We've been watching this movie for 25 years now folks...unfortunately the ending doesn't change

That was a line I put up on Facebook earlier in response to some folks telling me I “called” the Caps choke vs. Montreal tonight (after the Mike Green penalty lead to the first goal, I said it was over). I would have loved for Washington to have come back but I knew it wasn’t in the cards. After you sit through all of the depressing, pathetic chokes over the years, where you think it’s going to be different, but it never is, you start to get real cynical. I’m so bad, I stopped watching after the 2nd period. I couldn’t watch another heartbreak. In all the year’s I’ve jumped on the Caps playoff bandwagon (and that nonsense is into its third decade) they have given me one great moment in the face of failure; the Dale Hunter goal against the Flyers in 1988. Any other time they’ve gone up against any adversity they’ve folded totally and completely.

Now, I’m not going to lay blame for this loss, because frankly I don’t have enough hockey knowledge to do that. But, I will say this; it’s the worst loss in franchise history for a number of reasons…not just becoming the first top seed to lose to an 8 after being up 3-1, not just because this loss probably paves the way for another Penguins Stanley Cup win, and not just because their style of play was completely stymied when it mattered most. There are a few other reasons this one is going to sting…

1) Leonsis is going to buy the Wizards – it’s a done deal now and that was what Ted wanted all along (and the arena to make money off the luxury boxes and concerts and other events). He’s a basketball guy and Abe Pollin selling the Caps to him (with the intent to sell the Wizards after his passing) was just the way to get rid of the money loser. With their owner’s attention (and possibly money) diverted, will the Capitals run of success continue?

2) The Skins may be coming back – I’ve been telling everyone I know, “The Skins are going 8-8 this year”. It may be desperate optimism, but with the new leadership in place (and a guy that actually knows how to coach a modern NFL team – probably for the first time since Schottenheimer was here) things are going to get better in DC. Part of the Caps charm is that they are the anti-Skins, namely they are fan friendly and they win. If the Redskins start to win again, they will reassume their 800 pound gorilla status in this town

3) The Capitals are burning people out – this franchise had their original die-hard fan base that would guarantee the building would be about half full for home games (and progressively more full the bigger the game or the closer the city the other team hailed from). I still believe the folks who have been filling Verizon every night were jumping on the bandwagon with the hopes they’d be around for the eventual championship. The new Caps still look like the old Caps (the ones who would choke every year) despite their superior talent.

It’s really sad to see this team squander another chance (one that may never come again). With DC really a captive market until Skins training camp in July, the Capitals had it all to themselves…but they fell on their face, again.

It’s the same old song and dance…

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/sports/capitals/longterm/1998/stanleycup/articles/tkpens96.htm

As you can see by the headline, that article was written back in 1996. Those squads were gritty, tough and maybe a smidge undermanned; they have morphed into a highly skilled team….but the problem is they still choke.

To paraphrase Andy Pollin, you can hold my hockey knowledge in a thimble, but you can tell something is wrong with this team. When you score 2 goals in a two game span with all the firepower they have you’ve got a big problem. An even bigger problem now might be the fact they are rattled, as evidenced by Boudreau’s rambling post game 6 press conference. When the coach is shaken, everyone else is.

And the saddest part of it all is this is the redemption setup; you can knock out the Flyers who beat you in 2008 and then you get a chance to knock off your all time tormentor Pittsburgh to go to the Stanley Cup Finals. Unfortunately it looks like the dream scenario may go by the wayside.

There’s still a good chance they’ll catch a little bit of luck tomorrow and find a way to win. And if they do, they may just run the table because the matchups are better. But as someone who sat through the Pittsburgh collapses in the 90’s, and heard about the Islanders losses, and sat through the Easter Massacre 3 OT loss to Tampa (I could go on) I have a feeling something bad is coming. The only question is will it be deflating or the swift and sudden gut punch?