Pittsburgh is definitely an unpleasant place to play and live because it has no economy, and generally no one wants to live there (that’s why they all live here — what do you call a Pens’ fan living in Pittsburgh? Unemployed), and for at least another couple of years it has a godforsaken rink; Gary Roberts initially did refuse to go there six weeks ago. But ultimately guys will want to skate with Crosby and Malkin and Staal, as they will with best-in-the-world talents like our Alexes and Backstrom and likely others.

A fair number of the Caps were spotted all season long taking in Wizards’ games at Verizon Center. Hockey players have no such luxury in places like Pittsburgh, Calgary, Montreal, Edmonton, St. Louis, etc. One could make a compelling argument that there’s no pro basketball tenant in Madison Square Garden (hah). In another year our sporting landscape will be dramatically improved with the opening of the Nationals’ new ballpark. One might have to avert one’s eyes from the field, but by all reckonings it looks to be a superb piece of architecture, and it’s expected to lead yet another revitalization of a sagging portion of the District.

In recent years we’ve even seen D.C. discussed as a possible host for the Summer Olympic games. Pittsburgh or Buffalo or Tampa or Raleigh for that? Not so much.

If I’m Mr. Leonsis and I want to pull out the heavy sales pitch artillery circa July 1, I have a chef from say Clyde’s whip up some Maryland crabcakes for the negotiating supper. Tried the crabcakes in Columbus?

It’s also not like unrestricted free agents hit the market only at age 32 like they did under the old CBA, and thereby are often confronting what could well be their final pacts in the league. A guy like Brian Pothier has years of lucrative pro hockey ahead of him, and the teams with liberal cap space can aggresively pursue the late twentysomethings. If they don’t like the direction of the teams they sign with then, at 31 or 32 they can move on.

Sculpture Garden skating rink - Copyright (c) 2004 Leslie HancockAs far as this summer is concerned, it seems to me many player agents will be identifying at least three things about D.C. to their player clients:

(1) the Caps’ darkest days are clearly behind them, and Backstrom at the very least is another gem added to the stable. It’s hardly a stretch to suggest that the Caps, had they held on to Dainius Zubrus, would have finished with 76 or 78 points this past season, and that he’ll be replaced by somebody at least his offensive equal in the 2007 lineup. Add Backstrom to the equation, and who knows who else, and delete two or three underperforming place-setters, and the team putting up 80-something points next season is easily plausible. And likely more — reasonable roster healthy permitting. That’s hardly the “dregs of the league” to be avoided at all costs.

(2) The Caps’ cap space is the envy of the league, which makes agents salivate, and while no doubt the top, top destinations are in other cities still, almost all of them are pushed hard against the cap, and only one of them will win the Cup (maybe), meaning everybody else will be making changes;

(3) the Caps boast the finest training facility in the league, and that’s where guys will spend the bulk of their time anyway. Arlington is hip and chock full of hard-bodied youths (which is why I can no longer socialize there). All of which added up is hardly evocative of primitive conditions on the West Bank.

The reality is that this summer, next, and the next one after that, the Caps are going to win some free agent battles against big clubs — some that might even shock us optimists — and they’re gonna lose some. But the overriding factors won’t have anything to do with curses or stranded Metro trains but instead capitalism’s most basic calling card.

The biggest hindrance for free agent hockey players hitching themselves to D.C. this summer could be a Nationals’ homestand, in home run, victory-starved RFK, coinciding with their visit. That’s an NC-17 experience right now. But it, too, is being rebuilt.

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Posted at 3:51 am. Filed under Boston Bruins, Columbus Blue Jackets, Detroit Red Wings, Montreal Canadiens, National Hockey League, New York Rangers, Pittsburgh Penguins, St. Louis Blues, Washington Capitals, Washington Post.
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5 Comments

  1. blanket wrote:

    I don’t consider myself a doom-and-gloomer, and I think the Caps are generally on the right track, but I do think they’ll have trouble signing top free agents this summer. It’s not that I think DC is a terrible place to live/work, and I don’t really think hockey players think that, either. It’s just that the Capitals have ALWAYS had trouble signing top free agents, for whatever reason. I think the sense, among Caps fans, is that the Capitals organization (team/fanbase/etc.) is not one of the most respected around the league, especially these days, and that given the choice between the Caps and New York, or Detroit, or Philly, or any number of other NHL teams, most players will tend to pick the other team.

    Or maybe that’s just part of Caps fans’ overall inferiority complex :)

    Monday, April 16, 2007 at 8:48 am | Permalink
  2. Jean wrote:

    Completely agree with you there - although Washington is not going to be a “hockey town” without some amazing marketing talent, that isn’t necessarily a drawback for the best players.

    Want to be able to go out for a nice dinner with your wife and not be interrupted by six autograph seakers and have the busboy drop the soup bowls when he realises who is at the table? Come to DC.

    Want a place to play where no one will come up to you in the street the next day and scream at you for the dumb penalty you took the night before? Come to DC.

