capcrunch98

Carbery absolutely should not be catching any flack at this point. GMBM sent him into a high-stakes poker game with crappy cards and a low bankroll. The coach is just playing the lousy hand he's been dealt. But I will say, if management is going to stay on the course they're on - no real rebuild, trying to put a patchwork team together and pray they overachieve, and put Ovi's goal chase above everything else - then they may need to swap out to another coach and hope a new system will help Ovi's production. Not fair to Carbery at all, but they're putting all their eggs in the Great Chase basket, and Ovechkin has been extremely unproductive since Carbery took over (although I don't believe it's the coach's fault). Tough times in Caps land.

Ted's had a big hard-on for Virginia forever. Even in the early days of him owning the team, little things he said made it clear that's where his heart is. I don't blame him for moving, and I say that as a longtime season ticketholder who will probably have to let go since this will add an hour to my roundtrip gameday commute from MoCo. Yes, most of this is about money, which is unfortunate. But I have no doubt that exhaustion from dealing with an incompetent DC government plays into this too.

He's the greatest goal scorer of all time, with or without the record. 830 goals in Ovi's era is equivalent to over 900 goals in Wayne's era, where every game was 6-5, every team had at least one 40 - 50 goal scorer, and even 4th line goons lit the lamp 15 times per year. But it would be weird seeing him hanging on for 3 more years, struggling to score 20 goals (he may not even reach that this year). It's like the former heavyweight champ who used to headline pay-per-views, now punch-drunk and fighting scrubs in front of not more than 1,000 fans in a random Indian casino in the middle of nowhere. I personally don't think Ovi would go for that. Remember that Gretzky could've played another 3 seasons, but chose not to because he recognized he wasn't at the level he was accustomed to. And he was still a point-per-game player when he retired. He's Ovi and he'll still be remembered as a legend either way. Curious what you've heard about his pre-season preparation? Over the past couple years, I haven't heard anything to indicate he doesn't work hard and take care of himself. I think it's just age catching up with him. Nobody can out-train Father Time.

Next season is going to be huge for Ovi. If he bounces back (and none of us should bet against it), awesome. But if it's another year of him hitting the all-star break with a single digit goal total, and the Caps being lousy on top of it, I could see him deciding he's done after the season. We know he really wants to catch Gretzky. But he's also a proud guy, and him limping out on the ice in his 40s to put up 15-20 goal seasons - all to chase down a record - does a huge disservice to his legacy. I hope I'm wrong, but next season I may be buying up extra tickets to the last home game, just in case.

It's pretty much over for this season. I would never root against them, but any loss from this point forward (there will be a lot of them) is a silver lining because the best thing we can do is draft well and build from the ground up. A trade or free agent signing isn't going to fix this. Everyone over the age of 25 should be available for trade at the deadline. Exceptions are Ovi (obviously), and I don't see them trading Wilson (last player from our championship core who still has some good years left) or Strome (good young first/second line player on a reasonable contract). Sadly, we don't have much that anyone would want. Mantha - one of the few good stories for us this year - should be good for a 2nd rounder, give or take. I could see a team taking a flyer on Pacioretty, although he'll need to do better than 1 goal in 10 games if we want anything beyond a late-round pick. We'd be lucky to get a can of Spam for Kuzy, and even then we'd have to eat salary to make it happen. As much as I'd love for Carlson to finish out his career as a Capital, I think they need to move him if they get a decent offer. I know he's lost a step (as has the rest of this team), and he's signed for another 2 years at $8 mil/per (ouch!), but not too long ago he was a top-pairing d-man playing upwards of 25 min per night. Guys like him have value to contenders at the deadline. As far as everyone else - maybe we'll get lucky (we're due) and Kuemper goes on a bit of a roll and we can dish him off to a playoff team having goaltending issues/injuries down the stretch. Very sad it's come to this. Between Backstrom stepping away, Ovi's gigantic decline in production, and the team just sucking with no end in sight, this will almost surely end up as the worst Caps season in almost 20 years. Agreed. Caps management has done little right over the past few years, but getting Strome for free on a cheap FA deal was a good move. He's one of the few guys on this team I wouldn't trade away.

