Hello hockey fans! What a crazy season this has been for us Washington Capitals fans. It started with the firing of our coach and didn't stop there. The team has been plagued with injuries all season. Mike Green out with a sports hernia, Nicklas Backstrom out with a concussion and now our two starting goalies Tomas Vokoun and Michal Neuvirth are out with a pulled groin muscle and leg injury. This hasn't been the anticipated season we were hoping for. But the Capitals are tough and with a little luck in the final games of the season, they squeezed into the playoffs in 7th place in the Eastern Conference.
Coming into the playoffs as the 7th seed team puts us up against the defending Stanley Cup champions, the Boston Bruins. Some might consider us to be an underdog at this point with our lingering goalie injuries, but the Capitals say bring it on! During the regular season the Capitals took the series 3-1 against Boston. And something to be noted is that Nicklas Backstrom did not appear in any of those four games. Backstrom is now back in action, as well as Mike Green. But this is the playoffs and the regular season is behind us. It's "A" game or no game.
For those of you who haven't been following the season very much, here's a run down of the final standings for the 2012 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Eastern Conference
1st - NY Rangers
2nd - Boston Bruins
3rd - FL Panthers
4th - Pittsburgh Penguins
5th - Philadelphia Flyers
6th - NJ Devils
7th - Washington Capitals
8th - Ottawa Senators
The playoff match-ups for the Eastern Conference are:
1st NY Rangers vs 8th Ottawa Senators
2nd Boston Bruins vs 7th Washington Capitals
3rd FL Panthers vs 6th NJ Devils
4th Pittsburgh Penguins vs 5th Philadelphia Flyers
Western Conference
1st - Vancouver Canucks
2nd - St.Louis Blues
3rd - Phoenix Coyotes
4th - Nashville Predators
5th - Detroit Red Wings
6th - Chicago Blackhawks
7th - SJ Sharks
8th - LA Kings
The playoff match-ups for the Western Conference are:
1st Vancouver Canucks vs 8th LA Kings
2nd St.Louis Blues vs 7th SJ Sharks
3rd Phoenix Coyotes vs 6th Chicago Blackhawks
4th Nashville Predators vs 5th Detroit Red Wings
The action starts tonight at 7:30pm with the Penguins and the Flyers. The Red Wings will take on the Predators starting at 8:00pm. And Vancouver will meet with the LA Kings at 10:30pm.
I hope everyone is excited about the playoffs and ready to see some great hockey!
The beard has already been started with the Capitals win over the NY Rangers in the final game of the season. We thought we'd take that little bit of momentum and roll with it. Pictures will be posted soon!
