the second year in a row the team has lost a Game 7 at home.  Not good.
 
So where do they go from here?  Well, the core of the team should be back next year and with a farm team that has dominated its league the last two seasons, there should be more help on the way.  It’s not much solace, but it’s something… Until then, let’s move on to some headlines:
So now a reformed drug addict with Elvis Presley-like tendencies (not the “Blue Hawaii” good kind) is calling Ben out?  Man, that is rough.  Luckily for Ben, it’s not 2003 anymore, so it’s unlikely anyone will actually listen to the song.
The stadium will now include unprotected upper decks so fans can throw themselves off them when the team loses… Or when the line at Boog’s gets too long.
  • Miami Dolphins General Manager Jeff Ireland was criticized for asking draft prospect Dez Bryant if his mother was a prostitute.
How Jeff Ireland is still breathing on this earth is a mystery to me.  Part of me wonders if Jeff’s just a little lonely.
Hmmm.  I wonder if it had anything to do with this story.  One hundred twenty mistresses is a pretty respectable number, Eldrick.  In fact, I’d wager that number is higher than Tiger Woods Fanboys Jim Nantz, Scott Van Pelt and Verne Lundquist, combined.  Here’s why I think this story is crap: Elin wants a divorce because Tiger bumped uglies with the next door neighbor.  Right.  Your husband is sleeping with strippers and porn stars but you’re more upset about the neighborhood girl?  Come on.  Six months ago, if you told me I could be anyone in the world at that moment, Tiger Woods would have easily been in my Top Ten.  Now?  Damn, I’d almost rather be Big Ben.  Almost.
Adding to the Rays good fortune, Patriots coach Bill Belichick sent Rays manager Joe Maddon a personalized hoodie.  I guess it’s only a matter of time until we find out Maddon has cameras placed in centerfield to steal signs.  Not to be outdone, Washington Redskins coach Mike Shanahan sent Yankee manager Joe Girardi self-tanner.
  • LeBron James has reportedly won his second straight Most Valuable Player award.
Congrats to Bron-Bron.  However, with this award comes the ominous news that LeBron’s elbow is mysteriously injured.  It’s pretty clear what’s going on here.  Know what happens when you play too many video games?  You hurt your elbow.  Through the magic of the Internet, I found LeBron playing online not too long ago.
 
That’s it for this week.  No more predictions for 2010.  At least until football season starts.