This whole deal for the Washington Capitals — the sellout crowds, the crazy flurry of wins to finish the season and a return to the postseason — started with a fire sale.
Owner Ted Leonsis and general manager George McPhee decided during the 2003-04 season that the Caps were not a Stanley Cup contender and — with a possible work stoppage looming — it was time to start over. So McPhee went about taking apart the roster he had put together, sending away his best players for prospects, draft picks and salary relief.
“The process is hard to go through, but when the ownership back you up like they did, you feel like you can take your time and build it right,” McPhee said.
It started with unloading Jaromir Jagr’s massive contract Jan. 23, but over the next 40 days the Caps also said goodbye to Peter Bondra, Sergei Gonchar, Robert Lang and Michael Nylander.
Washington’s revival began with a stroke of luck, winning the draft lottery and the right to select Alex Ovechkin that June. But the shift in philosophy meant the Caps were destined for some dark days.
McPhee resisted the urge to speed up the process, foregoing any major free agent signings before the next two seasons. Ovechkin blossomed into an elite player for the franchise to build around, but without much help the Caps finished in last place in the Southeast Division again in 2005-06 and last season.
“We were a young team. It was frustrating,” Caps defenseman Steve Eminger said. “You don’t want to be losing. Who wants to lose? You also think to yourself, ’Am I ever going to make the playoffs?’ There are players who go their whole careers without making the playoffs. I used to go home and think like a lot of the other guys, ’When are things going to turn around?’ ”
There were some shrewd additions while the team was losing. Adding eventual captain Chris Clark for a mid-round draft pick was a steal. Obtaining defenseman Milan Jurcina for a mid-round pick added depth on the blue line. Picking up a former first-round pick who didn’t sign with his team, David Steckel, also proved fruitful.
When Leonsis and McPhee decided this was the season to increase expectations and spend more money on the big league roster, the Caps added veterans Nylander, Tom Poti and Viktor Kozlov this summer.
But it turns out the biggest development besides adding Ovechkin might have been hiring Bruce Boudreau to lead the team’s American Hockey League affiliate, the Hershey Bears. When the Caps faltered to begin this season, McPhee fired Glen Hanlon and tabbed Boudreau as his successor, and the team hasn’t stopped winning since.
So often when a professional sports franchise dumps players for financial reasons, the prospects and picks do not pan out. But as this season has progressed, the Caps’ grand fire sale of 2004 has begun to show its merit.
Ovechkin, who clinched this season’s Art Ross Trophy and Maurice Richard Trophy yesterday as the league leader in points (112) and goals (65), is the headliner of the 2004 draft class. Also, first-round picks acquired in late February and early March of that year were used to select emerging superstar Mike Green and solid defenseman Jeff Schultz. Brooks Laich, acquired in the trade for Bondra, scored 21 goals this season, becoming a key source of secondary scoring.
Shaone Morrisonn formed a partnership with Green on the blue line that could work for the Caps for years to come. Even Tomas Fleischmann, whose offensive production has disappeared at times for long stretches, had a game-winning goal in Tampa Bay and opened the scoring Saturday night in the division-clincher against Florida.
The final pieces were added in late February on trade deadline day. Cristobal Huet has been dominant in net, while Sergei Fedorov and Matt Cooke have meshed with Alexander Semin on the second line.
“We’ve put this plan together and told people to be patient, and one day we will wake up and have a good team. I think that morning is tomorrow morning,” McPhee said after Saturday night’s game. “It feels great to be able to deliver something right now because we’ve been telling people it was going to happen and there were a lot of future promises, and it is nice to be able to stand here and say we just won the division.”
Added Leonsis: “We had a plan, we tried to execute it and stay with it and we can’t be satisfied because we haven’t won the Cup. But that’s the plan. When you do a lot of research, we saw we couldn’t be really, really good unless you were really, really bad and then build through the draft. We took our licks, and we were up front about it — we communicated it to everyone.
“There weren’t any tricks. We told everybody we were going to rebuild and it’s going to feel really good when we get there. And the people have bought in. I really believe we’re going to be in the playoffs for a long, long time. This is Ottawa’s 11th year. I want that.”
CAPS VS. FLYERS
First round
Game 1 at Washington: Friday, 7 p.m., Versus
Game 2 at Washington: Sunday, 2 p.m., NBC
Game 3 at Philadelphia: April 15, 7 p.m., Versus
Game 4 at Philadelphia: April 17, 7 p.m., Versus
Game 5 at Washington*: April 19, 1 p.m., NBC
Game 6 at Philadelphia*: April 21, TBA, Versus
Game 7 at Washington*: April 22, TBA, TSN
* if necessary
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