Thanks for a great afternoon at Verizon Center. I thought our fans were outstanding. The building was loud, inhospitable and rocking. There were very few opposing team fans in the building so your loyalty and our programs to limit out of town fans surely worked. For all of those folks who were concerned about Pens fans coming into our building, I think you can relax a little bit in that it is easier to come to a Saturday afternoon game than a Monday night game. We have sold out to mostly season ticket holders and the big benefit of season ticket ownership is access to playoff tickets. We have loyal and great fans that don’t want to sell their tickets on the secondary market so thank you for that. It is most appreciated.
As you will note by the attached article (click here) I acquired the Washington Capitals ten years ago this week. This story about rebuilding the team and the fan base is pretty straightforward and accurate. We have enjoyed the last ten years so very much. Time flies when you are having fun. It is even more fun when you are in Round 2 of the playoffs.
I thought the game was well played. The center ice position for the Pens is really world class. I can’t think of a team that is that strong down the middle, can you? Maybe Detroit? They are that good and bear watching every time they are on the ice.
We bounced back from an early deficit; played with passion; let the score get tied; went ahead by one; and held on for dear life to end the game and get the first win in the series.
We were unfortunate in that, by my count, we hit five crossbars and posts: two by Ovechkin; one by Fleischmann; one by Bradley; and one by Fedorov. Maybe next time one of them goes in for a goal.
We MUST stay out of the penalty box and we must play stronger D. We allowed the Pens too many shots on goal. Our young goaltender let in a softie and then made one of the great playoff saves on what I thought was a sure goal. There was a huge collective “PHEW” in our building after that incredible save.
Thanks Caps fans. Don’t get too high with the highs or too low with the lows. Enjoy this one win for the day and then put back on your “war faces” and get ready for Game 2 on Monday night. Onward. Remain calm. Have no fear. Go Caps!
I have a 412 area code. Am I allowed to leave a reply or even read Ted’s Take?
Ted, ill get you a couple seats for mondays finally. On me. Sit next to some real nice people. Enjoy some iron city and we can talk biz. Hit me up boss.
No – thank YOU Ted! For being arguably the best owner in the league, for always being accessible to the fans, and for truly believing in our boys and building a team from the gound up. Too many owners try to buy their way to a championship with ridiculous salaries and trades, but you got it right. We need to groom our younger players, be willing to stick it out through some lean years while they develop, and watch them grow into Stanley Cup champions. I have no doubt that if not this year, you’ll be checking that professional sports championship off your list within the next two.
Jeremy – so you want more Pens fans in the building when we are doing just fine getting Caps fans in there?
yea, that makes perfect sense.
tool.
Huh? I’m not the slightest bit embarrassed about reading such articles. Who said anything about biggest concern? It is a concern though and personally I’m immensely appreciative of the effort. If Pittsburgh fans want to whine just like their illustrious captain so be it.
This is ridiculous. I’ve been a Caps fan for the past 25 years and your biggest concern is to avoid selling tickets to Pittsburgh fans? It’s embarassing to read these articles in Pittsburgh papers about having their area codes blocked from sales.
Spot on Ted, though I’d quibble with one thing. I didn’t get the feeling we were “hanging on for dear life” to end the game. We killed off the last penalty pretty convincingly and from then on we controlled the tempo pretty well and didn’t give the Pens much of a look the last 5 minutes.
I said in another thread that even if there are some questions about the club defensively, one thing that has been pretty much of a constant this season has been that when we have had a lead against the good teams, where we realize we can’t just try to hang on, that we have played well in the last minutes and closed out the games decisively.
We have good reason to respect the Penguins. But I think now it may be getting to the point where WE are the team that others don’t look forward to playing in these circumstances.
I’ve got an idea on how to keep tickets with caps fans. Instead of so much fees on ticket exchange. Sell a Caps player tee shirt with each seat. To pick up at the gift shop before the game, also that will bring more people in there that might buy more stuff like foam fingers ect. And will help ensure a sea of RED at every home game.
mr,ted steckel has been a thorn to pens all season..great un sung player..but i suppose they will be a few more before this series is done..this is caps hockey i notice the boys getting more relaxed with there type of play ted this is a great team and even greater is the addition of varly..I think the next task for brucie when we win game two is to finish them off..so far there has been a few teams that have come back to win there series..so this is next step 11 more wins…11 more wins…go caps…..98caps