Here’s MSM conventional wisdom about Caps’ best-ever netminder Olaf Kolzig: isn’t is a damn shame such a significant talent and so much a stalwart of the community must toil among the misfits and outcasts that are the Capitals! After all, Kolzig represents, really, the Caps’ only mega-millions player of name. They must stink! It’s a sentiment that passes for astute prognostication when in fact it’s no more than ritualized rote from a herd media mentality never pressed for accountability.
Last year’s Caps were uniformly forecast to rival an expansion team in competitiveness, or worse. They endured a lion’s share of losses, and they did finish last in the Southeast, but they managed 70 points, and from the Olympic break on in February, they played .500 hockey. Acquisitions like Chris Clark and Matt Bradley and Jamie Heward served notice that the Caps’ pro scouts had an eye for finding puzzle-fitting pieces that shamed many of their counterparts throughout the rest of the league.
When Sergei Gonchar signed as a free agent with Pittsburgh last summer
6 Comments
Well said Pucks. I would note, however, that while Witt did want to be traded, he didn’t mail it in or sulk all season unlike many other athletes (paging Mr. Jagr and Mr. Linden). Perhaps the motivation was to attract the attention of other teams, but nevertheless he played well for the team and was supposedly a good locker room guy to the end. So kudos to him for that… though clearly he is being punished for the original request with his new Long Island address.
Awesome post. I love the line about Bondra looking for pickup hockey games. So true!
Hey great post!
Also thanks for linking up to me at NHL Digest! I’ll get you on my blogroll today. Also, good call on the beer post…I love the “Close to Water” comment.
Cheers,
Tyler
I found this blog today (linked from Off Wing Opinion) and I just wanted to give you guys kudos on the great job. It feels like more and more Caps blogs are popping up every week (yay!), but this one is definitely top notch.
(also nice to “hear” from EmptyMaybe, who I hear mentioned on the Capitals Report every week!)
Check out today’s Washington Times article about Olie — great minds think alike.
http://www.washtimes.com/functions/print.php?StoryID=20061011-122225-1779r
Post a Comment