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John Walton joins the show to discuss the home stretch of the Capitals season.
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00:00John Walton joins us now, voice of the Capitals, on the guest hotline.
00:05Good afternoon, Mr. Walton. Thank you for your time. How are you?
00:09Hey, good afternoon to you guys.
00:12And yes, never tell me the odds.
00:14Never tell me the odds.
00:16On solo.
00:17So there is a chance.
00:18That's good.
00:19And hey, listen, JP better bring back some scotch, too.
00:22We should have, if I had known he's in Scotland, I would have put in a small order.
00:26I'll send him a text right now.
00:28Some Oban, some Lagerulen, any of the fidditches, bring him back.
00:33Oh, Kalisker, listen, any Islas guy, you tell me I'm ready for it.
00:37I'm here.
00:38I love it.
00:39All right, so do you know the sort of sequence tree of outcomes that would be needed in these
00:45final three games to make it so the Caps get in, or is that too complicated?
00:51It's actually become pretty simple, which is funny, because all this time we've been
00:57talking about the wild card.
00:59Oh, we've got to catch Ottawa.
01:00Need Ottawa to lose.
01:01Oh, Ottawa lost last night.
01:02That's not, or Ottawa won, so that's not good.
01:04You're now all but mathematically sealed off from the wild card.
01:08But wait, here's where they're pointing, and this is now third place.
01:12This is skipping the wild card and going to third place.
01:16That's currently occupied by the Flyers.
01:18Philadelphia lost last night.
01:20Philadelphia needs to continue to lose, and the Capitals obviously have to win out.
01:24They have to win both games against Pittsburgh this weekend, but there's even some good news
01:28there, because Pittsburgh has clinched a playoff spot.
01:30They are the second place team.
01:32They cannot move up.
01:33They have no reason to go 10-10s in these weekend games, because they're going to be
01:39resting guys, no doubt.
01:40They're going to maybe look at kids that they want to get in a lineup.
01:43There's certainly that possibility.
01:45They have nothing left to play for.
01:46That's good news, too.
01:48So you need Philly to lose.
01:49You need the Islanders to lose.
01:52You need Columbus to lose, but if you are able to win out and get just a little bit
01:56of help, most notably from Philadelphia.
01:57Now, here's the craziest part, guys.
01:59If this happens, if the Capitals get to Tuesday and a win would get them in, their last game
02:03is on Tuesday in Columbus.
02:05If the door opens up and they're able to get past the Flyers, they would face Pittsburgh
02:10in the first round, because that's the only team they could face now.
02:14So I'm not saying 7% is 7%.
02:18A lot has to happen, but if you win those games, if you get some help, if you are still
02:24alive on Monday morning and you've only got one game left, OV, Sid, and the playoffs one
02:30more time.
02:31I mean, listen, I'm not saying that it is likely.
02:34It's not likely.
02:35But if there is postseason hockey for Washington, it only points to Western Pennsylvania, and
02:40that's enough to lick your chops, not just as a hockey fan, but a sports fan.
02:44Yeah.
02:44Because to get there and knock them out, the playoffs would be great.
02:47Oh, that would be into my veins.
02:49Into my veins is what that would be right there.
02:52But if that doesn't work, and this could be the possible last game of Ovi's career
02:58on Sunday, how would you view it?
03:04How would you want to?
03:05You would be okay with that, or we need to have some level of celebration like Zabe wants?
03:11Well, you know, I am still trying to wrap my own hat around it, guys, honestly, because
03:18this guy has done more for my career and my life than anybody in hockey and the history
03:24of the game for me.
03:27It's not something that I have found overly comfortable.
03:31What's the world with the Capitals without Alex Ovechkin after more than two decades?
03:35But I think we do need to start thinking about that, and to Zabe's point, I mean, yeah, I
03:40mean, you've got this game Sunday.
03:42Yeah, it's not over-over because we have to go to Columbus Tuesday, but it's the last home
03:45game, and it's Sidney Crosby, and, you know, what does that look like when the game's over?
03:51I think, for me, I want to see what that looks like and the way he reacts, the way the
03:58Penguins
03:58react when the game is over.
04:01I mean, that moment where, you know, are the Penguins hanging around?
04:05Are they waiting to, you know, we've seen Ove do that for other guys who are retiring,
04:10and, you know, if they think it's it and this is it, what does Sidney Crosby do?
04:15They've done so much for the game, those two.
04:16And to be able to have that last game be against Pittsburgh would be incredible, but at the
04:24same time, I mean, you know, is he, he doesn't strike me as a guy that wants to send off.
04:30We did that last year, 895 in the white-hot spotlight of the media attention in every city
04:36we went to for months, and, you know, every stall you're trying to get an interview in
04:42and this just crush of media is everywhere all the time.
04:44I know, at least it's my sense, that he wants nothing to do with that.
04:48I don't know if that influences the decision or not, but I mean, when you talk about what
04:52happens for Sunday, I think for me, it's just watch the game, call the game, and just maybe
04:58a little bit of extra attention toward watching what he does just in case, because I have loved
05:05watching him play.
