Playoff Week on (Game) 7th Street
Do it for this guy.
There have been five occasions in which the Caps and Wizards/Bullets made the postseason in the same season: those wondrous springs of 1988, '87, '86, '85 and '84, when I was in like elementary school or something. There have been zero occasions in which both franchises won a playoff series in the same season, and just two occasions in which both franchises won as many as two playoff games in the same season.
And how many times have both franchises even played home playoff games in the same calendar week, as will happen at Verizon over the next three days? That would be twice.
(PS: Thanks, NBA and NHL, for scheduling consecutive Caps and Wizards games head-to-head. I mean, same-day is fine, but was it really necessary to have those games on both days start within a half-hour of each other?)
Anyhow, in mid-April of 1984, the Caps lost at home to the Islanders in the Patrick Division finals on a Sunday and Monday; that Saturday, the Bullets then beat the Celtics at home in the Eastern Conference first round.
In late-April of 1986, the Bullets split two home first-round games with the Sixers on a Tuesday and Thursday; the Caps then lost at home to the Rangers in the Patrick Division finals the next evening.
(The teams also played at home in the same seven-day span in April of 1988, but the Caps finished up by losing on a Saturday and the Wiz didn't come home until the next Monday, which was technically a different week.)
So what does this mean? Our two winter sports franchises have never, ever, ever, EVER won home playoff games in the same calendar week. Ever. The closest they came--and in fact, the only time both franchises ever won home playoff games within one seven-day span--was in that 1986 campaign, when the Caps won a Saturday game against the Rangers and then the Wiz topped the Sixers four days later on a Thursday.
So together, gentlemen, these next three days offer a grasp at history's ripe, juicy, flesh-covered fruit. I'd recommend DeShawn Stevenson start flinging his body into the backboard after made baskets, and Alex Ovechkin start waving his hand maniacally in front of his face. I'd also recommend that Nicklas Backstrom not decide this would be a good time to call Danny Briere overrated. And maybe Donald Brashear shouldn't blog, just to be safe.
By Dan Steinberg |
April 22, 2008; 1:14 PM ET
| Category:
Caps
,
Wizards
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Get This Widget >>
Posted by: Colin | April 22, 2008 1:47 PM
The terrible scheduling conflict does provide one interesting opportunity: Via the TV ratings, can we find out which game was more watched? Sure, the Caps game last night was a game 6 and the Wiz were only in game 2 and were blown out, but if the Caps game had more viewers in the D.C. area, wouldn't that be a remarkable sign of the newfound (or actually renewed) popularity of the Caps?
Posted by: The Fingerman | April 22, 2008 2:57 PM
Wait....where's the cake?
Posted by: Dan Levy | April 22, 2008 4:20 PM
The cake is a lie.
*sigh*
Posted by: B.A. | April 22, 2008 4:54 PM
i would say the nba scheduling procedures have the washington capitals at about 500 on their priority list. just a thought.
Posted by: lenny dykstra | April 23, 2008 2:58 AM
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If it's one or the other, I'm rooting for the Caps because the Wizards disgust me at this point.
And the scheduling is all the NBA's fault. They knew damn well when the Caps would be playing, yet decided to schedule the Wizards first two games at essentially the same time as the puck drop for the Caps. Real smooth move, NBA.