Something To Be Thankful For In Washington

Washington and its hockey fans got dinged a bit -- and not without reason -- in the latest from John Buccigross:

Alexander "Red Bull" Ovechkin, the most exciting athlete in Washington D.C. I'm thankful he turned down more money in Russia to play in the world's greatest hockey league. It's too bad his city's sports fans don't appreciate that -- only a select, passionate few.

That's all too true, and it's a shame. As I've written before, Ovechkin is simply the most talented player the Capitals have ever had on their roster, and folks should be making a beeline for the MCI Center to see him play this year before ticket prices get rise in subsequent seasons and demand fills the arena.

Right now, the most exciting play in hockey is Ovechkin picking up a loose puck at center ice, streaking down the left wing, turning the corner on a surprised defenseman, and roofing a backhand over a goalie's shoulder. You'll see that play, or a reasonable facsimile of it, every game he plays.

Later, in response to a question of which city without an NHL franchise should get one, Buccigross writes:

Baltimore -- It feels like a hockey city to me. I'd build a cool, intimate 15,000-seat arena on the harbor and move the Capitals there.

I can understand why John thinks Baltimore is a hockey city. It's a tough blue collar town that has more in common with Detroit or Newark than it does with Washington, D.C., its neighbor at the other end of I-95.

But serial failures of both the Baltimore Skipjacks (old Caps affiliate) and the Baltimore Bandits (Mighty Ducks) just about rule out ice hockey for Charm City. Baltimore was once owned by the Colts and the Orioles, but those days are long gone -- in the case of the O's that's courtesy of Peter Angelos. If anything, Baltimore is a football city and the Ravens own the town.

I can't blame Buccigross for his view of things. If anything, I wish he could have been here in the Spring of 1998, where, at least a few days, Washington was a hockey town. Back then, the Washington Post draped a large banner counting down the number of wins to clinch the Stanley Cup once the Caps made the Finals.

For six weeks or so, I had a blowup Godzilla (Olie Kolzig's nickname) in my living room draped with a Caps jersey.

Things began to pick up once the Caps finished off the Senators in five games in the second round. What came next was an Eastern Conference Final with Buffalo that brought out the hockey fans from all corners of the D.C. area.

Some of my favorite moments: Caps fans heckling Matthew Barnaby, only to be silenced by a goal later in the game; Peter Bondra clipping Domink Hasek after he strayed too far from the crease, sending Hasek into a frenzy that took him off his game for the rest of the night; and Kelly Miller's OT goal at home in Game Five -- one of the most electric moments I've ever experienced as a fan.

One Joe Juneau OT goal later, and the Caps were in the Finals.

Of course, we all know the rest of the story: A sweep by the Red Wings, and Lord Stanley's stop in Washington ended after two games over the course of a long weekend. And instead of building off the experience, the Caps, like many other franchises who are surpise entrants in the Finals (see Hurricanes, Carolina; Panthers, Florida), self-destructed the following season and failed to make the playoffs.

And hence, the one chance D.C. had to become a hockey town was lost. Not that there won't be another, as there may very well be. But that was an opportunity that can't ever be recovered.

But I have my memories. And that I'll always be thankful for.

Eric 09:39 PM

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