With the move-up of Ollie Kolzig as the Goal-tending coach
this past week amongst the cadre of coaches for the Washington Capitals, a true
fan's mind quickly goes to the best season to date. Adam Oates now serves as head bench boss with
Calle Johansson and Kolzig, members of the oh-so-close 1997-1998 season, that
nearly got the Caps to the Holy Grail of Hockey, the Stanley Cup.
As a fan myself, over the last several seasons an ardent
one, it would be great to finally see the Alexander Ovechkin Caps make it to
the final dance, and get the Cup. But
this season is the first, that I can remember, that the story is so ripe, so
full of narrative that it would simply be a bit of a fairy tale come true. Hear it now:
a reunion of former players now coaches who almost got the Cup,
mentoring and leading the talented team that just hasn’t gotten over the hump,
breaking the curse, and bringing home Lord Stanley to the nation's capital. It simply sounds capital, does it not?
Perhaps I wax poetic, but in essence a highly rated
franchise that has made getting to the playoffs a standard practice, now has a
harder road ahead with the reorganization of the league. The challenge is great, the metal and fiber
of everyone will be tested. You have the
same highly rated team of the past, in essence, now simply called an also-ran
at the beginning of the season. The “young
guns” of a few seasons ago, now have experience. And the one thing that both players and
coaches long for, which has been and was denied them, is the thing all hockey
fans, players and coaches chase year-in and year-out. There has to be a longing, there has to be
passion, there has to be an attitude that “we have to get there, and we will!”
While I can’t foresee the future and say that this is the
season that it will happen for the Caps, I can offer that this is a story that
is worth telling if it is so. The
greatest of sports tales starts with a common theme, the underdog, the spoiler,
the guts it takes, and the ultimate victory; and its all done as a team from
bottom to top, side to side. I really
long for these kinds of stories, lets just hope this season can deliver it
again.
