Op Bevroren Blog› Welke Pret 5-2 Spelen hoe dan ook voor een Team van Lot zou zijn?

De kappen hebben vijf van die wegspelen, met een verslag van 4-1 voltooid. Just how are they doing it? The answer may reside in ordinary dimensions made most un-ordinary by the chemical composition of these Capitals. The square footage of their locker room and players bench is identical to that of 29 other clubs, but what’s transpiring within them isn’t. The answer just may be in the alchemy of these Cardiac Caps.

Weeks back regular readers here first began noticing and commenting on an exuberance they witnessed associated with big-goal scoring and victory with this Caps’ club — one that they’d never seen before. It eminates from Ovie and permeates through to the owner’s box. A theory about its genesis:

The necessary and correct coach arrived late in 2007, and his charges answered change’s call in its immediacy; a starkly different new system required patience and growing pains; most importantly, when newness transitioned to normalcy and the adjusted chemicals were placed on the burner of urgency, early in spring a victor’s will was also instilled. Not just any victor, either: he of championship pedigree.

A swagger seems to have settled in on this team — not quite cocky but rather an overwhelming unity, an unyielding spirit — and that’s hockey’s most potent weapon. With that in your room and on your bench, it matters little whether you’re at home or on the road.

Jeff Halpern told the Washington Post on Wednesday, “I don’t see many teams better than [the Caps] in the East. It’s just a matter of making the playoffs.” This morning it sure looks like Halpern’s right, but will the Caps’ fanbase survive the stress-attacks of this month to see any postseason games?

Speaking of the Halpern family, Jeff’s father Mel, a Caps’ season ticket holder since the early 1980s, traveled to Tampa for last night’s game to see his son play. I wondered a bit about dad’s allegiance last night. Obviously, he wanted his son to tally a hat trick, and surely play the finest game of his career, but did he also want to see his home team lose? Might he not also have wanted the Caps to score 4? There was, truly, that much at stake last night — just as there has been with every game the Caps have played in what we should now call our Month of Follicle Greying and Recession.

Blog democracy at its finest — a keeper comment left for us here last night:

“After watching the Tuesday game against Carolina, I realized I needed a haircut. Eighteen dollars and No. 2 clippers later, I was able to watch [last night's] game without being able to grab any hair and pull it out, no matter how hard the Caps made me try!”

It’s a conspiracy, I tell you, by the head coach to get all in the fanbase shiny on top.

Near 10:15 last night I adopted the view that March 2008 has to rank among the most dramatic of months in Washington Capitals’ history. Also, one of the best.

It’s a Friday for a sun-splashed spring cruise on an open highway, listening to a soundtrack selected for euphoria. Don’t worry about the destination. Savor the journey and the beautiful views along the way.

Ventura Highway in the sunshine

Where the days are longer the nights are stronger than moonshine

You’re gonna go I know

‘Cause the free wind is blowin through your hair

9 Comments

b.orr4 wrote:

Is Mel Halpern still a STH? He used to sit right behind me for years, but when Jeff left, Mel was no longer there the following season. Someone told me(unconfirmed)that he was upset that the Caps didn’t make an effort to keep Jeff. Anyone know?

Friday, March 28, 2008 at 11:59 am | Permalink
eric wrote:

Wow, you have absolutely nailed it. A pleasure to read.

Friday, March 28, 2008 at 12:11 pm | Permalink
TG wrote:

Alligator lizards in the air?

Friday, March 28, 2008 at 12:57 pm | Permalink
America wrote:

What is that song actually about? Drugs? A Vietnam war draft dodger? Help!

Your writing is so eloquent, do you write for a living? I would imagine you must.

Friday, March 28, 2008 at 1:08 pm | Permalink
josh wrote:

Mel, dumped the Caps. He was pretty bitter about the way things ended between Jeff and the Caps.

Friday, March 28, 2008 at 1:16 pm | Permalink
b.orr4 wrote:

Josh,
Thanks for the confirmation. That’s kind of what I figured. Also, his wife (Jeff’s mom) died in a car crash before Jeff’s last season here in DC. She was always with Mel at the games. Maybe with Jeff gone and his wife no longer there, it just stopped being fun.

Friday, March 28, 2008 at 2:59 pm | Permalink
Scai wrote:

Great read, pucks. And that stretch run is really driving me crazy. Between games I can’t really concentrate on anything. Getting drunk during games doesn’t help either. Got a meeting tomorrow that would force me to miss at least parts of the game. Guess I’ll be missed..

Friday, March 28, 2008 at 5:25 pm | Permalink
OrderedChaos (Mike Rucki) wrote:

Having grown up in an NYC suburb, I loved the Bucky Dent reference. Somewhere in my parents’ basement I still have an autographed Bucky Dent bat . . . unless, of course, they did the traditional parental thing and threw it out or used it for firewood, like my grandmother did to my dad’s Mickey Mantle rookie card while she was cleaning the closets during his Vietnam deployment. Ouch!

Friday, March 28, 2008 at 5:43 pm | Permalink
grapejoos wrote:

Great writeup. As much as I want to protect myself from future disappointment, I believe in this team. I’ve been a Caps fan for 13 years, I was there for the ‘98 run, and this team is better. They are young and very new to this whole playoff intensity thing, but the way they’re playing right now shows me that if we can make it in, we’re going to make some noise. And if not, this team is going to be a real force in the East next year.

I love this team and Boudreau for bringing it all together. I’ve never been more excited as a Caps fan for the future - it looks very bright.

Friday, March 28, 2008 at 7:14 pm | Permalink