Reality Bites

I've been on such a high since Saturday night's game...it was so good that it carried me right through the weekend and past a "case of the Mondays".

I'm not crazy - I know that the game against the Hurricanes was not perfect and that things will need to improve. But I'm excited by the prospect of watching Ovie and Semin provide that much needed offensive one-two punch all season long. I'm pumped at the fact that over 16,000 people were in attendance to watch the season opener (although a sellout would have been better...we'll work on it). I love that they beat the defending champions.

Why do people feel the need to bring me down to reality? We've got a five day break between Caps games and I need something to carry me through. False hope always seems to do the trick. I'm not alone either - just look at Mike Vogel's ever-optimistic entry on the Capitals' website. Even eternal pessimist and all-around downer Dave Fay was looking bright-eyed this morning, featuring a nice little piece on Jakub Klepis. All seemed sunny and right with the world.

And then the rain came.

The Washington Post and the new Post blog, Capitals Insider, are both reporting tales of impending doom due to the I-word...injuries. Seriously, it's so early to be losing man-games to injury - I'm going to start wrapping up the entire team in bubble wrap if that's what it takes. You can now add Clymer to the list of players with nagging boo-boos, although he is scheduled to play Thursday night. El-Bashir was particularly pessimistic when it came to the prognosis on Matt Pettinger, who is apparently not quite ready to resume his gritty style of play.

The good news? A well-spaced schedule, while bad for diehard Caps fans needing a hockey fix, is excellent for a banged-up team like ours. Thursday's matchup with the Wild should feature a return to play for Matt Bradley, who has yet to appear in a regular season game. I also have to point out that while I share Tarik's concern with Zubrus's knee, I saw him play on Saturday - if that's not Zubie at 100%, things look good for the rest of the season.

Ah, senseless optimism...I feel better now!