The Hockey Stop

If you have followed The Hockey Stop blog the past couple of years, it is no secret my admiration for Washington Capitals and Wizards owner Ted Leonsis. He will be the first to admit the playoff disappointment the Caps and their loyal fans have faced in what has turned into a difficult rebuild in the team's quest for that elusive Stanley Cup. That's why Leonsis and General Manager George McPhee committed to a major overhaul of the roster this off-season after being swept by the Tampa Bay Lightning in round 2 of the playoffs.

But listening to Leonsis speak Wednesday at a luncheon at the National Press Club in downtown Washington, D.C. (and munching on yummy cupcakes, see below), I got the sense that he has felt the pain of three straight years of early playoff exits more than anyone. Leonsis is a big Greek man from Brooklyn who has made millions as an Internet pioneer at AOL and later a venture capital investor and founder of such companies as social media website SnagFilms. But under that tough exterior lies a sensitive kid at heart who, as he explained, cried recently when he saw video footage of the New York Jets Super Bowl III victory over the Baltimore Colts in 1969, which Leonsis attended as a child with his late father.

He went on to say that as the owner of two major sports teams, he is in the business of "making grown men cry." He has said before that if the Caps ever win the Stanley Cup that he will cry like a baby. Well, he won't be the only one raining tears. Count me in and thousand of others with ties to Washington's hockey franchise.

It might not happen next year, or the year after that, or even the year after that. Leonsis has been humbled by three straight years of playoff failure and the tough realization that there are no guarantees in the postseason -- even for a team like the Caps that has been so successful in the regular season. But Leonsis said the window is wide open for the Caps, and that he expects the team will make the playoffs for the next 10-15 years, and if you make the playoffs then anything can happen.

Leonsis is a man who knows and respects history. And the most touching part of the speech was when he paid homage to the late Abe Pollin, who, as owner of the Capitals and Wizards/Bullets, brought the two teams to the heart of Washington, D.C. by financing the building of the Verizon Center with $200 million of his own money. The arena became the catalyst for the revitalization of the entire downtown area of our Nation's Capital. Leonsis said that Pollin deserves a monument for what he did for the city.

Washington Capitals and Wizards owner Ted Leonsis is perhaps the model for how to turn around the fortunes of a franchise through the draft and brilliant marketing. The jovial Greek American from Brooklyn went from humble origins to becoming a senior AOL executive and later a professional sports owner. He answers every email, blogs every day on Ted's Take, made the Verizon Center the rockingest and reddest place in Washington, D.C., and most recently moved the Wizards' training camp from Richmond, Virginia, to the George Mason University campus in Fairfax where last Tuesday at approximately 12:01 a.m. the team held the first ever NBA Midnight Madness event at the Patriot Center.

So with all his success both personally and professionally, a gaffe here and there is no big deal. When Leonsis told a reporter at the Patriot Center that the move to Fairfax and the Midnight Madness event were designed to lure more fans from Northern Virginia because that is the team's base, it might have riled residents of the District and Maryland. But no big deal. Fans in Maryland and D.C. will forget those comments the second after No. 1 draft pick John Wall steps onto the court for the first time.

But when on Wednesday Leonsis told a group of Northern Virginia business leaders at a breakfast event on the GMU campus that he expected the NBA will soon have a hard salary cap similar to the NHL's model, well that wasn't taken lightly by the league office and commissioner David Stern, who fined Leonsis $100,000 for the comments.

From the AP story:

"NBA commissioner David Stern said that's not necessarily true -- and the NBA fined Leonsis $100,000 for 'unauthorized public comments regarding the league's collective bargaining negotiations.'

"We're negotiating and that was one of our negotiating points," Stern told The Associated Press, "but collective bargaining is a negotiating process, and that was not something that Ted was authorized to say and he will be dealt with for that lapse in judgment."

But does Leonsis have a point about the salary cap?

In my view, he is absolutely correct that the NBA needs a hard cap similar to the NHL. Professional hockey has never been more competitive and the parity is stunning. Any team can beat any team on any night and that is great for the game and even better for the fans. It is why a smaller market such as Pittsburgh has just as much of a shot as New York.

The LeBron James fiasco is a great example of how smaller markets suffer with no hard cap. Cleveland simply did not have the money to build a championship-caliber team around James and the rest is history -- James went to cash-rich Miami to play with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh and probably get some rings.

Now let's say Sidney Crosby, Alex Ovechkin and Henrik Sedin all signed with the New York Rangers when they entered into free agency because there was no hard cap and Gotham had all the dough.

That wouldn't be very fair now would it?

Kudos to Leonsis for speaking the hard truth about the NBA's need for a hard salary cap.

