First off....I would like to introduce myself for those of you who don't know me. My name is Sean Otterson, but everyone knows me as Ott..I have been friends with Kris for a while now....I think my sophmore year of high school I met him in Drama class...and then over the next 3 years were "drama nerds" together...skits and writing scenes and all that stuff...After high school we kept in touch for a year or 2 and then as with most people who I went to school with...We grew apart...But the Capitals brought us back together and I talk to him on the regular..When he tagged me on his first recap of the home opener...I knew instantly this would be something I would look forward to reading after every game...And I'm happy that he asked me to write a lil something in his new blog a few times a month, or once a week, or when I have something on my mind..So here goes nothing....be advised..I don't like using commas, so you will see a lot of ....'s...So please...NO ENGLISH TEACHERS GIVING ME NOTES ;)
I'm not sure how to start this...but last summer when the Caps let Cristobal Huet go...I knew it was a good thing...I might have been the only one...but something about his career just didn't fit with me. He was in his 30's and the NHL doesn't have many late blooming goaltenders who turn out to be stars(Tim Thomas is one of the only exceptions I can think of) Huet had never played(and still hasn't) more than 42 games in a season before 07-08, when he started the year as Montreal's #1...and was pushed out of the job by rookie 20 year old Carey Price, when you look at the numbers between Huet and Price that year...they are almost identical, but GM GM made a deal to bring Huet here thinking that Olie couldn't get it done(which I agreed with) and Cristobal was brilliant(11-2 record with a 1.63 GAA and .936 SV%) to complete the Capitals comeback and win the division from the hated Carolina Hurricanes. Everybody was up in arms about why they didn't resign him...Well last year AGAIN he was bumped out of his starting Goaltending role by Nikolai Khabibulin, and only played in the playoffs due to an injury...Well I am getting off topic here...but he's losing his job again this year to a rookie Antti Niemi...but back on topic...July 1, 2008 the caps signed Jose Theodore hours after Huet signed with Chicago...People were excited...but at the same time....a bitter taste was in some people's mouth knowing he had just given up 11 goals to the Detroit Red Wings in 4 games in the 2008 Conferance Semi-Finals...I knew the guy had plenty of talent...and also knew that he was only a stop-gap for the future goaltending the Caps had in Hershey and South Carolina(Varlamov, Neuvirth, and Holtby)
Last year he had some ups and down...Granted giving up 4 goal in 29 minutes in his first game as a Cap was pretty low, He won 6 games in a row in December after probably his worst game of the year in Philly(4 goals in relief of Brent Johnson) The first game of that winning streak was a fluky as it gets...He gives up 3 goals early, a flu ridden Johnny relieves him the rest of the 1st..Jose comes back to start the 2nd and the Caps come back and win it 5-4 in OT and Shaone Morrison's birthday winner...He responded after that game with 3-2, 4-1, 4-2, 2-1 and 2-1(SO) wins over Buffalo twice, Toronta, The Rangers again and Philly(which might have been one of his best games of the year..33 saves) he also had two more 3 games winning streaks and a 4 games streak at the close of the year. After the Philly 7-1 game...He gave up 3 goals or more in back to back games ONLY ONCE(a 5-4 SO win over Carolina and a 5-1 loss to Atlanta 2 days later) I'm no expert, but for a team that scores more than 3.5 goals a game...That's not the worst.
Yes he gives up his share of weak goals, as he pretty much single handedly gave away the Rangers game last week on identical shots from Gaborik. But the guy won an MVP award in 2002 as the best player in the game, and it's a contract year(like it was in 2002) The defense isn't a top 10 defense in the league, so he's going to give up his share of goals....If he can minimize the weak ones and learn how to cover a rebound when their is traffic in front of the net(I really don't mean learn, but start to) then he'll be fine...As I said...it's his contract year and he has something to play for, he just turned 33 so he has 3 or 4 more years left and there are teams out there that are going to want to sign a veteran goaltender with playoff experience
Also on a side note....Jose has never.....NEVER lost a 1st round playoff series his whole career ;)
Hope to give ya more stuff next time....Let me know if ya like what i gave ya or hated it...where I can improve or what not...Add me on facebook if you'd like...Follow me on twitter at: ott92680
Everyone have a great weekend(or week depending when ya read this)
LETS GO CAPS
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