As the second round of the playoffs gets underway and we are left watching it from our couches, we suddenly find ourselves with a wealth of time to talk about this season - what went right, what went wrong, and what we can expect next year.
But we'll get to that later.
Right now, though, I wanted to discuss something that is among my top five pet peeves, right behind the moron who gets up to use the bathroom a second after a faceoff and just ahead of people shouting "O" during the national anthem. And that, dear readers, is this persistent misconception other fans have that Caps fans - without exception - are bandwagon fans.
It seems that whenever supporters of a certain team can't think of real, legitimate things to mock about the Capitals they go for their favorite attack - the fans. It's the old standby that never fails to get a cheap laugh no matter how true it may or may not be. Washington isn't a hockey town, they chuckle. DC is a joke. Caps fans couldn't name a player other than Ovechkin if they tried; they're not real fans. Not like us, the proud Flyers/Penguins/Rangers/[insert evil team name here] fans who know what it takes to truly love a team.
Bull.
I remember a time when the Caps were the hottest ticket in town. Night after night the Capital Centre would be rocking, and it wasn't because the team was racking up the Cup wins. Far from it, in fact. They were good, exciting, but never all that successful when it really counted - perpetual choking dogs, a moniker we all wore proudly if not a little sheepishly. It didn't matter, though. People turned up every night, year after year, packing the seats and showing their support for the greatest little team that couldn't. It was because the team was fun to watch and there was always that nagging feeling that this year - this year would be different.
So are we to believe that all those people who paid good money back in the 80s and early 90s to see this team were holograms? Actors paid by Abe Pollin and friends to play a part? Did they all merely die out? Seems highly unlikely.
The more reasonable explanation is that a lot of them simply got tired - tired of being ignored by the media, tired of the team's inability to hold onto it's star players or attract new ones, tired of being subjected to a product that was less than scintillating. We had our good years between the heyday of the late 80s and today, but they were few and far between...and as a hockey fan, there was nothing during that period that even comes close to the level of excitement this young team can generate.
The fact is hockey is exciting in DC again and that's why people were back in the seats en masse during the second half of the season. It wasn't so much bandwagoning as it was a rebirth, a reunion of sorts for fans who are rediscovering the team and the sport - and you can tell that's what it is because it started before the team really got hot.
It started, in fact, when Alex Ovechkin signed his long-term deal, January 10, 2007. The Caps' record at that point? 16-21-8. You would have needed a crystal ball to predict the ending the season would have, and yet people showed up, people filled the seats and started to believe again. It was so much more than knowing Ovechkin was ours for the long haul. It was fans buying into what ownership had been trying to tell us all along.
Be patient, we're rebuilding and it will be painful at times...but this team is going to be great, and soon, and for a long time. That's all people needed. A little faith, hope that even if this season didn't turn around the way it eventually did, next year would be better. The year after, even better than that.
You know, it's very easy to sit up in cities like Philadelphia or Pittsburgh and look down on Washington, to smirk and point and make fun of what they don't understand. And I choose these two cities for a reason - partly because they are the most notorious fans when it comes to dragging out the "bandwagon" taunt but partly because they each serve as an example of a skewed perspective, of people having no right to point fingers.
In Philly, fans are always so proud that even in the dark times they supported their team - and they should be proud. To maintain a fan base when a team is lousy is very hard to do, and the Flyers did it well...for one year. One year of darkness sandwiched between years and years of success, if devoid of Cups, in the form of perpetual playoff appearances. Their first year in the league the Flyers went to the playoffs; seven years in they had the first of back-to-back Cups. It took the Caps that long just to get into the postseason, and twice as long to get to their first Conference Final.
In fact, the Flyers have missed the postseason only eight times in their forty year history, and only once have they gone consecutive years without putting in at least an appearance. That's consistency. That's success. That's why fans continue to pack the Wachovia Center, and good for them - Flyers fans, you should celebrate what your team has accomplished. But don't come to DC with your one bad season and flaunt the fact that you "supported them even when they sucked". It just doesn't fly, so to speak.
As for the Penguins, well...it's always fun to remind them that in the days before their own personal Jesus came along, things weren't so happy up at the Igloo. In 2001, when their rebuilding was just getting under way, the Penguins ranked 16th in league attendance - perfectly respectable but nothing to write home about. By the next year it was down to 22nd; in 2003 that number dropped to 25th. And by 2004 they were dead last, drawing just over 11,000 fans per game. Mellon Arena is smaller than a lot of arenas, sure, but still. That's not exactly bursting at the seams.
Now I don't point out those numbers just to rub it in the face of every Penguins fan who laughs at DC.
...okay, maybe I do, a little. I'm nothing if not willing to use my bitterness to my advantage. But it's also to make a point, and that is this - when a team is unsuccessful for any stretch of time, when the playoffs are out of the picture by Christmas for years at a time, it is only natural that the fans start to disappear. It happened in Pittsburgh, it happened here, and it's happened in just about every NHL city in the league. It's nothing to be ashamed of, and fans who have been through it would do well to remember those times and learn from them rather than mock other teams going through it now.
