The games are going, the drama is back, and I couldn't be happier. It's been such a long hockey starved summer for me with life and obligations keeping me from hitting the ice myself in the off season.
With every play and whistle my emotions are running high to low. Friday it ended on a low point. Saturday the night had me smiling from ear to ear and tonight I look to the rest of the season as a much tougher slug fest than the last. With the tough win over Ottawa, it's hard not to think of the East in general as being a much rougher place to play than it was.
With most of the teams feeling upgraded in some way or another it's hard to not think that the boys in red will have a much tougher gauntlet to run through the regular season, and for what it's worth, I believe that can only benefit where they want to go in the post season. With more close and hard fought games with teams that are learning to reign the run and gun style of the Caps in, there will be more chip and grit from all sides of the team coming out. Something that's already started to show its face in the last game against the Devils and continued against the Sens (albeit with less frequency).
Carlson stepping up two games in a row to dig into the scrum and protect his mates. Both times losing his lid in the mix. John Erskine getting in hard on the body and making the Senators pay down low each time they touched the puck after his stint in the box was a nice way of saying the penalty wasn't going to deter him from playing rough. Green stepping in the ring. Bradley laying one out showing he hasn't skipped a beat. You don't have to watch long to see that team toughness has stepped up to a new level this season and that they won't be standing off and I couldn't be happier to see it.
It's going to be interesting to see how things progress through the season as the team hits their stride and line chemistry kicks in and tweaks are made. I just hope they keep that hard nosed attitude front and center.
