ARLINGTON, Va. -- Amid bright expectations and newfound stability, the Washington Capitals opened training camp Thursday. It didnt take long for the mood to change. Roughly 10 minutes into the opening practice, forward Brooks Laich -- coming off an injury-ruined season -- left the ice at Kettler Iceplex, saying he had a "flare-up" of a strained hip flexor suffered a week ago on his first day in Washington after a summer of successful rehab of a pulled groin. Laich, one of the Capitals locker room leaders, was anxious for the start of camp after playing only nine games last year. "The ice here is a lot softer than the ice I skated on back home (in Saskatchewan), and when I skated here I just tweaked it a little bit," Laich said. "Its completely nonrelated to anything I went through last year and on the other side of my body." Laichs status is day-to-day. Neither general manager George McPhee nor coach Adam Oates sounded particularly concerned. "Hopefully its a day or two," McPhee said. While the injury may not be serious, it is symbolic of a star-crossed team that has consistently underachieved in the post-season. Franchise cornerstones Nicklas Backstrom, 25, Mike Green, 27, and Alex Ovechkin, who turns 28 on Sept. 17, have helped propel Washington to five division titles in the last six years but with no trips to the conference finals. Last years 5-0 loss to the New York Rangers at home in Game 7 of the opening round after leading the series 2-0 was perhaps the teams most embarrassing playoff pratfall. "Weve proven (to) ourselves that were a good team. But we havent proven were a great team," Green said. "The only way to do that is to win a Stanley Cup." Washington hopes that stability will help achieve that goal. The team underwent a radical makeover in the middle of the 2011-12 season when Dale Hunter replaced Bruce Boudreau as coach. There was another difficult transition when Oates took over last summer, with little preseason to install his system due to the NHL lockout. "Last couple of years weve had a little bit of chaos in there as far as knowing where you fit in on the team, knowing where your role is," forward Troy Brouwer said. "This year with very limited spots on the team, everyone kind of knows where they fall in and whats expected of them even before camp starts." On the ice, Washington will look for improvement from young goalies Braden Holtby, 23, and Michal Neuvirth, 24, under the direction of Olie Kolzig. The former Caps great was promoted to head goaltender coach after two seasons with the team in a developmental role. Many of the Caps expressed their approval of the realigned NHL. Washington will play in the Metropolitan Division along with traditional rivals including the New York Rangers, New York Islanders, Pittsburgh Penguins, and Philadelphia Flyers. The Capitals open the regular season on Oct. 1 on the road against the NHL champion Chicago Blackhawks, a prospect that doesnt please Brouwer, a former Chicago player who still resides in the city. "I spent a lot of the summer trying to avoid Chicago," Brouwer said. "The worst thing that could happen to me this summer was having to play them opening night and see the banner." Cheap Adidas NHL Jerseys . Some will say that Martin is too sensitive while others will say that it is part of the way football is in the locker room. But to have to absorb what was said to him for any rational and intelligent person is too much. Fake Adidas NHL Jerseys . "Its embarrassing what were doing here," leading scorer Phil Kessel said Wednesday. The most recent failed season came with even more pain than the six that preceded it. 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New York City FC introduced Frank Lampard in Brooklyn on Thursday after signing the 36-year-old former Chelsea midfielder to a two-year contract.MINNEAPOLIS - Rex Ryan has faced plenty of calls for his ouster during another trying season for the New York Jets.After his big gamble in overtime against Minnesota went bust, hes sure to hear some more.The embattled coach brought the house with one of his trademark blitzes on third down, and Vikings rookie quarterback Teddy Bridgewater saw it coming all the way. He changed the play to a screen pass that Jarius Wright took for an 87-yard touchdown to beat the Jets 30-24 on Sunday.That games clearly on my shoulders, Ryan said. Calling that third down, trying to get off the field on cover-zero (blitz). He hadnt hit anything against it all day. Probably showed our hand a little too early there.After stopping the Jets (2-11) on the opening possession of overtime, the Vikings faced a third-and-5 from their 13-yard line. As Bridgewater came under centre, the Jets defence started to crowd the line of scrimmage, prompting the young QB to check to a screen designed to get the ball out of his hand quickly before the defence had a chance to get to him.Bridgewater zipped the ball out to his right and Wright made a twisting grab to haul it in, broke a tackle from Jaiquawn Jarrett and then won a foot race with defensive tackle Sheldon Richardson for the second-longest overtime touchdown in league history.Teddy saw what they were going to be in and we switched to the better call, Wright said. Im glad I had the chance to be in that situation.It was a gut punch of an ending in a season full of them for the Jets, who hung in there on Sunday after Geno Smith had an interception returned 27 yards for a touchdown on the first play of the game.Smith rebounded to finish 18 for 29 for 254 yards, including a pretty 35-yard touchdown to former Viking Percy Harvin in the first quarter. Harvin had six catches for 124 yards and added a 47-yard kickoff return in his first game in Minnesota since he was traded to Seattle before last season. Nick Folk kicked five field goals, Richardson had three sacks and a safety and the Jets rolled up 410 yards of offence.But they also failed to score a touchdown on fivve trips inside the red zone, turned it over again when Chris Ivory was inches from the goal line and fumbled and failed to capitalize on the numerous opportunities the Vikings (6-7) gave them.dddddddddddd feel for every guy on this team, Smith said. I know the effort that we put into it. I know how badly everyone wants to win and I know that it means a lot to our community, to the fans, including myself and everybody. But its hard to have to keep losing this way.Bridgewater was 19 for 27 for 309 yards with two touchdowns and one interception and Charles Johnson had four catches for 103 yards and a touchdown for the Vikings.It only got worse for the Jets after the game, when Harvin needed crutches to get out of the stadium after leaving the game in the fourth quarter with an injured left ankle.I cant even put it into words, Harvin said. Especially at the end of the game, youve got OT, the offence is playing well, the game on the line, I definitely, definitely didnt want to be on the sideline. I wanted to be in that battle with my guys to finish this thing out. But I couldnt go.Jets owner Woody Johnson left the stadium without offering comment, but Ryan insisted that the focus should be on the coaching staff and not the owners suite.Woodys competitive. He wants whats best for this football team, Ryan said. Hes passionate and he wants to put a great product on the field and obviously, today, he wants to win. Like anything else, so Im responsible for this and Ill tell Woody and our fans and everybody else that. This is on me.But one thing. Obviously, I deserve a lot of criticism for the way this teams performed this season. I get that. But Woody doesnt. I can tell you that much. The Jets are in good hands with him as the owner, thats for sure.NOTES: Harvins receiving touchdown was his first since 2012, when he was playing for the Vikings. ... Jets WR Eric Decker had six catches for 89 yards in his return to his alma mater, the University of Minnesota, where the Vikings are playing while their new stadium is being built. ... It was Ivorys first fumble since 2010. ' ' '