Did attendance in the 'Burgh spike when Captain Crosby came to town, even as the team continued to rebuild? Sure it did...doesn't make them bandwagon fans (or we'll say they aren't for now, just to take the high road). Did Pens fans catch on to Crosby's talent faster than the Caps fans did to Ovechkin? Absolutely - and it's because we've been burned before. The fact that Crosby's arrival triggered a rash of sellouts in Pittsburgh is no more a coincidence than the fact that Ovechkin's new contract triggered a rash of sellouts in DC.
We are, to put it mildly, a fanbase in need of healing. We've been through the wringer, not just the past few seasons but for years, decades. But there is a sense, a buzz on the streets, that this team is going to make those of us who stuck around in the lean years proud that we did so - and those fans just finding their way back now glad to be back.
No one knows what will happen for sure in the coming years...but I have a feeling we'll be Rockin' the Red for a long time.
Friday, April 25, 2008
Hitch Up the Bandwagon
Wednesday, April 02, 2008
Red Out Extended
Alright, kids - straight from the owner, the Caps have extended the highly successful "Red Out" for the final two games:
Get out that red again, time to make the Phone Booth bleed Caps' colors!!Capitals Extend Red Out to Remaining Two Regular-Season Games at Verizon Center
Fans are encouraged to show their support and wear red to Thursday’s game vs. Tampa and Saturday’s regular-season finale against Florida
ARLINGTON, Va. – The Washington Capitals have extended Tuesday’s highly successful Red Out to the team’s two remaining regular-season games, both at Verizon Center. Fans are encouraged to show their support for the Capitals, deep in the midst of a battle for the postseason, and wear red to the team’s games on Thursday, April 3, against the Tampa Bay Lightning and Saturday, April 5, against the Florida Panthers. Fans are being asked to don red jerseys, hats and T-shirts to fill the arena with red.
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Olie Douses Flames and Other Non-Punny Thoughts
One down, 11 to go...
- First off, congratulations again to Olie Kolzig on his 300th win, an amazing feat. It's been a chaotic couple of months, a chaotic season, a chaotic career - but the way he's been playing lately and the way he played last night, it's not hard to see how he achieved 300 wins.
Whatever happens after this season, the incredible things he's accomplished and the impact he's had on the team, the organization and the community should never be overlooked. Truly a class act.
Be sure to swing by NHL.com to vote in their Olie-centric poll of the day!
- Another tremendous game by Alex Ovechkin kicks his season totals (and his career high totals) up to 56 goals and 97 points on the season. He's four away from his first 60 goal season, three points from his second 100+ point season, and five points from 300 on his career. I just don't think he has an off switch...
- Checking around the interwebs, the general sense is that the Caps were victimized by the refs in the first half of the game - and the Flames were victimized in the second half. There's probably a little truth to both arguments and more than a little bit of homerism in each as well, but it does beg the question: has the officiating been incredibly unbalanced this season or does it just seem that way?
- To the fair citizens in section 427 last night...I missed the memo, were the Penguins in town for another game? Maybe the Rangers? Seriously, never have I seen a fistfight erupt in the stands when a former Patrick Division rival wasn't in town, but this one was completely started by the Caps fans who insisted on pelting a few Flames fans with peanuts. Remember, kids - beer and stupidity don't mix.
- John Erskine apparently was hurt and played sparingly in the second half of the game. The Caps proceeded to come back from a 2-1 deficit to win it. Coincidence? I think not.
- Also not a coincidence - the fact that the Caps have allowed four goals in the last three games while down two men and both Dave Steckel and Quintin Laing were out of the lineup. It's great that the two of them have become such a solid fixture on the PK but the Caps have got to learn how to kill off a two-man advantage without them.
Or, you know, stop taking penalties when someone else is in the box...
- Here's a headline that is sure to take the buzz off any Leafs fan's happy dance this morning: Sundin Hurt. Reports are varied on whether he'll even miss any time, but you have to think losing him puts a serious dent in Toronto's playoff hopes. Of course, as the team currently tied with them in the race for 8th (and while we would never wish injury on anyone) it's hard not to see that as a positive at this point.
- I know the Canes are a good team, but why is no one able to beat them? There is no reason for that team, with the injuries they have and the senior citizen status most of their players hold, to be running roughshod over the entire league right now. We get two cracks at them in the coming weeks, better make them count.
- And finally, Quintin Laing has been nominated by the Washington chapter of the Professional Hockey Writers' Association for the Bill Masterton trophy. Hard to argue with that choice - read about it here.
Thursday, June 21, 2007
Draft Madness: Detour #2
I'll have more on draft history later tonight (I know - yippee, right??) but first a few tidbits:
- Tomorrow is, of course, the Caps' draft day party and the potentially anti-climactic uniform unveiling. I'll be there with some of my fellow bloggers to bring it to you live...okay, maybe not live, but pretty darn close. Should be a good time and I hope to see a good crowd there.
- After the draft party, feel free to join some of us for an informal get-together at Bailey's, regardless of whether you attended the official party or not! I'll try to think of a way to make our little group stick out among the usual Friday night bar crowd, so check back here sometime tomorrow for more details...
- Speaking of attending the draft party, if anyone has two extra tickets they're not using, please e-mail me ASAP. I know of one person who is looking for tickets to this sold out event and we don't want unused tickets to go to waste, now do we?
- Quick head count - who is going tomorrow night? Drop a comment!
