Washington Capitals 2010 Season
However, after the first round loss the true colors of Capital’s fans have been revealed as one fan comments, “Next year has a lot of promise, we hope they can make it all the way in the playoffs.” The positive vibes being expressed throughout the city about next year’s season, shows that the fans in Washington D.C. truly “Rock the Red” in support of their team. Another fan comments, saying, “I’m really excited about next season, hopefully they maybe will bring in some more veteran players, just to add to the maturity factor. I can’t wait to see what happens...let’s go caps.” Learning from this season to build on the next is precisely what the team’s sole focus is right now.To quickly recap the season as whole, even before its commencement there was buzz felt throughout the city, both the fans and team were energized. The plan was to keep it simple, “We were hoping to continue to progress and go farther than the second round this year,” says Caps’ GM George McPhee. “Certainly we came to training camp with the expectation that we could be a good team.”
And, that is what they were. The team began the season strong, and continued building a tidal wave of momentum, which was constantly present. Leaning on their top star, Alexander Ovechkin, the team began to mesh ever more closely than they had in the past. New members were added to the cast, players like Mike Knuble and youngster Karl Alzner were great assets to the team’s overall play. Nicholas Backstrom who has always been a top points producer, had his best year yet since entering the NHL. He finished top ten in both assist and scoring for the league. Alexander Semin, a fellow Russian, had another solid year. He too finished among the league leaders in scoring in the top ten. What the team accomplished offensively was unheard of; as it was stated on the team’s website, “There is really no need to rehash the litany of the team’s offensive achievements here; they’ve been well-chronicled.” Despite all the greatness accomplished by the offense, as well on defense, this year the team did not accomplish it’s goal.
However, the consensus in Washington has been made; the team does not need changes, the coaching staff does not need changes. What happened this year is unfortunate, but it happens in sports. The team needs to take this experience and learn from it, to grow and mature, so that next year they are even stronger.
