Well, we suck with the recaps. Here's what happened: we were all at the Panthers game last thursday, and then for the Rangers game on saturday we were partying it up at the Front Page with our friends over at Russian Machine Never Breaks.
So for a good weekend we hadn't exactly realized that we'd be facing the Bruins in the first round, and were still blissfully ignorant of it until the week started. At least that was me.
Hope y'all like my writing, cause you'll likely be seeing me through this series.
As many of you know, my dear co-writer Kate is also a Bruins fan. So she pretty much is on the verge of suicide during this whole series.
And its ugly for all of us. In general, Caps and Bruins fans get along. We both hate the Habs, and the Pens. Boston gets us. But as much as we can generally live amongst one another, as soon as we are pitted against each other shit is going to hit the fan. We all know it, and we have two more days to prepare for it.
I've already seen Bruins fans talk crap, well before the series has started. Let's face it; we don't like Bruins fans when we're playing them. Hell, I'm already at the end of my rope. Let's just say if my boys get personally attacked, I'm snapping back. Its going to be nasty, but you know why its going to be nasty? BECAUSE ITS THE CUP. You all saw that coming.
Okay, so lets move on to the actual game rather than the fans. Nearly every expert is picking the Bruins winning in 6. Once again, underestimating us and basing things on the past. Which by the way, is a logical fallacy; assuming the past is going to resemble the future but there is actually NO proof that that's guaranteed to happen.
Yes, technically we are a 7th seed in this, but our boys have been heating up in the last month, like they always do. I don't know about you, but our last two games looked a lot like the boys we had in October, no?
We went 3-1 against the Bruins this year, Mathieu Perreault scoring his first career NHL hat trick against this team. We took both games at the TD, the last one in dramatic fashion as Matt Hendricks frustrated the hell out of Tim Thomas, which was quite a show. And we did all of this without Nicklas Backstrom, our number one center.
How important is Nicklas Backstrom? Well you tell me. He's one of the most underrated players in the league, and in my opinion one of the best first line centers in the league, on par with the likes of Sidney Crosby and Jonathan Toews. I know that's putting him higher than a lot of people think, but these people seem to forget that he was drafted 4th overall and many of them do not see inside our organization.
We were shown how important Nicky was during his injury. I can't count how many times I personally was shouting "NICKY COME BACK!" during some games. He is the backbone of our team and it was easy to see with him out. So having him back? Yes, I believe that makes us much more dangerous than we were before, especially since he's only been here four games and is getting his groove back.
That being said, Caps fans know all too well that the regular season doesn't mean anything. Take for example, the Montreal series in 2010. (ouch, that hurts). In the playoffs, its like a clean slate again. the seeds are nothing but a tribute to the regular season, and the 7 next to our name simply represents our struggles all year. Personally, I'm not afraid of it. What has a high seed done for us in the past? Absolutely nothing. I believe we're better off in a lower seed, where there is less expectation. Need I remind everyone of the 2010 Flyers being a 7th seed? You wouldn't have known by the end of May.
And that leads us into our goalie situation. Oh dear sweet lord, our goalie situation. The Bruins have Tim Thomas, and we've got... Braden Holtby...
...
Our goalie tandem as of right now is the Hershey Bears goalie tandem. Okay, that is scary. We'd be perfectly healthy if our goalies didn't keep breaking their lower bodies (coughVOKOUN YOUR GROINcough). We've all seen what Neuvy can do in the post season, and I'd be happy with having him there. But Braden Holtby is a whole different animal.
Let's talk about him for a minute. He's still very young and is still being developed, so he hasn't been static with his play. Its been all over the place really, with amazing play that makes everyone scream and praise his name, followed by a game that's less than spectacular. He's made a few mistakes, like the Giroux poke check, but I still feel the need to remind everyone that he's still in development. He can't exactly be goalie jesus if he's still learning. So basically, have realistic expectations with this guy.
That being said, I believe he can rise to the occasion. He plays a very in-your-face game, and likes to play physical. Meaning if Lucic tries to recreate a Miller situation, Holts is NOT going to take any of that. I think he could thrive with the physical game the Bruins play, and that it could up his game as well.
I also find it rather ironic that we acquired Vokoun for the post season, and it still looks like we're ending up with the Neuvy-Holtby tandem anyway. Bizarre twist of reality, no?
But besides that, we need other guys to stop up. Joel Ward, who has been less than spectacular all season, needs to step it up now. We acquired him for his post season experience with Nashville last year, and we could really use more secondary scoring from him and the other guys.
Everyone needs to step it up. The entire city of Boston is underestimating our team, and so is everyone else in the hockey community. We're already hearing the jokes about choking, and the Bruins fans trying to downplay us as a team. We have to show the world that we're better than that, and we deserve their respect.
Its time for us to shut everyone else up, go out there and kick some ass. Say hello to the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
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