When DCist talks, the Washington Capitals listen. We’d like to thank the Caps for taking our suggestions to heart at the trade deadline. We’ll certainly have more advice for them this summer, when free agents become available.

Now if they can just slide down two or three spots in the standings, they’ll be one of four teams in the lottery for the first-overall pick. They’ll have a great chance to avoid picking up a couple of points tonight against Tampa Bay, who temporarily (due to an Ovechkin slump) boast the league’s first and second-leading goal-scorers in Vincent Lecavalier and Martin St. Louis.

Tonight’s game should also feature the Caps debut of rookie center Jiri Novotny. Novotny is the largest part of the return on the trade that sent Dainius Zubrus into, as Zubrus himself so eloquently put it, a “real hockey atmosphere.” Thanks Zubie. Your consistent play really helped the Caps stay competitive. Why, it’s just shocking how in spite of your enormous potential and highly regarded leadership abilities, our lack of a real hockey atmosphere led to the complete destruction of the cup contending team you joined here. Our apologies!

Of course Caps fans aren’t going to take this kind of insult sitting down, right? No, it seems Caps fans prefer to take this kind of insult lying down, softly mumbling agreement between sobs, because sometimes sitting is just too difficult.

MS Paint Mashup by Matt Bourque