Just thinking about this last night- the Caps are really a fascinating story/study.
For 2 straight years, they won the Presidents Trophy and were looked at by many as the best team in the league. Huge expectations both years. And of course, both seasons ended with 2nd round playoff exits.
After they got knocked out last year there was about as much doom and gloom as a franchise can have- even their own players talked about how they may have missed their chance, their “window” to win Cup. It was pretty hard to watch Ovechkin’s interviews after their elimination game last year.
Now fast forward to this year- they retool, lose some guys and by almost any measure were not as talented or as good as their teams the previous two years. Greatly reduced expectations compared to the past few years.
And while they did win the division, they finished with a record not nearly as good as the past two years and went into the playoffs not really being expected to be a serious contender, especially since they once again would have to face the Pens in round 2.
And of course we now know what happened- against all odds, THIS is the year they go on a run. And what makes their run this year even more remarkable, is that they had to go through a brutal run- Columbus, Pittsburgh and Tampa- that is an impressive trifecta to knock out.
And it is almost easy to forget now, but in that Columbus series they lost the first two at home, and in game 3 were in double OT- they were basically one shot away from being down 0-3 and basically out of the playoffs in round 1- crazy stuff. (And they are in the SCF even though they are below .500 at home in the playoffs, which is also nuts)
Sometimes sports, especially the NHL, is just weird- sometimes things just make no sense.
And their story actually gives me renewed hope about the Preds- we went through this year exactly what the Caps did the past 2 seasons. There is a good chance that next year we will not have 117 points and win the PT again. We probably will not have quite the expectations that we had this year. It is so easy to fall into the thinking that “ugh- if we aren’t going to win the Cup with THIS team, how will we ever win it??”
But as the Caps showed, it doesn’t mean anything come playoff time- you can still make a run and win even if your team on paper or in the standings is not as good as a previous season.
For 2 straight years, they won the Presidents Trophy and were looked at by many as the best team in the league. Huge expectations both years. And of course, both seasons ended with 2nd round playoff exits.
After they got knocked out last year there was about as much doom and gloom as a franchise can have- even their own players talked about how they may have missed their chance, their “window” to win Cup. It was pretty hard to watch Ovechkin’s interviews after their elimination game last year.
Now fast forward to this year- they retool, lose some guys and by almost any measure were not as talented or as good as their teams the previous two years. Greatly reduced expectations compared to the past few years.
And while they did win the division, they finished with a record not nearly as good as the past two years and went into the playoffs not really being expected to be a serious contender, especially since they once again would have to face the Pens in round 2.
And of course we now know what happened- against all odds, THIS is the year they go on a run. And what makes their run this year even more remarkable, is that they had to go through a brutal run- Columbus, Pittsburgh and Tampa- that is an impressive trifecta to knock out.
And it is almost easy to forget now, but in that Columbus series they lost the first two at home, and in game 3 were in double OT- they were basically one shot away from being down 0-3 and basically out of the playoffs in round 1- crazy stuff. (And they are in the SCF even though they are below .500 at home in the playoffs, which is also nuts)
Sometimes sports, especially the NHL, is just weird- sometimes things just make no sense.
And their story actually gives me renewed hope about the Preds- we went through this year exactly what the Caps did the past 2 seasons. There is a good chance that next year we will not have 117 points and win the PT again. We probably will not have quite the expectations that we had this year. It is so easy to fall into the thinking that “ugh- if we aren’t going to win the Cup with THIS team, how will we ever win it??”
But as the Caps showed, it doesn’t mean anything come playoff time- you can still make a run and win even if your team on paper or in the standings is not as good as a previous season.
