Photo: Chris Gordon

The playoffs are known as the second season. Ahead of puck drop on Thursday night, the Caps game entertainment crew put in overtime to overhaul their opening videos for that second season.

In past years, the videos featured rock music and built on design and promotion themes established earlier in the season. This year they’ve added a new layer: sports psychology.

In the pre-opening video, PA Announcer Wes Johnson narrates a stirring speech through a minute-long highlight package. The clip addresses Caps fans’ mental scars from past playoff failures and visualizes success for the 2015-16 postseason. Wes ends with a warning to anyone trying to get in our favorite team’s way: “Our time in now!”

The feels.

Johnson says in the clip:

Welcome to the second season. Our team was built for this moment. This is a warning to anyone in our way. The road ahead is not for the faint of heart. Our limits will be tested. Our strength will persevere. The prize is worth the fight. You can feel it. You can smell it. It is alive. This is a warning: Our time in now!

The team then follows that up with a hype video featuring goal calls from Joe Beninati and John Walton. The soundtrack includes “Enter Sandman” by Metallica and “The Wicker Man” by Iron Maiden.

This is fantastic stuff. Way to go, Michael Wurman and crew.