I believe that safety and the feeling of security is a primary deliverable of the organization to its fans. Safety is why I considered NOT allowing Flyers and Caps fans to mingle at the glass before the game. Safety is why we don’t play inciting videos on the big screen. The throwing of bottles and coins and other items onto the ice after the game was truly a horrible experience. I offered my apologies to the Flyers via a phone call with their ownership and I believe that Verizon Center will be forced to look at new measures to secure all of our fans’ safety. These actions of a few were very uncharacteristic of our great fan base and I am asking everyone to please show decorum and consideration to other fans at our games. Thank you.
Ted's Take
To Karl Y, I just read your comment and let me say that i am a huge Caps fan and i hadn’t been to the bathroom all game. I thought it was a good time to go because it was a faceoff with only 15 seconds left on the power play and i thought we would clear the puck.
Ted, To I survived Wachovia…We here in DC don’t personally attack the opposing fans…that is a safety issue and we are not as “low” as other teams’ fans. We have friends who went to Philly for a for a football game and the team they supported won. There were 8 guys in the group, they went in to a bar, one guy wearing the opposing jersey, the other seven in regular clothes and they were asked to leave by the bar tender. They said they wanted a drink then they’d go. The bar tender told them to turn the jersey inside out. The guy said no. They called in management and management said, they would have to remove the jersey or leave, it was for their safety. Philly doesn’t like to lose.
We in DC are not Philly. We were go to Clydes after every game, win or lose and the opposing fans are arrogant, loud, “in your face” types. It is like they know they can walk into DC and not be messed with. That is good that they can be comfortable and safe. Put the shoe on the other foot and you have fans writing, I survived Wachovia. No one has ever said..”I survived DC” and we should be proud of that. Besides, I didn’t throw any thing on the ice, but how many people did it hurt physically? Was a couple of rock the red towels, and plastic beer bottles that harmful? Try taking your kid to the restroom during intermission and when a Caps fan calls to a group of Flyer fans and says Flyers Suck and the one of the girls in the group turns around and flips that guy the bird and says..”F*** YOU!” repeatedly. That shows real class. I was taken aback the father of the kid was upset and he wasn’t the one who said anything. I said to the dad, “Now thats Class.” his reply was, “Well that’s Philly for you”. We here in DC are not like that and never will, if you saw poor officiating in Philly in game seven and we had won, our fans over there would be in hospitals not bars enjoying themselves.
Ted: I know you mean well. But to my mind, the Caps are far too obsequious as an organization and get taken advantage of for it. No way you should be apologizing to a bunch like Philadelphia unless and until I get my apology for having beer thrown on me and spat on when I went up there to root for the Caps. And there are hundreds of Caps fans like me who are waiting for their apologies too. You and this Caps organization really needs to toughen up.
It is unacceptable throw stuff on the ice ever. No matter what. Period. The end.
Hey Ted,
First of all, I want to say thank you for all that you do. I love this game and this organization. I have been a Caps fan since I started watching Hockey in the late 70′s. I became an STH this year and have already ordered for next year. There is no other sport that even compares to this one and I believe that Washington is the new Hockey Town USA. Now, for my thoughts. I have seen many occasion when a player has made a huge mental error and has been penalized and/or fined suspended etc;. I find it extremely odd though, that referees are not held accountable for their arbitrary actions. I am very annoyed that the NHL came out right away with the comment that the check made on Morrison that subsequently hit Huet was a clean check on the part of the Flyers player. It seems to me that the NHL had a hunch that they were going to hear some flack about this from everyone. We were robbed and we played clean hockey and out played the Flyers. It really does not seem fair. I have spent a lot of money following this sport and I know that you have too. But, the bottom line is that the officiating should not be so Arbitrary. Something must be done and Mr. Bettman should step up to the plate on this issue. At the very least, the refs should have gone upstairs with a review. I would have been satisfied with at least that. Anyway, I have gotten this off of my chest and maybe someone will hear us and finally do something. Regardless, I think that the boys did an awesome job. I am truly happy to be a Caps fan and I look forward to next year. Come on October!!!
Thanks for listening!
