Hockey is back in America's Hockey Capital and it is damned good. The Caps steamrolled the Devils, who many people fail to forget were the #2 seed who were knocked out first round as well. The Devils are a tough team, with 11 players making over $3 million a year, leading the league, and a future Hall of Famer in goal. After a somber opening night where the Caps honestly thought the opposing goalie may have died of fright facing a team of all-stars, they rebounded with a great home opener. Anytime you beat Brodeur you have to feel good, anytime you chase him from goal in favor of Hedberg you have to feel great. Anytime you beat him with a rookie goalie who is playing on the back end of back-to-back nights, you have to feel fantastic. If Neuvrith stays healthy and Boudreau can stay off his Varlamov-in-the-playoffs kick, thats the guy who will and should be in net come the playoffs.
The team gave the crowd a show with four fights as well, a penalty shot for MVP OV's second goal of the year, and a crazed Boudreau almost climbing over the plexiglass to get after the Devil's coaching staff to retaliate for the cheapshot on Johansson 2.0. The sellout crowd for the third straight season was great as well, so much so it prompted newly acquired Matt Hendricks to note that the atmosphere was "like nothing he had seen before." He came from Colorado, which used to have the best rivalry in the NHL when the Red Wings came to town. The fact that the Caps have already surpassed this for a non-rivalry, non-division game in October really does show that DC has become America's Hockey Capital.
In fact I can't remember the last time that I was at a Caps game and no one talked about the Skins while they were in first place, but it happened tonight. No one thought they would win last week, and I hate to say I told you so but I told you so. Shanahan rebounded after letting his team falter to the Rams. Don't let any of the talk about the Rams being better than people thought fool you, the Skins should have beat them. But they rebounded by going into the cesspool that is Philly and beating them with plain old nasty NFC East football. They've been playing that way all season and that has been the best part of the Shanahan regime. They have knocked the opposing team's best player out of the game in all but one game thus far. (And in the one, they knocked Andre Johnson around so much he hasn't been the same since.) DeMarcus Ware, Stephen Jackson and Vick (not to mention McCoy and Samuel) have all been subjected to the new attitude that Shanahan has infused, and while I am not condoning intentionally hurting someone, if I was Rodgers I might be nervous.
The Washington Post had a great article on how much Orakpo has been held so far this year. If the refs keep an eye on him, it could be a long day for Rodgers. Green Bay has an improved line, but Rodgers was still the most sacked QB in the NFL last year. (Yes, even more than Campbell.) I would look for the Skins to pass around out of the gate to show they can do it, then turn to the run game to keep that Green Bay offense off the field. That is, if Trent Williams, still the offensive MVP, can get back on the field. This is a winnable game, as opposed to the Indy game the very next Sunday, who will not drop to 3-3 or even less likely, 2-4. The Skins are going to need to beat either the Pack, Bears or both to have the kind of season I expect from them. It is a big game for Landry, who can elevate himself from team defensive MVP to talk of league defensive MVP if he can keep Finley to two or three catches and continue on his tackling tear. Furthermore, if we can get the aforementioned pressure on Rodgers, he should be forced into some errant throws. If three or four of those errant throws bounce off Carlos Rodger's hands and he can manage to hold onto one of them, the Skins should win. I understand it is not as bold of a pick as last week's Eagle prediction, but that's my take.
And as for last week, the simpleton Philly fans who say that the Skins never would have won if Vick wasn't knocked out just show how dumb they really are. Of course that was a possibility, but injuries happen in football. Philly sure seems to have wimped out for a town that talks about Buddy Ryan like he is Vince Lombardi. The Skins have gone without their starting safety for two games, their offensive MVP for over two, and our starting running back for parts of two and now an additional 4-6. We still lead the East and beat the Iggles, and it is not our fault their back-up QB and McNabb heir apparent can only dump off to his backs and Carlos Rodgers' hands of stone. And for the record Philly, you should be headed to Cincy in a 1-1 series. The umps blew the call that handed the Phils game two, and only in that podunk town could a postseason no-no be overshadowed by chicanery. You reap what you sow.
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