…or at least they did something darn funny. If you haven’t seen it yet, check out the photo shoot for the Caps’ spread in ESPN Magazine’s NHL Preview issue:

He’s got my vote!

So Ovechkin lost the ESPY. To Sidney Crosby.

Yes, ESPN is a ridiculous anti-hockey network at this point and yes, the ESPYs are probably the least prestigious award an NHLer can win at this point.

But still. Crosby??

Before I get attacked by angry Yinzers, this actually isn’t a dig at the Penguins or their fans. I don’t think this was Pittsburgh fans being idiots – even they know that if they wanted to be ridiculously homerish, Malkin was a better choice than #87. Anyone who watched this season knows Crosby just wasn’t playing enough to even be considered NHLer of the year.

So clearly it’s just a matter of the average ESPY voter being oblivious to hockey and therefore picking what is probably the most familiar name. But what is ESPN’s excuse for even having him on the ballot? You put someone who had an injury on there instead of someone like Zetterberg or even Kovalchuk…and all you do is live up to your reputation as a moronic institution.

Whatever. He can keep the oddly phallic award, and for one reason.

Okay, four reasons.

h/t to Japers for the heads-up and to a Japers’ commenter for the photo idea

When you get knocked out of the playoffs in a year like this has been, it’s understandable that the local papers will pay homage to the magical journey that it was, and rightly so.

But when both the NHL’s official website and ESPN come out with articles about how much the Caps achieved, how bright the future is, and how amazing they’ve been…you know you’ve got something good on your hands.

From NHL.com:

Yes sir, what Bruce Boudreau, Alex Ovechkin and the rest of the Capitals gave the hockey world this season was indeed memorable. And this could just be the very beginning. Ovechkin – who scored 65 goals during the regular season – will turn 23 during Washington’s next training camp. Mike Green showed signs that he will be a premier defenseman in this League for years to come. Alexander Semin proved he can pick up the slack when Ovechkin is struggling during those 12 seconds per year.

From Scott Burnside at ESPN.com:

This isn’t a team that is rebuilding, but rather building. To what? Who knows? But there is something mindful of the Pittsburgh Penguins and how they have quickly learned what it takes to win in the playoffs. Perhaps, more importantly, the fans in this oft-maligned NHL market seem to have understood what was happening here, too.

Just one difference, Scott…when the Pens returned to the postseason after years of rebuilding? They only won once.

Just something to chew on.

Chin up, Caps fans. The 2008-09 season is just around the corner!

It’s always fun to see ESPN’s “experts” weigh in on different hockey-related subjects – it’s more fun when they’re nice, even glowing, in their discussions of the Caps. Observe:

1. Which player do you think will be one of the out-of-nowhere role players who surprises everyone in the playoffs?

Scott Burnside: I would keep an eye on Tom Poti. The veteran in Washington has put some injuries behind him and moves the puck well. He plays in the shadow of Mike Green now, but that’s not a bad thing.

E.J. Hradek: I think Capitals forward Brooks Laich and Red Wings forward Johan Franzen could be two under-the-radar type players who can be surprisingly big contributors in the coming weeks.

Barry Melrose: That’s a good question. I think you’ll see players like Mike Grier of San Jose as well as a fan and team favorite like Ian Laperriere of Colorado step up, players who play a hard style that’s perfect for the playoffs. Steve Ott of Dallas is another one; he gets under people’s skin. In the East, look for Scott Hartnell (Flyers), Matt Cooke (Capitals) and Nigel Dawes (Rangers) to score big, timely goals.

5. Which arena will have the most electricity in the first round?

Burnside: It’s hard to believe I’m writing this, but the Verizon Center in Washington.

Hradek: The Bell Centre just ain’t the Forum, but the place will be nuts when the Habs take the ice to face the Bruins. The atmosphere will be nuclear! The Verizon Center in D.C. should be jumping, too.

Melrose: The Shark Tank. It’s the loudest building in the NHL. All of the first-round arenas will be great; Washington will be unbelievable. But with all of the optimism and the team’s strong finish to the regular season, San Jose will be rockin’.

They also go on to say that Sid will go further than Ovie in the playoffs, but that’s neither surprising…nor necessarily wrong. As much as I love our boys, the Penguins are a Cup favorite, the Caps a Cinderella story – and if both win the first round they’ll probably have to face each other.