I agree with Chris Hersl. I actually had an usher come tell me to sit down when I was standing up IN THE LAST ROW of the 200 section. There was nobody behind me (the luxury boxes are elevated). When I pointed out to the usher that EVERYBODY in the 100 section was standing, and that I was cheering — well, let’s just say, he wasn’t impressed. Whatever. Ted, you’re a class act for issuing this statement and apology. Can’t wait for next year. The Flyers will get theirs. They are already complaining about how the refs jobbed them in Game 1. Let’s Go Caps!
Ted,
If it is true that the person who posted on the message boards boasting that they threw the bottle that hit Jeff Carter is in fact an STH they should lose their STH privileges and never be allowed inside Verizon Center again.
I don’t condone what the ‘fans’ did. I didn’t throw anything except a few harsh words directed at the officials. I hope the few idiots that caused a problem don’t ruin the experience for the rest of us.
Thanks for sending apologies to Philly, Ted. There is absolutely no excuse. There should never be a comment like “it would have been worse in…” because DC is not any place else. Any true hockey fans know that this is disrespectful to both teams, and ownership. Who knows when they throw a bottle that it is going to hit their target? It could very well have been Alex that caught a skate on a coin.
If you’re that worried about debris on the ice, you might want to tell the Dunkin Donuts at Verizon Center to stand down next time Don Koharski is the ref. The guy might end up getting pelted with Boston Kremes next time he sets a skate on the ice at the Phone Booth.
I’m jesting, of course: please keep that Dunkin open. (Love their coffee.) But when the home team loses an overtime game 7, to a team the fans hate, and with controversial officiating thrown in for good measure, there are going to be a few fans who take their anger too far.
I hope that justice is done to those individuals, and ONLY to those individuals. Punishing every fan for the misbehavior of a few–misbehavior done in the heat of intense negative emotion–will take some of the joy out of future games for the vast majority of sincere, good-spirited fans.
By all means, punish the hooligans to the fullest extent of the law. But please, I entreat, don’t wreck it for the thousands of good-faith fans who took the loss as best they could, and who did not resort to violence.
One more note…Ted, now that you have Caps fans spending gobs of money, wouldn’t you want them to stay with hockey? This poor officiating can leave a bad taste in a possible season ticket holders’ mouth, and how about the fan who that was the first time seeing the game and cheering for the Caps and THEY see the poor officiating. They will never watch another game if it looks fixed. I work at a Title 1 School in Maryland and I have made a big impact on the majority of the teaching staff and a lot of the students in all three middle school grades. Kids I didn’t even know(African Americans) were walking up to me the next day and telling me they watched a hockey game for the first time and thought the caps were robbed and NHL refs suck. You want to talk about speechless. What do you say to someone who reaches out to a culture they are not accustomed to and see it for what it was. So much for bringing in ticket sales from the TV viewers who would’ve seen a great game and a great team advance, seen the passion of the DC fans, thought about purchasing tickets to the Verizon Center, seeing how easy it was to get to the game and realizing they would probably enjoy going to a Wizards game or even a Mystics game, and “look at all the cool stuff in the stores…” Well Ted, the officiating cost you some major coin and you don’t even realize it. We as fans did our job, we came, we spent, we cheered, we spent some more and we spread the word of a great hockey team, we covered our work area with caps memorabilia, we stuck up for the team when they were down and we talked them up when they were rolling. Even today, my administrator, (Af. Am. female) came to my room and said, “horrible calls, great game, next year right?” Now come on Ted, how much more can we endure? Those people who were so put off about the trash on the ice, though I don’t agree with doing that, I understand it, how much did those people spend in time, travel, money for tickets, money for merchandise, putting up with out of town fans laughing at us in our local bars when we lose and get drunk and try to start stuff when we win? If you DON’T FEEL like throwing something maybe you should go back to your golf show on TV and leave hockey to the real fans with passion. Again I didn’t throw anything but I thought about it.