Proud of this team for competing the first half of the season, but the wheels are starting to come off. I guess it's for the best it's happening now, so management won't do something stupid like be buyers at the trade deadline. Hate to bring it up, but Ovi now has 3 goals in his last 27 games. I've never seen a player of his caliber fall off so fast, less than a year after being a 40 goal scorer, and less than 2 years from a 50 goal campaign. He's doing other good things, like racking up assists and dishing out hits, but that goal record - which we all thought was a sure thing just a few months ago - is looking like it may not happen for another 3 years, if at all.

Fun game to be at tonight with the country music theme. Of course winning and scoring 5 goals helps too. Lindgren is terrific. Every year, there's an average team which rides great goaltending to a playoff berth, sometimes even a first round upset. I feel like that's the best-case scenario with this club, and Chucky could make it happen.

I don't think they've given up, I think this is just who they are - a very average club who is capable of beating good teams when they get great goaltending and/or lucky bounces, but more times than not they're going to fall short against better clubs, as they've been doing over the past couple weeks. There's no easy fix for this. We're not a trade or a free agent signing away from being competitive. Management needs to realize there's absolutely nothing left to squeeze out of what's left of the core of this team, and launch a rebuild. But they seem unwilling to do that, because Ted has his head so far up Ovi's ass and has promised him we won't tear this lousy team down as long as he's chasing a record which is now looking a lot more unattainable than it did just a couple months ago.

Holding on by the skin of their balls. 3 more minutes to avoid one of their worst meltdowns in a long time!

Agreed. Samsonov is not anything close to an upgrade over what we have now. And frankly, we could have Marty Brodeur in his prime, and give him pads 6-feet wide, and it wouldn't matter if this team can't figure out how to score more than 2 goals per game.

You and me both. The Toronto Situation Room, or whatever the hell they call it, is getting out of control. There are 4 refs on the ice, and coaches get a challenge. The extra layer of big brother watching is total overkill. And what pisses me off most is the call on the ice was a goal, so they need something conclusive to overturn it and Dowd's "interference" wasn't even close. They need to stop putting Ovi out there as one of our top 3 shooters, and I've been saying this even before he clearly lost a step this year. Best goal scorer ever (record be damned), but shootouts have never been his strength.

Yup, and sadly I think most of us can agree that we'll likely be sellers again this season. Mantha increased his trade value - I would think he could fetch us a 2nd rounder at this point if his play keeps up. So that's one thing that went right this year.

They didn't bother with the inquiry before the deal because these surveys don't matter. It's a token gesture to make you feel like you have a voice in the matter. In reality, the people who make these decisions have already calculated the political and economic pros outweigh the cons, and they're doing it regardless of what the Cleavers and the Bundys check on their little postcards. The only thing stopping this from happening now is if the financing falls through.

Max Pacioretty is set to make his debut sometime over the next week (maybe even this weekend). Guy is 35 years old, has played 5 games over the past 12 months, and is coming off a major injury. But if he can stay healthy and work off the rust, he could really help our limp offense.

Rangers are a really good team (it hurts to type that, but it's true), and while the Caps have been a pleasant surprise over the past 2 months they're not contenders. Not surprised by the result, these types of games are going to happen. Still, proud of the Caps for their overall play so far this year. Will be interesting to see what happens the rest of the way. This time last year the Caps were red hot and squarely in the playoff race. By the end of January, the wheels fell off. Hoping for better in 2024.

I always say that any Caps fan who thinks Ted is a bad owner (in terms of hockey, not basketball) must not have followed the team when Abe controlled them. Pollin didn't give 2 craps about the Caps other than them being a tenant for his building. Guy let every single player go when they were due for a raise, rarely attended games, and one of his last acts as owner was selling blocks of tickets to Detroit-area travel agencies when the Caps made the Finals in 1998. Ted is not perfect by any means, and I do feel like he treats the Caps a lot more as an investment, as opposed to when he purchased the team and came across as a genuine fan. But he's taken a Sesame Street franchise and turned it into a club that consistently sells out, was a legit contender for over a decade, and of course won a Stanley Cup. Regarding the move to VA, yeah it sucks, and it's definitely all about money and little to do with crime and frustration with dealing with DC gov (although those are two very real issues). I'm going to really miss Capital One Arena (which is a great stadium with another 10 - 15 years left on it's shelf life), and as a resident of MoCo this will add another 30 minute to my gameday commute. But Alexandria made him an offer he couldn't refuse. If you're dating a girl that you're losing interest in, does it really make sense to turn down a younger, funner, hotter woman just because you feel some sense of loyalty to the deteriorating relationship you're already in? Not to me it doesn't.

