Power of positive thinking

Leading their division by 8 points, 2nd in their conference only 2 points behind the "godly" penguins, 3rd best point total in the NHL, the most goals scored in the NHL and they clearly still have the best player in the world based on stats all through the first 14 games.

These are real results. I don't mean to completely shrug off your concerns about the caps because those issues definitely are also real, but I feel like you may be starting to nudge the panic button a little too early. I am actually glad that there are some exposed issues with the team that need to be addressed because we still have the whole rest of the regular season to address them, whether that be through trades at the deadline or an altering of how they prepare for games (Are you listing Brucie?), but the good news is that there is so much time to fix these problems.

And yes, when you sit with 20 points after 14 games, those issues ARE minor in the grand scheme of things. One of the things we have to remember is that we feel like the Caps are making so many more mistakes than other teams and such because we only FOCUS on the caps while watching a whole game. The truth is, every team in the league throughout the course of a game can take stupid penalties, make boneheaded plays, poor saves, etc. but we don't really see them. And yes, even the really good teams can do this.

Now, I'm not saying that we shouldn't keep these issues that they have in the back of our minds and look to find improvement as the season goes on. If they are still having trouble playing a full 60 minutes and if they still take too many costly penalties in April, THEN I will begin to panic because the course of the season did not help correct their issues. But don't forget what happened to Pitt last year. Half way through the season, they weren't even sitting in a playoff spot, then they turned it on in the last quarter and well...you know the rest.

Now, about Ovie's injury. Clearly, I want him back as soon as possible, but to be completely honest, I think that this could be a slight blessing in disguise for this team. They NEED to learn to come together as a team and compete as a team unit without relying on the fact that Ovie is the best player in the world and could single handedly win for them. Precisely what this team needs right now in order to help right themselves is 3-4 games without Ovie when they will have to rely on teamwork more. Whether or not they answer the call will have to be seen, but I am hopeful because this blog is filled with too much negative thinking about our teams. Think positive and lets assess this team's chances at the cup again at the midpoint of the season.

"Impeach Dan Snyder". Can we make a fortune selling these bumper stickers you think?