Fortunately for Ben Cohen, the NHL, NBC, Versus, Reebok, and the good nation of Russia (but not for those like myself who bleed Broadway blue), the Caps edged out the Rangers in Tuesday’s game 7. A bet is a bet, and I’m a man of my word, so here goes:
The Capitals were NOT the better team in the series because they have the best player in the world in AO8. We did a good job of containing the Ovetchkinator, but the Ranger blueline gets awfully thin once you get past Marc Staal. When Matt Bradley is the scoring twice in one game on the best goaltender in the world, something’s seriously wrong. Sure, the King was not infallible, but without him it’s a 4-0 Washington sweep. On the other end of the ice, the Blueshirts couldn’t figure out an AHL goaltender who doesn’t speak a word of English, and while Drury atoned for at least a little of his year-long lack of leadership, the other guy wearing the an “A” on his sweater, Markus Naslund, a perennial fixture in the playoffs in previous years with the ’Nucks, was nowhere to be found down the stretch. And while it was fun to watch Ryan Callahan skate like the next Pavel Datsyuk, Jaromir Jagr’s skates are big ones to fill, try though Brandon Dubinsky might. In the end though, sure John Tortorella got us into the playoffs, but he should have been able to close out this series after going up 3-1. It just seemed to me that he couldn’t figure out whether we were the good guys or the bad guys. Are we chucking water bottles into the stands at obnoxious Caps fans, Torts, or are we benching Sean Avery, who skated like a freakin’ dream all series, to get a gold star from Gary Bettman? Just don’t make me watch MY team lose 4-0 with Aaron Voros on the ice.
Somewhere in Canada, Tom Renney is smirking. See you next year, fellas. LET’S GO BLACKHAWKS.
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