I dreaded the elevator ride down to the Capitals’ dressing room at 10:07 p.m. last night. Jubilation, as we in HockeyWashington certainly learned this spring, is a damned fun thing to chronicle and consume, and for the first time it seemed in all of 2008, I had to cover jubilation’s juxtaposition — gut-wrenching, sudden and season-ending defeat.
One that just didn’t quite seem merited.
To reach the Cap’s room I had to pass through a corridor containing the spillover of a Game 7’s jubilation. In pro sports’ postseasons there are of course victors and the vanquished, and of course they share a wing of seclusion in resolution’s aftermath, but for me there was something searing and jarring about seeing so wildly divergent a set of reactions separated by just about 75 feet. And one man’s whistle.
Among the teeming press horde that packed Verizon Center last night most already have or soon will focus their coverage on a white-knuckler of a Game 7 that could have gone either way and was ultimately decided, on a controversial power play, by a Joffrey Lupul goal 6 minutes and change into sudden death, the home team left stunned about the ice and bench. I however feel compelled to report this: two gutsy and talented hockey teams that showed no signs of fatigue from a bruising and emotionally draining affair in another city the previous night and who played six-and-nine-tenths of a seven-game series as tightly and evenly as any in recent playoff memory, deserved to have their series outcome determined in precisely the manner that hockey long ago deemed appropriate in such circumstances.
Which is markedly different from what transpired at Verizon Center late Tuesday night, under the auspices of Mssrs. Koharski and Devorski.
In the second period, on the type of play that just earlier this month against Tampa overturned a goal earned by the Caps, Philadelphia’s Patrick Thoresen shoved Shaone Morrisonn into Cristobal Huet, taking the Caps’ netminder out of the play, allowing Flyer Sami Kapenen an open net into which he gave the Flyers a 2-1 lead. Huet told the media after the game that he thought a penalty could have been called on the play. Still, his team had plenty of time remaining to recover. Eventually, deep in period two, Alexander Ovechkin did tie it up.
Huet and his teammates then played the type of third period Bruce Boudreau couldn’t have scripted any better. They won faceoffs. They peppered Martin Biron with 16 shots while holding Philly to fewer than 5. They controlled the puck in the Flyers’ zone for long stretches. All four Caps’ lines took turns responding to the Rockin’ House of the Red’s loudest urgings.
They did just about everything right. It just wasn’t good enough.
“We couldn’t find the back of the net before them,” Huet said in his customarily quiet postgame voice.
Martin Biron, who looked so unsteady as Monday night’s game 6 got tighter and tougher, rebounded big time Tuesday night, stopping 39 of the 41 shots the Caps sent his way, including all 16 in the penalty-free third period.
The Caps’s Sergei Fedorov was whistled for tripping at 2:52 of period two, and the game’s referees wouldn’t identify another infraction against the home club until 4:15 of overtime.
A camera panned in on the red-sweatered owner seconds after Lupul’s rebound score ended Washington’s season, and in the Capitals’ locker room afterward the owner was asked what at that moment was going through his head.
“I was disappointed for the fans and for the players who worked so hard. I was disappointed that we lost with a man in the penalty box. I didn’t hear the whistle blow at all tonight after the puck dropped for the third period.
“That’s the way the game goes,” he added.
“Even though people were disappointed in the outcome of the game, they were not disappointed in hockey,” Leonsis noted. “The vibe is so positive [in Washington] right now, as it should be.”
“This is a young, beautiful team that only has unlimited upside. We can keep this team together, that’s been the goal, and this team is worthy of being kept together.
“I don’t think anyone can say we’re still rebuilding,” he added.
In a season in which this Capitals’ team had given so much feel-good buzz to its league, the hardware for which will arrive in just a few weeks’ time, and captured the hockey hearts in Russia, Canada, and elsewhere about the globe, it seemed like they deserved a better send off than the one the league authored and authorized Tuesday night.
Bruce Boudreau afterward was asked what he told his team in a room full of silent dejection.
“I told them they gave me the best year of my life.”
I’d like to thank these Capitals and their coaches for giving me the best season of hockey here in my 34 years of following them.
Stumble it!
41 Comments
NO tears until after I read this….I am VERY proud to be a CAPS fan…if for only the past 5 years but YEARS to come!!! It has been the hockey season of my following and I am so looking forward to a exciting 08-09. Thanks for all your hard work!!
From a true (not band wagaon) FAN!!!!!
