Shocker in Nation's Capital

Quick. What was the biggest sports story from yesterday?

I already gave my answer away by my headline, but did you think it was the Jeff Ireland/Dez Bryant issue? It's created quite a buzz. How about the Milwaukee Bucks making an 18-5 run to steal Game 5 from the Atlanta Hawks...in Atlanta? Big story, but not the biggest. LeBron and his elbow? It is if your a Cavaliers fan. Changes in MLB's All-Star Game? Not even close.

Halak and Ovi after Habs take Game 7.

Undoubtedly it has to be the Montreal Canadiens winning Game 7 on the road and advancing in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. But why is this my big story?

Is it because Game 7's are always big? Is it because the Canadiens were the #8 seed? Is it because the Caps compiled the most points during the regular season? Maybe it was on the road?

Nope. None of those. What makes this HUGE is that the President's Trophy winner had a commanding 3-1 series lead...and let it slip away. Then, take your progression through the above list of the Habs being the #8 seed, etc., etc. All the Caps had to do was win one of the last three games in the series and they would advance to take on the Philadelphia Flyers. One thing stood in their way. A very big "thing".

That would be Canadiens goaltender Jaroslav Halak. After splitting time through the regular season with Carey Price, the 24-year-old Slovakian performed masterfully against the NHL's top scoring team and relegating Price to the position of observer. In Halak's six games of the series, he managed 231 saves. That's an average of just over 38 saves a game. For the whole series, Canadiens goalies faced an average of 41.7 shots a game. Target practice, firing range. All apply here. In the last three games of the series, the least amount of shots Halak faced was 37. I think we all know why the Canadiens won. Well, at least we know a major reason why they won.

Forget the fact that the Washington Capitals were held almost 1.5 goals less per game during the series due to Halak's heroics. What about all that offense? Where was it? Especially on the power play? The Caps led the NHL with a 25.2% for the regular season while the Canadiens were 2nd at 21.8%. For this series, a paltry 3.0%. All that firepower with Alex Ovechkin, Alexander Semin, Nicklas Backstrom and Mike Green. Only Ovi (10) and Backstrom (9) managed to score more than a point a game. Semin was held to two assists and Green could only muster three helpers.

The Capitals may be constructing a reputation they would rather not be building, blowing Game 7's. In their last four series, the Caps have been pressed to a seventh game. Their series record: 1-3. In a lot of circles, any team with that record would be deemed as no less than a choke artist.

Any takers?

Crosby creates distance

He's two down now.

We've all seen the flashy goals, big hits and celebrations that Alex Ovechkin brings to the world of hockey. He's won the Calder Memorial Trophy (rookie of the year), Art Ross Trophy (scoring leader), Rocket Richard Trophy (goal scoring leader), Lester B. Pearson Award (NHLPA top player) and the Hart Memorial Trophy (NHL MVP). Pretty impressive collection of personal achievements.

The flash and glitz that is the world of Alexander Ovechkin is great for the NHL, no question.

But for all of those personal accolades that Ovi possesses, he finds himself down trailing his rival Sidney Crosby by two team trophies, the Stanley Cup and now, an Olympic gold medal.

These two could not be more different. In a nutshell, it appears that Ovechkin seeks the limelight while Crosby attempts to avoid it. Ovi can be outspoken where Crosby is more soft spoken. How different can two people be.

Just to compare the personal stash of NHL awards, Crosby has all of the personal awards Ovechkin owns except the Calder. That's one he can never win as he finished second to Ovechkin for that season. But I doubt that bothers Crosby one bit. He holds the two greatest team trophies in all of hockey.

Ovi can get that Stanley Cup this season. There's no question that the Washington Capitals are viewed as a Cup favorite considering all the offensive firepower on that roster. Even if the Caps win this year, it would be almost a full four years before Ovechkin gets another shot at Olympic gold.

And who knows. By then, Sid the Kid might another a second Stanley Cup.

The rivalry will continue...

Russian Olympic performance issues

In thought I'd give the whole Tiger Woods thing a rest. There's another international issue.

It seems that the poor showing thus far from the Russian Olympians has raised many an eyebrow in Moscow. In fact, some members of the Russian parliament are calling on the head of the Russian Olympic Committee to step down. Kind of harsh, isn't it?

Not really considering Russia will be hosting the next Winter Olympiad in 2014. A strong Vancouver showing would lend a bit more credibility for the host nation. It also brings up a valid point that since the "dismantling" of the former Soviet Union, Russia has had its struggles in the sports arena.

As of now, Russia has claimed five total medals (1 gold, 2 silver, 2 bronze). Contrast that with the overall medal leader, the United States which has amassed 20 (6 gold, 6 silver, 8 bronze). It has been reported that anything less than a fourth place finish in the overall medal count will be deemed a failure.

You know it really hits home with the Russian Federation that the U.S. is the overall medal leader. And let's not even get started on the whole Evan Lysacek/Evgeni Plushenko debate, but I will add this. This typically happens when you have multiple people judging an event. Even though judges are "taught" one way, they can (and will) always add their own personal preferences into their overall impression of how a performance goes.

But the Russian Federation isn't lagging too far behind in the overall medal count and there are some events that can propel them to that desired fourth place finish. They currently sit three medals behind host nation Canada for that coveted fourth place in the medal standings. Canada has a total of eight (4 gold, 3 silver, 1 bronze).