Caps Schedule Down the Stretch

With all five Olympians headed home empty-handed and the season's "second half" less than a week away, now's as good a time as ever to focus all our energy on the one thing that could save this city: Washington Capitals hockey.

The Caps schedule down the stretch is extremely favorable. Some numbers for you:

• Only 8 of their remaining 20 games will be played against current playoff teams: @BUF, @CHI, PIT, CGY, OTT, BOS, @PIT, BOS.
• 12 games will be played at the Verizon Center (23-3-3).
• 8 games will be played on the road (18-10-5).
• The combined record of the Caps opponents is 573-480-170, a win percentage of .538. For comparison's sake, the current easiest strength of schedule is .547. Who holds this distinction? None other than the Caps, clearly victims of never having to play themselves.

Assuming the Southeast Division is wrapped up in only a few weeks (the magic number is currently 15 points and will only decrease once play resumes), the Caps will look to clinch home ice throughout the entire playoffs. The final 20-game schedule is very, very exploitable.

I guess three questions remain before we begin the final trek; these will hopefully be addressed later in the week:

1) How will a monumental Olympic collapse affect Alex Ovechkin's game down the stretch?

2) Will the goaltender "situation" sort itself out any time soon?

3) What the HELL is George McPhee gonna do come March 3, trade deadline time???

FEROCIOUS Beltway Battle for Jesus Moniker?!

 Maybe not ferocious, but it'd be a lot cooler if it was.

DCLS favorite Matt Wieters a.k.a "Baseball Jesus" might have some competition across the beltway in Stephen Strasburg a.k.a..."Baseball Jesus"?

Tim Kurkjian reports:

"It's pretty funny,'' Strasburg said, "[Center fielder] Nyger Morgan called me 'Jesus.'''

It's unclear whether Strasburg will start the season in the minors, which was the original expectation, or if Nat's management might be tempted to give him a spot on the opening day roster.

What is clear, however, is that this nickname thing should sort itself out soon enough. The world - let alone the beltway - ain't big enough for two Jesuses. Or is it Jesusi? Jebuses?

I'll just stop.

The Perfect Day of Hockey - The Symbolic Hit

USA wins, Ovie crushes Jagr, Backstrom scores, and Crosby stinks, what else can I ask for? We've had some great days of hockey recently, but in case you have been living in a bombshelter, the American men pulled off a major upset of Canada, 5-3, thanks to 42 saves from Ryan Miller. I know, I know, not everyone around is rooting for the most powerful country in the world, but most of us Caps fans are American, and have to dislike Canada for keeping Mike Green off of the team. This is only the first round, so lets not begin putting this in the same sentence as 'the Miracle on Ice', which pitted amateurs against pros in a knockout game. But for us DC fans, seeing team Canada crash and burn without the help of Mike Green is sweet; it also is satisfying to see the guy who made the team ahead of LamborGreeny, Drew Doughty, somehow lead Canada in ice time and generate nothing on the scoresheet except for a -1. Even sweeter is seeing Sidney Crosby post an embarrassing -3, which included deflecting the first American goal into his own net. You know what I realized tonight? I am happy Crosby is not American, so I don't ever have to cross my allegiances because of him.

On top of that, Ovie is making headlines for his open-ice destruction of Jaromir Jagr.

This massacre is already being called "The Hit", which is funny because the play is not something completely out of the ordinary for the best hockey player in the world. My favorite part of the hit is not just that Ovie is garnering all the love for being a badass, but that he crushed Jaromir freakin' Jagr, aka public enemy #2 of Caps fans, behind Crosby. Of all the players in the world, Jagr may even be the guy I want Ovie to crush the most; the beautiful symbolism of the Caps successful present and bright future crushing the bad memory of the past is just too perfect.

Note: the original video posted was removed, the best clip I could find is the attached one and I have no idea why a cat playing the piano is involved.

(Image courtesy of media.nj.com)