Having had a few hours to take in the final moments from last night’s game I have a few thoughts I should convey. I don’t know that there is a worse moment in sports (other than seeing your player get injured ala Jason Campbell against the Bears last year) that absolutely sucks the wind out of your sails like losing in overtime in game 7. There is that moment of “What just happened” when you see the other team celebrating, but there is no buzzer, no lights, just blank faces on your own players. It’s heartbreaking and it feels like getting punched in the gut. My hand still hurts from hitting the banister in my house. I’ll remember for a long time standing on my deck looking up at the sky while I hear Joe Beninati talk about the tradition of the post series handshake.
My thought have calmed since last night. I’m still relatively inconsolable about the loss, but my feelings have moved from immediate anger over the officiating, frustration at the chances we had to score, and the fact that we lost to one of my most hated teams, to an acceptance that we will be a better team next year.
Frustrations
I’m not trying to complain about the officiating, but a few notes should be made. I understand that the Flyer’s player did not touch Huet directly, but there SHOULD be a rule that you cannot check someone into their goaltender, rendering them out of position. The NHL should act like they did with Sean Avery and institute that rule immediately. If players are allowed to do this, I don’t see why every single team wouldn’t be. It SHOULD be a penalty, whether it was last night or not.
While I tend to side with the idea of “swallow the whistles and let them play” I become incensed when the calls are inconsistent. The tripping call would have absolutely been made during the 1st and 2nd period, but for the 3rd and overtime period the refs hadn’t been calling anything. There were definitely penalty worthy plays which weren’t called on both sides during those periods. I don’t ask that penalties not be called entirely, or that refs call every penalty, but there should be consistency from period to period. It was a crime for that game to end on a penalty.
Consolations
I remember writing to my brother in late November right after the Sean Taylor murder and the Glen Hanlon firing, that this was the worst time I ever remembered in the history of Washington sports. I stand by that statement, but I have a new one as well. There has been no better time to be a Caps fan than right now. I remember the 98 run vividly, and I love that team, but I love this one more. We are going to be a force in the NHL for a LONG time, and it’s overdue. Moreso even than the talent on the team, who would have thought in November that the Capitals would have mattered to this town. I work in an office and I’m the only Caps fan. Mondays in the fall everyone is gathered in each others offices talking about the Redskins, and I miss being able to share my excitements about my other favorite team as well. That has all changed. Most of the guys in the office are watching the Capitals and even worse, blaming me for not telling them about such a great team earlier. I hope we can carry that excitement over to next October, because I’ve seen this town transformed into a hockey town twice in my lifetime. I hope we never have to see a third time, because I believe this one can stick. The Caps finally matter in D.C. and it’s all on account of the best owner in sports Ted Leonsis.
When the new jerseys were unveiled I had a conversation with my dad about who’se names we were going to get on the back of them. The only player we could decide was a lock was Ovie. If we had that conversation now, we’d be discussing Backstrom, Semin, Green, Poti, Huet, Laich, Brashear, or Bradly. That just goes to show you how far this team has come in this year alone.
Depressions
I heard from a co-worker that after the game Olaf Kolzig took the nameplate off his locker. Kolzig is my favorite Capital of all time. I won’t go into too much detail, but if he truly is done with the Washington Caps then it’s the final chapter in the story of the man who WAS the Washington Capitals. I understand and fully back Gabby’s decision to play Huet down the stretch and into the playoffs. Huet was playing stronger and gave us more of a chance to win, which is what really matters at the end of a game. Still I would have liked to be able to give Olie the standing ovation he deserved had he come out for a few minutes in the playoffs. I was there for his 300th win, and the love the fans have for this man is overpowering. I really hope that if Kolzig retires that we have one last chance to thank him. I truly hope that we do right by him and give him the offer he deserves. It would break my heart to see Olie in a thrasher’s uni or to retire anything but a Washington Capital.
One final time I would like to thank Ted and George for giving us this team, and for bringing back the city that had forgotten about the Caps. For me it doesn’t matter how they play, I’m going to and watching the games no matter what. Even so, it is much nicer being one of 19,000 in a red clad sea of fans, than trying to ignore the flyers and penguin fans who always made it down to games during the regular season. Thank you for that Ted.
As for now, my job is entering the busiest season of the year, I’ve got list upon list of things to be thinking about, but the only thing on my mind is the Capitals next October.
