Capitals 2009-10 Season Preview

This is the year!  This is our year for the Cup!

Right?

The past two years have been heartbreaking for Caps fans.  Watching the Caps lose to the Flyers, I'd say, was far less painful than watching them lose to "Crosby Sucks".  But despite all that went wrong last year, I present to you Devon's Keys to the Cup:

1. Mike Knuble.  Last year the caps were #2 in total goals scored behind only the Red Wings.  So the question becomes what does the addition of Knuble do for a team that already scores enough to win?  Playoffs.  Many of our games in the playoffs were lost not because we couldn't keep the puck out of our own net, but we couldn't put it in theirs.  The caps are horrendous at going to net and in the playoffs shots from the point are far less likely to go in without deflections in front (hence Mike Green's scoring being non-existent).  Knuble is a net player, and he may make a world of difference.
2. Goalie!  Imagine, if you will, last season with Varly in net instead of ThreeOrMore.  If "undefeated" comes to mind then we're on the same page.  "But, Devon, we had Varly in net during the playoffs and we still lost" you say.  I agree, but this season we now have two young guns vying for the playoff starting bid with Jose, and more experience and fear may be the key to protecting our net.
3. Defense.  Listen folks, the adage "defense wins championships" applies to all sports.  The Caps defense is less than cup worthy and if they expect a chance at winning this year they are going to need to step this up.  Not just in the PK but in 5-on-5 play, meaning the wonderful Mike Green needs to worry more about protection and less about scoring.  But this also means that our forwards need to be better two-way players.  There were too many break away chances last year to feel entirely comfortable.
   
4. Penalties.  Discipline is clutch.  The caps had one of the highest penalty/game ratios of any team and despite having a relatively good PK this killed their chances of getting back into games, or even lost them a few late in the third period.  Clean this up and nothing can stop them.

Its important to note that these are additions, not replacements, from last years performance.  We still need the same performance out of every player that we had last year.  Oh and some highlight reels, maybe a Hart/Rocket Richard/Art Ross trophy from Ovie would be nice too.

Thoughts?