05:06I have loved calling his goals.
05:07It's the greatest privilege of my career to have been able to do this for as long as
05:11I have with him.
05:13And I can't wait to see what's next, but at the same time, I think just savoring and being
05:18in the moment this weekend is best.
05:19You sat across from him eye to eye doing the interview for Monumental.
05:23It's on their website if you want to go ahead and take a listen to it, watch it.
05:27We played chunks of it a couple days ago.
05:29So what did you sense when you were face-to-face with the grade eight and he was talking about,
05:35you know, I kind of want to make my decision this summer.
05:38What was your vibe?
05:41My vibe would be, I think, that he's a pretty good poker player.
05:45If he was holding cards, I'm not sure I would have.
05:49I couldn't.
05:50I didn't have much of a feel, honestly.
05:52I mean, if I'm staring that down in a game of hold'em, I don't know what cards he's got.
05:56You're folding because you don't know what he's got.
05:59Yeah, I was like, listen, he may have me here.
06:02I may throw my cards in.
06:04I don't know.
06:05I mean, I was...
06:07Did he seem emotional?
06:08It's funny because I didn't sense that.
06:11I mean, just very, you know, very matter-of-fact is what I felt in having that discussion with him.
06:17And it was really cool.
06:19You know, in the moment, I didn't really think about it that much.
06:22And then, you know, suddenly it's on every sports network from here to the moon.
06:26Sure.
06:27And talking about it.
06:29And then you're like, wow.
06:30I mean, that was really a very big part of this story.
06:35It's not an end of the story, but it's a big piece of it.
06:38And I don't know any more having asked him than I did before it started.
06:44So I don't get any sense that anyone in our organization really knows.
06:48I think only he does.
06:50And I think maybe from now until Tuesday night, I mean, I think just kind of looking for clues.
06:56I'm not going to tell you right now.
06:57I am.
06:57I mean, I'm going to look and, you know, what does Sidney Crosby do after the game Sunday at home?
07:02What do I see in Columbus on Tuesday?
07:06What emotion do I see, if any?
07:08Maybe I don't see anything, but I'll be watching because I would like to know, too.
07:12And I guess we'll find out together.
07:14How did some of the other modern greats go out?
07:19Gretzky, Lemieux, Ray Bork, Brad Hull.
07:24Do you recall how those guys finished their careers?
07:28You know, it's funny.
07:30Gretzky is the one that I know the best.
07:32And so as a total fluke, and I've told this story before, but I was actually at 894 when Gretzky
07:39got his last goal.
07:41It was in New York.
07:41He's playing for the Rangers.
07:42I was working in the AHL at the time with a team in Cincinnati, and one of our assistant coaches
07:48was a former Ranger, Eddie Johnstone.
07:50So he and I took the train, and we were playing in New Haven.
07:52We go in, and at that time, this is the middle of March, 1999, he had not announced anything.
07:57And he gets a goal in the third period.
07:59Rangers beat the Islanders.
08:01And we left going, oh, cool, we got to see Gretzky's score.
08:03And we thought nothing of it.
08:04And then it was, you know, two weeks later where it kind of leaked out.
08:09They were down to the last couple of games that year.
08:11The Rangers didn't make the playoffs, and they were in Ottawa, and there were a lot of extra.
08:15I just heard the story from Pierre Lebrun from TSN when we were in Toronto this week.
08:19And there were a lot of extra sticks on the trip, right?
08:21They're like, what are all these Gretzky sticks doing here?
08:23Like, he's signing for everybody that's ever taken care of and all that, you know, people in Ottawa and the
08:27security guys and all this stuff.
08:28So it was kind of a, this is a pre-social media time where, you know, people are sleuthing it
08:34and getting out to the world the next second.
08:35But there were only two games that he played.
08:38It was a game in Ottawa and a home game at MSG.
08:40Rangers don't make the playoffs.
08:42They play Pittsburgh.
08:42That's it.
08:43And there was a big celebration of him at MSG.
08:46But Gretzky didn't want it.
08:47And with the communication that Ovi has had over many years now, he and 99 are pretty tight.
08:53And I think there's a good chance that there is a blueprint in there somewhere for him.
08:59I do not see in any way, shape, or form a one-year farewell tour.
09:04I don't see that.
09:05I don't think he wants that.
09:07It's not going to be every town we go to next season.
09:10Hello, Seattle!
09:11Sure!
09:12We send you, we wish you well.
09:14I don't see that.
09:15I really don't.
09:17But beyond that, I don't know what to think.
09:19And I think whatever it is, it's not going to be this grand celebration.
09:22It's going to be a lot more subtle.
09:25I think it's going to be a tip of the cap and say, thanks for the memories.
09:28If he said, I don't want all that, that's his mindset, and he hear everybody say, we want to do
09:34this, we want to do that,
09:36that might make him just go off right off of the sunset.
09:40I mean, you've got to think so, right?
09:41Yeah.
09:41Maybe.
