This ESPN article made me think on what makes DC a hockeytown.Here are the 10 reasons I know hockey is becoming a ” hot” and important sport around town.

This ESPN article made me think about what makes DC a hockey town. Here are the 10 reasons I know hockey is becoming a "hot" and important  sport  around town.

1. I am standing in line at the Tyson’s Corner movie theatres and there is a teenage girl in front of me wearing a T-shirt that says "Give blood – play hockey."  She is also wearing a number 8 pendant around her neck.   2. I receive more than half a dozen emails a week asking me for the status of the opening of the new Ballston facility – not to come see the players practice, but to find out if they can start a men’s league at the new rinks.   3. I am in line at the tollbooth at Tyson’s Corner with my son and a car behind me is incessantly honking the horn.  It’s a little annoying until I realize they are playing the "Let’s Go Caps" song for us. You in the gray Audi convertible, nice touch.   4. A soldier writes to me telling me of the death of one of his compatriots and encloses a photograph of the soldier and in his casket is a Caps jersey along with some of his other favorite things.   5. My family is driving to eat dinner in downtown DC and we come to a street near Georgetown where there are young people playing roller hockey – Game on!  6. Charitable requests for Caps autographed merchandize hit more than 100 per month and it is August.   7. A Sportstalk 980 announcer says something disrespectful about  the NHL and the emails to me are immediate and the message board threads get opened in earnest.   8. A mom writes to me requesting that I challenge her son to do well in school this year and that if he gets all A’s and B’s for grades I should personally present him with a Caps autographed jersey - she thinks this is the only motivator for her son to excel in class this year.   9. A  group of young women approach me at the Rite Aid Pharmacy in McLean,Virginia and ask me if " it " is true, when I ask what  "it" is, they ask "Did Matt Pettinger really get married?"   10. I am at a Nationals game standing in line for a hotdog and a debate is raging between three friends in front of me  about who is  a better player, Alfonso Soriano, Gilbert Arenas or Alexander Ovechkin.