A year ago, Capitals defenseman Mike Green was struggling with his conditioning and his confidence at the end of the regular season. What had been a brilliant season — 31 goals, 73 points — was almost forgotten thanks to a lackluster performance in the playoffs.
That’s not an issue this time around. Green has played some of his best hockey in recent weeks. Any weight issues that dogged him last spring are in check. And — most important — his confidence level is closer to where it was late last winter when he went on a goal-scoring spree.
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“It’s night and day,” Green said about his play heading into this postseason. “I feel 150 percent compared to even 100 percent, if that’s possible. That’s a good feeling going into this time of the season.”
Green again led all NHL defensemen in goals (19) and points (76). He likely will be a Norris Trophy finalist for the second year in a row. But accolades are few and far between for a 24-year-old who is dominant at one end of the ice and often questioned at the other. The lingering perception around the NHL is that Green’s offensive skill comes at the expense of his defensive responsibilities. Maybe that’s why he didn’t make the Canadian Olympic team. Maybe that’s why he lost out on the Norris last season to Boston’s Zdeno Chara.
“Mike is certainly a different player than I thought when I got here,” said teammate Mike Knuble, who played against Green the previous four years with the Philadelphia Flyers. “The knock on him seemed to be he’s a defensive liability. I don’t feel that’s the case at all anymore. You ask anybody in our room, and that’s kind of a bad rap he’s got. He’s like one of those guys when you talk about the Norris that there’s always a ‘Yeah, but …’ with him. People need to watch him more closely, watch him in his own end and see how he really plays.”
