Happy Washington Capitals Week, everybody. Today at 10 a.m., the D.C. Council presented Caps owner Ted Leonsis with a resolution honoring his NHL club’s amazing mid-season turnaround and return to the playoffs. For the rest of the week, Washington will honor its Capitals by being happy about them.

What can you be happy about? Well, for starters, it’s the end of the Jagr era. Although aging superstar Jaromir Jagr stopped playing for the Caps in early 2004, this week marks the end of the last season for which they will be paying millions of dollars of his incredibly gigantic contract. This will leave more money for the Caps to pay young superstar Alexander Ovechkin’s incredibly gigantic contract.

Speaking of Ovechkin, he has been nominated now for both the Lester Pearson award and the Hart Trophy. Both are technically given to the best player in the NHL, but the former is voted by professional players and the latter by professional writers. In each case, Ovechkin is one of three finalists, next to Evgenei Malkin and Jarome Iginla. Since Iginla and Malkin play offensive positions like Ovechkin, and had merely great years compared to Ovechkin’s incredible and historical campaign, we think both trophies are in the bag. Ovechkin, in case you’ve been on Mars, just finished leading the NHL in scoring, and set a new record for goals by a left wing with 65.

Ovechkin helped the Caps win game after game all season, and has shown the potential to be a dominant hockey player. Still, when the playoffs started, he looked inexperienced and uncertain for several games before finding his usual self. The coming season will be a great test of both the player and the franchise, as they seek to drive further into the playoffs than just the first round. If they can, Ovechkin’s new contract will continue to look like a bargain. If not, at least Jagr has taught us how to handle our disappointment: send it to New York. They’ll take anything.