Ted, To Dan Saccardi, Anyone who is on the concourse during overtime in game 7 isn’t the type of person to have a say in the emotional state of the true blue caps fan. I would have had to have been bleeding to leave the view of the rink at that time. Dan, until you feel the passion we feel for our team, and see the injustice and nothing we as fans can do to rectify it, stay off the high horse. Just for the record, I did chant the “ref you suck” and I was appalled at the calls and lack there of that night, actually all series(ie. the Brooks Laich no goal for goalie interference) however, I did not throw anything on the ice and I was taken aback, but I could clearly understand the frustration and feeling of unfair play with no recourse. Ted you should not apologize. If this were Philly, Pittsburgh, Buffalo or Boston, this would be expected after a game like that if it was against them, I wouldn’t be suprized if it happened right after the call to a worse degree even. We held tight and cheered the best we could, but that is all we can do. We can’t even vote for a review of a call. How else do the fans show disgust for a job poorly done? although if someone waves at another player they take issue with it in full force and rewrite the rule book, but a collision, push and duck out of the pucks way is fair play??? Philly should be embarrassed that it was not called. But knowing the type of team and town they are, they are probably laughing about it and putting it into their “Against Caps Play Book.” In closing, that was the best comeback I have ever seen in a season. Those guys are the best at what they do and I can’t wait to see how they wipe up the ice with everyone next year and years to come. I’m sorry to see it end so abruptly and under such controversy. Side note are any of those refs being investigated??? They should.
Ted,
I believe an apology needed to be made to Huet, where apparently there was little (if any) concern for his safety. As season ticket holders we have been on hand for many losses in the last several seasons and have never seen behavior like that of our final game. I will say that I was disgusted by the language and general demeanor of many of the opposing fans. I felt bad for the Caps fans in our section who had their kids with them.
I hate feeling like the season ticket holders will be penalized for the bad behavior of the few people involved in this isolated incident, when there seems to be no recourse against what appeared to be fixed officiating. I don’t think the fan base as a whole needs to be “punished”.
It is common knowledge that we generally welcome fans here from all other teams when we know we are not treated similarly if we dare to travel into their home arena. A woman reading the menu outside of Clyde’s asked us after game 5 asked if she would be able to get served in Clyde’s if she were to wear her Flyers Jersey into the establishment, apparently this would be an issue for a Caps fan on “Flyer’s turf”.
Hopefully, by next season, our fabulous team will be able to play on a more even playing field where they aren’t referred to as the Crapitals (or worse by even our local media) and are treated with the respect they deserve.
I am willing to admit that I am still steaming about the officiating in the last game, but, I know the people who make up the majority of the ticket holders would not consider throwing anything on the ice. I do feel helpless to make sure that these bad calls (or “missed” calls) do not continue, it ruins the game for me.
Ted, thank you, the Team, management, staff and crowd for a wonderful season. I attended Game 6 at the Wachovia center proudly wearing a Caps Jersey last Monday. I can check it off of the list of things to do before I die.
I was tripped 3 times during intermission, spit on, bumped into intentionally at least 6 times by fans, had a beer thrown on me, cursed at, etc. It starts with a few, and if not addressed now, the Verizon Center will become the Wachovia Center. And yes, I feared for my safety but I also flew immediately after 9/11.
I agree, the officiating was horrible, and limited my frustration to joining w/ the crowd chanting, YOU SUCK REF. And left it that. Anyone who throws objects on the ice for WHATEVER reason should be removed, and if they are a season ticket holder, revoke their tickets and let them throw bricks at their TVs.
I hope you do everything possible to also keep this team together. We’re behind you. Lets Go Caps!!
While throwing trash at the referees is absolutely 100% unacceptable, I too am a long time Caps fan, who understood the crowd anger that led to such a reaction. I am shocked and stunned that the Caps organization has done so little to address the officiating in that game. Maybe you are waiting for the time to be right, but please listen to your fans and realize that the organization should lodge an official complaint. The 2nd Flyers goal was unacceptable (can’t wait to see all the teams pushing defensemen into goalies as their new strategy to score goals) and the arbitrariness of the penalty calling was atrocious. While I completely agree that the OT was a penalty, it is so upsetting to see an entire period go by w/ infractions (on both sides) going uncalled and then, when it matters most, a penalty is called on the Caps.
If we want this sport to be all it can be, the unfairness of this game cannot go unanswered.
The throwing of things on the ice was wrong. Communicate to us fans what we can do to make the officiating right. I should hope some sort of petition or grievance has been filed with the league by you or your staff. To my eyes the second Flyers goal was an extremely similar situation to the next to last regular season game against Tampa. The officials wear black and white, not gray. The rules should be the same!!!
Ted,
As a STH I was embarassed as well. The Flyers were not responsible for any questionable calls and all they did was win the game. Was I frustrated..sure; but what a heck of a series.
