Winter Olympics a tough break for red-hot Washington Capitals

But now the downer, brought to you by Ebersol and NBC:

Before the Caps go for No. 18 and the record, the network has a shaky agreement with the NHL that forces its players to take this hiatus every four years so the league's paid stars can go play for the glory of their countries.

Which would be fine and patriotic and all -- if the glory of Washington weren't more important right now.

In absconding with our players for 2 1/2 weeks at the very moment they are on the cusp of NHL history, Ebersol is the one force that can come between this momentous winning streak and the delicate on-ice chemistry no Caps fan wants disturbed.

We know eight of the San Jose Sharks are leaving their team. We know five Penguins and six Devils are going to Vancouver. We don't care. Pittsburgh and New Jersey have won the Cup. San Jose is in California, where it's not Snowmageddon.

If injury befalls any of Washington's Olympians in Vancouver (heaven forbid Ovie takes a reckless run at Backie), if they return without the GPS focus they had before they left, if their non-Olympic teammates fatten up on too many piña coladas in Barbados or Molson Extras in Saskatchewan, NBC should be held directly responsible for the Caps not hoisting Lord Stanley's chalice in June.

It's why the coach of our great team, Bruce Boudreau, doesn't want Russia to play too hard, why he told me recently, "I'm rooting for a Canada-Slovakia final."

He knows the Olympic break has killed chemistry and Cup dreams before.

In the 2005-06 season, the Detroit Red Wings were rolling before the Turin Games in Italy. Their five Swedish stars, returning after a hard-fought, gold-medal performance, were shot physically and exhausted mentally. Top-seeded Detroit went down in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs, falling in six games to an Edmonton Oilers team that had no business being on the same ice.

Injury and fatigue took their toll. The Wings were never the same after the Olympic break, which played a major role in their second-half collapse.

If this were Lake Placid, 1980, fine, take 'em. But Mike Eruzione and Jim Craig are not in Hershey, waiting for the big club to call. We have just three Americans on our NHL team and -- bless their hearts -- none is going to Vancouver.

We {heart} our Rooskies -- Ovechkin and Semin and Semyon Varlamov, who is still recovering from injury and doesn't need Evgeni Malkin firing slapshots at him in practice. We need our Swede, Nicklas Backstrom. We cheer our Czech, Tomas Fleischmann.