Heartbreak

I have had a work project for the last few weeks that has kept me in the office about 18 hours a day. Not a lot of time for blogging in there. I managed to catch most of the Caps games on TV, and all of them in person.

I suppose I thought the forced days of hockey exile would inoculate me a bit if the Caps lost tonight. That's not the case, at all. Like every other Caps fan, I am heartbroken. I'm grateful for the most amazing season of hockey that I have ever seen. I'm grateful to have seen Alex Ovechkin undoubtedly take over as the super star of the NHL, have my heart lift at the sight of Sergei Federov flying around the ice one more time, and watch Olie during what will probably be his last season in Washington. And most of all I am grateful for the amazing effort that every member of the Caps put forward.

But my heart is still a little cracked.

From flying high to crashing low, all in one weekend

Hm. I was too hung over to post anything about the Caps edge-of-your-seat win on Friday night. And now I am glad I didnt.

As I have mentioned, there are some aspects of the Capitals' collective game that make them successful. Consistent play and a good forecheck are the two most present factors in the Capitals wins. Unfortunately, neither of these two showed up for very long on Sunday (if at all), and the Capitals lost an important game on home ice. They now go into Tuesday's game in Philadelphia under the gun -- they have to win at least one on Philly's turf in order to return to DC with the series even. A much better prospect then returning with three losses, and their head on the chopping block if they should lose one more game.

Here is what sticks out for me the most:

I've got to give it to the Flyers, they found a way to shut down Ovie, sneak some past Huet and keep the game under their control. The Caps looked as nervous as a virgin on prom night, which certainly helped the Flyers keep their game going.

Give me Steve Eminger over John Erskine. John Erskine has got two inches and six pounds on Steve Eminger. Steve Eminger has got a brain. I'll take Eminger, please.

It was pretty plain to see that the Flyers were picking on Cristobal Huet. In the third period, Huet was finally fed up and tossed around some healthy shoves. Good for him, but the Caps d-men need to do a better job of kicking those Flyers out of the crease. Scott Hartnell was parked there for so long, I memorized every wrinkle in the back of his jersey.

Ovie might have been shut down offensively, but defensively he did a pretty good job. In that category, he is a ton better then he was last season.

Milan Jurcina. Not sure what to do with him. When he uses his huge size, he is scary and effective. But more often then not, I see him playing too tentatively for a guy who is 6'4 and 230 lbs. Consistency and confidence issues are what got him booted out of Boston, lets hope they dont continue to haunt him here.

I would give anything to see Scott Hartnell stop being a little bitch and actually fight Donald Brashear. It would be the ass kicking of a lifetime.

So, anyone braving Philly for a game?

Flyers vs. Capitals, Game 1

LETS GO CAPS!

Too much hype

Dear ESPN, TSN, Pierre McGuire, Don Cherry, etc:

Stop talking about my team. Pretty please? Stop talking about our "Cinderella run", how under-rated we are, how hard working, how we are definitely going to trounce the Flyers. Please, please, stop. Have I officially lost it? Maybe. Read on, then judge.

I've had Caps season tickets for two years and watched them on and off for a handful of years prior to that. What I have liked most about being a Capitals fan (and this is essentially selfish) is our little community. Yeah, there isnt a huge hockey community in DC but its a loyal one that has been selling out homes game. But the community here is tight and we all sort of recognize each other, going in and out of the metro to the Verizon Center for six months. We see each other at practice, nod hello on VC escalators, comment each other to death on blogs. And since DC is a classic band wagon town, we'll see a our ranks swell when the Caps are on a run, then even out again to the loyalists. Its as intimate an experience as you will ever get in professional sports.

But all of sudden, the Caps are everyone's team. And after watching a painful rebuilding process for the Caps, I cant help be a little weary of all these new accolades coming our way. As Shan pointed out, where are all the gloating Caps fans? Well, we are hiding behind our computers and vintage Langway jerseys, hoping that all this sudden attention doesnt distract our very young team, the majority of whom have a season or two under their belt and no playoff experience. I cant help but be a little fearful when I hear that the press box can hardly contain all the out of town journalists, after the press box used to ring if not emptily, then at the least was a bit lonely with beat writers from the Washington Post and Washington Times as the only print news regulars.