    The players don’t commute at 8am, so the gridlock isn’t a problem for them. Sure this is the city that couldn’t sell out the home section of a Stanley Cup final, but the day-to-day living in the city is actually a lot nicer than a lot of other, more prestigous hockey cities. (Although I admit, I’m partial to Boston!)

    Monday, April 16, 2007 at 9:07 am | Permalink
  3. maruk wrote:

    Cash and cap room can help close the credibility gap. And since the Caps have both, the gap can be virutally eliminated with wise choices and the resulting on-ice improvement.

    Winning fixes damn near everything.

    Monday, April 16, 2007 at 10:46 am | Permalink
  4. P-Mac wrote:

    I wonder at when and how the “DC is a dead-end destination to play” sentiment allegedly took hold. It certainly hasn’t held Danny Snyder back. And I’m quite sure I don’t agree with it.

    I keep up with the mailinglist; your statement does not make any more sense the second time around. Daniel Snyder owns one of most storied franchises in the National Football League. Even if Snyder was a total hack (and some may argue, he is), just by force of being in the League, he would be minting money. Their television rights are numbered in the billions.

    Specifically, the Redskins could build a stadium two or three times as big as their current digs, and still sell out for the next few decades, in advance.

    The point you keep hearing is that DC is a dead-end hockey destination, and always has been. A recent issue of The Hockey News mentioned that our storied team still holds the record for longest playoff drought: 720 games. (Yes, that streak started the year the team entered the league. We can always hope Columbus keeps on their pace and breaks it.)

    This town has had two baseball teams leave town since the Korean War, and yet the arrival of a third team (third time is a charm?) was bigger news than anything the Capitals seem to put together.

    In spite of lean years within my memory, Detroit has a long, long history of winning. Pittsburgh has been good within the recent past and looks to be again. Tampa Bay and Carolina have won the past two Cups. Buffalo is good right now. These are factors that must enter the mind of a free agent.

    The management in Washington is so scraping the credibility barrel that they have to take advertisements out in the local papers — and their own website — to convince fans that, “No, this summer, we really are going to improve the team. Honest.” And they are so unable to accept criticism that they have turned their back to regular, trained media and embraced bloggers who spread the little bit of good and glaze over the piling bad.

    As I watch the playoffs, I keep hearing names of players who were sent packing from Washington: Zubrus, Bulis, Linden, Grier, Witt, Gonchar … even Halpern is logging minutes and winning face-offs. (I remember an earlier post admitting the Oduya blunder, so he stays off the list.)

    The fans in this town seem to have been fed the same “wait and see” dinner for over 30 years. In the meantime, their expansion partner has shifted homes twice but still managed to win the Cup three — and they have another Finals appearance to go with that time Capitals made the dance a few years ago.

    In the end, you have an owner who wants to own a different team in the same town, because that other team belongs to a marketable, money-generating league. Instead, we are left with hockey fans in DC: those who would not take pieces that would help the team (Briere); hold hatred for those marketable players that the league so desperately needs to dig itself out of the lockout hole (Crosby); and holds out hopes that one of two minor league coaches (Boudreau, Hunter) will be able to turn this team around. (Hunter himself has stated that he does not think his coaching success would translate to the NHL.)

    Fans here are mad when no attention is paid to me, and when attention is paid, they want to be able to control exactly what sort of words are used. Get over yourselves. Embrace any player that can help your team and your league. Get over yourselves. Crying about not getting your due will only turn off casual fans. Winning solves everything.

    Monday, April 16, 2007 at 1:28 pm | Permalink
  5. pepper wrote:

    My dear friend, its been 7 years since I’ve spent my nights trying to pick up singles, er, socializing, in Arlington, and it seemed quite accessible to me :)

    (And if not us, certainly to a young and single pro hockey player!)

    Anyway, the Snyder comparison is apropos, because its all about history. The Skins have the Super Bowl championships, and the Caps players’ names have never been etched on the Cup. And players might also be interested in playing for a team that has a season ticket waiting list that rivals the Leafs. Again, the Caps - easy to get prime seats on game day, even during the playoffs.

    Without getting into a detailed discussion of the merits of living in the nation’s capital (or in the vicinity thereof), its certainly not a cultural or entertainment or recreational wasteland that should be eschewed by those players with other geographical options.

    I think the organization knows what it has to do, and that they have the ability, financially and otherwise, to succeed this off-season. I’ve been a fan long enough to witness the catastrophe of letting Stevens walk (for whatever that’s worth), and I see management thinking differently, and excitedly, about potential for this franchise starting next season.

    If this summer bears no fruit, however, serious reconsideration for all of us diehards is in order.

    Wednesday, April 18, 2007 at 1:15 am | Permalink

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  1. Breaking NHL Hockey News | National Hockey League Digest on Wednesday, April 18, 2007 at 9:30 am

    [...] On Frozen Blog has a great piece on why the Capitals will be topping up in the free agent market this summer. [...]

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