Friday, January 25, 2008

The Caps Play Dirty

A little love for the Caps today as we head into the All-Star break...and a little something less than love from Canada.

First up, AP has news for everyone that Caps fans already know - the playoff race is now on in DC.

Playoff race? Capitals?

Well, take a long, hard look at those standings as the NHL heads into the All-Star break. Washington (23-22-5) is one point behind first-place Carolina in the Southeast Division. Granted, it's a weak division, but even this is more than anyone could have expected considering where the Capitals were two months ago.
So true. Brooks Laich had this to say:
"It's been a lot of hard work. It's come from the change. It's come directly from Bruce. He's a confident guy, and he preaches that to his players, and his players are playing with confidence. He makes the game real easy to play. It's a lot different around here now than it was before."
Then the spotlight comes to rest on little Nicklas Backstrom as he heads off to his first - and probably not last - All-Star Game. He was rookie of the month in December, 12 points in 9 games in January, and poised to do even more down the stretch:
“Everything is different,” said Backstrom. “Now I know where I should go and where I should be on the ice. If you know that, that’s pretty good. I think it’s going better and better. But I think it can get even better.”
And finally if you hadn't heard, the Caps are the second coming of this year's Philadelphia Flyers. Well, according to the Star, that is:

Cliff Fletcher was brought into Toronto as interim general manager to prepare the Maple Leafs for the future and a new head hockey honcho.

Really, all the team needs is a few more games against the hard-hitting, some might say dirty, Washington Capitals. [Subtle...]

The way bodies have been dropping over the last two games, a little bit more of this Capital punishment and the entire Marlies squad would soon be wearing Maple Leaf jerseys. The future would be now.

Hockey should be a no-contact sport. Got it. Don Cherry will be so pleased.

5 comments:

Unknown said...

The Caps don't generally play dirty, they're way out of the league of the Flyers or Pens. But last couple games, Erskine especially has pushed the envelope a bit. I don't think that makes for a dirty team, but I do want to believe that my team plays fairly.

Chris & Sarah said...

It's just more whining from the Egocentric poor sport TO media.

Victor said...

Gotta agree with Ari. I never saw the hit on Wednesday that broke a Leaf, but the TO announcers were still groaning about it last night. At least they admitted the high-sticking penalty in the first didn't actually involve the Caps (that is, Domi got hit by a stick from a teammate).

(BTW, I like listening to the opposing announcers via NHL.com. It's pretty cool.)

CapsChick said...

Trust me, Ari and Victor, I agree 110%...the Caps are not dirty at all. There were a few overzealous hits in the last few games - maybe - but that's only because the Leafs are playing soft right now for whatever reason. Nice to see the big boys stepping it up, that's the way they should be.

Chris said...

Dirty? Hilarious.