Woot!
Wow, what a game!!! What a series!!!
The Caps barely squeaked into the post-season, and for the opening round of the playoffs, they were matched up with the defending Stanley Cup champions, the Boston Bruins. As the playoffs began, both Caps goalies were out with injuries, so the team was relying on a pair of call-ups from their AHL affiliate, the Hershey Bears (which sort of explains Hershey's 10 game losing streak over the final 3 weeks of the season). Seven games later, in what turned out to be the closest playoff series in NHL history, the Caps are going on to the second round and the Bruins are going home. Every single game in the series was decided by 1 goal. Four of them went to overtime. And when it was all over, and the teams lined up for the traditional handshake, every single Bruins player gave every single Caps player a sincere handshake and congratulations. Tim Thomas capped it all with his "great job, kid" to Braden Holtby. I have never seen a losing team behave as graciously in the end-of-series handshake. I have enjoyed disliking the Bruins over the years, but they changed my mind tonight with a display of genuine class and good sportsmanship. And now, the Caps wait til tomorrow's games to see who they will play in the next round.
The Caps barely squeaked into the post-season, and for the opening round of the playoffs, they were matched up with the defending Stanley Cup champions, the Boston Bruins. As the playoffs began, both Caps goalies were out with injuries, so the team was relying on a pair of call-ups from their AHL affiliate, the Hershey Bears (which sort of explains Hershey's 10 game losing streak over the final 3 weeks of the season). Seven games later, in what turned out to be the closest playoff series in NHL history, the Caps are going on to the second round and the Bruins are going home. Every single game in the series was decided by 1 goal. Four of them went to overtime. And when it was all over, and the teams lined up for the traditional handshake, every single Bruins player gave every single Caps player a sincere handshake and congratulations. Tim Thomas capped it all with his "great job, kid" to Braden Holtby. I have never seen a losing team behave as graciously in the end-of-series handshake. I have enjoyed disliking the Bruins over the years, but they changed my mind tonight with a display of genuine class and good sportsmanship. And now, the Caps wait til tomorrow's games to see who they will play in the next round.