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Capitals coach fires back at the media

The Washington Capitals are fascinating.

This is a team that dominated the NHL all season long, has the most exciting and perhaps the most talented player in hockey, and yet has maintained a sense all season long that they are being disrespected at every turn. Their “us against the world” mentality starts at the very top with owner Ted Leonsis, who speaks of disrespect and have the team constantly having to prove themselves to earn it.

He’s partially right of course. Any team that has yet to win the Stanley Cup will always have questions to answer (see: San Jose Sharks). Once you’ve reached the holy land, then teams get a bit of a pass. The Red Wings, Devils and Penguins all escape completely scrutiny...at times. The Capitals just aren’t there yet.

But with the Capitals becoming a vortex of media attention this past season, the “us against them” attitude has grown. The players play like they have something to prove every night, and the coach maintains that stance in front of the media horde. The past two days, that tension has begun to overflow a bit.

Yesterday, it was reported that Jose Theodore had left practice after being struck in the the arm with a shot by Alex Ovechkin. Apparently, the shot wasn’t by Ovechkin and it was just another instance of the media misreporting what’s happening in Washington.

Bruce Boudreau does not like misreporting, stating as much during his press conference today.

“Before I go further, I don’t have a problem answering any questions, but get it right - that’s all I ask of you,” Boudreau said. “Yesterday, it wasn’t Ovechkin that hit Theodore like it was publicized everywhere - it was Dave Steckel. So don’t guess and make it sound like out best player is getting it.

“Then when we were talking about what I was talking about Brodeur and Miller’s record that Theo was better than in the last 20 games. Don’t try to create the controversy if it’s not there. If we say the controversy it is there, but don’t try tocreate it by making [crap] up, or stuff up OK? That’s all I ask.”

What’s even crazier is that immediately after his presser, there were murmurs that Boudreau had slammed the Canadian media for their inaccuracies, so as Capr PR director Nate Ewell puts it: “So, people misreport on Bruce’s rant about being misreported. This could be a long series.”

And an extremely fun one to watch.