Comments on: The Washington Capitals at the Halfway Mark

By: JH

JH — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 14:53:00 +0000

The Caps started slow, a byproduct, at least in part, of no D-men playing in the off season and a new coach/system with no preseason/offseason time to adjust. The level of panic among Caps fans always amazes me. They have a 50/50 chance at postseason play, assuming they can get hot and catch the Canes. At least, that’s my humble assessment. And if they don’t make the playoffs, well, I’d say write it off to a shortened season and try again next year, but don’t blow up the team. If there are trade opportunities, great. But don’t blow up the team for the sake of “doing something.” Ovie is clearly not what he once was, but he’s still a big threat, and if we had anyone else on the team who was scary at all, we’d be in a much better place. But Backstrom, who is a *great* player, has some mysterious affliction, and Green is perennially injured (when healthy, they are a different team). Holtby has greatness potential. In the off season, we need a scary left winger to complement Ovie’s line and we need Backstrom to get healthy or whatever so he’s back to 1st-line form. Then we’re a scary team again.

By: Peter Hassett

Peter Hassett — Mon, 11 Mar 2013 22:38:00 +0000

We’re actually not allowed to call Sophie Turner hot until next February. And while the Wildling girl isn’t my cuppatea, I’m not gonna kick her out of the cave either if you know what I’m sayinnnnnnnnnnn

By: sean

sean — Mon, 11 Mar 2013 22:35:00 +0000

Of course Sophie Turner is hot, and everyone wants her, but you know at closing time you are going home with the Wildling girl.

By: Steve Graff

Steve Graff — Mon, 11 Mar 2013 22:06:00 +0000

And simply let clubs like SKA or CSKA have Ovechkin, until he burns bridges there–and given both clubs’ histories, he could end up playing in Qatar (if there is even a hockey league there). I also think trading Ovechkin could have been the Cup-winning move bc it got the Bad Apple out of DC, Everyone knows, but isn’t willing to say it, that The Great Eight is the Great Bad Apple, like the bunch of Arenas, Blatche, AJ Price, etc. was for the Wizards.

By: Steve Graff

Steve Graff — Mon, 11 Mar 2013 22:03:00 +0000

And GMGM should’ve just traded him for a Ben’s Chili Bowl at that point. It would have sent a massive statement to the team, and a massive statement to the fans that the inmates do not run the asylum.

By: Peter Hassett

Peter Hassett — Mon, 11 Mar 2013 21:21:00 +0000

I think Boudreau and McPhee should’ve whipped his ass after the “fat fuck” brouhaha from last year. Even from a star, that insubordinate behavior cannot be tolerated.

By: Steve Graff

Steve Graff — Mon, 11 Mar 2013 21:06:00 +0000

We’d also have known by now if Ovechkin was a leader. He would have found a way to galvanize the team, when it was down.

By: Steve Graff

Steve Graff — Mon, 11 Mar 2013 20:59:00 +0000

Being the healthy scratch on a regular basis, and being bought out. Caps have never healthy-scratched him, and I’m surprised that they’ve never done so. This healthy-scratching and sending the guy down to the AHL business has done wonders for Kadri and others.

By: Puck Buddys

Puck Buddys — Mon, 11 Mar 2013 20:47:00 +0000

Makes sense. Just wondering what it will take to get Ovi’s head and ass wired together…

By: Peter Hassett

Peter Hassett — Mon, 11 Mar 2013 19:55:00 +0000

That’s the sort of thing we can never really know, so I try not to spend much time on it. If someone else could better wield the captaincy is a fine thought experiment, but the cost of actually doing would be first-degree bridge arson.