As I drove home from my girlfriend's apartment last night after witnessing Jaroslav Halak's 53-save performance against the Washington Capitals in a 4-1 Montreal Canadiens victory which forced a seventh game in their first round playoff series, I couldn't help but think about a boilerplate statement that business and financial writers are awfully familiar with …
This release contains information about management's view of future expectations, plans and prospects that constitute forward-looking statements for purposes of the safe harbor provisions under The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Actual results may differ materially from those indicated by these forward-looking statements, as a result of a variety of factors including, but not limited to …
In the business, that's known as the "Safe Harbor Statement." Put simply, it's a warning from a public company that despite how well things might seem to be going at the moment financially, it's no guarantee of future performance. It's also a bit of legal CYA that companies can point to when things go wrong as long as their original projections were made in good faith. Put simply, while things are going great now, your money is still at risk. Caveat emptor.
In a way, it's a lot like that in hockey too, it's just that instead of your money, it's your heart and soul that's at risk. Then again, did we really need a warning that finishing the regular season as champions of the Southeast Division and the Eastern Conference, as well as the winner of the President's Trophy for the league's best overall record in no way guarantees victory in the Stanley Cup Playoffs?
But there are other ways we need to keep that statement in mind when it comes to what might happen tomorrow night on the ice at Verizon Center, where the Caps will once again try to put away the pesky Canadiens. Because whatever might have happened in the past, whether the goalie in question was Billy Smith, Ron Hextall, Tom Barasso, Ken Wregget, Johan Hedberg, Nik Khabibulin, Martin Biron or Marc-Andre Fleury, it's still just one game. And in the very basic world of statistical analysis, there are only two possible outcomes: you win or you lose. It's the proverbial coin flip, and thanks to the greatest regular season performance in team history, the Caps will get to play that game at home.
Granted, if the coin comes up tails tomorrow night, there will be more than enough time for recriminations. As Caps owner Ted Leonsis has said many times before, there isn't any person in his organization -- and that goes from General Manager George McPhee to the lowliest prospect skating in South Carolna -- who won't have to endure some sort of performance review once the season is done.
If they lose, the series will have to go down as one of the most heartbreaking in franchise history, even for a franchise that has experienced other epic playoff collapses. Safe to say, it will also go down as one of the biggest upsets in league history. But all will be forgotten and forgiven if the team simply wins tomorrow night. So keep an open mind and concentrate on the positive, as hard as that might be at the moment. In the end, and we all knew this going in, there are no guarantees in life, or in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
