Long road ahead, and behind

As the Washington Capitals head west for a tough four-game, eight-day road trip and have a few more days ahead before their next game, vs. Anaheim, and as I spent a brisk and sunny Monday battling flu-like symptoms (day-to-day) an undisclosed inner-body injury, savoring the dominating play of these Caps during the last six games, I couldn’t help but reflect again on how far this franchise has come in four years time. 

In the press box at the Verizon Center last Friday night, just after the conclusion of Caps’ dramatic 3-1 win over the Devils, I waited for the elevator alongside new media pioneer Eric McErlain, and we chatted about a couple of standouts from the night, most notably Tomas Fleischmann.  It was wonderful to see, finally, players like Flash bringing a near-complete game to the ice, the one that fans have been promised for so long.  Brooks Laich, another one, is now a hard-nosed, versatile center who can effectively park himself at the top of the crease on a power play, win draws, and pot 20 + goals in a season.

Add Steckel, Schultz, Green, Morrisonn.  Unproven talent brought into the organization as a direct result of the 2004 fire sale, and post-lockout re-stocking.

And, of course, Backstrom and Ovechkin, today both NHL Stars of the Week (the first time that more than one Cap has earned the honor in the same week, in the honor’s brief history).  I watched a dozen times that dish from Backstrom to Ovechkin for the last second GTG on Saturday, the two of them calmly yet decivisely creating a play for themselves in slo-mo, while the rest of the skaters on ice scrambled.

What was preached to the fans for so long:  the gospel of careful drafting, patience, and perseverance, continues to be revelatory.  And the rewards of adherence are here to stay.

Just a few months beyond four years ago, I sat in the lower bowl of the VZ, then MCI Center, and took in the final home game of the 2003-04 season, an April 3rd 3-2 OT loss to the Rangers.  Eric attended that game as well and, as we reminisced, he observed about the last few weeks of that season of dismantling, “There was no hope in that arena.”  The lockout loomed large, the great free-agent experiment in Jaromir Jagr and Robert Lang failed catastrophically, the future of the franchise, and the very league, grave.  What a long road now behind us.

Manning the pipes of the Capitals net in front of me on that April, 2004 afternoon was Olie Kolzig, and we fans wondered if this might be his last Capitals game, perhaps last NHL game ever.  His backup was Matt Yeats, a 1998, 9th round selection by the L.A. Kings, signed as a free agent a few weeks prior to that April match, after playing for the Reading Royals of the East Coast league (and only signed as a free agent the previous December by that franchise).  Yahtzee!

Matt Yeats, photo by Mike Ashmore

Here was your full Capitals lineup for that April 3, 2004 game.  Just contemplate this roster for a moment.

from espn.com

The following game, the final one of that season, was in Pittsburgh (and Yeats was in goal for that one).  Again, a loss.  Alex Semin, our current season MVP, now tied for the league lead in goals scored and +/-,  missed the plane to Pittsburgh for the final regular season game there, his character then subject of much speculation.

And, of course, shortly thereafter, on top of the lockout mess vomited forth onto the laps of loyal fans, the infamous Semin contract dispute ensued. 

Today, of course, all of that is far in the rear-view, and our new heroes embark on the road to try to grasp a majority of available points in those four games (5 of 8 pts. would have to be considered a rousing success) versus a recent Cup champion in Anaheim, the stingiest team in SA/G in the surprising Kings, the hottest team in the league (and second stingiest in SA/G) in the SJ Sharks, and a scrappy, trapping Minnesota team that has given up a league-best 2.00 GA/G. 

capitals.nhl.com

As accompanies this new dawn, this unprecedented chapter of Capitals hockey, the team also has a rapidly growing generation of younger, excited fans, who have only known the Ovechkin-era, and will grow up expecting to see brilliance on the ice, and not resigned to heart-breaking defeat.

capitals.nhl.com

But older, perennial die-hards are on board too, expecting to win.   The house was red-rocking in full force on Friday night, and many fans traveled from Virginia, D.C., and Baltimore to Newark on the next night to watch the Caps on the road, returning home the same night, a five + hour trip for some.  For a game in mid-November.

Definitely we’ve all “stopped and taken notice.”  And not just of our former Vezina Trophy winning goaltender. 

Following an already stellar, Jack Adams-winning (and bobble head-earning) season by Boudreau, leading the team to a 37-17-7 record, these Caps show no signs of slowing. 

With the one point earned and regulation loss avoided on Saturday in Newark, the Capitals are currently on a pace, through 17 games, to earn 111 points and lose only 19 games all season.  Last season’s Presidents’ Trophy and Stanley Cup winning Detroit Red Wings finished 54-21-7, good for 115 points.

And before Saturday, the team had allowed two goals or fewer in the previous six contests.  So they were due for a clunker on D.  And still, the relentless offense almost saved both points.

So the road toward the Stanley Cup still spans many, many miles, and we’re not even 20 games into the season.  There will be defensive systems to tighten, power plays to tweak, more slumps to endure.  But, reflecting on all that has evolved so beautifully throughout the past several Capitals seasons, I’m savoring every mile of it. 

PS:  On Saturday in Newark, I sat with a friend who had witnessed but one hockey game in his life before that one.  Two of his observations, as a new fan, a tabula rasa, are instructive. 

First, he wanted to see a fight at some point, and seemed mildly disappointed that no one dropped ‘em.

Second, and more importantly, he was thrilled to witness a last second GTG, and the ensuing, scoreless, overtime.  However, once the skills competition began, he was nonplussed.  While admitting to wanting to see an ultimate victor, he was shocked that the game would be decided by a shootout:  “they get to just skate right in on the goalie like that, and this decides the game?”  Yup.

Favorite chant from Newark’s fans on Saturday, directed at Caps fans?  “Nineteen-never.”