Note This One

If the Caps make their long-awaited run in the playoffs with or without the refs interference this year, remember the game in Toronto last night. In what it is going to take to win, probably the prettiest Caps goal of the year this far was scored by Matt Hendricks, a grinder who was bludgeoned in a fight earlier in the game. And overall, it was about the fifth most important highlight of the game.

OV of course was the catalyst, but not because of his hat trick, but because of his stellar defensive play. On a team that is emphasizing defense, it is great to have a hat trick, but even more important to finish the night with a +3 rating. I wish the game was at home, because when OV dove on the ice to block a shot that was held back by the Leafs, picked himself up and adjusted, then threw himself back to the ice to block a late 3rd period attempt, he should have gotten one of the loudest cheers in his great career from grateful Caps fans. That is what it is going to take for this team to win, and his team understood that, mauling him when he returned to the bench more than they did for any of his three goals. That one defensive effort was just as important as any of his goals, in a night when the Caps finished with 27 blocked shots.

Every time OV goes Toronto, it is like he wants to exact revenge for every bad call that has gone against the Caps since he has arrived here. He relishes in going into the heart of a country that seems to dislike him so much simply for where he was born, and sticking it right to the crowd that always seems to begrudgingly eat him up. (Look at the picture above. The Leafs fans are smiling smugly as he notched yet another goal against their team. They don't want to like him, but they are after all hockey fan, and have to acknowledge if just to themselves that he is one of the best to have ever played, and are lucky to see him. But they will never tell you that.)

OV said his three goals were "lucky," which may be true, but overall I would consider the whole Cap effort plucky. This January last year, the team would have been celebrating a 5,6, or 7 goal night collectively, and coasting to extend a ridiculously long winning streak that in the end would have meant nothing. This January they finished a 3 game road trip with 5 out of 6 points, mostly with their third string goalie and a group of guys surrounding him that now get more excited over blocked shots than hat tricks. For that attitude alone, the demise of Bruce Boudreau has been much more exaggerated than the demise of Alexander Ovechkin.

With the league's "most marketable player" still out with a major whine, I mean minor concussion, the league's best player is stepping back up to the forefront, but this time playing defense first and letting "luck" and his talent get him the occasional hat trick on the "other" part of the ice. Most importantly for Caps fans, this attitude is rubbing off on the Captain's teammates. As the Caps get the "Penguin Treatment" with Pitt's "die-hard fans" tuning out with Crosby gone, the nation that hates the Great 8 got to see this close-up on Hockey Night in Canada. The US will get to see it Monday on the NHL network as the Caps take revenge on the Rangers for the first time since their 7-0 drubbing on HBO and the regular-season low point for their Caps team. With the all-star game coming up next weekend, the Caps are slowly building towards their high point, and hopefully won't hit it until June.

An Addendum: I wanted to include this video clip for two reasons. One, I want you to show it to any of your friends who believe the mainstream hockey media and the Canadian Wilbons consisting of guys like Mike Milbury and Toronto's own Damien Cox who say that OV is just some self-absorbed, self-serving punk from another country. Secondly, show it to anyone that ever says that sports is trivial, means nothing, and is taken way too seriously. It is a quick look into how it is anything but, done in a typically understated way that flies beneath the radar for guys like OV that do it just because.

One Reason Its Good To Be A Skins Fan...

is that you are not an Eagles fan. There are obvious reasons no one would want to be an Eagles fan, but the most damning one came after they were knocked out of the playoffs yet again this year. They seem to be under the impression that they had a good year. Ask your favorite Eagles fan what happened and they will tell you that they had a great year, and they are definitely better than the Redskins. (Who of course were rebuilding.) Winning the NFC East one of the few years that only one team went into the playoffs from it is not a great year in that division for anyone but the Eagles. When you boil it all down, the Redskins could not muster a playoff win. But neither could the Giants, Cowboys or Eagles: they all ended up with a big goose egg as well. I think that is a pretty big disappointment for the Giants and Dallas fans (though Dallas should be used to it by now with Romo there so long,) of course its a disappointment for Redskins nation, but is quite alright for the rabble in Philly and I find that tragic. Skins fans always overrate their team going into the season, but never overrate them coming out. Without a trophy, it is no good.

My cautious optimism for the season should have been a little lighter on optimism and heavier on caution as things turned out. I thought Shanahan would have these guys ready to play every game, and by the time our older guys started to get knocked out, the younger guys that he drafted would fit right in and start segwaying into the future of the Shanahan era. A bad early draft class did not help us when our starters began to go down, and the leftovers from the Snyder/Cerrato era played typically. All year the Skins said their second round pick was Donovan McNabb, and he turned out to be the biggest bust of all this year. However, they payed $3.5 million to have the opportunity to resign him, and unless we can get a comparable pick back for him, I keep him around another year. (My guess is that the Vikings would like one more shot at a Super Bowl and will trade big for him.)

There were a lot of signs of life. The Skins beat both of the teams playing in their conference championship. The Patriot are the only other team that can say that, and that is only because they played the Jets three times. Shanahan had them ready to play almost every week, with NY, Philly, St. Louis, and Detroit as the exceptions, and the rest of the losses can be blamed on the fact that he is still playing mostly with Cerrato's guys. Banks is the most exciting kick returner we have had in recent memory, and that includes Brian Mitchell who was great, but not nearly as exciting. Trent Williams shows that the Skins are much better at picking offensive lineman in the first round than they are at picking QBs and WRs. Torain, when healthy, is just as effective as any running back Shanahan has ever had. Cooley continues to be solid, and Fred Davis would take his job if he could just learn how to block. Rex Grossman is much better than most Skins fans thought, even though he is clearly no QB of the future. And Moss is still consistently good as the top wideout, and would be great as a second option.

The Haynesworth fiasco centered around him thinking he was the number one guy on defense, and therefore in his mind the whole scheme should be tailored to him. As it turns out, Orakpo and Landry are clearly the two best guys on that side of the ball, especially in the 3-4, and are the ones who should be built around. Fletcher is solid anywhere you put him, but his age should concern you. Finally, the starting corners are right around average, which isn't bad on a team that is the mess that Shanahan inherited. Rodgers is probably worth re-signing to a 3 or 4 year deal as long as we don't pay through the nose and he promises to at least try to catch an interception.

And that's it, everyone else can go. Seriously, the Skins are solid at KR, have a mentoring QB, 1 RB if he stays healthy, a slot WR, 2 TEs, a LT, 2 LBs, a SS, and are so-so at the CBs. Everyone else is replaceable except for Shanahan. Give the guy time, I don't care if he is 3-13 next year; he is rebuilding, and we can start to evaluate him year 3. All the Skins fans who just wanted Snyder to stay away from the team can't change their minds now. It will take a while to wash his stink off this team and franchise, and Shanahan can undoubtedly do that. Winning a Super Bowl is irrelevant right now, they just need to climb back into a spot where they can make the playoffs consistently again. Then we can start to think Super Bowl. It just takes time and will be disappointing. Not the same disappointment as the last few years, but disappointment with hope of something better. If you can't get on board with a little disappointment become an Eagles fan. Philly is kind of like your pee-wee soccer team; every year seems like a great year to them, no matter the failures.