Watching tonight’s Washington Capitals game, as well as their recent victory over Boston, felt eerily familiar. The Caps’ roster was relatively devoid of superstars, they fought hard, beat a better team (vs. Boston) and lost a close one to a divisional rival tonight.
Without Alex Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom, and Mike Green, this Capitals team is surprisingly similar to the Capitals of almost a decade ago… a hard-charging team that delighted and sometimes frustrated its fans.
How so, you ask? Read on… and while these comparisons are far from perfect, consider them food for thought:
Early in the third period Sunday, Capitals forward Jason Chimera made a move up the left wing into the Carolina Hurricanes’ zone. Usually, his speed means he’s there by himself, but today, thanks to what seemed a more deliberate pace, there was company—Joel Ward on the opposite boards, and in the center rookie defenseman Dmitry [...]
It’s so much nicer to evaluate games when you’re winning. That’s the situation the Capitals find themselves in now after last night’s 3-1 win over Calgary, which extended (to 4) their longest winning streak since they put together 7 at the beginning of the season. Yes, since that 7-game run, they’ve changed some of their [...]
Remember when third periods late in the Boudreau era were hold-on-for-dear-life and cover-your-eyes stanzas? Suddenly, under Coach Hunter, they are statement frames for the Caps. Production, derived from patience, slow but steady absorption of a radically new system, and increasing confidence, appears to arriving. A few quick thoughts: Is the Beast back? In a modest [...]
Some random observations and notes-sharing from a remarkable last 72 hours: There’s standup, and then there’s what Gabby offered the Washington Post’s Tarik El Bashir Wednesday morning — actually agreeing with Capitals management that it was time for a change behind the bench. He actually told General Manager George McPhee, “You’re doing what you have [...]
The Capitals lost 2-1 to the Blues in Dale Hunter’s debut as head coach for his beloved franchise. Was the Capitals’ excessive time in the d-zone Tuesday just growing pains? How fast can we expect Hunter to install his system? One of Ovi’s rushes into the o-zone tonight ended up in an assist –has Hunter [...]
This morning, we could look back on November 1 and Ovi’s outburst and deem it a moment of contempt . . . a mutinous moment, in fact.
It’s a weird night at the Verizon Center when Alexander Semin finishes with more ice time than Alex Ovechkin. True, it was only by 47 seconds, and since Ovechkin finished with 21 shifts and Semin only 19, it looks more coincidental than any kind of message being sent from the bench. Semin finished Friday with [...]
