The Washington Capitals are officially a good sports team.
You know how you know some people, but you don’t really know them, so every time you see each other, you talk about the same subject? That’s the situation I found myself in the other day.
There’s someone I “know” at AU who I will pass on my way to class, say one or two things to about the Caps and keep walking.
What he said to me the other day surprised me. Without even saying “hello,” he yells at me, “Yo, what’s going on with the Caps?”
He didn’t say it in a “Wow, they’re playing great,” kind of way. He said it like he was talking about Tiger.
This is how you know the Capitals are good. They’re competing with the Florida Panthers for first place in the Southeast Division, but they’ve lost eight of their last 12 games.
That’s where the Capitals are right now. Good teams aren’t allowed to go on losing streaks.
Recently, the New England Patriots lost two games in a row and shows on ESPN debated whether or not the league had figured out Tom Brady.
During spring training in 2002, a few months after the New York Yankees were three outs away from winning their fifth World Series in six years, a Yankee fan told Joe Torre that they would do better in the upcoming season.
Now don’t get me wrong. In no way am I comparing the Caps to the Patriots or the Yankees. But you have to understand that, for D.C., the Caps are on their level right now.
This is a city that still considers itself a football town but hasn’t had a serious Super Bowl contender since the Redskins won it in 1992.
Are the early departures from the playoffs a disappointment for Capitals fans? No doubt about it. But for real Caps fans, even the fact that the team is a perennial playoff contender is something that still doesn’t feel quite right.
When I say “real Caps fans,” I mean anyone rooting for the team pre-Ovechkin. I’m talking about those who suffered through the Jason Doig era. I’m talking about when the most entertaining part of the game was when the people rode those stupid bikes around the rink in between periods.
What else do D.C. sports fans have right now?
There is no NBA, and if there were, the Wizards would be competing for their annual lottery pick by now.
The Nats have a nice core of young talent both at the major and minor league levels, but are probably years away from seriously competing.
And the Redskins have a “who’s not quite as terrible as the other” battle going on at quarterback between Rex Grossman and John Beck.
The Capitals are a very good team, and their strong play over the last few years has raised expectations. Are they great? No. Not until they make a serious playoff run.
That does not necessarily mean a Stanley Cup, but at least an appearance. In fact, at this point, even a trip to the Eastern Conference Finals would be an improvement.
Fans have to understand that teams go through rough spots during the season, and that’s what this is.
Think about it this way: If they hadn’t won their first seven and then came crashing down like they did, would it look this bad? If their points were spread out throughout this still-early season, we wouldn’t be having this discussion.
The Capitals are too talented to keep playing like this. You don’t go from a team that wins seven in a row to one with a .300 the rest of the season.
So the answer to your question, person I don’t really know, is: Like in any sport, there are ups and downs during the season. Right now, the Caps are experiencing one of those downs.
And maybe it’s a blessing in disguise. Get the sloppy play out of the way early in the season so they are crisp going into the playoffs.