Going to bed last night trying to convince myself that it was really true that we could have lost the game we so handedly outplayed was truly the worst moment of the season. These determined, hard charging men deserve better than the way the game ended. Since we can’t change the outcome, let’s give them all that we have left, our complete admiration and respect for a season full of never giving up, never believing the critics and playing like the team we knew they could be. Thank you, Capitals for a season that ended far too soon.
Next year will be one for the record books!
Sour grapes….
They had plenty of chances to score. That was a legal check on that second goal. That was a blatant tripping call in OT, that could not be ignored.
Awesome season, I can’t wait for October.
Although the Caps lost, the best part of the night came right at the end of the game. Almost immediately after the Flyers scored, almost all the fans in attendance were standing and cheering for the season that the Caps just put together. A far cry from getting booed off your home rink after losing game 6 … Thanks Caps fans, for “getting it”.
We love the Caps in this family and will be back for all the games next season, but what a miserable feeling. I don’t see how Koharski should be allowed anywhere near such a meaningful Capitals game. There is a clear conflict of interest that in any other realm of business or life would require him to recuse himself. He can’t be viewed as unbiased. There was a court case and all that afterall. The league starts another “rivalry” with pee poor officiating.
Question: Is it diving to lay on the ice faking an injury to try and get a call and then pop up magically healthy when the puck comes your way? Unsportsmanlike if not diving?
Didn’t Craig Laughlin say that when he was part owner of the Richmond Renegades they lost on a PP Goal in OT of game 7 of the Rider Cup finals after a tripping call against Richmond?
Sorry to see your season end, Caps fans. It won’t take your team four games to figure out how to play in the playoffs next year. Hope we don’t face you until the conference finals next year.
Hopefully everyone will realize after seeing all the trash thrown on the ice and at the Flyer’s players at the end that every team has their share of bad fans, but they won’t.
So very proud of those boys. As the camera panned the crowd, looking for the “move of the game” I turned to my seat mate and said I wouldn’t change my seat for the world - sitting there with those folks in 426, my “hockey family” was the place to be. Watching the game with VT chewing on his towel next to me,high 5′ing baby Jack, watching our Power Play girl dance her heart out, seeing OC raise high his Hunter jersey as OT started, the C-A-P-S Caps, Caps, Caps cheer after the game ended, to a final look back, at OC staring at the ice, as if drinking it all in for one last time. It was quite a ride. Can’t wait to get back on that roller coaster again, with a great group of fans and players! PROUD TO BE A CAPS FAN!
These were NOT the “choking-dog” Caps of certain seasons past. These guys gave us a magical run and deserved way better than what the refs handed out (and failed to). Just a disgrace that no penalty was called on the Flyers’ second goal.
Let’s keep this terrific team together for next year.
Choke on your donut, Don!
Today, we are all Canadiens.
Wonderful article guys. This was one of the most exciting season’s I’ve ever experienced in all the sports teams I follow (and I have no life, so I follow a LOT of teams).
Thank you Capitals. It was a pleasure watching you guys go from individuals playing hockey to becoming a team. The future is very bright.
And I’d also like to thank OFB. AMAZING job you guys have done this year.
Thank You.
C
A
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CAPS CAPS CAPS
By the way, if it were possible to give a standing O for an entire online community, I think the Caps’ online presence should get one.
Between Tarik, OFB, the amazing photographs and work over at Off Wing, and all the other Caps blogs, you know the second half of this season probably resulted in more people developing a love for the game that hopefully will last them a lifetime. TV gets you the games, but seeing people come together like this over a team gets you the passion.
And while the team is resting, training, and preparing for next year, the hard-working guys in the blogging community will be doing the same, bringing us news of signings, trades, the free agent market, what Boudreau is going to bring to camp with a full summer to work, and how our injured guys are coming along.
Thanks to the teams of Caps Insider, OFB, Off Wing, and everyone else. The organization brought a team we can all be proud of, and you guys brought the team to us. I will never forget this season, nor what a large part you each played in it.
Thank you to the OFB team for your excellent Caps coverage all season. What a thrill ride it has been.
First things first, I’d like to congratulate all the great, articulate Caps fans here for a wonderful season. It’s a travesty that things had to end here for you guys but the future looks blindingly bright for Rednation.
The Philadelphia Flyers, in the end, did not deserve to win this series. That they did doesn’t necessarily refute that fact. I feel it necessary though to defend ourselves, Flyers fans, for our perceived boorish behavior.
Philadelphia, as a sports town, has a terrible tradition of losing. We sit around glumly, watching sourly as our neighbors to the north soak up all the accolades, awards, and championships while we always sit on the doorstep, peering in through the windows on the celebration until someone inside has the decency to pull the blinds closed. The only team we’ve had to support that has continuously and without error built up a…a culture of winning has been our beloved Flyers. Just over 40 seasons in the league and since their inception they’ve accrued something ridiculous like the best winning percentage in the league and playoff appearances in every year save only a handful of seasons.
