Rocking The Red and Unleashing The Fury Moscow Style

I've been lucky enough to see some great games in person over the past few years. I was there when, after the Redskins blocked a Dallas last second field goal attempt, the great Sean Taylor scooped up the ball, ran through a face mask penalty and set up the Skins' game winning kick. I saw Ryan Zimmerman christen the Nationals' new ballpark with a walk off home run. I watched the Terps football team beat Miami and Florida State in back-to-back weeks. I was even able to enjoy the Lee Greenwood classic "Proud To Be An American" at the Army vs. Navy football game in Baltimore. I've seen game winning 2-minute drills, monster dunks, grand slams, and half court shots. But nothing I have ever seen in the world of sports can compare to being at the Verizon Center last night where I had the privilege to witness Alexander Ovechkin scorch three pucks past the Penguins' dumbfounded goalie.

Being that I'm a Washington sports fan I haven't had many chances to see any kind of playoff games over the years, but for once the stars aligned and I got tickets for "Caps vs. Pens Part II: Gary Bettman's Wet Dream" with some friends. There was a buzz in the air around the Verizon Center and you just knew that with these two teams anything was possible. The first period went by and while it was exciting to be there it wasn't the psychotic frat party from hell that I always hoped I'd get to see. The Pens had the lead after that bitch Sidney "The Anti-Haberdasher" Crosby slipped a goal under Varlamov's pads and the Pens fans were feeling a little too good about themselves. I was nervous that after watching game 1 on TV that there'd be no way for game 2 to compare. In my mind the final score would end up being 1-0, because, like I said before, I'm a Washington sports fan.

But over the next two periods, despite Andy Sandberg's stunt double eventually getting the cheapest hat trick in the history of men whacking things with sticks, Alex The Great transcended the game. With two rocket one-timers Ovie tied it up and then gave the good guys the lead. With each of his goals the atmosphere in the Phone Booth intensified as Caps began to swell with pride while the invaders from Pittsburgh sunk deeper into their seats. When the Unleash The Fury video was played with around 5 minutes left I was literally shaking with excitement and no one was in their seat. The stage was set for Alex The Great to grab the reins and and cement his place as the best hockey player alive. On a fast break past my former favorite Capital, Sergi Gonchar, #8 unleashed the fury in the form of a redonkulous slap shot over Fleury's outstretched glove.

Total euphoria. Total excitement. It didn't matter that Crosby would eventually swat his 3rd goal in with 30 seconds left (I'll admit that he's a better player than I've given him credit for in the past, but he's no Ovechkin) because this was The Ovie Show. Every time Ovie's skates touch the ice you get the feeling that you're going to see something amazing. The Redskins seem lost in the abyss, the Wizards probably won't rise above mediocrity any time soon, and the Nationals are the Nationals, but with Ovechkin and the amazing supporting cast of Mike Green, Alexander Semin, Nicholas Backstrom, Brooks Laich, and now Simeon Varlamov, just to name a few, you might start to believe that we could all be rocking the red for a long time. Of course this series could easily blow up in our faces and the summer could come sooner than we hope, but either way this team is bringing passion back to DC and I for one couldn't be happier.

Oh yeah, suck it, Don Cherry.

Caps-Pens Series Outlook: Varlamov Shows Steely Reserve in Game 1

One thing is for sure; the NHL got the match-up they'd been hoping for since Ovie and Crosby got into the NHL with Washington and Pittsburgh facing off. This is the kind of polarizing match-up (ala Manning/Brady Shaq/Kobe) that can boost ratings and maybe even give the NHL a pulse in the U.S. but don't hold your breath. When it comes to #8 and # 87 even the most passive hockey fan has some opinion about who they root for. The sparsely facial haired, toothless Wildman from the Soviet Union represents the Caps while the demonic, pre-pubescent dainty schoolgirl from the land of Molson fuels the Pens. As a Caps fan there is little debate as to who is the more dominant individual athlete, but one of the interesting things about OV-Cros is that both teams feel like they have the right guy. The tools around Crosby play to his strengths while Ovechkin is happy to take a game over when they need it or play cheerleader for Semin and Backstrom when they are on. The ballerina style of Crosby and the balls out style of Ovechkin will be in the spotlight throughout this series and we will finally see which style stands up to the standards of the modern NHL. I say modern because 20 years ago Crosby would have been the only player with a bonnet on and would be in a body bag by his second shift, while Ovechkin would probably be the only guy to actually take off his skate and stab someone with it during a celebration. As much as I would like OV to ravage Crosby in every statistical category throughout this series we have bigger fish to fry.

Grabbing game 1 was huge for the Caps because ultimately this team plays best when they are freewheeling and giving them a cushion does that. It was clear in the first series that the Caps knew they had a monkey on their back having not won a series in 10 years but now they are playing with house money and have been given a match-up with a team they know they can beat. Not that this series will be anything but painfully close down to the last bloody second but I think this will be a different Caps team than the one the Rangers pushed around. With that cautious optimism in mind, I am reminded that I am a Washington sports fan so I am just waiting for this whole thing to blow up in my face. In my heart I just know god is devising new ways to make me suffer. Between the agony of rooting for the Redskins, Bullets, Nats, O's, Caps and Terps over the last 26 years I have come to expect failure, especially when it comes to the playoffs and, god forbid, a national stage. This mental ailment has recently eased when it comes to the Caps as they have won in fashions unseen since Gibbs Part I, that is: winning late, holding a lead, adjusting to the opponent and not gut-punching the fans late in games.

The Caps could very well lose this series for a number of reasons. 1. The Pens have more experience, they went to the friggin finals last year while the Caps were teeing off at Congressional. 2. Varlamov could wake up and act like a 21 year old. In post game interviews veterans like Federov say stuff in broken Russian like, "He don't realize what he doing." Add that to the fact that Boudreau doesn't even talk to him for fear of throwing him off kilter and you've got yourself a genuine concern as the stakes get higher. 3. Ovechkin makes it about him v. Crosby, not the team v. Pitt. This is the least of my worries because I think Ovechkin doesn't give a shot of Stoli what anybody thinks of him he just wants to win, but you never know, people have egos even in Russia. 4. Pittsburgh could win a heart-breaking overtime game and the series could turn. Up 1-0, the momentum is the Caps to lose but I just don't know if the team is over the Game 7 OT loss last year and I know fans aren't over the Pens ownership of the Caps throughout the 90's including this gem. God I hate Pittsburgh. Despite these negatives I think the Caps win this series in 6 games. Home ice is the least advantageous home advantage in playoff sports, sure it's more fun to win at home but hockey teams win anywhere. The separation from the fans and the speed of the game don't let the fans play a factor like they do in other sports. Sure a tripping call here or there may get called at home and missed on the road but generally the refs are pretty consistently terrible. Given that the Caps took the first game I think this series gets to 2-2 before the Caps steal the last two and lock up a trip to the conference finals in front of a bunch of people with mustaches in the city whose two best exports are ketchup and Steel. Caps in 6.