Last week, in the throes of a sudden and sour end to the season, it was somewhat difficult to delineate just how successful a season the Capitals and their fans had enjoyed, wasn’t it? Lip service to a terrific run could be mouthed, but there was a pervasive sense that something quite magical had prematurely expired. But this week, virtually day by day, the formal acknowledgments of a transformative season began rolling in, affording more than a wee bit of perspective.
The beginning of the week brought word of Nicklas Backstrom’s designation as Calder finalist. By mid-week we received word of Alexander Ovechkin’s finalist status for the Hart. And near week’s end came the good word for Gabby — a finalist for the Jack Adams. None were surprise announcements, but their formal delivery captures the attention of the hockey world, and this spring — one quite unlike any other for the Caps as far as hardware nominations go — the NHL has helped create an echo chamber for the remarkable story that was, up until this week, rather parochial to Washington.
It wasn’t so much that Western Canada or the Maritimes or Minneapolis-St. Paul intermittently followed Alexander Ovechkin’s historical season; it was that we in Washington necessarily held the larger and more appreciative context for the Ovechkin-led rebirth of a franchise forming fast within frenzied-Red Verizon Center. This week, with the NHL’s press releases fairly screaming that something spectacular happened in HockeyWashington in 2007-08, room on the big story stage has been created for years to come for the Caps.
It’s really remarkable.
And this is much, much different from what we saw both Carolina and Tampa Bay acquire with their respective Stanley Cup victories. Neither team — Tampa especially — was constructed for a lengthy run with success. This May, there is, I venture to say, a pervasive acknowledgment in hockey that the Caps won’t be fun to play against for quite a while.
Really, you have to go back I think all the way to the dynastic Oilers of the early ’80s to find a parallel for a team that has accumulated so many world-class skilled parts so early in their NHL careers (and with more reinforcements fast arriving) and have guiding them an ascendant maestro — with all of them pursuing glory’s journey together for quite some time. Even Mario’s two-Cup Pens of the early ’90s were a more thorough blend of young and veteran. (To me, Tom Barrasso was a Sabre, Bryan Trottier an Islander.) It matters not how skilled a draft eye Lou Lamoriello possessed in New Jersey last decade and much of this — the product he peddaled as Cup winners was antithetical to marketing hockey.
Washington, however, attracts admirers in other NHL markets for precisely the style of hockey it plays. We saw this most individually on this blog this spring, as scores of fans of other teams stopped by to sing this team’s praises and profess a new-found allegiance to the Caps as an adopted team.
Another novel form of admiration arrived this week from Mother Russia: from Team Russia with love for the Russian Capitals, who in the 2008 World Championships have formed the entirety of that team’s first line. It’s as if international hockey wants to pay tribute to what Washington accomplished — and possesses — with such a lineup. And as luck would have it, the Worlds this year are being contested in North America, in time-zone friendly fashion, allowing Washington and anyone else on the continent to appreciate a key core to the Capitals’ renaissance. And as has been duly noted already, Ovechkin, Semin, and Fedorov have six additional teammates competing in the tourney.
These are small solaces for the disappointment of last week. Or maybe not so small. I forgot to mention that neither Paul Devorski not Don Koharski are working the Worlds
4 Comments
I am enjoying following the Russians at the World Championships. The press is already talking about the Capitals connection - Ovechkin, Semin, and Fedorov. Semin was outstanding in yesterday’s game with two goals and an assist. Let’s hope that the experience makes Sergei want to stick around in Washington with his mates.
One quibble with the blog. You’ve got to give the Pens props for rising from the ashes. They have come a long way very quickly. I think the next several years will see the Capitals and Penguins competing routinely for the East.
@ Klay: Agreed, we can be hopeful that Fedorov returns for another year . . . his influence on the team was terrifically positive.
As for the Pens, their run has indeed been impressive thus far. As a Capitals-centric blog of course we don’t talk about the Pens much, but it would be terrific to have them & Capitals back near the top each year competing for trips to the Finals. They both play styles much more enjoyable to watch than the shutdown trap employed by some other teams.
As long as the Pens beat dem Phlyers, I’ll be happy.
Anybody else still awake at 2am on a Monday morning, watching the Stars and the Sharks play into a FOURTH overtime??
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