I'm back on the ledge until further notice

Mike Vogel the Caps writer had a blog post the other day "Come in Off the Ledge" about fans ready to write off the Caps season after only 5 games. After last night's pathetic game against the New York Islanders, I'm staying on the ledge until the Caps prove to me that they want to play hockey this year.

The Caps played maybe 20-minutes of aggressive hockey last night against the Islanders and lost 5-2. Here's my wrap up.

The good:

• Ovie played with fire on both ends of the ice again. He deserves far better than this Caps team is giving him and it's clear to me he wants to win.
• Mike Green also showed me he wants to win hockey games. His spectacular end-to-end and aggressive playing is a huge improvement over last year and he's still a youngster. Either Laughlin or Koken mentioned Bobby Orr's name in reference to Green which shows how much he's improved.
• Niklas Backstrom, the 19-year old rookie, is showing his vision on the ice every night. His pass to Flash with an Islander on his back for the 2nd goal was impressive. He's going to be a very good hockey player.
• Matt Pettinger clearing the puck out of the zone on an Isles power play and then keeping the puck in their end on the boards with several Isles players fighting for the puck on top of him. He burned up 20-seconds on their power play.

Anyone notice that all "the goods" are from the younger players.

The bad:

• Olie had a lousy night, but I never question his motivation to win.

The ugly:

• Chris Clark, where are you, besides getting bad penalties at bad times?
• Caps power play is the most pathetic thing I've ever seen. Playing "dump the puck" and losing it isn't a winning strategy.
• Penalty kill was a strong point during the first three games, but not now.
• Motivation - the Caps don't look like they want to play or win. Hanlon & Clark, motivate this team.

The excuses - I'm tired of hearing this team will be better with Boyd Gordon and Alexander Semin. Of course they will, but if the Caps can't win a game without 2 of their players, they have no depth at all and the rebuild isn't over.

The Caps play the Pittsburgh Penguins tomorrow night. I'm not even sure if I can watch. Regardless...Let's go Caps!