Capitals Rekindle My Hockey Flame

I've taped two hockey games in my life.

The first was on April 18th, 1987. My family went to see the Orioles-Indians game at Memorial Stadium (the Birds won 16-3) and the Washington Capitals were playing the New Islanders in Game 7 of the Patrick Division Semifinals. My brother and I were big Capitals fans and we didn't want to miss the game. We refused to look at the scoreboard during the Orioles game for fear of seeing a score and the radio was tuned to music on the way home.

When we arrived home about an hour after the Orioles game ended, my brother called me into the family room. The Caps game had gone into overtime and was still going on live. We spent the next few hours watching the most gut-wrenching sporting event of our lives. Just before 2:00 AM, Pat LaFontaine ended the Capitals season in the fourth overtime. The game is now known as The Easter Epic.

The second hockey I've ever tapped in my life, was Saturday night's game between the Caps and Florida Panthers. The latter team didn't exist in 1987 when I tapped my first game, and the taping technology changed from a Betamax attached to a 24-inch tube television to a digital video recorder attached to a 32-inch, LCD, HDTV.

The Caps had to beat the Panthers to garner a playoff spot and the Southeast Division title in the process. Through a stroke of luck, Time Warner Cable unlocked the NHL package this week and I was able to watch and tape the game (I believe they unlocked it because the MLB package uses the same channels and they're showing the MLB package for free this week as a promotion to spur sign-ups). I watched the first two periods live last night, hit "Record" and went out with some friends.

At 3:30 AM on Sunday morning I returned home, a little tipsy to say the least. I went straight to my bed and flipped on the television.

The cat jumped off the bed about five minutes later as I yelled for joy watching Alexander Semin pound a slapshot past Craig Anderson for a 3-1 lead. I watched the remainder of the game with a knot in my stomach, a feeling I had not had while watching hockey since the 1997-1998 season.

I feel a little guilty, to be honest. When I moved out of D.C. ten years ago, the Capitals were the first casualty of my new life. Following a hockey team when you don't live in the team's city is difficult because not many NHL games are nationally televised. And despite being an excellent franchise for almost two decades, the Caps never attracted a fan base outside of the D.C. area, so they weren't exactly at the top of ESPN's (the network broadcast games at the time) list when it came time to pick games to show.

I did follow the Caps closely, to an extent. I read about the team everyday thanks to The Washington Post's website and I kept close tabs on Jeff Halpern, a former junior varsity baseball teammate, when he played for the team. It wasn't the same, however. I had gone to about five or six games each season for over ten years and I missed being able to watch the team play each night.

More recently, I was excited about Alexander Ovechin when he arrived in D.C. and owner Ted Leonsis got me psyched up through his blog. The team, however, never put it together.

Coming into this year, I was geared up to become a fan again. Then the team faltered out of the gate, looking horrible and playing not to win, but not to lose. At best, the team reminded me of the Caps from '80s and '90s who took early exits from the playoffs because they played too defensively and missed out on scoring opportunities.

Enter Bruce Boudreau and a new game plan.

Boudreau's approach to the game is fairly simple from what I can tell: ATTACK! Attack the goal; attack the opposition while on defense; and, attack the puck. It's a great game plan when you have talent to do it, and the Caps obviously have the players.

The funny thing about Boudreau is that he reminds me of Dave Trembley, the manager of the Baltimore Orioles. Both slugged it as minor league coaches for decades before the good fortune of working under bad superiors gave them their dream jobs. Trembley ignited the Orioles last year, but the team faltered immediately after their newly beloved manager was given the job on a permanent basis. I feared the same fate would befall Boudreau, but the team kept winning and Boudreau doesn't have a contract for next year yet.

I'm very happy for the Capitals and the fans who stuck by them, and even for the fans like me who maybe didn't have enough time to give them the love they deserve. If nothing else, my life has come full circle and I'm now a hockey fan again (I can even an intelligent conversation about current teams and players again).

Let's go Caps!

P.S. - Watching the Caps game served as a reminder that hockey play-by-play men are probably the best sportscasters in the world. No game moves as fast as hockey and I was simply wowed by the job that Joe Beninati did. His play-by-play work was amazing, especially considering the importance of the game, and his tongue was golden. Props also to former Caps Craig Laughlin and Joe Reekie for their spot-on color commentary. And, boy, did it bring back memories to see Al Koken on the scene doing his usual great job of getting in-game insights.