Sports Editor
It was but three seasons ago that the
Washington Capitals were at the top of the league with 121 points winning the
President’s Trophy. The following year
the Capitals were again at the top of the Eastern Conference with 107
points. Despite the fact they’ve yet to
get passed the conference semi-finals.
Washington was the team to beat.
Over the past two years, however, they’ve struggled.
Last season they made the playoffs with
92 points. This season is a different story; Washington is dead last in the
Eastern Conference as well as in the entire league. Although they lost a part of their fire power
with Alexander Semin going to the Carolina Hurricanes, they also gained Mike
Ribero and Wojtek Wolski during the offseason.
Part of the issue could be that head
coach Adam Oates is still getting settled, but once Bruce Boudreau left mid-way
through last season, the entire team crumbled to the ground. Also, what was once a possible goalie dynasty
isn’t any longer. Semyon Varlamov, the
Capitals previous starting goaltender before he was traded to the Colorado
Avalanche, appeared to be the
goalie of the franchise as he helped the team get as far as they did in
the playoffs.
It’s obvious that the once Alexander
“The Great” Ovechkin, isn’t as great as he once was. Although it’s tough to top a 50 plus goal
season with 100 plus points, even though he accomplished this for three back to
back seasons, he only scored 32 in the 09-10 season and 38 in 11-12. Most players average between 20-30 goals per
season. Sure, he’s still scoring better
than the leagues average player, but his seasons of 50 plus goals may have
vanished.
However, the game has changed since
Alex’s top numbers. "Alex
cares," Capitals General Manager George McPhee told ESPN.com. "He
wants to win, he wants to be a good player. He wants that responsibility. But
the game has changed a lot in recent years in the way teams check and defend
and clog up the neutral zone. He's at a point now where he's learning how to
adjust to that."
It’s hard to say with the Capitals
atrocious start to such a short season that they’ll be able to make up for it
and earn a spot in the playoffs.
Ovechkin and the team no longer have the fire power they used to; will
it ever come back?
