The Washington Capitals at the 40 game mark

As the season progresses to the halfway point the Washington Capitals find themselves as the 3rd worst team in the league. They also have the 2nd worst defense in terms of goals against. The glass is half full when it comes to scoring as the team is tied with Los Angeles in goal scoring, ahead of higher echelon teams such as the New York Rangers, Colorado Avalanche and Carolina Hurricanes.

The team has 6 players with double digits in goal scoring with Yakov Trenin and MVP Jared Spurgeon potting 10 goals so far this season. When asked for comment Jared said “we have to do a better job of competing on a nightly basis. Our challenge is to rise up to meet that demand. The fans deserve better than what we have accomplished so far.”

GM Donpaulo when asked mentioned “we are pleasantly surprised at our ability to put pucks in the net. After moving some our better players to other teams earlier in the season it doesn't seem to have affected our offensive output which is a welcome thought as the dog days of winter are now upon us. Of course our defensive effort is often not good enough. The coaching staff knows it, the players know it and our fans know it too. We will have to do a better job of it and see if we can reduce the quality chances against. Its going to be a challenge but one we feel we can better handle on as we reach the mid point of the season. With all due respect to the city of Chicago, the Blackhawks are at least making us look professional out there on the ice. Frankly I don't care if that kind thing ends up on the bulletin board because our team needs to get better. Perhaps Chicago would like to engage us in a rivalry of some sort as we work our way towards the end of the season ?”

The team is on a heart breaking 2-4-4 run over the past 10 games played with a woeful 6 road wins so far this inaugural season. Despite Robin Lehner standing on his head in many games with a .914 save percentage, this is a bad ice hockey team. Antti Raanta was brought in from Tampa to carry the load for next season, so its unlikely he will see many more games this season unless his health can somehow handle the grind of a 2nd half of a season full of losing.

So the Grinch came to town, stole and kept the presents. Whoville hasn't a Christmas this year and its fairly obvious there won't be one next season either. There is always hope however and perhaps the cruel hand of fate will work in this teams favor when the lottery comes around. “We sure could use a miracle around here,” said one fan, “cause this year has been just terrible.” Many fans have started a Santa letter writing campaign called Christmas with Bedard, but Fantilli or Carlsson wouldn't be too shabby neither.

So make your list boys and girls. The Capitals need your help. Maybe Santa will come next year.