Rick Snider » Capital appreciation on eve of opener
By: Rick Snider
Examiner Sports Columnist
October 1, 2009
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| A winning team, a star player and enthusiastic fans have turned the Capitals into the darlings of the city, writes Washington Examiner columnist Rick Snider. (Getty Images) |
The season is sold out. The sport's top player actually produces. The first fan festival attracted thousands.
Washington, where the only ice usually is found in tall glasses, is now filled with puck heads as the Washington Capitals open the season Thursday night in Boston.
"It's hockey town," two-time MVP Alex Ovechkin said. "Everywhere we go I see people with Caps jerseys and Caps hats and they recognize us."
Said owner Ted Leonsis: "There's no more discussion on whether this is a hockey town or not. It is. Ratings are through the roof. Our merchandise sales are through the roof. Our attendance is through the roof."
That means high expectations. After a second-round playoff exit last season, Caps fans expect a Stanley Cup. That's the price of finally converting a southern city to the northern sport. They're the best team in town and if the Caps fail in the spring, sports talk radio will be "Rocking the Red" with the same venom the Redskins currently receive.
"We have a tendency here of talking about the Stanley Cup in September," coach Bruce Boudreau said. "We're a team, romantically, everybody wants to see us win because we've got Alex and we get to play more. We expect to be good and want to be good, but overconfident is the last thing we have a right to be."
But, it's a very good team. The lines go four-deep. The goaltending is three-deep. Ovechkin wants to shift from the game's current star to immortal, but it will take a title or two before fans liken him to Wayne Gretzky, whose single-season scoring record is Ovechkin's newest goal.
"Alex has won all these individual awards. To take the next step into immortality, you have to win the Stanley Cup," Leonsis said. "Because he gets that, and he's internalized that, that permeates everything. He's driven and the team's driven."
Ironically, Leonsis said the team will lose money even if it wins the championship. But Leonsis sees the Caps' value beyond financial.
"I think [NHL commissioner] Gary Bettman made a good point the other day -- five years ago there was an article written that Washington should be contracted out of the NHL," Leonsis said. "Team's losing a lot of money. No one's going to the games. There's no hope. There's no future here. Now, my bet is we're one of the most valuable franchises in the league."
Rick Snider has covered local sports since 1978. Read more at TheRickSniderReport.com or e-mail rsnider@washingtonexaminer.com.
