Recently by Denny Pratt Tragedy

Here we go again, down 3-1 in the first round, same as last year. Against the Flyers , the Caps won the first and dropped three straight. This year is a bit different; losing the first two at home before splitting the next two in NY. Last year the caps rebounded with two wins and nearly a third before dropping a heartbreaker to Philly in overtime. Can the same basic team repeat history? I am not going to speculate on this one, however to a man , the Caps will say the series is not over yet, and they have the Rangers right where they want them. Hopefully our blue-clad visitors from Gotham will have the same smug attitude that this one is in the books, and open the door for another furious charge from the Red Warriors. Hopefully Ovechkin will bring his ramped-up game, and ramp it up some more. Hopefully Mike Green will ramp-up what has been an admittedly lackluster game. Hopefully Varly won't dwell on the freak goals of Wed nite's loss. And foremost , hopefully our heroes will feed off the energy of the red clad fans. "Unleash The Fury", "All Your Fault", and "Lets Go Caps" need to be shouted as loud as ever, and hopefully not for the last time this season.

when i first saw the cartoon images the caps put on the jumbo video boards after the Caps score, i was sure the players would get a healthy ribbing from their teammates. Especially Nicklas Backstrom done up to look like a new age Mighty Thor complete with a hammer and viking helmet, and red cape. Looks like the creative geniouses in the Caps production staff got that one dead on. Backstrom's game has jumped by leaps and bounds the last few months after another slow start to the season. Last nite's assist on Tom Poti's goal was just plain freaky. Watching instant replay, you can see him look up for a millisecond before turning his back, and flicking a stong pass across the faceoff circle to a streaking Poti. Bruce B said it was one of the best passing plays he has seen all season. Most impressive were his 4 registered hits, and several rushes where bigger players just bounced off him. Has our quiet ,young Nicklas indeed gained super powers? will arch-enemy Chris Drury summon up the strength to stop our hero? can the evil Torts draw up a diabolical plan to slow down The Russian Machine? Stay Tuned...........

when, i'm wrong; i am the first to admit it except when someone beats me to the punch. And i was wrong about sending Theodore back to the crease for the Caps. All hail our new conquering hero; Simeon Varlamov, who stole the show tonight for the Caps, pasting the Rangers 4-0. With his aggressive play in front of the crease, Varly spoke clear volume about who should tend the cage for the rest of the series, and hopefully beyond. Now, however; what do we do with our overpriced backup? And i'm not talking about Brent Johnson either. A 4.5 million dollar albatross against the cap for next year. too bad the Caps can't sell Jose's contract to the Helsinki Formulas of the Finnish Elite League. Looks like they'll have 2 untradeable contracts next year if you include Nylander. With the cap seemingly to be lower next year, GMGM will have his work cut out, especially if he is going to give both Semin and Backstrom long term deals.I see the Preds gave David Poile a years extension; perhaps GMGM could fleece him for a few draft picks in exchange for our dead weights ala the Brendan Witt deal of 2006.. Should make for an interesting summer. Until then Varly is the Man!

It happens every spring isn't just a baseball movie, it also can be a title to the history of the Capitals. Dating back to the spring of 1983, the Caps number one problem has been the lack of a hot goaltender for the playoffs. Whether it be Bob Mason, or Al Jensen, or Pete Peeters, Clint malarchuk, Byron Dafoe, Rick Tabbaracci, Jim Carey or even Ollie Kolzig; our hometown heroes always seem to fall short of their expected goals. This year is no exception. Jose Theodore (also known as threeormore) just hasn't caught fire as hoped. His removal for game 2 , while not a huge suprise to most fans, did in fact catch me by suprise. Bruce runs the risk of the plunging of Jose's confidence, at the same time as betting the farm on an untested playoff rookie in Simeon Varlamov. The Caps did have moderate success at times in the 90's by shuffling goalies in the post season, but it is by no means a sure bet. Despite Simeon's sparkling play in game 2, it would probably be a good idea to run Jose back out for game 3; otherwise GMGM may have a 4.5 million albatross around his neck next year. That is if GMGM survives a HOT summer.