09:42I mean, or it could be that you go into, that you sign a deal and you sign for one
09:47year and you just give it the, you know, we'll see.
09:49And you go through and you...
10:03Without, you know, absent a formal announcement, maybe it's a lot like it was this year.
10:08I think the announcement and the sit-down with him this week, I think, kind of solidified, okay, like, the
10:14moment's coming.
10:15Like, is it now?
10:16Is it next year?
10:17It's coming, though.
10:18We know it's coming.
10:19Yeah.
10:19Yeah, and I think that was the part, the gravity of it, that even in sitting there and talking to
10:25him and doing that and laying that to tape,
10:28we taped it the day before and put it out the following morning, I wasn't until I actually watched it
10:34and I watched the words and I watched it like anybody else,
10:36and I felt the gravity of it.
10:38I was like, okay, you know what, this is kind of in motion now, and I think that's the way
10:41the world saw it.
10:42All right, what does a post-OV world look like for the Caps?
10:47The good news is there's still a lot there, and there's a lot of youth there, and we saw more
10:53of it this week.
10:55It's a better picture than many teams have once they say goodbye to a legend.
11:01It's well-positioned.
11:03You know, I talked with Jeff Merrick, the big hockey media guy in Canada, this week,
11:07and he had a line that stuck with me the last few days.
11:09He said, when it comes to drafting, the Caps just don't miss.
11:12I mean, they've got Elia Protus.
11:14They've got Cole Hudson.
11:15They've got Ryan Leonard.
11:17They have gotten so much out of the draft, and when the salary cap era and the salary caps going
11:23through the roof
11:24and the game of hockey's never been better and the money's never been bigger,
11:27you really know the one downside of that is that the free agent market to be charitable this year sucks.
11:34There's nothing there, and everybody's signing their guys.
11:38So you're looking to trade, and you're trying to figure that out,
11:41but the way you beat that is by developing them from within, and the Capitals do that as well as
11:46anybody.
11:46I mean, and watching what Ryan Leonard's done this year, he may get to 20 goals in his rookie year,
11:50and he may get 30 next year.
11:52Cole Hudson is almost a point-of-game guy.
11:55He's 19, and he just rolls in here like he can deke around everybody here.
11:59He's one of the – I don't know if I've ever seen a 19-year-old do and come in
12:03immediately.
12:03Look, he's going to make mistakes.
12:04He's not going to be perfect next year.
12:07He's not going to be this incredible, never-make-a-mistake kid, but he's an unbelievable talent.
12:13And now Elia Protus is here, and he's 6'6", and if he can play center, I mean,
12:17there's so much brightness here as soon as next year.
12:20I think there's going to be a very active trade market this summer.
12:23The Caps do need some top-six help, and I think they're going to have to trade some of this
12:26large stockpile of picks
12:29and maybe some of the prospects.
12:30There's a lot of guys in Hershey that are coming on defense and it forward.
12:33You move a couple of those to get some help for now.
12:35I absolutely see that as a possibility.
12:38They've been trying to do it.
12:38Chris Patrick's been saying that for a year and a half.
12:40I think it will happen at some point.
12:42So augment with that.
12:44Get the kids going.
12:45And even in a post-OB world, if that's in fact what we have next year, man, this picture's bright
12:50here.
12:50I mean, this is not a, oh, gosh, their Caps are going to miss for the next three years.
12:55And, I mean, no, this is a playoff team next year.
12:57Even if they don't find a way to get in between now and Tuesday.
12:59And it's more likely they won't than they will.
13:02But next year looks bright, and these kids at 19, we had two guys at 19.
13:07I got T-shirts that are 19 years old.
13:10I mean, these kids are so young now.
13:13But there's so much to like.
13:15And the character of these kids and the family, the Protus family, I'm telling you guys,
13:19you'd have them over for Thanksgiving.
13:21They're just the greatest people.
13:23Really looking forward to what's next while we're enjoying the present.
13:26All right, finish strong, 7% in our back pocket, and hope in our hearts.
13:32And we'll see what happens Sunday and then in the final game of the year at Columbus.
13:37And we'll talk again soon.
13:38Thank you, John.
13:40Thanks, fellas.
13:40I always appreciate it.
13:41John Walton, voice of the Capitals.
13:44If you believe the ticket market as any indicator, it seems like the public believes that this is not it
13:51for Ovi.
13:53Because get-in price for Sunday is as low as $122, which I think is a fairly decent number.
14:04Now, they're upper deck seats, but I think that's a fairly decent number for what could be a generational goodbye
14:11game.
14:12I think also because there's not really anything.
14:15No one knows.
14:16Well, there's nothing queued up.
14:18Yeah.
14:19I mean, they would have something if you were to say between now and then,
14:22but I think nobody really wants to go to a game in which it is the last game,
14:27but nothing cool, nothing special, no celebration is part of it.
14:32They don't want to go to an Irish goodbye, which is kind of what this would be.
14:37Hmm.
14:37Hmm.
14:37Hmm.
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