When my brother and I left Game 4, he turned to me and said "I hope the Caps don't win the Cup." When I asked him why, he said it was because they didn't deserve it. "They're arrogant," is what his reason was.
Arrogant is one. Predictable is another. A better bounce here. A smarter defensive move there. Habs could have stunned them by winning this in 5 (or 6). We've seen it before. Other versions of this team has done it before. Even the Bulldogs stunned their typically number 1 team by beating them in 5 for the Calder. There's a reason why I wanted the Habs to meet the Caps in the playoffs, and not just for the entertaining value or the excitement, but because I thought they could have a legitimate shot at beating them if they played them properly and smartly.
All the talent in the world means nothing if you fall apart.
And while the media knowitalls laughed at the mismatch they forgot one thing: there's a big difference between WANTING to win and EXPECTING to win. It would seem that after Game 4, Caps thought it was in the bag. They didn't expect Kirk Muller to become the ultimate puppetmaster and help rally this team straight. Believe in what you can do, come together for the dream, play the system your Coach has decided on. Sure we still think you're playing with fire if you think blocking and defending and waiting for that good scoring chance while facing the Caps. The WANT however was greater. Caps were already thinking to the next series, forgetting this one wasn't finished yet.
A Pens fan actually explained it best: that it was like the saloon shootout in Unforgiven, where the favored home team panicked and sprayed shots wildly while the visitor calmly picked them off one by one.
Ted's Take was very honest and straight to the point. He has a good team, but it needs to be better and smarter if it wants to go all the way. We know the Habs have a hard long road coming in the next round. We know they probably won't beat the Pens. I think it was Dickie Moore who came into the room during the '89 playoffs after each series win and said "Congratulations, you didn't win a thing." We know how it goes. But the Caps have a lot more thinking to do this summer.