Thursday musings

My last post left me thinking, which is known to happen every once in a great while. What exactly will it take for the mainstream hockey media to respect the Capitals? When will this team cease to be a whipping post? The truthful answers to those questions are "a lot" and "quite a while from now if things go well."

Respect has to be earned, and it's going to take a whole lot more than a hot start to the season. Real success in hockey is not quantified in wins and losses, but in championships - and the rafters look rather sparse after 33 years of NHL action in the nation's capital. We, the faithful, love the gritty and passionate men who kept this team exciting, even if they fell short of championship material. We have taken pride in watching guys like Dale Hunter, Al Iafrate, Peter Bondra, Kevin Hatcher, and Rod Langway give other teams fits, but all the heart and muscle in the world won't cause the national media conglomerates to bat an eye in the absence of a winning tradition.

But why should we care what they think? Who gives a flying pig's butt what Barry "The Hairdo" Melrose thinks about where the Capitals are or aren't going?

Wouldn't you be thrilled if the Alexes received just as much press and praise as Sidney Crosby? Wouldn't it be wonderful if during the intermission of a Pens-Sabres game on Versus, they cut away to a 10 minute vignette on what Alexander Ovechkin thinks about his new skates? The truth is that, to some extent, even the myopic opinions spouted by the talking (though often vacant) heads do matter. It affects how the hockey world perceives us. Our reputation, especially amongst the fair-weather fans here in DC, will not improve so long as there are idiots on ESPN who dismiss the Capitals' successes and label them as bottom-dwellers and inevitable chokers.

That last sentence assumes, of course, that our successes will continue. That is the golden key. Wins and highlight-reel plays make for good short term accolades, but banners (and I emphasize the plural) in the rafters speak volumes more in the long run.

I don't think that even a single Stanly Cup would seal it, given the recent trend of its winners falling off the face of the earth immediately after hoisting it. But if they build a tradition of winning, a team that can compete and retool itself year after year, the Cup(s), banner(s), and respect will eventually come.

That needs to be this organization's goal. I won't hesitate to say that the Capitals have now iced the greatest hockey team that has ever called the District home, and if any team is capable of beginning to put the dogged years behind us, it's this one. There's a long way to go before 33 years of heartache can be put firmly in the rear view and we might never get there, but looking at this team I have no doubt that it's going to be one exciting ride.