HAWKEEEEEEEE!

I was the giddiest kid in the state last night... during a crippling blow to the Red Sox' repeat chances... all because the Capitals and Blue Jackets, probably the two worst franchises in hockey, were on TV.  What kind of sicko would get excited about them?  Me, I guess.  I got an added treat by seeing two earth-shaking plays by Caps rookie dynamo Alexander Ovechkin... the first, a bone-crunching hit on the forecheck, the second a screaming one-timer from the slot for his first NHL goal.  He might be the best player on the Caps, and he's only been in the NHL for 60 minutes.  Definitely the best forward from the look of things.  Nice to see the hometown team might have an identity again.

The Broons, meanwhile, lost to Montreal on a PP goal with 11.1 seconds left in the game.  As Spaulding Smails would say, "DOUBLE farts!"  But Patrice Bergeron picked up where he left off in 2004 by potting the lone goal for Boston.  He and Raycroft (2 GA, 19 sv) are the future.  But it also looks like the depth at defenseman has ironed itself out, even in Nick Boynton's absence.  Leetch, Gill, Dallman, Alberts, Slegr and Moran is kinda mediocre, but serviceable.  Throw in the prospects late in the season (Mark Stuart, Milan Jurcina) along with Boynton, if he ever signs, and 2003-04 starter Jonathan Girard, and you're talking about an extremely deep corps to choose from.  Not that talented, apart from Boynton and Leetch, but deep.  Injuries do happen, after all, so having 8-10 guys who can play is a good problem to have.