Some excerpts from that article:
"Think about that for one second, and try not to shudder. The coach of a veteran team that rang up 55 wins and 118 points — that has the Stanley Cup, and only the Stanley Cup, in mind — believes his team has been chasing the kiddos from the Leafs. You know why he thinks that? Because they have."
"They’re probably not deep enough defensively or mature enough to race all the way to the Cup finals. But don’t think for a second they can’t win a series — this series."
"Toronto carried play for so much of the second and third periods, you got the feeling that each minute provided more confidence. So many Leafs hadn’t appeared in a playoff game before this week. Yet they know, now, that they have twice played in the home building of the Stanley Cup favorites (embrace that title still, Caps fans), and have essentially played them even for 60 minutes, and more, each time."
"But this is no longer a cute little preview of the NHL’s team of the future. This is a series between two game teams that look in some ways to be evenly matched. That might not be what the Capitals wanted when the playoffs began. But that’s exactly what they have, and they have no choice but to deal with it."
"Think about that for one second, and try not to shudder. The coach of a veteran team that rang up 55 wins and 118 points — that has the Stanley Cup, and only the Stanley Cup, in mind — believes his team has been chasing the kiddos from the Leafs. You know why he thinks that? Because they have."
"They’re probably not deep enough defensively or mature enough to race all the way to the Cup finals. But don’t think for a second they can’t win a series — this series."
"Toronto carried play for so much of the second and third periods, you got the feeling that each minute provided more confidence. So many Leafs hadn’t appeared in a playoff game before this week. Yet they know, now, that they have twice played in the home building of the Stanley Cup favorites (embrace that title still, Caps fans), and have essentially played them even for 60 minutes, and more, each time."
"But this is no longer a cute little preview of the NHL’s team of the future. This is a series between two game teams that look in some ways to be evenly matched. That might not be what the Capitals wanted when the playoffs began. But that’s exactly what they have, and they have no choice but to deal with it."
