 Throughout the team's history, success has not come easy for the Washington Capitals. Their strong teams of the 1990s always seemed to fall short in the playoffs for the very same reason – the Pittsburgh Penguins. The Caps finally had things swing their way in 2004, when beat out the Pens for the top lottery pick, which turned out to be superstar Alexander Ovechkin! Finally, the Washington Capitals had the advantage of an elite star, and were going to be able to avenge all those playoff defeats at the hands of Pittsburgh and their stars, Lemieux and Jagr. The excitement was very short-lived, as soon as the Penguins chose superstar Evgeni Malkin with the very next pick, before raising the stakes even higher the next year by picking up the newest face of the NHL, Sidney Crosby. What do the Caps need to do to finally get past the Penguins? Washington had a great season in 2008-2009, running away with their division with a dominant 50-24-8 record. Ovechkin continued his superior play by scoring 56 goals and 110 points, while young playmaker Nick Backstrom also came into his own with 88 points. As an added bonus, defenseman Mike Green became the first at his position in almost twenty years to score more than 30 goals, and was a finalist for the Norris Trophy. This young squad of Capitals charged into the playoffs, with most of the roster winning their very first career playoff series, by defeating the New York Rangers. However, it was once again the Pittsburgh Penguins waiting for Washington in the second round. After Caps winger Alexander Semin had questioned Crosby's superstar qualifications early in the season, tensions had risen considerably between the two foes. Washington jumped to an early series lead after winning a memorable Game 2, which featured Crosby and Ovechkin each scoring hat tricks. Unfortunately it was not enough, and Pittsburgh battled back to force a Game 7; Pittsburgh dominated the Capitals 6-2, continuing to control their rivals in the playoffs, as always. Being an exceptionally young team, the Capitals did not really need to make any major moves in the offseason. Sergei Fedorov and Viktor Kozlov both departed to finish out their careers in Russia, but Washington brought in gritty winger Mike Knuble and center Brendan Morrison to fill in the gaps. Another reason the Caps do not need to make many moves outside the organization is because their top farm team won the AHL championship last season and there is a wealth of talent on the way up from within. Everyone knows that the Capitals are Ovechkin's team. The combination is unfathomable; the most flamboyant player in hockey is also the best scorer in the world, while possessing a major physical element to his game. At age 24, Ovechkin's just really entering the prime of his career and no one would be shocked if he scored 60 goals or more this year, and repeated as league MVP. Highlighting a young core around Ovechkin are the likes of Backstrom, Semin with 34 goals last year, Brooks Laich, Thomas Fleischmann, and Dave Steckel, along with the additions of Knuble and Morrison. Don't forget veteran playmaker Michal Nylander either, who gives the Capitals the ability of a third dangerous scoring line. With so much elite young talent, the Caps are going to score a ton of goals this season. Last season's weakest link was the Washington defense. Despite Green's 31 goals and 73 points, he is not the best defender and the Caps often found themselves exposed at the blue line. Milan Jurcina, Shaone Morrison, and Tom Poti, complete the top four but this unit needs to drastically improve in their own end. The Capitals also have serious questions at goalie. Jose Theodore was the team's starting goaltender all season, but after a poor showing early in the first round of the playoffs, he was replaced by rookie Semyon Varlemov, despite his only playing 6 games the entire regular season. Varlemov played inspired throughout the playoffs, and at the young age of 21 is clearly the Washington's goalkeeper of the future. The Caps are always going to be on the attack – trying to outscore everyone, and more often than not they will be successful. With all of their talent, it would certainly be a surprise if they didn't repeat as division champs and once again made a serious run at Lord Stanley's Cup. Get your Washington Capitals ticket now and get to the Verizon Center to see how far this exciting offensive machine will go this year.
|
