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Breathe easy Caps fans, division title in hand

Well, it was a fight all the way down to the wire but the Washington Capitals have pulled off what many thought would be far from an easy accomplishment: winning the Southeast Division title. The division win also gives the Capitals an automatic playoff spot, so that’s another hurdle overcome.

Now we can all just move on; it was a tough battle but the Capitals found a way to pull it off.

I don’t know how big of a win the division crown really is; there’s a good chance that the Capitals are the only team from the Southeast Division to make the playoffs. The East in general has not been a very good conference top to bottom, but the disparity between Washington and the other teams in the conference is a bit jarring.

The Capitals were able to clinch the playoff spot due to the Atlanta Thrashers’ loss to Columbus tonight. The Thrashers are actually fighting for a playoff spot, and the addition of Chris Chelios did little to stop the bleeding from a tough losing streak. Atlanta is having major scoring issues, especially with Evander Kane out, and a loss to Columbus is not exactly a good sign for their chances.

As for Chelios? Well, he was just a guy out there on the ice. He had a bit over nine minutes of ice time, and didn’t really stand out all that much. Chelios hasn’t been much of an offensive threat since Seinfeld was still on the air, so his addition to the roster wasn’t going to spark any more scoring for the Thrashers.

He didn’t appear to have any issues, however, and you would never have been able to tell that he was a 74-year old hockey player making his return to the NHL.