PLUS MINUS is a terrible stat, but it is the world's most popular tri-monthly hockey blog*
PLUS: The Washington Capitals winning the Stanley Cup.
PLUS: Ovechkin's now legendary Cup winning celebration(s) and interviews. When someone this fun wins, it makes it way better.
PLUS: Having the team you cover win the Cup in a year in which you a) picked them to miss the playoffs b) said their coach was Dr. Robotnik look-alike who should be relieved of his duties and c) called their General Manager 'incompetent' after what appeared to be the worst summer of any GM in the history of the NHL, as the Capitals lost: Marcus Johansson, Kevin Shattenkirk, Nate Schmidt, Justin Williams, and Daniel Winnick without replacing them.
Then they extended T.J Oshie on a contract which can politely be referred to as an instant albatross.
Then they extended Kuznetsov on a contract that also looked insane (but which looks OK now after he led the NHL in scoring during the Playoffs).
That said, they gave away Johansson to to make it happen despite:
Kuznetsov, 25 was coming off a 19 goals, 59 point season.
Johansson, 26 was coming off of a 26 goal, 58 point season.
So even though McClellan is now a Cup Winning Genius, I still don't know how one of those guys gets $8 million per season while the other gets given away for free.
PLUS: Shohei Ohtani is an ace pitcher and a cleanup hitter. Why he didn't sign in the NL is confusing, but he is the entire reason to care about baseball in this season where the Blue Jays are garbage and my fantasy team is already eliminated from contention.
PLUS: Beach House, quite possibly my favorite contemporary band has a new album out, and it is amazing. You should buy it. It's called 7.
MINUS: I can not believe Edmonton is proceeding with Peter Chiarelli as GM - what an absolute joke.
PLUS: Early summer prediction: Vegas is not a playoff team next year.
PLUS: The Arizona Coyotes are going to shock everyone in the NHL next year. They were one of the best teams in the league - secretly - down the stretch, and they are going to ice an unreal team next season with so much depth and talent. And it's a complete secret.
MINUS: John Carlson is good, but someone is going to regret that contract the day after it's signed.
MINUS: I was saddened to hear of the passing of one of my literary heroes, Philip Roth. Roth, who had six books on the NY Times list of the best 25 novels of the last 25 years, was a fantastic writer. If you are unfamiliar with his work, look it up. If you want your mind blown, get yourself a copy of the Plot Against America and consider how Nostradamus like it turned out to be.
MINUS: I just learned that scientists accidently created an 'enzyme' that essentially eats plastic. If you've ever seen a science fiction movie, you know that this is going to be celebrated for five minutes as the thing that will save us, until the cure turns out to be worse than the disease and the enzyme grows into a 40 ft monster that eats more than just plastic.
PLUS: The NHL Awards show where this year's musical guest will be the surviving member of Milli Vanilli, Fabrice Morvan.
PLUS: I like that the NHL is pretty random. Way better to see two teams with no real reason to be in the Finals than to see the same two dumb teams four years in a row. The NBA was getting my attention for a while, but every game is 101 to 99 with a last second buzzer attempt and every playoffs are the exact same.
MINUS: Connor McDavid should win the Hart Trophy and he's not even nominated.
PLUS: Leon's delivered me a whole new living room set today, and you don't want to know how I paid for it (but click this blog twice if you don't mind!! Kidding!) . The important thing is that Mrs. Tanner now can no longer claim that I do not buy her nice things.
MINUS: My house now smells like a furniture superstore - although, to be honest as anyone who has three kids can attest, this is probably an upgrade over the smell of spilt milk on carpets and urine!
PLUS: Played a little Ice Hockey (NES) with my son yesterday.
"Sorry bud, this is crap. I remember it being better."
"What? I love it."
PLUS: The NHL season is really long, and I love it, but I'm glad it's over. Time to relax for a week or two before the draft. Here's hoping Peter Chiarelli keeps us entertained.
Washington Capitals Blogger • 
Join the Discussion:
»