Out of all the cities in America that host teams in all the big 4 sports, Philadelphia has gone the longest without a championship. Within this decade, the Flyers had ALREADY coughed up a 3-1 series lead to the hated New Jersey Devils. We were up 3-1 on your Capitals, only to see that lead evaporate through not just through stellar play by our opponent, but panicked, rattled play by our Orange and Black. You bet we booed them off the ice. There is no reward for failure if that failure is realized through anything less than hard-nosed, smart play. If the Flyers were being beaten but still playing their hearts out, it would be different.
It’s the reason that, while thrilled to be moving on to the second round, I still cast a disapproving eye over my club. They stole one last night. The referees stole one last night (as they’ve done back and forth all series). Martin Biron…stole one last night. The TEAM…did not beat the Washington Capitals. A host of other circumstances played too much a part. Don’t judge us too harshly. Anything less than gritty excellence from the Flyers is unacceptable to us. Forgive me too for my vehement defense. I don’t abide my compatriots and I being lumped together in the category of “bad fan”.
Hold your heads high. Your Capitals played fearlessly…brilliantly. They’ll be back. Their inspired play coupled with the views expressed so well here on this blog would have forced me to, if the Caps had moved on, root for them the rest of the way…something I’ve never been able to bring myself to do for an opposing team.
Embrace the series for what it was despite its warts. Any 7-game series that comes down to overtime in the decider that YOUR team is involved in is an absolute gift…a gift many thought wouldn’t be coming to either of our teams as early as a month or so ago.
Thank you, Kurt, and the others whose participatory patronage give blog text and imagery life. I couldn’t agree more about the cumulative effect of Washington’s magnificent hockey blogging community, which this season expanded to include daily gem offerings from the beat reporters at the two big papers.
I published my file a little after 7:00 this morning and thought about a Wednesday of much-anticipated rest. Then I got an email from Nate Ewell advising of Caps’ players’ availability at Kettler around noon. Guess where I wanna take lunch.
Come on NasyEmu. I was in your building last Tuesday night. Don’t even try to compare the very few apples at Verizon with Philly fans. The very fact that you feel the need to try to bring us down to your level illustrates the point. I didn’t hear anyone chanting “Asshole” at anyone in orange last night. nor did I hear everyone chanting “F#@* Ovechkin” in the hallways between periods. nor did I see any fans pouring beer over childrens heads. Stay classy, Philly.
A fantastic run. September to today went by in a flash. On Thanksgiving Day I thought it would have been an eternity. Well done boys!
I’d like to weigh in on a few items here:
1) As lots of you on here know, I’m a Sens fan, which means that this season I watched my team start off strong and implode into nothing. You just watched the Capitals do the exact opposite. Its a disappointing end to your season, that’s for sure, but you can hold your heads up in a way that is very, very tough to do in Ottawa right now.
2) I have to agree that Philly’s second goal should not have counted. We’ve all seen contact that was far more incidental than that get called as goaltender interference. And it was no mere bump–Huet was about seven miles out of position and totally unable to play the puck because someone got pushed into him. That is goaltender interference, full stop.
Rule 78 b) doesn’t say that contact has to be direct. It says that the attacking player can’t initiate contact:
“…If an attacking player initiates any contact with a goalkeeper, other than incidental contact, while the goalkeeper is outside his goal crease, and a goal is scored, the goal will be disallowed.”
Seems clear enough to me. No goal.
I am honestly mystified as to why they let that one go.
3) However…the beginning-of-the-end tripping call on Poti looked real enough to me. That said, the zebras had clearly put away their whistles for a good chunk of the third period and most of OT up to that point, which just drives me up the wall. Why that particular penalty, and why then? Beats me. You can argue that Washington got screwed in that sense, too.
4) Biron did indeed steal the game for Philly. And that’s not a bad thing. That’s what # 1 goalies are supposed to to do. He did his job and did it well.
5) I’ll refrain from weighing into the debate on Philly sports fans, except to say that Philly is the only North American city I can think of that has ever had a judge doing bail hearings at NFL home games.
‘Nuff said.
6) I can only say this again…kudos to my friends at OFB and the rest of the Caps’ online community.
You are no fly-by-nighters. You are the real deal, and the quality of what you do reflects it. I tell anyone who truly loves hockey to check out OFB. Even those of us who don’t sleep in Caps pyjamas every night can get a lot out of this blog.
