Capitals' Hourglass is Almost Empty
It is now or never for the Washington Capitals. The Capitals have
two options: They must revamp their game in order to make the
playoffs or become the first team in recent history to
participate in the Stanley Cup Finals while missing the playoffs
the year before and after the miracle season.
There is no magic potion, no rainbow and no magic slippers that
starts winning streaks. Winning comes from hard work, chemistry
and a willingness to get down and dirty in the trenches. These
are qualities the Capitals have lacked in the first half of the
season. These are also qualities Washington must develop in order
to save its season.
Through 43 games, the Capitals are seven games below .500 and
have grossed a measly 36 points, placing them 12th in a 14-team
conference. Winning one game and losing the next will no longer
get the job done. This symptom has plagued the Capitals this
month.
To put things in prospective, the Eastern Conference's eighth and
final playoff seeds (Boston and Pittsburgh) are four and six
games above .500, respectively. Meanwhile, the Carolina
Hurricanes, who lead the Southeast Division with 47 points, would
be ranked third in the conference if the season ended after the
all-star break. Division winners receive the top three seeds.
If poor play and a strong conference are not enough to frighten
the Capitals, then the sudden emergence of the Florida Panthers
should send general manager George McPhee and coach Ron Wilson to
church.
The Panthers, who trail Carolina by two points in the division,
became a force to win the division last week with the acquisition
of disgruntled holdout Pavel Bure in a seven-player trade from
Vancouver. The deal included draft picks and an exchange of
second-line players. Vancouver acquired defenseman Ed Jovanovski
and center Dave Gagner. Florida strengthened its lineup with
defensemen Bret Hedican and Brad Ference. Bure made an immediate
impact, scoring three goals in his first two games as a Panther.
Organization Tries to Solve Injury Mystery
While Panthers general manager Bryan Murray has improved his
roster, McPhee seems content waiting for his injured players to
get healthy. The Capitals are on pace to break yet another
franchise record for amount of man-games lost to injury.
Washington, which lost 476 man-games to injury last season, has
lost 258 this season through 43 games.
McPhee enforced a plan in training camp to reduce the amount of
injuries that have plagued the club in each of the last three
seasons. That plan called for more preventative measures to be
taken with injured players. McPhee reasoned the man-games lost
to injury were so high because injured players were not giving
themselves enough time to heal. Unfortunately for McPhee and
company, injured players are no longer playing hurt; they're not
playing at all.
The failure of "Plan A" has forced McPhee to revisit the drawing
board and create "Plan B." The new plan begins early next month
when sports medicine consultant John Arnett comes to Washington
to address the injury situation.
"As a manager I think I know where the problem areas are," McPhee
told The Washington Post, "but the smartest thing we can do is
get someone to really look at the situation from the outside. I
think it reflects well on the organization and it's what the
players would like to see happen, that we're going to be trying
yet again to do something about this problem."
Bondra is NHL's Fastest Man
Right wing Peter Bondra finally found light at the end of his
long tunnel - easing the frustrations of a 15-goal season - by
becoming the NHL's fastest man for the second time in his career
at the All-Star Skills Competition Jan. 24 in Tampa Bay.
Bondra beat San Jose rookie Marco Sturm and Chicago's Tony Amonte
by completing a circle around the rink in 14.64 seconds. Due to
rule changes in the event, that time was about a second slower
than times posted by previous winners. Two skaters used to race
against each other, but due to the controversial win at last
year's skills competition by Scott Niedermayer - he used his
stick to cross the finish line ahead of Bondra - players now
skate alone.
Bondra, an avid golfer, isn't ready to hit the links in April. He
believes he and his teammates can dig themselves out of the
Eastern Conference's basement and compete with the NHL's elite
teams.
"When I play golf over the summer, if on the first nine holes I'm
struggling, then I'm looking forward to making it up on the back
nine," Bondra said. "That's how I'm looking at this. My goal is
to have a better second half and for our team to make the
playoffs."
