Also, I have to agree 100% with Ben. I’m a fan of Ted and think he’s a great owner and representative for the NHL.

It’s a shame that some people think that if you are a Pens fan you can’t admire or respect the Caps and they say “flattery will get you nowhere.”

There is only one team and its fans I can’t admire or respect and that team is the Flyers. The entire organization down to its fans are goons and they only feed off of each other being rotten.

I really hope the Pens/Caps rivalry doesn’t turn nasty between the fans. We both had really bad teams a few years ago and now have great things to look forward to in each franchise. If there were an owner for organization of the year, between Ted as the owner and the amazing scouting job the organization has done to get great talent at Hershey and in Washington, the Caps definitely deserve an award.

I’ve had quite the crisis in hockey identity ever since I moved here in 2005. Being a Penguins fan for so long and then relocating straight into the heart of “enemy territory” was quite the shock. Our first games at the Verizon were in fact both Pens/Caps games and the energy was pleasantly just as charged as they are at the Igloo.

Maybe it’s the fact that I love the sport more than anything, or that I can appreciate the exceptional talent on display before me every night through Ovechkin, Crosby, Malkin, Tavares, Parise, Franzen, Toews, Kane, and so on, that I can look beyond the “pettiness” (I use it kindly) of team colors and logos to the true sport it is. It saddens me when I hear of various media personnel act like fanboys – and I’ve heard and read many from both Pittsburgh and Washington over the years. What seems to get lost in the translation is the extraordinary talent that these teams put on the ice for us to cheer for, groan with, and celebrate the highs and lows of a season.

I guess that’s what really makes this rivalry stand out to me – it’s not just two of the most exciting teams in hockey that happen to be my long-time favorite and the new hometown I call my own, but the sheer talent and CLASS on display on both sides of the red line. That alone makes every single game worth watching.

And, I have to say on a personal level, up until this past year I can’t honestly say I liked you a whole lot. Remember that business about denying tickets to Pittsburgh fans during various playoff runs? Yeah, I never liked that. And it was made worse when, in the 2007-08 season (after I’d attended both Pens/Caps games the season prior), I was told by your ticket staff I couldn’t purchase single-game tickets to either game, because I was a Penguins fan (that being my entire ticket history) – unless I bought a package deal. Which meant that I had to buy TWO packages, because only one Pens game was in each package. When I asked why, I was told the policy came straight from you. So, yeah. Bad impressions and all that.

Because of that bad taste, I just couldn’t bring myself to like you.

But now I have to ask myself – how can such a team be so successful on the ice, if the owner is a jerk? Obviously, the answer is, “he isn’t.” I’ve followed the Caps quite happily as a general hockey fan over the last couple of years, watching them progress from average to elite, and I remain impressed and respect the incredible work you, George, and Bruce’s teams have done. Honestly, I don’t have it in me to dislike you anymore just over what I think is a stupid ticket policy.

You’ve won me over – I’m a Ted fan now, aside from being a Capitals fan…except when the Penguins are in town.

Oh, and for the record, you’ve got no chance to break my faith with the Penguins. But you’ve got my support and my respect.

Thank you for what you do for hockey, for Washington DC, and for the fans.

-Ben H. Rome