So congrats on a great season. Here’s one guy who’s looking forward to more.
Is anybody else having a hard time concentrating today? I am in disbelief that the season has come to an end. We were robbed.
While I congratulate the Caps on their amazing season and tip my hat to the fans who were there in November (not the fans who jumped on the bandwagon last month), I have a gripe to express. I don’t care how terrible the refs were, how painful the loss was, or how much you hate the opposing team, you do not EVER throw garbage onto the ice at them afterwards. That was a terrible showing of disrespect towards your opponent and the sport, and it came from the Caps fans, supposedly the “classier” of the two sides in the building last night. Yes, Philly fans are obnoxious (I’m from Pittsburgh, trust me, I know). But it’s no excuse. I only hope the bandwagonners who filled the Verizon Center over the last few months learn a thing or two about the unwritten rules of hockey and show up next October a little classier.
For the record - Devorski called the Flyers’ second “goal,” and Don “fat donut-eating pig” Koharski dusted off his whistle after ignoring blatant whistleworthy penalties on both teams for 25 minutes to hit Poti for tripping.
Don’t hold this one against the Flyers - they did what any team, including the Caps, would have done in those same situations. The blame is on the zebras, and I hope that sh*tty call haunts Devorksi for the rest of his life.
All in all, I’m glad that their fate was not earned by choking, but by the NHL’s perpetually shoddy officiating. We the fans, and the boys in Red, White, and Blue can hold our heads high after a run that was utterly unthinkable just 5 months ago.
We weren’t robbed. While I agree that the second goal shouldn’t have counted (go back and look at that Tampa game the last week of the season — exact same play, but we have the goal called off), we still tied the game up, and had the puck on OV’s stick in the high slot with nobody near him and the game on the line. He absolutely HAS to shoot that puck. HAS to. Why he passed it to Federov is beyond me. Your superstar player, who is red hot, has the chance to win the game with one blast — and he literally passes on the opportunity. That’s where we lost the game right there. I’m confident OV will never repeat that mistake again. Not that it helps this morning. I’m so sick of these crushing OT losses. i want to puke.
Brenna, of course you’re right, and this is perhaps wishful thinking on my part, but I hope the bottle throwers last night represented the newcomers to our great game, and either don’t return — we’ve no shortage of converts in Washington in 2008 with which to fill their seats — or wise up fast. To state the obvious, the greatness of last night’s crowd centered in its color and collective throat.
Brenna,
A bit of garbage on the ice is certainly something to be discouraged, but it can be worse. A Buffalo fan got punched in the face last year in Ottawa. (Don’t care what was said, that ain’t cool.) And, in case anyone missed it, Montrealers tore a small part of their city apart on Monday night…after the Habs WON. Not lost. Won. Figure that one out.
I will also say, for the record, that I wore my Ottawa jersey at the Verizon Center last season and had no problems. (Might be because a bought a round in the bar between periods, but…well). The atmosphere may have been different in the playoffs, sure, but I found the Phone Booth to be pretty civilized, all things considered.
First of all I am saddened by the outcome of the game, but encouraged that this team shows more more promise than any team out there. I am looking forward to the years ahead. And to introducing my baby girl to the game and the Capitals.
Thunderweenie- next time you are in DC we can have a beer and commiserate about the Sens as well.
mmm…donuts.
For several weeks now, the Caps had the look and feel of “destiny’s team.” Not only did we believe that the Captials’ could achieve the impossible - we’d almost come to expect it. How are you supposed to feel after “destiny” abandons you?
I’m sure at some point I’ll be able to put this season in perspective, but right now the loss is too fresh in my mind. This one stings something awful…
One thing I know for certain - as a Caps fan located in Denver Colorado, it’s traditionally been hard to find others who share my allegiance to the boys in red. Thank you to all of you here at OFB for creating such a solid online community. Go Caps!
I’d like to thank these Capitals and their coaches for giving me the best season of hockey here in my 34 years of following them.
Well said. I’ve been following this team for almost as long as you have, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen a team this exciting to watch on the ice and this full of promise for the future.
radbytrade … great post.
I’m sorry that stereotypes encompass everyone “related” to a team or city. I’ve always thought that sterotypes are there for a good reason, however obviously the Flyers have some fans that get it also.
Thanks for being a fan of hockey and not just a fan of a team …
Chanuck,
You’re on…we can drink on OrderedChaos’ tab!
Thanks again, everyone on OFB, for a great season.
Thank you capitals For the best season since 1997-8, and the most amazing thrill ride Capitals Nation has ever been on. Thank you OnFrozenBlog for helping keep this displaced Capitals fan in touch with his team. Next year will be even better. Especially if we can hang on to Cristobal Huet for another few seasons.
