Why the Washington Capitals Are Impressive in 08/09

I live about an hour and a half outside of Washington D.C. and I receive some area channels that cover all Washington teams. I have been getting more and more into hockey. The Capitals are a large part of why I enjoy hockey. This season the Capitals have been doing wonderful, but why?

The Capitals have Alex Ovechkin. This guy is insane! He has great stats and he has amazing stick skill. He skates around players like they are standing still. He has 27 goals so far just this season. Not to mention his 26 assists. So, he gives people the puck almost as much as he takes the shot himself.

Even with Ovechkin doing an amazing job, the Capitals could not win without the support for Ovechkin. David Steckel, Boyd Gordon, and Donald Brashier all provide good offense for the Capitals. They all work well together and are able to pass impressively.

On defense the Capitals keep Jose Theodore in the goal.Theodore has had 648 saves so far this season. That is an incredible amount of saves. This goalie has amazing speed and great eyes which makes him very effective.

The defensive line that helps protect Theodore includes: Bryan Helmer, Jeff Schultz, and Karl Alzner. These are the guys that keep the puck off of Theodore as much as they can. On defense these men are hard to get around and very difficult to push over. They provide great protection for the goalie.

Even though all of the men listed above are not the entire team, they provide a large chunk of the production and defense of the Capitals. They make this game exciting to watch and very addicting. If you have never looked to the NHL for entertainment, then maybe it is time to give it a try. I did not think I would enjoy it but I have come to love it. The Capitals are my favorite team and I look forward to writing more about their progress.

All names and statistics were found at the Capitals main website: http://capitals.nhl.com/team/app?service=page&page=TeamPlayers&type=roster