“I’m proud of everyone on our team. It’s tough to swallow but there’s no regrets in this room. I’m proud of everyone. It’s unfortunate.” - Braden Holtby

This is the first I've even tried to think about it since last night when Derek Stepan fired a loose puck over a desperate Braden Holtby to win Game 7 in overtime.

It sucks. It really, really sucks. As a Caps fan for 30+ years, I've been waiting for their turn along with thousands of other fans. The first thing a Caps fan thinks is "Another year, another disappointment" or "The Caps blew it again". Or even, "This team can't win, I'm jumping on another bandwagon".

In years past, the Washington Capitals have definitely given up in critical games. You can blame the core players who were starting out in their careers or even the GM who didn't bring in the players needed to win. The coaching was always a controversy here as well goaltending issues.

and... Blah Blah Blah.

The Caps just haven't been able to get it done in the playoffs because there hasn't been enough heart on this team in a long time. There hasn't been enough of a push in the locker room to get over the elusive second round hump.

However, this season, I can't find a reason not to love this team and the effort they gave last night as they battled and outplayed the Rangers desperately trying to score that one goal.

Unfortunately, the Rangers got a lucky bounce off of a Dan Girardi point shot. Holtby was left vulnerable and Stepan had a gimme. That's the way it is.

Call it puck luck. Call it a blessing from the Hockey Gods. Call it Stepan just being in great positioning.

Doesn't matter. All that matters is that the Rangers won and the Caps are out. But not without some pride leftover.

This Washington team was one of the best I've seen in a long, long time. The leadership that Alex Ovechkin showed this season proved to me that he has matured enough to give his team a chance to win. He's not the 'kid in a candy store' anymore, he's a Captain. He's considerate, honest and plays his heart out every night for his team.

The secondary scoring for the Caps was remarkable. Joel Ward, Jason Chimera and Evgeny Kuznetsov were all spectacular. Jay Beagle, Troy Brouwer, Brooks Laich and Andre Burakovsky showed heart and grit.

The defensemen were all very solid and the incorporation of Brooks Orpik this season was the perfect complement of leadership that this squad needed.

The team MVP this season, however, was Braden Holtby. He was marvelous, solid and gave the Caps every opportunity to win every-single-night. There really is much else to say about him except that the Caps finally have a franchise goaltender again.

Something else the Capitals have back is a coach that knows how to coach. Barry Trotz proved that what he did in Nashville over 16 years as no fluke and that he could coach a team with an offense like Washington. Trotz brought his style to DC, and although it took a few games for everything to fall into place, the team showed the side of themselves we fans have been waiting a long time to see.

Even though I really, really, really wish we could have won, I can't possibly call this season a failure or even come close to saying "another year, another disappointment". It was a great season from a great team.

Congrats to the Rangers on a great comeback and Good Luck.

Go Caps.

More to come...

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