April 5, 2008

Rebuilding Complete - Caps Make Playoffs

That long, painful rebuilding plan for which Capitals' owner Ted Leonsis prepared us seems to be unnecessary. The team has been red hot since Alex Ovechkin signed a (very) long-term contract and the team made a trade for Canadiens' goalie Cristobal Huet. Now, after winning seven games in a row and 10 of 11, the Capitals snuck into the playoffs tonight as a division winner and third seed, narrowly edging the veteran-laden Carolina Hurricanes.




Tonight's match, a win-and-in affair for the Capitals, had the potential to change the future of the franchise. Now the team has something to build on. Huet is more likely to sign, and the skills core of Ovechkin, Semin, Brooks Laich, Tomas Fleischman and rookie Nicklas Backstrom (20 years old) is likely to attract the interest of free agents, hopefully defensemen. The Caps are in excellent cap space with Ovechkin the only player eating a significant chunk. They have $11M in space according to NHLSCAP, the premiere site for cap information, the fourth most room in the league.


They might not make the Cup Finals this year, but things are finally looking up.

7 Responses:

Nic said...

The O's are WINNING!!! They're top of the division!!!

J-Red said...

Yeah, I harken back to the days when the Nats were undefeated and some people were excited about the "pop" in the middle of their lineup. I guess those days are long past.

Russell said...

The most exciting part of the Caps' streak is that Washington finally has a player that's the best. With Ovechkin favored to win the MVP, DC no longer basks in mediocrity. Maybe a full post on this later...

J-Red said...

Good point Russell. If I am remembering correctly, this might be the first major sport MVP for DC in the past five decades. Did Unseld win it?

"ben" said...

Michael Jordan.

J-Red said...

Obviously he didn't win the MVP while with the Wizards.

Ok, ok. I'll do the research.

NBA: None. Award given annually since 1955.

MLB: 1913 - Walter Johnson (AL) (known as the Chalmers Award then)
1924 - Walter Johnson (AL)

NFL: 1972 - Larry Brown
1982 - Mark Moseley (I shit you not) (AP only, PFWA award to Dan Fouts)
1983 - Joe Theismann
(Obviously Super Bowl MVPs also, but we're looking for best player in a major sport)

NHL: (Hart Trophy is MVP)
None in 75-year history of award

So 1983 is the most recent Washington-area MVP award (assuming we don't credit Cal's two MVP awards to D.C., and we don't.)

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