3 Reasons Why A Shortened Season Could Help The Capitals

3 Benefits Of A Shortened Season

I.  YOUTH- With an average player age of 26.91, the Capitals will have one of the youngest teams in the league. 13 players under 27 will be returning to this year's team as well. Hamerlik (37) and Poti (35) are the only two outliers on the team over 32 years of age. Youth can work magic in a lockout shortened season by adding speed, agility, less fatigue, and speedy recoveries from minor injuries. A youthful experienced (Oxymoron, I know) team is just what the Caps will have this season.



II. TWO TALENTED GOALIES- Not that having two young and very talented goalies would be a bad thing in an 82 game season, but in a 50 game season it's even more necessary. Holtby (23) and Nuevirth (24) should have no problem alternating games here and there to keep each other at their peak physical condition. This will definitely come into play in a condensed season where teams may be playing more games than they are accustomed to in a shorter period of time.


III.  NO PREPERATION TIME FOR OPPONENTS- With a 50 game schedule and a lockout exterminated preseason the Capitals Southeast opponents will have less time to figure out Adam Oates' style of coaching (see how this could hurt too below).   This will be incredibly beneficial because divisional opponents will be more concerned with their own team troubles rather than spending their time trying to figure out ways to play other teams, especially a team with a brand new head coach.

Written By Caps Contributor Aaron Ebert @AaronEbert22

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3 Reasons Why A Short Season Could Hurt The Capitals

3 Challenges With A Shortened Season

I. NO PRESEASON:  With a new head coach (Adam Oates) in town, it is extremely important to build team chemistry as quickly and as early as possible. With the majority of the team's star athletes playing international hockey during the lockout, all of the preseason team building time is essentially wasted. Unfortunately this could lead to some early chemistry struggles for the Capitals, specifically with new player like Mike Ribeiro.



II. NO ROOM FOR ERROR:  The Caps last campaign began with a Bang as the team started off 7-0, going 7-2 in October.  With 42 regulation wins, Washington  barely squeaked into the playoffs where they made it to the second round losing to the New York Rangers in seven games. If the 2011-2012 season was shortened to 50 Games the Caps could have been 25-21-4 and may have missed the playoffs entirely. A shortened season may be disastrous for a team who will need plenty of game time experience to get the hang of a new head coach's schemes and strategies.

III. NO TIME FOR INJURIES:  In an 82 game NHL regular season players with injuries will have more time during the season to heal completely before going down the home stretch. In a season where teams will be playing 39.1% less regular season games there is absolutely no room for any of the team's super star athletes to sustain any type of serious injury. Usually a team could survive 15 or so games with out one or two of it's stars out on the ice, but in a 50 game season, not a chance.

These three things are not certainties.  If the Capitals can pick up Adam Oates system quickly, gel with new players, keep the losing streaks at a minimum, and stay healthy, they will have a great chance to be a dominant team in this short season.

Written By Caps Contributor Aaron Ebert @AaronEbert22

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Hockey Lessons For n00bz: NHL Lockout 2004-05

Lockouts suck. NFL & NBA fans know this. But did you know that NHL fans don't like lockouts either, and their lockout was worse (so far).

NFL Lockout 2011:

This year has been a crazy year for lockout news. First the NFL went into lockout mode and scared us into thinking that we might miss one or more of our precious football Sundays. (What would my boss think if I showed up to work on a Monday not hungover?)

The NFL lockout issue was resolved and now we have a great (if not a Skins fan) NFL season. The only thing missed was some preseason workouts which fans could care less about, and one preseason game that fans equally don't care about.

NBA Lockout 2011:

Then it was the NBA's turn. The NBA lockout came around and that one seemed a little more scary than the football version. When you have Baron Davis dressing like a nerdy lumberjack teaming up with a player who should have retired 5 years ago, you aren't going to make much progress.

The NBA lockout has yet to be resolved and probably will not be. However, so far only a few games have been officially cancelled. The NBA is in severe danger of becoming the 2nd major

North American pro-sports league to ever be cancelled. So what was the first?

Bandwagon & Apathy About Losing The NHL:

Where were you back in 2004? Were you rocking the red (metaphorically...see comments)? Were you watching the last place Washington Capitals end the season with a dud? For a select few of you, probably the people who read blogs, then you were watching the Caps lose and getting upset. However, for most current Caps fans, I doubt they even knew the team existed.

If you were one of those fans, then when the NHL cancelled their season back in 2004, you were probably like me and didn't care whatsoever. I remember my reaction was "Good Riddance" and hoping that the league would never return. I was really anti-hockey and the Wizards were the only team worth watching that season as Gilbert Arenas led them to the 2nd round of the playoffs.

NHL Players vs NBA Players:

You have probably read about NBA players either playing in Europe or thinking about playing in Europe during their lockout (& more to come in the near future). However most players are just playing street-ball games where they just f' around and use moves they will never use in a real NBA game.

The NHL players cared a little more about maintaining their skills during the lockout as almost 400 NHL players went to play in Europe (wiki). In these games there was no random dude skating on the ice with the microphone heckling players, no crowds on the ice, and no horsing around.

Thoughts:

Unlike the NFL & NBA, the NHL actually cancelled an entire season. I remember that after the baseball strike cut the season short I stopped watching baseball for years. I can't imagine how upset I would be over an entirely cancelled season. Did people shift their time over to the NBA? I think so.

According to Business Insider, NHL attendance is actually down during the NBA lockout. I can understand this because I feel that most hockey fans watch basketball too, but most basketball fans don't watch hockey. This thinking also leads to my assumption that the NBA gained a little from the NHL lockout, but not vice versa (Fred Savage).

I am one of the few that has taken up the NHL to replace my NBA fix. Although I still want the NBA lockout to end, I am in the NHL to stay. Here's hoping I never have to write about an NHL lockout ever again.