Always Look On the (Sort of) Bright Side of Life

It's always nice to open the paper (or in my case, click on a link) and see Dave Fay's byline in the Washington Times. It just sets the mood for a happy day.

Sarcasm, folks. Live it, love it.

Just days after the Caps made a pretty significant splash in the free agent market, a collection of moves that seem to have pleased both pundits and fans alike, we get an article from everyone's favorite crotchety old man with the following title: Caps Still Must Address Defense.

Okay. We all were here last year and the year before. We know that defense has, in recent years, not been a strong suit in Washington. No one is arguing that point, nor is anyone arguing that while the moves GMGM made were good this is still not a Stanley Cup-caliber team and they will at some point need a veteran, stay at home defenseman. Even McPhee himself has hinted that the Caps are not necessarily done retooling, a process that will likely and should continue through the arbitration period and right up to training camp.

But do we have to get all gloomy so quickly? McPhee has pulled off some near-brilliant moves, starting with the draft, and has improved this team significantly. Instead of pointing out that "All [three new Caps] have warts", (and honestly, very few players don't have "warts" as he so nicely puts it) why not focus on what they can add to this team? Power play presence, puck-moving ability, veteran experience...nothing? Nope. Here's what he says about the newbies:

Kozlov, 32, has worked with Alex Ovechkin previously in Russia. Assuming Kozlov is Ovechkin's right wing, that opens up avenues for the third-year player that were not there before. [Gee, I think he likes Kozlov, who to me was the weakest of the three signings...]

The complaint against Nylander, who turns 35 in October, wherever he has been is that he holds the puck too long, passing up scoring opportunities while playing keep-away. Chances are that can't be cured, but at least no one has been complaining about his defense. [Oh, snap! Clever, Dave.]

Poti's reputation has been as a "soft" defenseman, one who is not as reliable killing a penalty or even in normal defensive situations as he is setting up a power play, where he excels. Poti, 30, should be able to build on his reputation with the Caps. [Not really sure if he means that in a good way or a bad way...]

Dave does praise McPhee for doing what he's done and admits the team is better, but there are a few too many "buts" in this article for my liking, a few too many backhanded compliments. I'm not surprised, I'm just pointing it out - it's what I do.

One last rant and then I'll let ol' Dave be - Mr. Fay, please don't put words in my mouth or thoughts in my mind by saying stuff like this: "[i]t's just that fans are anxious to hear what sound a second shoe makes."

Please, I'm a Caps fan. I've heard plenty of other shoes dropping. Let me be happy, if only for a little while longer...

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I'm Schizophrenic and So Am I

Ah, good old Dave Fay is at it again.

It was only about a week ago that Fay made his return to the Washington Times with a piece that has been widely discussed, analyzed, and basically ripped apart by various Caps bloggers and even the owner himself. In the article he claimed that, among other things, the Caps and Penguins were working on the same timeline. Therefore the lack of forward movement by the Caps while Pittsburgh shoots into the playoffs is an indication that nothing is right with this team.

I'm paraphrasing, but you get the idea.

Amazing what ten days and a visit from those revered Penguins will do, huh? Now for some reason Dave is Mr. Optimistic., Mr. Give-it-Another-Year, Mr. They're-Just-Missing-a-Few-Parts-and-They'll-Be-a-Playoff-Bound-Team-With-Exciting-Players-and-Fans-in-the-Seats...

..but you can call him Skip for short.

At least that's what you might believe he was if you read today's article in the Times. The crazy notions he comes up with in this one, really - the fact that Pittsburgh has missed the playoffs more consecutive seasons and had more first round picks than the Caps over the last five years means their rebuild is further along? YOU DON'T SAY. It's just amazing to me that this story is written without even the faintest trace of irony or self-awareness, not even a mention of that slam piece masquerading as journalism earlier in the month.

Of course, it wouldn't be a Dave Fay piece if he didn't take a few digs (a few?) at the current team...here's my favorite:

[McPhee] refused to discuss what those pieces [needed to improve the team] are or their costs, but it's obvious -- at least one quality center, a skilled right wing and at least two defensemen who can handle the puck without treating it like a live hand grenade. McPhee's main problem might be to persuade free agents to come to a team lacking in a winning atmosphere.

By the way, I'm pretty sure teams understand that a winning atmosphere comes with...um...winning. Which they can help us do. Just a thought...

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Good Morning, Sunshine

The Caps are currently riding high on a two game winning streak over teams battling for playoff berths and playoff positioning. Tomas Fleischmann is coming off the best game of his professional career, Olie Kolzig is back and better than ever, and Semin has notched another three-goal night.

So let's knock them down and kick them a few times...just for fun. Sound like a good idea? It does if you're Dave Fay, who makes his triumphant return to the Washington Times with yet another whiny, pessimistic piece about the little team that couldn't.

It's just a disgrace that he's allowed to print such absolute drivel and call it journalism, year in and year out. Fay is a legend, an institution who has been around for decades - but that doesn't mean he's allowed to just make stuff up, does it? If Fay was a columnist, a pundit who made his living on pointing out flaws and mocking teams, it would almost be okay. But he's a beat writer, someone assigned by his publication to cover a team with the same journalistic integrity with which one would cover the war in Iraq. It may be frivolous, but it's news and should be treated as such.

I'm 110% sure I can't really add anything to what amounts to a fantastic post over at Japers' Rink, nor do I want to try and compete with that. His analysis is spot on.

I can only say this - the assertion that Backstrom isn't coming over here is unsubstantiated at best (and who around here thinks GMGM won't be flying to Sweden this summer to make sure our new star center is here come October?).

The implication that the Caps won't be spending money this offseason is, if you listen to the owner, the GM, and the players, completely false. It's going to happen, and I think GMGM is going to surprise a lot of people. (PSSSST...George...Chris Drury. GET CHRIS DRURY!!)

The idea that the Caps should be right in step with the Penguins is so wrong I can't even get into it (although JP does an excellent job of explaining why that's not true).

Fay's implication that the Caps should have gone after aging players for one dramatic playoff push at the trade deadline, like Atlanta and Pittsburgh, is absurd. You can keep your Tkachuk's and your Roberts's, and say what you will about their value to their new teams - I think both of them are just happy to be out of bottom-feeding teams, and both are in the last years of their admittedly illustrious careers. That's just not what the Caps need right now. That's not where we are, not yet.

Look, the Caps get picked on by opposition teams, coaches and fans. They get mocked incessantly in those teams' media outlets. When they actually get national coverage they're a running joke, nothing more than a punchline. They don't need local media joining the pack against them, and that constantly seems like what's happening.

Why not focus on the good? Why keep drilling into the ground the fact that the team needs to add outside players when it has been stated over and over and over and over again that that's going to happen come July 1? Why turn off those few casual fans who might have considered going to a game?

For that matter, why knock down a team that for the first time in weeks, months even, is playing with a bit of a spark, a little confidence? How do you think the boys will feel when, after two triumphant and surprising wins over playoff-caliber teams, they read this:

Take Alex 1 and 2 off the roster and this is a team that would have trouble winning in the American Hockey League.

Aside from the fact that its snarky and downright mean, that couldn't be further from the truth. Look at who scored the goals over the last two games. Now look at the roster of the Calder Cup-winning Bears. Yup, they'd have a hard time in the AHL, those...er...AHL champions...

Welcome back, Dave.

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