It's not true that "nobody believed in the Canadiens." A little dog in Northern Virginia did.

Remember when we decided to let a 3-year-old Pomeranian choose the Stanley Cup brackets and the hilarity that ensued?

The Avalanche and Habs in the finals? Oh you little dog, you. His final four consisted of Montreal, Boston, Nashville and Colorado. You might expect this sort of buffoonery out of some sports media outlets, but a little dog?

Surely he has more sense than to pick a No. 8 vs. No. 8 finals. Right?

Turns out he wasn't joking about Montreal. In fact, he's christened them to win it all.

What if Rodney didn't believe in Montreal Magic? History will be made.

I also expect Habs fans to erect a trophy of my dog outside Bell Centre if you know what happens.

You owe it to him.

When a rival team loses, it's not uncommon for fans to riot, burn down their city and gloat over the Internet. OK, maybe just gloat over the Internet for the rest of us and burn down the city for Montreal fans.

But in the wake of last night's 5-2 Game 7 win for the Habs, the master trolls of the popular image board 4chan enjoyed a playoff tradition that started with the New England Patriot's nightmare 46-10 playoff loss to the Baltimore Ravens last season: trolling the sports talk radio station after the game.

In case you're new to this Internet "culture" thing, trolling is basically say outlandish, inane or deregatory comments to elict a strong emotional response from a person or group of people.

With a vulnerable city of Pittsburgh listening, trolls did their best to invade 97.3 The FAN.

First up, blaming it all on Gary Bettman and the resulting rambling by the host.

Next up, a popular take on the "Haters gonna hate" meme by telling Pens fans "Flyers gonna fly."

Here comes a flurry of memes. First the caller commends Mellon Arena for having a good infrastructure (a joke often used to make fun of English browsers on 4chan), then vaults in to a "U Mad" meme. He then ends by telling the host he will bandwagon the "Shorks" a common meme for San Jose Sharks when they're losing.

"Monica" poses as a Pittsburgh fan, blames it all on Crosby and threatens to jump on the Sharks bandwagon.

Caller accuses Pens of diving like "divegrass" players. Oops he means soccer. Radio host says officiating is sub-par and some players like to take advantage of it. Um hmm.

Long time caller, first time listener. Says Pens should move to Winnipeg.

Trolls gonna troll.

First sign that it's going to be a very long offseason: this joke out of Pittsburgh.

Guy walks into a bar and asks for an Ovechkin.

Bartender: "I'm sorry, what's an Ovechkin?"

Guy: "Just a White Russian without the ice and cup."

TillyCapsFan for CK

Now that we've had some time to contemplate the horrific reality that is the Washington Capitals golf team, perhaps a few days after the doomsday clock hit midnight is a good time to point out just a few of the reasons Matt Bradley is fine-tuning his King Cobra driver.

Brace yourself fans, the truth is brutal.

And we're not saying the power play because that's a whole other post in itself. We're fully aware there's more than five reasons the Caps blew it, but here's five that stick out to me (outside the power play).

Flub No. 1: Call-up Karl
So by virtue of strong play, rookie John Carlson leap-frogged top defensive prospect Karl Alzner and found himself a secure spot in the Caps' locker room. Alzner stayed in Hershey, where he dominated the AHL. Nothing wrong with that, after all, Carlson earned his spot there and the company line has been "it's OK for Alzner to grow in the AHL."

Enter Game 7 where Tom Poti can't play because his eye is a mess. Poti's injury reminds me a bit of Blair Bett's injury in the postseason last year. A key player who is needed in key situations, now out and may have played a role in the outcome of Game 7.

So that's where Alzner comes in. He plays in Game 7, looks solid and guess what? The only bright spot in the 2-1 loss is the play of the "future line", Carlson and Alzner. So why didn't Alzner play in the NHL for the entirety of March? Was Tyler Sloan really that much better an option?

It's tough to say that Alzner would have made much of a difference in a series where offense proved to be the Achilles heel of the team, but given the circumstances, Alzner should have been a Capital and should have been playing in playoffs games for the Caps this season.

Tough luck, Karl. At least your season isn't over. But you should have been seasoning for an NHL career this year. Now you're one year behind...again.