VC Ushers and Security have a reputation that is earned of being rude to customers and I sincerely hope they improve. What you have to go through to get into the arena is unbelieveable, I’ve seen people grabbed, women’s purses pulled back by security and people screamed at. Certainly a lot of training is needed in this area.
I hope they put in a video system similar to many NFL stadiums where sections of the crowd are filmed when there are incidents and consequences go up to lost tickets. Maybe that would make folks think twice?
Either way, that was classy of you to apologie to the Flyers and lets hope the next time we play them its a celebration instead.
Anyone that thinks there is any reason what so ever for that kind of action (throwing stuff) is out of their mind. I do not care what you feel the refs did, or your idiotic hate of another team… Low class and poor class is what it is. The arguements I have read by people justifing it are pathetic and sad. I was embarrased as a STH and a fan seeing that at the end of the game.
Ted, as I said the other day, real hockey fans know that you never throw anything on the ice other than a hat. It was an embarassment to 99% of the fans and the players, as well as management. Please remove from the Verizon Center, and take other punative action when anyone is caught doing this.
HOWEVER, the situation with the refs has become untenable for some time. There were several games in the regular season where horrible calls almost cost the Caps a playoff spot, and at least two of the playoff games were significantly affected by bad calls. Something must be done or the frustration is going to find some way to come out–mostly bad ways. The fans would like to hear what management is going to do about things like:
1. A ridiculous non-call on the second goal, which was obvious intentional goalie interference and completely inconsistent with a much less obvious incident in the last Tampa Bay game (both the call and the issue of review). This call was also obviously ridiculous if you take the NHL’s official position to its logical conclusion and imagine that teams start to take advantage of the position that deliberately slamming a defenseman into the goalie is OK. (I’ve watched the replay MANY times, and it is obvious that the Flyer did it on purpose and that Morrison never was involved with the puck.)
2. Horrible inconsistency in penalty calls within the same game. You can’t swallow the whistle in period 3 and then decide to take it out on a close call in OT!
3. The use of a clearly discredited, biased, and incompetent referee crew in a game 7.
4. The failure to review issues that are directly related to whether a legal goal was scored or not. The NFL has figured out a very reasonable and seemingly effective way to strike a balance between reviewing things when appropriate and important without overdoing it; it shouldn’t be that hard for the NHL to figure this out.
5. The Flyers ran Huet constantly in this series. They were the second most penalized team in the league. And somehow the Caps get more penalties in the playoffs??? And Koslov gets a goalie interference penalty when he is pushed/tripped into the other goalie (at a critical time in the game)??? This is not a serious sport when it comes to officiating!
I hope you are seeing from the various blogs how upset the Caps fans are over all this (and that’s probably only 5% of the people out there). It’s great that you’re being a good sport and a class act, but the fans also need to know that there is some legal and appropriate recourse to obvious wrongs or they will either become enraged (and do dumb things) or eventually tune out. Any sport only survives if there is confidence that the outcomes are fair and dependent on the ways the players and teams perform–AND NOTHING ELSE. If outcomes are based on either referee bias or incompetence, or even seeming randomness, that confidence is lost–and therefore the belief in the sport.
Please DO SOMETHING!
Ted,
I agree with about everyone else:
1) The big issue should be the officiating
2) This was the fans only recourse
3) If the officiating can do this to us Caps fans. . .that should be a sign of how bad it is, not how classless we are
Ted: I agree that this is not a minor issue. I’m still pretty bitter about the way our season ended, and I’m also embarrassed that things were thrown on the ice (having said that, I’m definitely still proud to be a Caps fan!!). The WaPo article says that some fans were escorted out. Did someone record their names? And will they be allowed back? Taking a strong position will send the right message that we do not tolerate such behavior. Throwing items on the ice is inexcusable in my opinion, no matter who these people are.
On a somewhat related note (safety/Verizon center), can you address the OFB posts re: the ice condition? I’m not sure I’m on board with their argument that it cost us the game, but can you say with confidence that the ice was in good condition? If not, did we do everything we could, and what can we do next time? I know it’s a delicate science (especially with such a big building at full capacity), but we need someone to look into it and make sure we’re doing everything we can. Whether the ice condition has caused injuries or hampered our game are separate issues; I’m not asking for your opinion on that. I’m just asking for someone to investigate what we’ve done, and what we can do better (assuming there’s some room for improvement). Thank you.