Condolences from a Devils fan. Take solace in the likelihood that your team, at least, is on the way up. I can tell you that the mountain looks just as high on the other side of the summit…
Thanks to OFB for all of the work you have done this year. I am not a bandwagoner but I did stop paying close attention for awhile post-lockout and this team brought me back. The Caps have an amazing online community and while each site has its strenghts, OFB is always supremely well-written and thoughtful.
I’ve vented plenty about the refs elsewhere but a big thank you to all the bloggers and commenters that made this season so special. I was at the phone booth in ‘98 when Detroit won the cup and this season, strange as it is to say, is the one I will remember forever. It’s the end of the beginning, and I am positive that the Caps team next year will be the best we have ever had the pleasure of cheering for.
Since I don’t have computer access at work, you get my thoughts late. But here they are, in no particular order:
The Caps/Flyers was a great series. Lots of exciting hockey. The Caps had plenty of chances towards the end of the game but didn’t bury their opportunities.
If you’d asked me in Nov about the playoffs, I never would have envisioned this.
As such, I’ve seen too many Caps games over the years to have completely embraced the “I believe”. I’m more of the “I want to believe but I’m still skeptical” (but I’m coming around more). That doesn’t mean I still don’t make a whole heckuvalot of noise.
As for the officiating:
The league needs to be willing to criticize publicly (which they will never do) the officiating of a game. There need to be repercussions for glaring problems (in calling or in omission).
The only things I’m going to say on the matter at the moment:
Straight from the NHL rulebook (#67.c.):
A minor penalty shall be imposed on an attacking player who deliberately checks a defensive player, including the goalkeeper, who is not in possession of the puck.
I didn’t know the rule exactly, but I KNEW it was covered in the rulebook and I was ranting about it during the intermission.
(Or use use that incidental contact crap that the Caps got nailed for against Tampa.)
As my brother pointed out, if Toronto is set on reviewing all goals, they’ll need to find a resolution to Flyers goal #2 before they get burned in a game where the Stanley Cup is on the line. (Brett Hull anyone?)
Flyers fans get a bad rap. And for the most part justifiably so. Some of my best friends are Flyers fans, and for a matter of about six hours, some sort of devolving takes place. Yes, they’re not complete jackasses. Just as not all Caps fans are saints. (Walking down the stairs after the game last night, I even told one I had his back when some dumbass Caps fan tried to pick a fight because the guy was in a Biron t-shirt yet hadn’t said a single word in taunting.) But the stereotype exists for a reason, even if it’s a broad generalization. and many of the Flyers fans I know are indeed proud of that stereotype.
Still it was a great run and a fun series of hockey. It’s been a long time since I felt any sort of anticipation like that.
Now I have to figure out who I’m cheering for (or against) for the rest of the playoffs.
“In the second period, on the type of play that just earlier this month against Tampa overturned a goal earned by the Caps, ”
“(go back and look at that Tampa game the last week of the season — exact same play, but we have the goal called off)”
Not analagous. In the Tampa game, the Caps guy put the Tampa guy into the goalie when the puck was nowhere to be found. In last night’s game, the Caps defenseman was hit *immediately* after playing the puck.
“Thanks Caps fans, for “getting it”.”
What part of throwing beer on the ice is “getting it”?
John W, I’ve been playing ice hockey since I was 3 years old, I played Junior A hockey in the NAHL for two years, and played 4 years of college hockey, so please don’t tell me I don’t “get it” you knuckle dragging brute — see how easy it is to throw stereotypes in your comments. You make a decent point about the difference in the two plays. But reasonable minds can differ — and this is a Caps blog. You just detract from your point when you follow it with a sarcastic insult. Not that I expect someone from Philly to understand that. (See?)
Well, if you didn’t throw beer on the ice, and you cheered your team for a good season, then you most likely *do* get it, and it wasn’t directed at you…
I seriously doubt that anybody who writes in for this blog threw beer on the ice. But if they did, you’re right. If you stuck around here beyond this round of the playoffs, you would see that those of us that write in here are knowledgeable and big fans of the game. Those were just bad elements. But the very fact that they sell bottled beer in the Verizon Center should tell you it’s not a regular occurance. I can think of a few rinks around the league where they wouldn’t do that…
Analagous in that neither player at the times of contact was in possession of the puck.
Just like interference when it happens center ice.
I didn’t make the rules. If the refs don’t want to use them and the league doesn’t want to have them enforced properly, that’s fine. Get them off the rulebooks.
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