Flub No. 2: Arrogance
How sure were the Capitals that they were going to advance to the second round? They traded for an injured Milan Jurcina,  citing they could use his depth in the second round.

While I'm sure we won't miss that sixth round pick too much, its awfully telling that the Caps management never imagined a situation where the Caps wouldn't be in the second round. It's like a country preparing for war and thinking "there is absolutely no way we will lose or mess this up." Uh huh.

Then you have R.J. Umberger's comments that the Caps could be defensively shut down. Ted Leonsis' response? "Enjoy the long offseason, R.J." The Caps first round exit might as well be the karma police pulling the team over, just like they did when Evander Kane knocked out Matt Cooke in one-punch.

I love Ted, but sometimes it's best to let your hockey do the talking.

Don't even get me started on the ads "Looks like it's our year Caps fans!" or the whole "Nothing Else Matters" intro. Or how fans on 106.7 WJFK were talking about sweeping the Flyers in round two before Game 6.

Seems like nobody in the Caps organization envisioned a losing situation. Perhaps if they had, the urgency would have been there in Game 5. Acting like you're the team of destiny and that you're entitled to winning the Stanley Cup, instead of earning it, is deadly.

Lesson learned.

Flub No. 3: Backstrom centering Semin in Game 6
With Alex Semin slumping, Bruce Boudreau seemed to think giving the Slappin' Siberian the team's best center and focusing an entire period around getting him to score was a good idea.

Great. Sever whatever chemistry was left with Ovechkin, stick him with Belanger and hope that the guy who hasn't showed up will magically win the game for you. Oh and don't step in and stop it in the second period where you're down 2-0, just keep plugging away at Semin.

I understand why you want to get him going, but at what cost do you do it?

Boudreau made too big a deal out of trying to jump start his two playoff goats (Semin and Green) than actually adjusting to what the Canadiens were doing. In the regular season, where it's OK to make mistakes when you have the league's best team, this would be an understandable strategy.

With a 3-1 series lead where one win can send you to the second round, restart your team at 0-0 and give them a chance to rest (maybe wander in a cave and find their games) it's a horrible idea. Make the changes to the team, win the series, and get a fresh start for everyone, not just 28 and 52.

Flub No. 4: Walker for Flash
I may be in the minority here, but Scott Walker shouldn't have played in Game 7.

The Caps needed scoring, and while Flash had been in a Semin-esq slump himself, adding the grit of Walker late in the series in place of the playmaking of Fleischmann doesn't sit well with me after the fact. I praised the move at first, now I don't.

Fleischmann is a more dangerous shot than Walker, a better playmaker and a student of Boudreau's system. While Walker brings an edge, and he's scored a clutch Game 7 goal before, he doesn't bring what the Caps needed the most: offense.

Plus Walker played a whopping, (wait for it), 6:07 minutes in Game 7. Waste of a jersey. Maybe not if the Caps were trying to defend a lead, but that's not what happened.

If Boudreau really wanted to sit Flash, he needed to do it in Game 6. Maybe a message is sent there, maybe not. But not putting Fleischmann in your offensive hand of cards in favor of a veteran grinder doesn't make a whole lot of sense in a series where the team desperately needed shooters to solve Jaroslav Halak.

Flash may have had bad turnovers that lead to goals, but was he really that much worse than Semin or Green?

Flub No. 5: Boudreau Didn't Adapt
The playoffs, just like life, is often survival of the fittest. Like the finches Darwin studied, those who adapted to their surroundings survived and those who didn't died.

While Montreal trapped, Washington rushed into the zone and fired pucks at the net just hoping they might snipe one past Halak's glove or blocker. Instead of setting up an offense in the zone, often the Caps tried to generate goals off the rush as they always have.

They tried to play Caps hockey and when Caps hockey didn't work, they kept playing Caps hockey. Montreal played playoff hockey. The Caps never seemed to attempt to adapt to the Canadiens' style of game.

Trap, slow down the rush, clear, capitilize on mistakes and repeat. That's all Montreal did. Washington didn't do a great job of setting up in the zone and getting their offense working. When they did the chances came, but as time ticked away and the players grew noticeably worried, the Caps resorted to taking pot shots; forcing their shots into the Habs' shins.

