It’s time.
It’s time for the Washington Capitals to break through the moving barrier created by their own progress. It’s time for Alex Ovechkin & Co. to go from contender to champion and etch their names into Stanley Cup lore.
The Caps were an enigma when they made the playoffs two years ago. Last season they were a known quantity. This time they are the favorites to come out of the Eastern Conference, and no Game 7 meltdowns will be tolerated — not by the players or the red-clad fans rocking in the rafters at Verizon Center. The Caps must play with the urgency of a team that understands the rarity of the situation.
The East is there for the taking. New Jersey is tough, and Buffalo is dangerous. Pittsburgh is the defending Stanley Cup champ. But compared to the loaded West, the East is short on great teams. The Caps won the conference by 18 points — far and away the largest margin since the 2004 lockout. Washington is the alpha dog.
It would be foolish, however, to accept this as the new status quo. The remarkable job done by Ted Leonsis over the past decade has turned Washington into a machine that consistently churns out high-end prospects. Alexander Semin, Nicklas Backstrom, Mike Green and Semyon Varlamov all came through the system. Leonsis was ahead of the curve when it came to developing a winner, knowing that long-term success comes through the draft more than via free agency in a post-lockout NHL.
But the gap is closing. Other teams — notably the Tampa Bay Lightning, New York Islanders and Toronto Maple Leafs — have employed similar rebuilding tactics. So as the Caps steamroll into their third straight playoff appearance, a large chunk of the league is mobilizing to catch them. Those teams — if built correctly — will be moving up the ladder in the next few years. Around the same time, the Caps will be making major decisions regarding the futures of Backstrom, Semin, Eric Fehr and Tomas Fleischmann.
The point is: It’s hard to stay at the top of a league built around parity. You have your window, and it’s usually smaller than you think. Leonsis, in an interview with the Associated Press earlier this week, said he doesn’t approach this postseason like it’s a last gasp for the title “because I think we’re going to be this good or better for the next half-dozen years.” It’s hard to argue with the man who put this product together, but it’s also worth mentioning that the Caps don’t exist in a vacuum. They may very well be great for the next five years, but it’s hard to imagine having such a large gap between them and the rest of the East.
The fall from the top can come fast. The Carolina Hurricanes won the Stanley Cup in 2006 and missed the playoffs the next two seasons. The San Jose Sharks — a perennial contender with no championships — have been slapped with the label of a team that can’t win the big one. The Capitals do not wish to become the Sharks, and they don’t want to be the Hurricanes. They aspire to be a team that wins multiple championships. But first, they must bust through that wall.
It’s time.
James Irwin is the Washington Examiner sports editor. Reach him at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at irwinjj.
