What's a 3-1 Lead Without Some Negativity?

The Caps are getting boring. The Canadien fans booed the national anthem again, Varly still looks like the hottest goalie in the playoffs thus far (where did Ryan Miller go,) the penalty kill still has more goals in this series than the power play but it doesn't matter, and Ovechkin is still the greatest player in the game. Lets talk about how great the guy is when utilized by a competent coach like Boudreau. While 25 games is a small sample, he currently has the highest goal per game average in the playoffs in the history of the NHL. Higher than Gretzky, Howe, Lemieux, Orr, Richards, anyone. He isn't sitting by the goal waiting for chip shots. He is 8th in the playoffs in hits while no one else in the top twenty has more than one goal. By the time OV and this dynasty in the making is done, he could be the greatest of all time. But that is looking a ways down the line. All we need is fair officiating.


One Cap who will not be amongst the greatest of all time is "Mr. Irrelevant" Alex Semin. He has always been a selfish player, and he would be invisible on the ice if not for his mistakes almost adversely effecting the Caps. His laziness was apparent in game 3, and if not for Boyd Gordon again, he could have cost us one more. He was the guy who lazily did not get off the ice and got the 6 man penalty called against us. Gordon and Knuble scored the short-handed goal to turn the tide and drive the stake through the heart of the Habs, but that game could have been in peril because of Semin's handling of the puck in an attempt to pad his stats. He eventually did with an assist to OV's second goal. But look at the tape, he was poke-checked by Gill, and a fortuitous bounce had the puck land on the stick of someone who knows what to do with it. Boudreau gave the team today off (a lot of respect for the Habs at Kettler apparently,) but I would have made Semin practice by himself. Lets just hope we trade him next year before his contract runs out and get something for him. He's a forty goal scorer so he has to be valuable for someone but unfortunately, not the Caps.


Speaking of next year and negativity, the Redskins still play soon. The schedule coming out further dampened any hope of this not being a rebuilding year for the burgundy and gold. McNabb is great, and I think they will draft Williams to protect his blindside, so he should make it through at least ten games. It would be nice to already have someone there so we can grab Berry, but we can't always get what we want, we have to draft what we need. The Skins play 7 teams with 11 wins last year. Optimistically, that gets us to 2-5. There are 6 teams with records ranging from 7-9 to 9-7, and if we split that gives us a 5-8 record. We play three crap teams (one of whom we lost to in Detroit last year) and if we sweep those we are at 8-8 and out of the playoffs. I think 3-13 is just as plausible with an older and injury-prone team. If there is any way to trade that fourth overall pick for multiples they need to do it and hope some tackles get cut by teams around June. If we can get a second round pick this year for Haynesworth great, but if the Lions want him, get their first next year. It will still be high, and coupled with what should be another bad year for the Skins, you have two top ten picks next year to get your QB of the future. I don't know what next year's QB class will look like, but I am sure Kiper will have a list out on Sunday morning.


Or how about this scenario? The Steelers want to trade Big Ben because they are a classy organization (unlike their cross-town crony crybabies.) Snyder has no class, so why not get the guy and hire someone to keep him away from underage girls at bars? I am ready to write off next year, so his six game suspension doesn't mean a whole lot, especially with a competent QB like Campbell if we don't trade him away for an insignificant fifth-rounder. Trade him for McNabb, getting a youthful guy who is tough enough to stand behind the Skins line after crashing into guardrails already, swap first round picks, and pick up a second or third while you are at it. If you can slide Haynesworth in there somewhere, you turn the Steelers into a Super Bowl contender, and the Skins could be competitive in 2012. I'm being serious, the 10 year stink of Cerrato doesn't wash off in a few months. An offensive tackle is the smart choice, but not a guarantee. Boswell, the Ovechkin of the Post, had an amazing stat: if you take every first to fourth overall pick from 1980 through 2004 totalling one hundred players, 39 NEVER made one Pro Bowl. (Paging Mr. Shuler and Mr. Westbrook.) If there are no moves towards the future and no football in 2011, the Nats have a better chance of making the playoffs before the Skins. Yeah I said it, mark it on your calendars, April 22cnd, 2010.



That is if anyone comes to see them. They have had the two lowest attendance numbers in the history of Nattos park two out of the past three games. Granted, those two days fell on Caps playoff games. I may be one of the bigger Nats fans in town, but if I had free tickets for those $330 seats behind home plate for a Rockies game in April and the Caps were playing pivotal playoff hockey on the road, I would be planted firmly on my couch. The Nats can't complain, they have had back to back 100 loss seasons, and as the Redskins need to see, Rome wasn't built in a day. Ticket sales are actually up, with an average of 20,143 through the first nine games compared to 19,803 for last year, and when some of these games are sandwiched between 10-0 deficits 3 innings in, Nationals park is clearly a third-rate ticket compared to the rest of DC sports. They are currently the fourth-best team in the NL, and if they can play .500 ball into June when our starting rotation should be both healthy and stocked with Strasburg, this town will get excited for a possible winner. Right now, owner Mark Lerner is even ignoring the games in DC to go up to Harrisburg to watch Strasburg in AA rather than his own team's games so you can't really blame the fans right now for no-showng as well. It is just impossible to beat the Caps right now. This could be one of the greatest teams in the history of DC sports. Sorry I hadn't talked Nattos or Skins in a while, but the Caps are just too good not to gloat over right now. Lets hope they finish off the Habs Friday and take a week to relax for the Carter and Gagne-less Flyers.