Thank you Ted & GMGM...Ovie is here to stay

At the lowest point of this season in late November, I even thought Ovie deserved better than Washington, but Ted & GMGM finally made the necessary move firing Hanlon (and, yes, I like and respect him and am glad he's coming back to Washington as a scout) and now they've finally struck a 13-year, $124M contract, according to Tarik El Bashir's blog, contract with Alex the Great. I'm wowed by that...he's here until 2020-2021, just let that sink in. Ovie is the best player the Caps have ever had and he's only in his 3rd season. The best is yet to come (if he went from playing -19 to +6 hockey in the past year, anything's possible) and the fact that it will be here in Washington thrills me to no end. With Alex on the Cap's side, promising young stars, Mike Green and rookie, Nicklas Backstrom, and a new coach, Bruce Boudreau who has the hockey analysts wondering where's he been, the future looks bright in Washington.

I read about Ovie, before he even arrived in camp his rookie year, and then I saw him during one of the first preseason games. Like most fans, I couldn't believe this guy was a Capital. His amazing speed, great moves, hard shot, hits (a power hitting, goal scoring forward..what a combo) and sheer love and enthusiam for the game make him the most fun hockey player to watch that I've ever seen. So, thank you, too, Ovie for staying.

There was also a hockey game played last night between the Capitals and the Avs. Caps won the defensive slugfest 2-1. Much to my enjoyment at the game, two Avs fans were sitting in front of me. Since I've been subjected to Flyers and Buffalo fans when the Caps are getting their butts kicked, I admit, I enjoyed their annoyance at the Avs losing.

Hmmm...highlights from last night:

• Viktor Koslov actually played aggressive hockey. That was a change of pace.
• Olie had a good night and made some great saves.
• Sean Morrison made some spectular plays on defense last night, most definitely, saving one goal from being scored.
• Brooks Laich, one of the goal scorers and 1st star obviously continues to play good hockey this year.
• Steve Emminger, in back-to-back games for a long-time played well and was also aggressive.
• The Avs tied up Ovie pretty well all night.
• The game was a pretty boring defensive game but the third period got interesting and Verizon Center was pretty load, considering it was a Wed night game.
• The Caps got 2 points...most important.

Up next, the Flyers on Sunday.

Let's go Caps!

p.s. And thank you Caps management for the holiday ticket gift. I'm looking forward to seeing what may be an increasingly important April game in a lower level seat.