The Caps Were The Last Team To Clinch A Playoff Spot Last Year And The First To Clinch A Playoff Spot This Year

Man oh man, what a difference a year makes. Last season the Caps made the playoffs, there is no taking that away from them. But it was a STRUGGLE, and we were the last team to clinch a spot, doing so in the final regular season game.

This season though? The complete opposite. An overhaul in the offseason due to some nifty GM'ing completely transformed the Caps on the fly, and this season the Caps now have 100 points and are the first team to clinch a spot in the postseason. MAN OH MAN indeed!

Bringing in Logan Thompson, Matt Roy, Jakob Chychrun, Pierre-Luc Dubois, Andrew Mangiapane, Brandon Duhaime, and Taylor Raddysh completely changed the dynamics of the team, and now look at them. It's incredible how they were able to rebuild on the fly, while still keeping the Ovi/Wilson/Strome/Carlson core (I could list more because honestly everyone seems like a "core" piece at this point). And then for McMichael and Protas to step up the way they have, for the defense depth like TVR, Fehervary, and Sandin to be so strong, Eller and Dowd to continue to be great at their rolls...the entire squad has gelled together perfectly. 

I'm not going to start yelling from the rooftop that it's our year. What I will say though is this is the best Caps team front to back I've ever seen. And this isn't even about the goal chase which is insane that it's happening at the same time. Usually when a huge record is about to be broken the team is bad. Not in this case. Ovi is hunting Gretzky while the Caps are the best team in the league. It all seems so surreal and the ride has been nothing but enjoyable.

The playoffs are locked up and Ovi is 7 away from passing Gretzky. What a time, what a time. I really just hope everyone, even non-hardcore hockey fans, are enjoying it. Just an all around amazing time to be a fan.