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Home is where the heart is Caps don't care about funky playoff schedule
Posted: Wednesday April 12, 2000 01:28 PM
ODENTON, Md. (AP) -- Think the Washington Capitals didn't get treated fairly by the NHL's strange playoff scheduling? Don't mention it to coach Ron Wilson, especially if you're not a big hockey fan. To work around an eclectic series of events -- everything from a WWF show to a figure skating exhibition to a Latin dance concert -- scheduled for Pittsburgh's Mellon Arena, the league has put the Capitals on home ice for Games 1, 4, 5 and 7 in their Eastern Conference first round series starting Thursday. Pittsburgh gets Games 2, 3 and 6. That's a major departure from the traditional schedule, which gives the higher-seeded team the first two games at home. Washington is seeded No. 2 in the conference; Pittsburgh is No. 7. The Capitals were given the option of playing host to the first two games on consecutive nights, Wednesday and Thursday, with Game 3 at Pittsburgh on Saturday for national broadcast on ABC. Washington instead took Game 1 at home on Thursday, with Game 2 remaining the ABC game at Pittsburgh on Saturday. Game 3 is at Pittsburgh on Monday. The reaction in Washington, where hockey is often ignored until the playoffs, has been disbelief. A local columnist called it a joke, leaving Wilson very unimpressed as he blew off some steam after practice Tuesday. "I don't know why everybody, especially people who never go to our games at home, are worried about if we play at home -- they don't go anyway," Wilson said. Wilson said he preferred not to play back-to-back nights against a finesse team like the Penguins. "We're an older team. We need the rest," Wilson said. "We've been banged up. We're going to have healthy bodies with the extra day. I don't want to be playing three games in less than four days with our team against that team. It doesn't matter in the playoffs whether you have home ice or if you're on the road. "I mean, I'm willing to give Pittsburgh all seven of our games if they want them, and we'll go in there and beat 'em anyway. "I prefer to have a game every other day. The critical game in Stanley Cup playoffs historically is Game 4 and we have it at home. Five, 6 and 7 are the same order, so what's the difference?" The schedule would seem to put more pressure on the Capitals to win Game 1. Washington was 26-7-8 at home this season, 18-19-4 on the road. "You hate to say any one game is more important than another in the playoffs," captain Adam Oates said. "But, yeah, you don't want to be going into Pittsburgh down one, that's for sure. It's not ideal, but it's nothing we can worry about. That's the nature of the game nowadays. You're catering for TV. We still do get four home games, if it gets that far." But even the Game 1-pressure theory doesn't sit well with Wilson. "To say all the pressure's on us to win Game 1 -- if it's a standard 2-2-2, if you don't win Game 1, the pressure's on you 10 times more to win Game 2," Wilson said. "The pressure's going to be immense no matter what."
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