i’m excited about the news of the Alumni game, but this kind of negative coverage strikes me as the kind of hipster-hockey exclusivity that i think is the real problem not only with this fanbase but with many fanbases across the league. my best friend is 21 years old and only got into Capitals hockey four years ago—what you would call “Ovechkin era”. her favorite player is Dale Hunter; she knows who holds every record for the team, she was the first one to tell me that Olaf Kolzig was coming back to Washington.

the reason that fan interest and merchandising is directed towards Ovechkin and the young core is because that’s who’s currently on the team—if you buy a ticket, you’re not going to see Mike Gartner on the ice, and though we love and appreciate him as a part of our history, it’s not right and it’s not encouraging to new hockey fans to say that in order to be a “true fan”, they have to have been following for a certain number of years. it’s all right to get excited that your local team is a contender—we don’t have a hockey culture in this country, it’s often an uphill battle to get people to remember that hockey is here at all.

Ovechkin is an exciting player. we’re lucky to have him, both because he’s an excellent hockey player and simply to drive interest in the area. any new fan is a good thing—it’s alarming to see that they irritate you with their lack of prior knowledge—if their journey as a hockey fan starts here, how is that any different or better from where other fans’ started fifteen or twenty years ago? maybe they’re bandwagon fans, maybe their not—hockey is a business, revenue is a good thing. when the Capitals hit a rough patch, and they will, there will still be more fans there supporting them than there were, and that’s because of the way the fanbase has built in the last few years.

not sure what’s up with the negativity and the backlash—i’m not trying to downgrade the importance of history and respect, but history can be learned. fans educate themselves when they’re really invested, but we’re not going to draw in any new fans telling them stories about teams that don’t play anymore.

Posted by ana from Virginia on 08/16/11 at 04:20 PM ET

I think you might be misunderstanding me.  I am saying that one should not judge another fan based on how long they have been a fan or what players they have seen.  I welcome any and all fans, regardless of if they can name the entire 1998 roster.  I was 8 when the Caps went to the Stanley Cup so I am not someone to judge.  The organization’s fanbase is so much larger than it was 4 years ago and is continuing to grow.  I am not saying they should stop marketing Ovechkin and start with Bondra.  I am saying “Hey, we have this great history, let’s give these new fans the opportunity to see things they previously couldn’t.”  Reconnect with the former player and invite them back for various functions.  Maybe release a DVD with collections of older games so people can see how great of a history we do have.  I know this isn’t the organization, but maybe CSN could run some programs about it.  I don’t think everyone should be required to know x amount of Capitals’ history in order to be a fan but give people the chance.

Posted by Matthew Tate on 08/16/11 at 04:33 PM ET

I’ve been a Penguin - and hockey fan - my entire life. I hate when other fans look down on newcomers as “lesser fans.” I experienced this firsthand when Crosby was drafted. I survived “the X Generation,” and I can tell you everything you need to know about Brad Werenka, Milan Kraft, Bobby Dollas, etc - And I loved seeing all these new fans come onboard.

Hockey is a fringe sport. It will be a fringe sport probably for the rest of my life. It needs all the fans it can get.

Some of the teams with “die-hard” fanbases go through this, too. I vacation in New England every summer. Funny how this year is the first year I’ve actually seen an abundance of Bruins jerseys/shirts. It was never like this before. They had trouble selling out there games in recent years. But would anyone look down on the fans of an Original Six franchise? Nope. I hate when the fans of the Penguins, Capitals, etc. are looked down upon too.

Hockey is the greatest sport in the world, and I love when more people realize this.

Posted by Link_Gaetz on 08/16/11 at 04:45 PM ET

i think i probably did misunderstand you. apology for the rant, all of those ~hockey feelings~ are probably less directed at the article and more at the toxic fan vs. fan attitudes that i’ve seen a lot of lately, and the generation rift you touch on in the article.

you make good points, and i’d love to see Caps history made more available—since we haven’t won a Cup, a lot of people aren’t aware of the kind of talent we’ve had in the past, and i’d love to see that more accessible, as long as it can be done in a way that doesn’t make new fans feel like there’s some kind of clubhouse that they’ll never be invited into.

Posted by ana from virginia on 08/16/11 at 04:45 PM ET

Posted by Link_Gaetz on 08/16/11 at 02:45 PM ET

Couldn’t have said it any better.

Posted by pens fan in baltimore on 08/16/11 at 09:21 PM ET

Some of the teams with “die-hard” fanbases go through this, too. I vacation in New England every summer. Funny how this year is the first year I’ve actually seen an abundance of Bruins jerseys/shirts. It was never like this before. They had trouble selling out there games in recent years. But would anyone look down on the fans of an Original Six franchise? Nope. I hate when the fans of the Penguins, Capitals, etc. are looked down upon too.

Hockey is the greatest sport in the world, and I love when more people realize this.

Posted by Link_Gaetz on 08/16/11 at 02:45 PM ET

I remember last summer I couldn’t go to Battle Creek, MI or Kalamazoo, MI without running into some yahoos wearing Hawks gear.

This summer I have yet to run into a single piece of Hawks gear anywhere I’ve gone into west Michigan.

That drives me nuts.  I have no problem with wearing your colors if you win, if you also do it when you don’t.  I’ll never hassle someone wearing Bluejackets gear because, for crying out loud, what bandwagon is there?

As for the remainder… it drive me nuts when someone just assumes only their era of hockey is the greatest.  Ignorance is one thing, but blind ignorance is another… and far too often bandwagon fans fall into the blind ignorance column.

I can have an perfectly intelligent conversation about hockey with my wife, despite the fact that she had never watched a single hockey game 5 years ago.  It’ snot like she went and crammed for a year to get to that point.  I really fail to understand why some fans can’t manage this.

Possibly because all their game experiences are the exact same blur after the first period due to excessive beverage consumption, which for far too many “fans” is the whole point of watching.

Posted by Primis on 08/16/11 at 10:48 PM ET