What’s that, reader? You thought the hockey season had come to a merciful end? You thought that Caps players like Mike Green, Jeff Schultz, Jakub Klepis, Eric Fehr, Alexandre Giroux, Dave Steckel and Frederic Cassivi had shown they belong in the minor leagues, and would now spend the summer playing golf and healing unspecified injuries? Well, smartypants, you got the first part right. All those Caps players do belong in the minor leagues, and that’s where they are right now, playing for the Hershey Bears (nee B’ars) in the American Hockey League playoffs.
The Bears currently enjoy a 1-0 series lead in the best of seven East Division Finals against the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. This ambi-local team develops players for the Caps’ arch-rival, the Pittsburgh Penguins. They are also rumored to enjoy declawing kittens, hitting on nuns and watching Everybody Loves Raymond.
Now the Bears will try to repeat history. Last season, Hershey swept Wilkes-Barre/Scranton four games to zero in the East Division Finals, before going on to become the 2006 Calder Cup champions. After a year when the NHL Penguins beat the Capitals every single time the teams played, a repeat drubbing of the Penguins’ farmhands could give Washington fans a sign that help is on the way. Here’s hoping.
