If you ever wonder why Washington Capitals fans seem to have a collective chip on their shoulder concerning how the franchise and its players are treated by the rest of the hockey world, you might want to read this passage from Ted Leonsis that appeared this morning on his blog:
Then while the league was gearing up for the wonderful Winter Classic, we went out on a crazy two game West Coast swing over New Year’s break. We were as far away from Boston as possible, weren’t we? And Mike Green was left off the Canadian Olympic team which I think was the wrong decision by their team management. I believe Mike Green is a unique and spectacular talent and one of the top D men in the NHL. We have Mike’s back. We believe in him. I know this snub will motivate Mike for the rest of the season. We as a franchise sometimes don’t get the respect we have earned yet but the only way to right that wrong I believe is to win a Stanley Cup. We get the joke. We have collective chip on our shoulder. And I guess I will be rooting harder now for the USA team and for the Russian team to light up the Canadian team at this year’s Olympic Games.
He's not the only one annoyed by the snubbing of Mike Green. On one level, I can understand that of all the hockey-playing nations in the world, only Canada could afford to leave a player as talented as Green off of their Olympic roster. Then again, it was hard not to notice over the weekend that when Don Cherry talked about the team on Saturday night, he went out of his way to point out that if any Canadian defenseman was injured between now and the start of the Games, that Jay Bouwmeester, and not Green, would be more likely to get a callup.
Tags: Ted Leonsis
There is (was) also a lack of respect within our own arena. The Caps usually got the short end of the stick when it came to scheduling, playing second fiddle to NCAA tournaments and the circus. Remember the playoff series vs. Pittsburgh? I hope Ted takes over the Phone Booth soon so this will never happen again.