We've seen good teams go through this time and time again. First, it was the San Jose Sharks, who failed to even get to the Stanley Cup last year. Then, it was the Washington Capitals, who failed to even get past Montreal last season. There's a key there: Even the best teams are vulnerable to the most hyped-up part of the year: the playoffs.
Well, it's a new season. Players have gone and left, contracts were given out to players who wanted to return to the team, and like last year, the Capitals are starting off as the Cup favorites in everyone's mind. Except me.
I don't believe the Caps, the Sharks, or any good team up there should be considered the Cup favorites at this point. Why? It's too early in the season to tell who's in and who's not. Maybe after a few months, we'll have a better picture, but now's not the right time to make a good prediction.
We've all seen how bad good teams have performed in the playoffs. But let's not give any credit to the Capitals or any other good team out there yet. It is SO early in the season that you don't know what might happen. They may start out as great teams but then they'll falter and start losing more and more games. The Kings did this, the Canucks did this, heck even the Capitals and Sharks did this.
Does the impact of Alex Ovechkin help give the Caps more of a Cup favorite? That would seem like what everyone is going after and why they're picking the Caps. But hey, Ovechkin's may be the best player on their team, but he really doesn't know how to produce for his team in the playoffs. On the power play, it is like a faltering rock that won't budge.
This team is gonna be stuck for most of the season, but maybe they'll get hot. Just remember one thing: The playoffs are a very different area than the regular season. You may go through the regular season hot but by the time the playoffs roll around, you were dragging yourself in and about to get whomped by a lower-ranking team.
The season has just started, people. Let us all watch a few games and see who we really think the Cup favorites are. Maybe they're the Capitals or the Sharks or the Canucks or the Kings. Either way, we should be on the lookout for those up-and-coming teams. Maybe they'll surprise everyone and suddenly become the Cup favorites.
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