The Enforcers of the Washington Capitals

Enforcer: one who's job is to execute unpleasant tasks for a superior (Web definition from wordnetweb.princeton.edu)


In recent seasons, the rosters of the Washington Capitals have been stacked with talent.  They've had the speedsters, the hitters and the scorers.  They've had a Norris Trophy finalist and the MVP of the league.  But outside of John Erskine, (who they don't want to fight much because we need him on the ice) we haven't had the type of guys that could really strike a bit of fear into the opposition. 

 

In the past, we've dealt with tough guys on tough teams agitating our guys to the point where they wanted to fight but they knew it wasn't an option because our guys couldn't fight.  So they played games when they were literally getting bullied around the ice and trying to perform with that in the back of their heads.  When it came down to important games and especially playoff games, teams knew this weakness and they exposed it.  Just think back to the last playoff matchup with the Bruins.  Milan Lucic was having a field day because outside of "firecracker" Matt Hendricks, (who was a bit small for the task but crazy enough to try) there wasn't anyone to make him stop picking on us.  Erskine, who was a healthy scratch for three of the games in that series, had to be inserted in the lineup (by Dale Hunter) just to help keep Lucic honest.  How many times have we needed someone to knock the block off of Sean Avery in a Ranger's series?  In one playoff series, John Tortorella put Avery, who had been a healthy scratch for a long time, in the lineup just to help expose our weakness.  Avery just made us mad, he had other people on the team that could do the fighting for him.

The Flyers tried to pick on us Friday night after getting a little upset about their slaughtering but....nope, sorry, not this year and not this team.  Enjoy your concussion Downie, enjoy your dental work Lecavalier.

 





George McPhee and Adam Oates have realized the importance of these puzzle pieces.  Sure there's teams around the league who won't be afraid to drop the mitts with our guys.  That's what's so great about it.  No more bullying our little guys around the ice.  Our team is finally ready to accept agitation from other teams.  If someone wants to lay a bone crushing hit or start something with someone like Backstrom, Johansson or Erat, my advice would be "go right ahead."  Team forces will most likely rain upon your face.  When that's done, you'll probably see Backstrom and Johansson combine for two goals on the television while getting stitched up in the locker room.

Do you follow me yet?  George McPhee has figured out a way to put multiple enforcers on the ice.  They include Tom Wilson, Steven Oleksy, Aaron Volpatti, Mike Latta and big John Erskine.  On top of that, these guys are pretty solid hockey players.  The Caps can finally focus on winning the game when they find themselves in a hot situation.  Hopefully this team can make it to the playoffs and we can finally be the ones to push some teams around.

GO CAPS!

Thanks for reading
Zach Hart