It almost worked. A few bounces here, a slower Halak there and you're not reading this post. But that's not good enough. A team this good shouldn't look so frazzled when pushed outside their comfort zone.

2008, Flyers: Overtime. Penalty against the Caps. Flyers score. Game, and season, over in an instant. Feeling cheated by the refs, many fans boo and pelt the ice with debris. It all feels ugly, wrong after such a great run to get into the playoffs.

2009, Rangers: Federov scores to give the Caps the lead with 5 minutes left. Fans stand and cheer nonstop as the Caps work the clock to 00:00. Fans chant in the stairwells as they leave the building. Fans celebrate in the streets. I was four blocks from Verizon Center before it was quiet enough to make a phone call. An amazing moment, one I'll never forget.

2009, Penguins: Game over, early. Fans stay until the end, though. With about 2 minutes left, they stand and cheer their defeated team. Caps players stay on the ice after the post-game handshakes, raise their sticks in salute. It feels like a bond is being formed, like a promise is being made.

2010, Canadiens: Canadiens score late to make it 2-0, but Caps come right back to make it 2-1. A final flurry, but no tying goal. When the game ends, Caps fans stream out quickly, as do most of the Caps players. Ovie and a few others linger, then raise their sticks to acknowledge the remaining faithful. The arena was empty when I picked my seats on Select-a-Seat day last summer; this feels emptier.

It's a big "scrapbook," folks, with room for lots more pages.

TillyCapsFan for CK

I'm not sure what hurt the most: seeing the Capitals come just one dramatic goal-rush away from a tie and forcing an overtime period or driving home on I-95 and hearing a radio commercial on 106.7 WJFK proclaim "C-A-P-S CAPS CAPS CAPS Looks like it's OUR year Caps fans! Let's go get the cup!"

Hearing a bold statement like that after your team has had its last nail driven into the coffin is darkly humorous. Humorous in the "I want to kill the advertiser who wrote that" kind of way. (Not really...OK really...not really...seriously don't ever do it again).

But while the CapsNation scrambles to find answers, or better yet, more questions to ask, I'm left here reflecting on my first-ever Game 7 experience.

Back in the early 2000s, my dad and I went to our first playoff game against the Tampa Bay Lightning. Then the Caps had their miraculous playoff run in 2007 to even get to dance with the Flyers. I got to go to Game 5, but when the fateful Game 7 rolled around I was back at VCU and had to listen on the Internet radio (horrible).

I saw Game 2 of the Rangers series, missed both Game 7s last year while at VCU, but I made the wise decision of basing my apartment choice around which complex would allow me to get Comcast and thus every Caps game. I missed a Game 7 win and a Game 7 drubbing and my only knowledge of what they were like came from my Dad's phone calls as he drove him.

"Most amazing atmosphere I've ever been in," he said. "Just incredible, so red, so loud. You have to see it."

Thanks for rubbing it in Dad...snark toward my father aside, Wednesday night's 2-1 loss was my first ever Game 7.

Before the game I saw some fans were bailing on the game by selling their tickets, claiming it would be too stressful to witness (why bother being a sports fan then? This is what we live for, drama.). I tried my best to go about my normal daily routine, but a nervous shake in my leg blew any attempt I made at displaying a "oh I'm not nervous, cool as a cat man!" attitude.

The 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. hours were just one dull lull in my existence. Never have I wanted three hours to go away so fast.

I just wanted hockey and only hockey. I placed a quick call to my fiancee to tell her I love her, the game is on so make sure it's on your TV, but she gets the message: I'm about to enter the playoff zone and I'm going to be extremely irrational for the next three hours and complete and utter disappointment could be the result of all this. And there's a chance she'll have to deal with me lamenting about the Caps for a few weeks, or worse, more hockey until possibly June.

We all know what happened in the game. No point listing it all out here. You saw it, I saw it, the whole hockey world saw it. I'll just leave it at this: The true fans in the building know how to react to the loss. Leave the knee-jerk reactions to those who want them. I'll take none of them.

As for how I spent my first Game 7?

