Washington Capitals: Which is Worse, Expecting to Lose or Expecting to Win and Failing? by Barry Barnes

It’s one thing to expect the Washington Nationals to have their difficulties as a young squad that is continuing to find themselves.  After being at the bottom of the National League East in five of their last six seasons, the Nats are expected to finish close to .500 while general manager Mike Rizzo, known for being a great scout, starts to figure his roster out.  The Washington Wizards still have a long way to go before being considered an Eastern Conference contender. Making the playoffs is their current goal, but is out of reach due to youth, inexperience and confusion.  Even the Washington Redskins, who had a great 2011 NFL Draft, are not expected to be a playoff contender. Finishing with an 8-8 record would be the Redskins’ Super Bowl this upcoming season because of aging players and digesting a new system; both of which they struggled with last season.

But the Washington Capitals were expected to reach the Stanley Cup Finals, if not, win it all because of their dominance in the Eastern Conference for the past two seasons, their postseason experience and the possession of, perhaps, the league’s best left wing player and team captain, Alex Ovechkin.

After being swept by the Tampa Bay Lightning (winners of the 2003-04 Stanley Cup) last Wednesday night, the Caps’ ability to win it all with their current roster and coaching staff will now be questioned throughout the offseason. This begs the question of what is worse… expecting to lose altogether or expecting to win and then failing.

“They were clearly the better team and they amped it up to another level,” wrote Capitals’ owner Ted Leonsis on his personal blog, Ted’s Take. “They parlayed their momentum from round 1 quite efficiently while we never seemed to be able to step it up and catch them in terms of energy and production. Little things seemed to bother us this series. We weren’t resilient and we didn’t get over obstacles placed in our way. We are all accountable on this performance starting with me.

“Their role players outplayed our role players.  Their highest paid players outplayed our highest paid players.  In fact, their role players outplayed our highest paid players.  Their goaltending was better.  Their special teams were better.  They adhered to their coaches’ system better than we adhered to our coaches’ system.

“The wheels fell off for us,” he continued. “No doubt about that.  They deserve their success. They won and we lost. They move on. We ponder what to do next to improve our performance in the playoffs.  I was happy with our regular season performance. We won the East again.  I was happy with our first round performance winning a series in five games.

“I am stunned that we were swept in round 2.”

The Capitals are the third team in NHL history to be a one seed that was swept out of the playoffs since the current postseason format was installed in the 1993-94 season.  For the last three years, the Capitals have not made it past the Conference Semi-Finals.

Ovechkin played like a mad man during his team’s 2011 playoff run. He was everywhere – finishing with five goals, five assists and 10 points in nine games.  However, the disappearing acts of center Nicklas Backstrom; who had only two assists, and right wing Alexander Semin; who had four goals (only one against the Lightning) and two assists, makes one wonder if they are the right pieces around Ovechkin. Better yet, can the Great 8 actually lead them to a Stanley Cup title?

Expecting to win is necessary for all professional teams. Having realistic expectations of not achieving much, for whatever reason, is easy to swallow.  However, having high expectations of winning a title and falling short can be difficult to digest because major questions will follow.  The Capitals will be faced with major issues regarding their roster now as well questions of whether head coach Bruce Boudreau is the right man to get Washington to the next level.

“What do you mean?  That [loss] doesn’t fall on Bruce,” said Capitals’ left wing Brooks Laich after the Game 4 loss (5-3) when asked by a reporter about Boudreau’s future, according the Washington Post.

“We’re the guys that play the game,” he continued. “Bruce, Dean [Evason] and Bob [Woods]… I think we have a dream team of coaches. We’re privileged to play for these guys. Any criticism directed toward them is completely unjust. They put the game plan together and it’s up to the players to execute.”

The Capitals are a young, experienced team with chapters left still unwritten for success.  However, after being pumped to win, only to fall short again in the Conference Semi-Finals was disheartening.  Washington fans probably will refer to the Caps as being the most disappointing squad among the other professional teams from the Washington D.C. area. And taking cold showers is not cool following yet another disappointment.

“In times like these people are emotional, angry, and they demand change. I understand,” said Leonsis.  “The best course of action for us though, is to let a few days pass; be very analytic about what needs to be improved; articulate that plan; and then execute upon it.

“Clearly we know we have to improve to build a franchise that is as good as our fan base.”