I’ll say it up front—I think that the Capitals are the best team in the NHL right now. That’s a dangerous position to hold given how good this team has been at finding ways to underwhelm in the playoffs. It’s also a concern that the team’s offensive productivity fell last year pretty much across the board as they focused more on defense.
Despite all that I am confident in this team. Two years ago they were too offensive. Last year they were too defensive. Neither worked. Bruce Boudreau is a very good coach, though, so I expect him to find a good balance between the two this year—one that better uses the assets that he has.
And what a group of assets that is—the combination of Ovechkin, Backstrom and Semin is as good as any NHL trio, the defense is more than sound, and the goaltending is certainly not a worry this year. This team is very well rounded, and well-rounded teams win championships.
There’s one story that stands out to me regarding this team. Defenseman Mike Green was hosting a golf tournament in his hometown of Calgary this summer, and Nicklas Backstrom flew in fr ...
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Article written by Doc Moseman
2011-12 Washington Capitals Predictions and Team Outlook
September 30th, 2011 by Doc Moseman Leave a reply »
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