Lately it seems like someone new jumps on the Caps bandwagon every day. Our newest traveling companion, though, is the most unlikely of supporters – Damien Cox. Yes, the man who has consistently berated and mocked and belittled this Caps team is finally on board with a staggering statement: the Caps are so much more than just Ovechkin.

Read on:

A team that was the NHL’s worst in November and not much better as the calendar flipped over from 2007 to 2008, the Capitals are now demonstrating that they are about more than just trying to sneak into the No. 8 seed. They certainly are not just a team being carried on the back of a single man toward the franchise’s first playoff berth in five years.

Ovechkin, with the Art Ross (leading scorer) and Rocket Richard (most goals) Trophies both sewn up, is surely making a compelling case for his candidacy for the Hart (league MVP), regardless of whether the Caps qualify for the 2008 Stanley Cup playoffs. But to suggest Washington is a one-man team would be wrong. For starters, you don’t win nine of 10, as the Caps have done at the most important time of the season, if you don’t have more than one weapon.

Second, Ovechkin was there for the first 21 games under then-coach Glen Hanlon, and the club started 6-14-1 and looked headed for a lottery draft pick. Clearly, the tactics and decisions of Hanlon’s replacement, Bruce Boudreau, over the past 59 games has had an awful lot to do with the resurgence of the Caps.

Finally, GM George McPhee might as well take a bow now, for it appears that while other teams were busy landing bigger-name players, he made the best moves at the February trade deadline. In Tuesday’s crucial game against Carolina, the players McPhee acquired — goalie Cristobal Huet, winger Matt Cooke and center Sergei Fedorov — all played significant roles.

Check out the rest here.

Boudreau gets yet another well-earned day in the spotlight, as ESPN continues their “surprise story” spotlight of the Caps with part three, a look at BB himself. Meanwhile over at WashingtonPost.com the coach took some time to answer questions from the fans, which included these little gems:

Reston, Va.: Would you prefer to coach in a 1-0 game or a 6-5 game?
Bruce Boudreau: Coaches love to be thought of as defensive gurus, but personally I just want to be the coach that has the higher of the two numbers on the scoreboard. So it does not matter to me.

Mohawk, MI: What do you miss most about coaching in the minor leagues?
Bruce Boudreau: McDonald’s of course. And the movies on the bus.

And of course this Bruce quote, pointed out by astute reader Victor:

South Riding, Va.: How do you pick players for the overtime shootout?
Bruce Boudreau: You have your standard go-to guys, but you might sneak in a guy who is having a hot game. Or if you go 10 or 12 rounds then some of the guys just jump on the ice and go.

Oh, Matt Bradley. We do love you.

Then there’s the AP story about how the Caps went from worst to first and why. Of course they point to the fact that the Southeast Division is the weakest in the league – and I have to say, I take issue with that. Not that it’s a barn-burning division by any stretch, but Carolina got off to a very hot start and was right on pace with Detroit and Ottawa before a rash of injuries devastated the team and cooled them off; on the flip side, both Washington and Atlanta got off to a slow start and are just now getting hot.

It’s not so much a weak division as it is an inconsistent one – should the Caps win the division and make the postseason I’m sure we’ll have to revisit that discussion time and time again.

Here’s the promising part, though. In Burnside’s piece on Boudreau, he clearly states that this is not where they want to be. They want to be challenging the Senators, Habs and Devils of the league, not just the Thrashers and Islanders. As a Caps fan you have to feel encouraged by the continuing sense on this team that good enough is not good enough. And if that keeps up, whether or not the Southeast Division is weak or not may not be the story for much longer.

Continuing the ESPN lovefest, we have a question and answer session with Alex Ovechkin, again over on ESPN.com…they always did love us over there, didn’t they? Nothing particularly earth-shattering, just more of the same lovable Ovechkin we see everyday. The kid was raised right for sure.

Sandwiched between college football and NBA news…proof of ESPN.com’s undying (and until now, hidden) love for the Caps

And rounding it all out, props for Boudreau from “the hairdo” himself, Barry Melrose – who needs to learn how to pronounce Semin’s last name before the FCC steps in:

H/t to Peerless for the video
It’s funny how getting first place in the division suddenly shines the spotlight on the little team that could, isn’t it? Not that we don’t welcome the attention, of course. We even got a little more love from ESPN last night, when one of the commentators followed up a blink and you miss it highlight reel of our game by saying “that’s it, I’m officially a bandwagon Ovechkin fan.”

Welcome aboard, friend. You’re not the first and you certainly won’t be the last – but there’s room for all.