We recently reminisced about the ten-year anniversary of a golden moment: when Joe Juneau’s goal propelled the Washington Capitals to their first Stanley Cup Finals appearance.
Today, Steinz looks back on D.C. Sports Bog to the day the run ended with excerpts from the Post’s coverage 10 years ago. It’s a good read and, lest you think it’s a depressing topic, Tony Kornheiser (gasp!) put it in perspective:
The fact is that the Capitals made hockey matter in this city for the first time. The hundreds of shots Kolzig turned away, the playoff goals that Bellows, Sergei Gonchar, Adam Oates, Todd Krygier, Joe Juneau and Peter Bondra scored — even the shot that Tikkanen missed — they’ll all be remembered fondly, long after the pain of losing four straight to Detroit is forgotten.
While I still cringe at the seared-on-my-cerebellum image of Tik’s yawning-net miss, I have to agree with Kornheiser’s overall sentiment. 10 years later — when a Finals appearance for the Caps with a very different outcome seems not only likely, but imminent — I think we can safely look back fondly on the Caps’ far-away-yet-so-close brush with the Cup, with the strong belief of better things to come.
