And the Sprint Center itself is a doozy of an arena. Its 18,500 seats and 72 luxury boxes put it near the top of the league as far as amenities and the all-important suite sales. It’s a fair sight better for a hockey team than the old Kemper Arena, and the location in the heart of the Downtown district mirrors that of the Capitals’ Verizon Center. Merchants have sprung up all around the arena, and the Sprint Center’s October debut has already brought a surge of clientelle to the area on event nights.Once upon a time, the heart of the uniform system madness-fiasco perpetrated by Reebok was the absence on the part of the manufacturer of any sense that hockey, with its sweater, had always had a novel connection between player and fan. By that I mean, those colors arranged in a particular style, and housed in an Everyman’s comfort, were a novelty in all of sport, and cherished by generations of North Americans. Whatever value brought about by the company’s fashion re-engineering — and that’s seriously under dispute these days — Reebok aptly demonstrated that it never valued the wishes and allegiances of the hockey fan. Reebok just doesn’t care.
But today the discussion is far more serious than fan preferences or trashing a significant tradition. The new jerseys are destroying gloves. The new socks are destroying skates. Other than that, Reebok’s uniform system is just dandy. Last week we noted the grave dissatisfaction with them on the part of the Boston Bruins. An executive with the Edmonton Oilers more or less told a journalist in town that he wouldn’t let any child of his be caught dead in the Oilers’ new look. And last weekend, Dmitry Chesnokov of Sovetsky Sport and I solicited the opinions on the new unis of the Caps’ trio of Russians — Ovechkin, Kozlov, and Semin.
What they told us wasn’t altogether surprising, as soaking evidence mounts across the league. Still, as indictments go, theirs was sober, frank, and unsparing.
“Yes, I have a problem with my gloves,” Ovechkin told us. “They become extremely wet. I go through two pairs of gloves per period.”
Chesnokov, who is reporting on this matter for his Russian newspaper and granted us access to the players’ reflections, had to ask Ovechkin again if he really meant two pairs per period. “Yes, two pairs per period,” he responded.
One of the reasons hockey trainers go to great lengths to get gear dry as soon as possible is to prevent player illness. Another is to prevent infection. Fingers in wet gloves are particularly susceptible to infections, and if not treated promptly, serious, even life-threatening complications can arise.
Chesnokov then inquired of Viktor Kozlov. “At first I explained that the Boston Bruins were not happy with their uniforms and wanted to perhaps revert to the old uniforms,” Chesnokov told me. ”I asked Kozlov whether the Caps and he in particular had any problems with the uniforms. Kozlov said: “I don’t know, no one told us anything. But what do you mean ‘problems’ ?” I started to explain it to him: “Moisture is kept on the body and drips down to . . . ” At this point he interrupted me and said “to the skates!” Actually I wanted to say the gloves, but Viktor seems to have problems with water in his skates.”
“Yeah! Yeah, I think I have the same problem!” Kozlov told Chesnokov. “Actually, I have been noticing a lot of water in my skates. But I had no idea why! Maybe this is the reason! It makes sense if other players have the same problem.”
Chesnokov then thanked him for the interview, and Kozlov said, “No, thank you for enlightening me! It all makes sense now.”
It would appear that Reebok is being less than forthcoming with the league’s players about the equipment conditions that have settled in in the league’s opening month. Or, some certainly aren’t getting word of any acknowledgment.
By last weekend Semin hadn’t skated in three full games with the Caps this season, and he didn’t express concern with the equipment. “I just focus on playing,” he said, but he did acknowledge that players didn’t complain about the “old” gear. Turns out that last weekend he also had something else on his mind — a new contract with the Caps.
“I like it here because all of my friends are here,” he told us. “I am not the kind of person who likes to move to different places. I like my teammates, the management, and the fact that we are a young team.”
Colbert is a faux presidential candidate. And yet the powerful irony in his ‘Meet the Press’ appearance was that in many respects it was more authentic than what typically is carried off on that program or its in-kind Sunday morning competition. That was precisely Colbert’s point; he’s reputed to have said, “I am far realer than [Kansas Senator and until recently presidential candidate] Sam Brownback.” He is. More: he’s every bit as plausible a presidential candidate as Brownback or Chris Dodd or Joe Biden.
Never a good idea to stake one of the planet’s finest goaltenders to an early lead, especially when he has 9-0 MoJo against you going for him as it is. The Caps fell behind early, a couple of fluky bounces helped the ‘Nucks to their first two goals, and the Caps were playing catch-up all night.
Greg Wyshynski, Washington correspondent for 
Washington Times’ sports business reporter Tim Lemke spent a number of weeks interviewing a number of the region’s hockey bloggers, his interest piqued by their prevalence in the Verizon Center press box for Caps’ games. “No team in professional sports offers as much unfettered access to bloggers as the Caps,” Lemke writes in this morning’s Times.
