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Caps owner Ted Leonsis: “The wheels fell off for us”

Montreal Canadiens v Washington Capitals - Game Seven

of the Montreal Canadiens of the Washington Capitals in Game Seven of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals during the 2010 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at the Verizon Center on April 28, 2010 in Washington, DC.

Bruce Bennett

With the Washington Capitals having another playoff failure in the Bruce Boudreau era and most everyone wondering about whether or not he’ll be returning as head coach, it’s time for everyone to speak their mind in Washington about the team. Most are now wondering whether or not the Caps can ever get over the hump in the playoffs and make the deep run they’ve seemed destined to make for the last four seasons.

One guy who’s really feeling the stunning playoff sweep today is Caps owner Ted Leonsis. Leonsis being one of the more savvy owners in the league spoke his mind on his blog this morning giving Caps fans the postmortem take they may or may not have wanted to read. In it, he dealt from the heart and he brought a lot of truth.

Their role players outplayed our role players.

Their highest paid players outplayed our highest paid players.

In fact, their role players outplayed our highest paid players.

Their goaltending was better.

Their special teams were better.

They adhered to their coaches’ system better than we adhered to our coaches’ system.

The wheels fell off for us. No doubt about that.


There’s a ton of honesty here and for anyone looking to analyze the tea leaves of what the Caps moves in the off-season will be regarding the team’s management might not have to go any further than that second to last statement. That could be a huge compliment for Lightning coach Guy Boucher or it could be a damning indictment on the job Boudreau has done this year.As expected the Caps fan base is sounding off to him and he also wants to talk fans off the ledge. That or he’s asking them not to storm his offices asking for the coach’s or players heads.

In times like these people are emotional; angry; and demand change. I understand.

The best course of action for us though is to let a few days pass; be very analytic about what needs to be improved; articulate that plan; and then execute upon it.

Clearly we know we have to improve to build a franchise that is as good as our fan base.


Disappointment is hard to swallow and when you’re an owner, disappointment like this that continues leads to changes being made. We said it this morning in Five Thoughts that changes were coming in one form or another and Leonsis’ words about taking a few days to let some of those feelings pass might just be him saying that to himself so he doesn’t make a rash decision.

In the end though, Leonsis knows things have to change lest he start losing parts of the Caps fan base that is tired of seeing the team come up short in the clutch year after year. After all, when you’ve got fans that committed and continuing to make major financial investments in the team to support them, you want to keep them happy. Leonsis’ sign off says it all.

Thank you for caring so much. I am so very sorry we let you all down.

A message like that rings hollow after a while. It’s up to Leonsis to make it count this summer.