Well, here it is.

Today is the final home game of the regular season for the Washington Capitals, the last game to be played in the 2008-09 season in which the only thing they play for is points. It’s our last chance to see how much Ovechkin, Green, Backstrom and company can pad those stats for the final tallies before hitting the road. It’s our last chance to see just how high this team can go, how many points they’ll collect, how many wins on home ice will be added to the record books.

There’s something so strange about this game – in a good way, of course, but strange nonetheless.

Think back. When was the last time we could buy a ticket to the last regular season home game knowing that it wouldn’t be the last game of the year? When was the last time we could stroll through the Verizon Center doors confident that our ovation at the end of the game would be more of a bon voyage, wishing them well on their journey into the postseason, than a goodbye? Certainly not last year – and most certainly not the year before.

April 5, 2003. That would be the last time the Caps would wrap up a season at home knowing that the second season awaited before the puck even dropped.

April 8, 2001. That would be the last time the Caps would wrap up a season at home knowing that the Southeast Division title was firmly in hand

It’s been a long time coming for this Caps team and their fans. We’ve had to wait through hapless ends to seasons and guaranteed places on World Championship teams. We’ve seen final losses that meant nothing and final wins that meant even less. We’ve cast nervous glances at scoreboards and been forced to wait until the last possible second to explode in division-clinching celebration.

But today there are no nerves. When we walk into Verizon Center we know that the Caps are assured no less than a third seed in the conference and home ice in at least the first round of the playoffs.

A battle for second place overall will keep the game fresh, the points worthwhile; this Caps team, always exciting, will keep us on the edge of our seats despite essentially playing out the remainder of the regular season. But we won’t have to live and die with every goal as we did last year, or watch the game merely hopeless and restless for September.

When the Caps return from their road trip they’ll find themselves either in second or third place. When they return they’ll know how the rest of the conference shapes up, who finishes where and how many division rivals will join them in the postseason. But they will return, ready to start the playoffs as they’ve apparently been ready to do for weeks now – and in a little over a week we’ll rise to our feet once more to welcome them back. Because they will return.

That’s a guarantee.

So today we merely bid them farewell for now…not goodbye. And that makes all the difference.

Everyone enjoy today’s game, celebrate, cheer our boys on and rock the red as we get ready to wrap up another regular season. Here in the Cheap Seats we’re getting ready for the playoffs – boarding up the windows, running nightly typing drills, swathing every room in Caps red…it’s a process. But rest-assured, we’ll be primed and ready when the puck drops on this year’s postseason.

…I never really liked kids that much anyway.