The optimist in me is saying the same thing, but a lot of us are really going to miss MCi/Verizon/Cap One. So many great memories at that place. The thing that irks me the most is there is NOTHING wrong with the current stadium. In the final years of the Capital Centre before the move downtown, it was obvious to a blind man that the arena was well past its expiration date. Capital One Arena is not at that point yet. I go to 30+ Caps games per year, sit everywhere from down low on the glass, Club Level, 400s, and even luxury box when my buddy's firm has extra tickets. I always get the impression of a classy arena with at least 10 - 15 years left on its shelf life. Crazy to think it's going to sit vacant for 90% of the year once the Caps and Wiz move out.

Tough one tonight. It's not just that we lost a point, but the Flyers got 2 points when they would've got none had we held on for the final 3 min. In essence, we lost 3 points to a team we're chasing in the standings. Still, the Flyers aren't the dumpster fire everyone thought they'd be this year. Going into their building and taking them to a shootout isn't bad.

I remember when Ted purchased the Caps in 1999. For the next few seasons, you could count on him being at almost every game, walking the concourse and shaking hands with fans, calling into morning radio shows the morning after, and even interacting with fans on internet message boards. I met him several times. I could tell he was a little thin-skinned and pushy, but at least he was trying. He's definitely changed. I guess money will do that to people. Mayor Bowser and most of the city council are idiots, but shame on Leonsis for trying to extort the DC taxpayers.

Great weekend for the Caps, and don't forget they made it to SO against a really good Stars team on Thursday. We're not going anywhere this season, but still nice to know they can be competitive on any night when they put in a solid effort. Strome continues to impress. Guy was the 3rd pick in the draft not too long ago. Can't believe 2 other teams gave up on him so easily. GMBM has made some really dumb moves over the past few years, but good on him for this pickup.

A nice reminder during the Christmas season that God works in mysterious ways, but at the end of it all he still loves us.

Sadly the Caps aren't going to be close to a championship team for many years. In fact, we didn't know it at the time, but their championship window pretty much closed in OT of Game 7 in 2019, when they lost to an up-and-coming but still very green Carolina team. Since then, they've been able to ride off their talent to have some good regular seasons, but they quickly get exposed as old and slow in the playoffs, when teams button up defensively, and they can't rely on getting 10 power plays per game. This season really stings. In the span of just a couple months, we've seen the end of Backstrom, and possibly Oshie. We've realized that Kuzy is likely going to be nothing more than a marginal player going forward, capable of a really good game or two, followed by a couple weeks of unmotivated crap. Carlson is no longer a top pairing d-man. And of course the toughest pill to swallow this year (I'd say more than Backstrom, because a lot of us saw last season that Nick was close to done) is seeing Ovi clearly lose a step. He's taught us many times to never count him out (at least as far as goal scoring goes), but we're 2+ months into the season, and I have never seen him so ineffective, even when he's been playing through injuries. Just wish they'd start the rebuild already, because we all know it's coming at some point.

Hoping for the best for Oshie, but that sure looked like a concussion. If it is, he needs to think about his family and life after hockey. Not sure how much more his head can take.

When we drew Texas at the beginning of the playoffs, a few of you said the Rangers are the one team in the AL who worried you Good call.

They were pretty close, considering Ovi probably only has a couple years left. 16 years together is remarkable. Having grown up a Caps fan in the 80s and 90s, and watching every good player who made more than $15/hour get shipped out of town by a cheap owner who only cared about his basketball team, it's amazing that we had 2 superstars play that long together, each spending their entire career here.