I am grateful to have such a wonderful, considerate gentleman such as Ted Leonsis as the owner of the Washington Capitals. I was at game 7 on Tuesday night and i cheered as loud as i could for my beloved Caps.I was on the concourse when the Flyers scored in Overtime to win the game and when i went back to my seat i was apalled at the debris on the ice. I realize that it was an emotional series and people were very upset but you can’t throw things on the ice. It is BUSH League stuff. We as Caps fans should be above such nonsense and it was a classy gesture on Ted’s part to offer his apologies to the Flyers organization because of a few morons.
Ted:
There would be great potential for a riot in Philly if we had won that game with the same call on the Philly goal making it 2-2. The Caps were clearly cheated.
The nhl and the refs respect that in the Philly home crowd.
I am not condoning riots, but I am saying that this is an advantage that must be addressed. The officiating is not the same in both arenas, period.
You don’t need to apologize to anyone, especially the nhl, or Philly for that matter. It is you that should be getting the apologies from the nhl that brought about an angry crowd.
Bottom line, when you treat people fairly, you do not have problems, especially with a crowd like DC.
Ted I totally agree those actions were very uncharacteristic of CAPs fans, but please please don’t keep us from the glass at the pre game skate. Both me and my husband have been CAPs fans while the team played @ The Capital Centre- actually had one of our 1st date there and would have loved to gotten married on the ice! See this team is in my heart 4evr…sorry back to my point, we had season tickets then and saw first hand the visiting fans and just how far they could take us but the crowd control always handled any situation quickly and with resolve. Please Ted dont take this away, it may be the only chance our children will ever have to get that close to the team. As a family we just cant afford going to games on a regular basis so any chance we have to share a Caps Hockey experience with our children will always be special knowing this team was- yes I know this sounds corny but brought two people together. Just think of how many more!!!!
This isnt Philly…This is Washington D.C!!!!!
Dont throw crap
I too was very disappointed in this action. I did feel that it was directly more towards the Refs than the Flyers. But either way it didn’t represent the majority of the great Washington Capitals fans! Keep up the good work. Thanks, Ted!
What happened the other night was the result of 2 weeks of bad calls, missed calls, and outrageous attacks on our goalie. It was a spontaneous reaction by a few fans. You can take all the security measures in the world, but if someone doesnt fix what caused this, this will only escalate. No team deserved what happened in game 7, and to my knowledge, no team was subjected to the abuse that Cristobal Huet was. (already have been referee scandals in soccer in europe, and nba scandal here..) WE ARE TIRED OF THIS!! We have no idea what is going on and no one is addressing it. Period. The sad truth is that if this was another arena, say Toronto, or Philly, or Montreal, it would have been TEN TIMES WORSE!! That is a FACT.
I think i can safely speak for MOST Caps fans when i say that we can handle losing, and almost ALWAYS conduct ourselves appropriately, but we also feel HELPLESS AND WITHOUT RECOURSE to have our voices heard by anyone and everyone in charge who could clean up this sport. Let’s not only address this behavior (which should not be tolerated) but lets address why this occurred. As someone stated yesterday, if its open season on throwing anything and everything at a goalie to knock him out of the play, then its hard to tell people they cant throw things on the ice and expect it to make sense to them. Yes, we know its wrong, but they knew what was going on was wrong too. I think they just pushed some peoples buttons one too many times. (by the way, if it is okay, i wish we would be told BEFORE the game so we could do it too. At least it would be fair)
We grow tired of taking the “high road” and apologizing. Did we cheat? Did the refs know that this was a problem throught the series? Did they even watch for it or care? My guess is the bottles and coins were for the refs. Doesnt make it right, but you called the wrong place to apologize if you felt one was forthcoming, in my opinion. And while you have the league on the phone, please tell them thanks from all of us. What do you think is going to happen next year if this happens again? You have to wonder. People can only take so much. Would stuff have been thrown if we lost 6-1? How about if we had been swept? So where does the problem lie? These things escalate. All we ask is that the rules are adhered to. This went on for several games.
True, throwing things on the ice only puts people at risk, including our own players and coaches. It doesnt solve anything as they say. But i have to ask the question…What WILL solve anything?? No one listens and the wrong team moved on. Maybe sour grapes, some may say, but i dont happen to think so in this situation.
Ted: with all due respect, instead of worrying about something so minor, you SHOULD be asking the league to investigate the officiating.