They are the feel-good story of the NHL season. With a charismatic star at left wing, a rags-to-riches head coach and an entertaining style of play, the Capitals have created a hockey buzz in D.C. for the first time in a decade.
That year — 1998 — was also the first and only time the organization reached the Stanley Cup finals. But three early playoff exits and a massive rebuilding project in 2003 crippled attendance and made the Caps an afterthought in their own town.
Fast-forward five years, and suddenly the Caps have become the darlings of D.C. Attendance has skyrocketed with six sell-outs at Verizon Center since Feb. 24 alone. And television ratings for games on Comcast SportsNet are up 75 percent this season as the team earned its first playoff berth since 2003.
“We’ve been wining games. But we play an exciting style, too,” said Caps general manger George McPhee. “We pursue pucks and we try to score goals rather than just sit back and play the stand-still hockey that just isn’t good for the game. It’s boring.”
That style is thanks to coach Bruce Boudreau, a longtime minor-league coach who — at age 53 — finally was given a shot in the NHL. Named interim coach on Thanksgiving Day, Boudreau implemented his system immediately after being brought up from AHL affiliate Hershey.
The presence of MVP favorite Alex Ovechkin (NHL-best 65 goals, 47 assists) and a dramatic stretch run where the Caps won 11 of their last 12 games has pushed the buzz over the border. Ovechkin is wildly popular in Canada, where yesterday’s start of the NHL playoffs is treated as a national holiday.
“The Caps were our team down the stretch,” said Elliot Price, who co-hosts a morning show for Montreal sports radio station The Team 990. “Fans here are focused on the [Montreal] Canadiens, obviously. But there were a lot hoping Washington would make [the playoffs], too. They want to see Ovechkin on that stage.”
The Caps also have garnered plenty of press in Russia thanks to four Russians on the roster, including Ovechkin and forwards Sergei Fedorov, Viktor Kozlov and Alexander Semin. Two Russian sports publications have journalists based in Washington who regularly cover the team’s games and practices.
