Capitals owner Ted Leonsis reflects on lost series

FILE - In this Sept. 11, 2007, file photo, Washington Capitals owner Ted Leonsis speaks during an interview in Washington. Leonsis says he offered “one of the highest prices ever paid for an NBA team” for the Washington Wizards--but that wasn’t enough to satisfy the family of late owner Abe Pollin. The former AOL executive wrote on his blog Thursday, Jan. 28, 2010, that he’s “very confident” he will be the next owner of the Wizards, even though there’s a disagreement over how the sale process works. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)

AP

Whether you’re a Capitals fan or not, if you’re even remotely interested in hockey blogging you probably admire Washington Capitals owner Ted Leonsis. He’s one of sport’s most media-savvy owners, so it’s not surprising that after the Capitals lost Game 7 to the Montreal Canadiens, Leonsis put up some classy posts about the series. Here’s an excerpt from his post titled “Congratulations to Montreal.”

They played committed team defense. They took our stars out of play all series. I believe our hockey IQ seemed low this series and we didn’t adjust well on the ice to the new schemes coming our way.

Live by the O and die by the O. We were horrid on the special teams. When you score more goals shorthanded than with a man advantage in a 7 game series how can you expect to win? To me this was the biggest surprise and disappointment. We just couldn’t score on the man or two man advantage thus we didn’t deserve to win. And our second line didn’t contribute to us the way they did during the regular season.

We had a goal scored called back. We weren’t mentally tough enough to overcome that and capitalize right away on the momentum that a visual of a goal in the net provided us.

Montreal deserved the victory last night. They beat us three games out of four at home in front of our rabid fans.

Obviously, there will be some changes in Washington but it’s hasty to think that coach Bruce Boudreau’s job is in jeopardy. Still, you must think that “Gabby” is sweating a bit after reading his owner critique the team’s lack of adjustments (among other things).

It will be an interesting off-season in DC, but make no mistake about it, Washington is one of the NHL’s brightest franchises. And that starts at the top, with an owner who has a passion for the sport and plenty to say.