I also want to add the caveat here that I am not worried about all the chatting blogs are doing about the Capitals (including, of course, my own). I'm superstitious about all the talking heads claiming that the Flyers are going down because the Capitals are hot, hot, hot. And Cinderalla. Or some version of that.

Its entirely possible and likely that I am being paranoid, and as the Caps are consummate professionals, they will go into the playoffs with the same vigor and determination they showed in the last weeks of the off season. But I hope you dont blame me for being just a bit scared, and crossing my fingers every time I see the words "Cinderella" and "Capitals" in a story.

Note: I regularly blog over at Hockey's Ladies of Greatness, and this is a piece originally written for that site. Be sure to head over there and check out a great hockey website, written entirely by fangirls.

Note 2: I may have blogged too soon! Here is another article on the Caps, and its nice to see some love for Tom Poti.

McGrattan likely out of Ottawa after post season

The Ottawa Sun has an interesting piece on Sens enforcer Brian McGrattan, which features some pretty candid quotes from McGrattan:

"I understand my role here. I don't have a great education. My brother has a university degree, but I hated school. I couldn't wait to get out. I have a choice: Back home working in the steel mill or fight for 20 seconds with 20,000 people cheering. The people love it. I really don't care what some people's negative perception of me might be. They can think what they want."

I have to admit that I have a soft spot for enforcers (not to be confused with goons because there is a difference). McGrattan doesnt feel sorry for himself at all, but you can tell that he yearns to play for more then 3 minutes a night or be a healthy scratch more often then not. I cant blame him. There is no doubt that big, physical players belong in the league, but post lockout there seems to be a sense that there is very little middle ground for these guys -- they are either meant to keep the other team in line, or to be benched.

With all the focus on small, speedy players after the lockout, many of these enforcers have been put in the position of trying to validate their role. Just look at our own Donald Brashear, who astutely assessed where the NHL was headed after the lockout and made sure that he showed he was much more then just ice police. Brasher has played a vital role for the Caps, including energy guy on a line with Matt Bradley to shake up the opposing team's forwards with hard hits and has most importantly played the role of enforcer competently (ahem, John Erskine). I'm not scared that Donald Brasher is going to make a foolish mistake every time he steps off the bench, which I'm note sure that Flyers fans can say about Steve Downie or Rangers fans about Colton Orr. Dont tell me that players like Brash should be on the ice for a maximum of three minutes a game.

Wow, I guess that was more of a rant then a post on Brian McGrattan, but I do hope that he finds a team that can value his play and give him a role similar to Brashear's. Something tells me that Brian McGrattan will surprise a lot of people as a solid fourth line center, once he gets a fair shake.

Dan Steinberg, mad Caps blogger

Steinberg once called me a mad Caps blogger (it brought to mind images of 1998, which is the last time I can remember using the term "mad"), so I am going to throw it back at him. Lately this guy is covering the Caps like nobody's business - which is awesome - so I'll just point you in the direction of his blogging and let you have at it. This must be what it feels like to be a Wizards fan and read DC Sports Bog.

To recap:

-Don Brashear has a blog (I'm scared not to read it)
-Mike Green thinks he can grow a beard (I'm not even sure that Mike Green can shave, but ok)
-Someone is roaming around with a mohawk

And some more goodies. Go check'em out.

The Caps are mainstream!

After years of being laregely ignored by the Washington Press, the Caps have made it. How do I know? Sergei Federov made it into The Reliable Source:

· Sergei Fedorov celebrating the Caps' playoff-clinching victory Saturday night with a dinner for about six or seven at Teatro Goldoni. The newly acquired center came in wearing a baseball cap but politely removed it.

Or maybe the Caps made it when the powered their way into the playoffs and the Washington Press is just catching on....