I spent most of it with my hands over my mouth and eyes wide open, afraid to blink. Each play sent waves through my body as the players darted back and forth. Throughout the regular season I've been awfully reserved with cursing or screaming at the refs, but with all the chips on the table, it's hard to not let a "that's bullshit and you fucking know it" out after spending a season of holding it in.

Sorry to anyone that was/is offended.

The third period begins and Ovechkin fires a shot at the net. Boom it's in. Bedlam. I'm jumping, my Dad is jumping. Some guy is hugging me. I have no clue who he is and I really don't care. I almost lost my sunglasses because someone's hands are flailing about like one of those blow-up wavy men you see at car dealerships. This is pure hockey ecstasy.

"NO GOAL"

Remember that reserved attitude I carry at games.

"FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU---------" you finish the rest. Biggest. Downer. Ever.

The story's pretty simple after that. Caps keep pressing, no goals, Mike Green derps out again and we're down two. Suddenly a goal, a last-ditch effort and then a loss. All in that order of course.

As I watched fans leave at the 2-0 mark, I grew disgusted, but I did a better job of keeping that in than other words that night. When the clock struck zero I sat down, looked down at the floor in what some photographer might have thought would be an excellent "agony of defeat" photo and decided it was time to go.

Strolling down the stairs toward the exit portal, I remembered that we still had one more Game 7 event to see: the handshake.

"Hold up Dad," I said. "The handshake. We have to watch the handshake."

It was there that I realized I had a great Game 7 experience even with the loss. I saw tight defense, huge emotional and momentum swings and an ending that maybe if Hollywood got a crack at it, might have been done the way I wanted it. Turns out I got a semi-Hollywood ending.

Before I could look at my Dad to give him the "let's go nod", Alex Ovechkin and a few of the Caps stopped at center ice, raised their sticks and the faithful, and I mean the faithful, cheered one last time for our 2009-2010 Caps.

When the cheering stopped, Ovechkin's head dropped to his chest and in that moment you could see a city's disappointment weigh on his shoulders, a modern-day Atlas carrying a city's hopes and dreams.

A sad, but almost inspiring, sight.

I don't think I could have asked for a better first Game 7, even with the loss. Now I look forward to one where I can experience the thrill of victory.

Wake me up, when September ends.

Home ice advantage in the playoffs means the first two games of a series are played on your home ice.

More importantly, it means Game 7, if necessary, is played on home ice.

Well, it wasn't really necessary, was it? But, like it or not, that's where we're at, Caps fans. Another Game 7.

And make no mistake: The most important player in the arena tonight isn't Alex Ovechkin. It's us.

What Caps fans have been fighting through since Friday night's Game 5 loss and Monday's Game 6 loss is what Caps players are trying to fight through: regret, doubt, shaken confidence.

The antidote? Simply put: more cowbell. I don't have to tell you what to do.

I believe fans can will a team to victory, can be so loud and proud and undeterred by any momentary misfortune that they simply lift their players to a win.

I may not have this quite right (online Latin translators weren't meant to handle NHL marketing slogans) but, since tonight's game will no doubt have the atmosphere of the Roman Coliseum, let's say it in Latin:

Ave Caps, petraturi roseus te salutant!

Hail Caps, we who are about to Rock the Red salute you!

TillyCapsFan for CK

Think you're going to be real funny and boo O' Canada because the Habs fans did it to the Star Spangled Banner?

Look at that list. (Pull it to a new window or tab to see a larger version). Booing O' Canada equals booing the Caps.

Just. Don't. Do. It.

We cool? That's what I thought.

If first-game results are any indication, Rodney the Pomeranian is going to go 5-2 for his first-round NHL playoffs picks -- maybe 6-2, depending on tonight's Nashville-Chicago Game 1 (he favors Nashville).

He misfired on New Jersey and Boston, at least in Game 1, but he correctly picked Colorado, Vancouver, Phoenix, Ottawa and, sad to say, Montreal.

As for that Montreal pick, it's hard to read a Pomeranian's eyes but when he shied away from the Caps he seemed to be saying that Ovie would be held to no shots, Semin would be almost invisible and Theo would take an undeserved loss. Uncanny.

Well, this is the dog that won the family fantasy football league!

TillyCapsFan for CK