Goodbye Jags

When the Capitals finally traded Jaromir Jagr to the Rangers Friday, it was as if a veil of honesty finally dropped down on the team. For months ownership and management had denied any intention to make major changes to team chemistry. But at the same time they were actively looking for some way to "escape" Jagr's $11 million per year salary, just dumping costs no matter what. [canada.com].

Well the "no matter what" is about to come home to roost. Without Jagr, the Caps have no star power and little scoring ability. Their defense and goaltending are already horrid. So Ted Leonsis' plan is apparently that if a team is losing games and money, it should lop off its good players to go with cheap, inexperienced youngsters and lose some more games. This is a shambles. Jagr's acquisition was designed to put Washington on the map and get the Caps to the "next level." But Ted & Co. never did anything else and left Jags virtually alone. For most of the time, Jagr played his heart out as a leader. At the end, you could see he did not care anymore. Of course, neither did Ted or the Caps, so who can really blame him?

 Posted by glenn