We started our series on surprises in the NHL with a look at Martin Brodeur and the New Jersey Devils, who continue the play that took them to the Stanley Cup Finals last season. Loads of pundits called the LA Kings to roll roughshod over the Western Conference in defence of their championship, but you’ll be hard pressed to find one who thought the Devils would be the class of the East at the quarter pole after the lockout.
If we’re going to discuss head-scratchers, we have to talk about the Washington Capitals. They sit dead last in the league with just nine measly points after 13 games. Four years ago, this team was poised to become a perennial contender. They had an explosive core of offensive talent and an owner in Ted Leonsis who was willing to spend the bucks necessary to bring a Cup to DC.
More after the jump.
But Alex Ovechkin hasn’t been the same player since Team Canada embarrassed the Russians 7-3 in the 2010 Olympic quarterfinal game. Canada went on to win the gold medal, thanks to Sidney Crosby’s golden goal, while Ovechkin has been in a funk ever since. Alex the Great has become Alex the So-So — after 13 games, he’s third in team scoring and has a brutal -5 rating. He’s used to being profiled in the Hockey News, but not with headlines like What’s Wrong with Alex Ovechkin?
The Caps were listless during the final year of Bruce Boudreau’s tenure as Head Coach, then bristled when Dale Hunter gave the team’s stars a big, fat middle finger rather than coddle them. Adam Oates is mixing well with hard-nosed new additions like Mike Ribiero and Joel Ward. He has yet to get Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom playing to their full potential. At some point, however, it’s not the coach any more. It’s the guys on the ice who have to perform.
There are signs the Caps might be waking up. After scoring three or fewer goals in each of their first 11 games, they’ve erupted for 5 and 6 goals in consecutive games against the division rival Florida Panthers. And hey, what do you know? The Caps have their first two-game win streaks of the season. That Ovechkin guy? He had just three points in his first eight games, but in five games since then, he’s got three goals and four assists.
It’s a shortened season and Gary Bettman’s NHL still hands out single points to losing teams half the time, so sitting in last place doesn’t bode well for a playoff run. We just have to look at where the LA Kings sat at Christmas last year, though, and what they accomplished from then on — only that unlikely run would keep the Washington Capitals from being the most disappointing surprise in this 2013 National Hockey League season.