CAPS, NHL RESUMES TONIGHT
The fastest game in sports returns tonight (USA Today) and Erica and I will be at the MCI Center to see the Capitals begin year 6 of Ted Leonsis’ 5 year plan. Actually, the plan was scrapped, right now I think the plan — if there is one — is to get by with a low payroll, wait for the youth to grow up and hope for the best. They sold about 7,500 season tickets this year, down 40% over two years. Ouch.
I may be one of the most casual hockey fans in the world. When I was a kid I would usually go to one game a year with company tickets my mother always seemed to get around either my birthday or my brother’s in March. In college, I would occasionally check out the Icers — Penn State’s club hockey team. In 2001, I resumed going to games when I moved to Pentagon City. A friend of mine has season tickets and invited me to a few games and I started getting into it again. I also have other friends who follow the sport, though they root for their hometown Pengyunz, Flyers, or Devils. More on that later. In other words, I got into the sport because it was a convenient way to have rivalries with friends. It has grown on me over the years to the point I go to about 6 or 7 games a season, so I suppose that I am a textbook example of the mythical “if we can just get them to the rink to see the sport live” fan.
Tonight, the Caps take on the Columbus Blue Jackets, the first of two teams from that city that is playing one of my teams this week. It is also the debut of 2004’s Next Mario Lemieux
The new face of hockey – The Wash. Times
Caps Season preview – ESPN.com
Season preview – ESPN.com
Don’t forget to visit Eric McErlain’s always excellent Off Wing Opinion for NHL news.