This is it!
I know Washington Capitals fans are going to be bitter with me -- they might call me a jinx, an idiot, and every other name in the book -- but the Caps have to get to the Stanley Cup Finals this year. If they don't, they may never get there.
I just can't call this season a success if the Caps don't get past the Pittsburgh Penguins this year. I don't care if they have the best regular season record in the NHL if they don't get to the Cup; you never know what is going to happen.
Sure, the Caps are loaded with young stars like Ovechkin, Backstrom, Green, Semin and Varlamov, but is it a lock that they get better?
Didn't everybody in DC say that the Wizards were going to be competing for championships when they had Chris Webber and Juwan Howard leading them into the playoffs against Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls? The Wizards were a young team with up and coming stars, just like the Caps but they never advanced to the NBA Finals, not even close. In fact, that second round series with the Bulls was there pinnacle.
I'll admit, this Caps team appears to be different. They have the best player in the game who has led them to 11 straight wins; their farm system is loaded; and everybody says they should have a 5-10 year window of opportunity because they've locked up OV, Green and some of their other studs. But if they get bounced by the Pens once again, the patience they preach may be a tough virtue to live by.
Look, I hope the Caps win the Stanley Cup this year. Though I've never been a huge hockey fan, I have jumped on the Caps bandwagon. It's fun. I love going to their games, Ted Leonsis has built a great organization and Ovechkin is as exciting a player as there is in sports. I just fear the worst. If they don't advance to the Stanley Cup finals this year, they may never get back. This is it.
-Glass Joe
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It's always something that tears the Caps apart. This year its going to be the dissension in the locker room between Jose and Varly. Jose has been playing out of his mind, but it won't last, so...what happens then? The locker room divides, and neither is on top of their game. To quote Buckhantz....DAGGER!!!!
Why couldn't you be the hurting that Mike Green pwned the other day?
Thats what I said when I fired up my laptop last night.
This coming from a man on a show where Lurch didn't know who Ilya Kovalchuk was and no one else could identify him as having scored the second most goals in the NHL over the past five seasons next to Ovie. That would be like knowing Carmelo Anthony leads the NBA in scoring this season, but not knowing who Kevin Durant is.
I'd say I'd take my hockey advice from Mike Wise, but when he is asking Tarik El-Bashir if Bill Guerin is a defensemen...well I just can't lower myself to that.
Simply put, the FAN's hockey knowledge is HURTING!