Since moving back to Washington, D.C. this summer I've noticed something different in the air. No, it's not the stifling heat and humidity creating a natural sauna every time I step outside. Nor is it the pollen making me sneeze every five minutes.

There is a breeze beginning to blow into the Nation's Capital from places as far away as San Diego, Philadelphia and Kentucky. And it is refreshing the air in this city of perpetual losing sports franchises. There is a cautious optimism in the atmosphere. Some long-suffering D.C. sports fans are whispering that there could be a whole lot of winning right around the corner.

Is this what Boston felt like just before the Patriots, Red Sox, Celtics and Revolution began to dominate?

I can only hope this city will savor some of the success that Boston achieved seemingly all at once.

Regardless, Capitals star Alex Ovechkin suddenly has some illustrious company stealing the local and national headlines in the form of Nationals pitching phenom Stephen Strasburg, new Redskins quarterback Donovan McNabb and the Wizards' No. 1 draft pick John Wall.

The last time I visited D.C. was during the opening round of the Stanley Cup playoffs and Ovechkin was still slightly behind President Barack Obama as the biggest star in D.C.

At the time the Capitals were the only winning franchise in town and even Washingtonians who mix up ice hockey with curling could get behind Ovi and the Caps. Dan Snyder was doing everything in his power to anger as many 'Skins fans as possible; Gilbert Arenas was waiting to serve his sentence in a halfway house for gun play in the Wizards locker room after the team's beloved anti-gun owner Abe Pollin had passed away; and the Nationals were coming off two 100-loss seasons in a row.

But my how times have changed in The District. Now in addition to Ovechkin apparel there are Strasburg shirts, McNabb sweaters and Wall jerseys for sale at City Sports next to the Verizon Center in the Gallery Place-Chinatown neighborhood.

And the banners lining the VC proclaim "John Wall: Game Changer." Ovechkin had to win the Hart trophy to nab the keys to the city, but all Wall had to do was arrive in D.C. for Mayor Adrien Fenty to hand him the keys.

Wizards and Capitals owner Ted Leonsis has said that when one local sports team wins it is a rising tide that lifts all boats.

The Capitals, Wizards, Redskins and Nationals all still have a lot to prove and many challenges ahead to get to that next level.

But having leaders like Ovechkin, Strasburg, McNabb and Wall creates a collective excitement that I've never seen in Washington, D.C. before.

The talent that has arrived or will soon be arriving could create a perfect storm that turns the Nation's Capital into the center of the sports universe. Time will tell if all this talent translates into winning. But either way Washington sports fans finally have a lot to cheer for a change.

HALAK TO BLUES

In the biggest trade of the offseason so far the Montreal Canadiens have dealt wunder goalie Jaroslav Halak to the St. Louis Blues in exchange for prospects Lars Eller and Ian Schultz. This is one of the most baffling trades in recent memory. The Canadiens today almost gave away the goalie that single-handedly defeated the Washington Capitals and Pittsburgh Penguins and was being compared to Patrick Roy and Ken Dryden by Montreal's media and fans.

The Habs will now go with 22-year-old Carey Price in net and after this move it looks like UFA Chris Mason will be playing between the pipes for another team next year.


MACLEAN TO COACH DEVILS

The New Jersey Devils named former player and assistant coach John MacLean to lead the team behind the bench next season. He replaces the retiring Jacques Lemaire. MacLean was a first-round pick and played 14 seasons with New Jersey and spent eight more seasons on the coaching staff.


DONOVAN'S HOCKEY ROOTS

World Cup fever is not only sweeping South Africa but is also starting to catch on here in the U.S. after the American team tied England 1-1 in the opener.

Why you ask am I writing about soccer on a hockey blog? Because star player Landon Donovan could have easily laced on skates instead of cleats when he was growing up in Ontario, California. Donovan's dad Tim is from Nova Scotia and was a semi-professional ice hockey player in Canada.


OVECHKIN'S NEW BOOK

A book on Caps superstar Alex Ovechkin will be released this fall. "The Ovechkin Project: A Behind-the Scenes Look at Hockeys Most Dangerous Player" tells the story of his meteoric rise from Russian athlete to NHL powerhouse. Writers Damien Cox and Gare Joyce reveal a side of the Great 8 most fans never see, including how the death of his older brother impacted him. It should be an interesting read.


LEONSIS REASSURES CAPS FANS

After officially taking over the Washington Wizards and the Verizon Center, Capitals owner Ted Leonsis felt compelled to write an open letter to Caps fans who might be worried that Leonsis will devote more time to the Wiz and neglect the Caps. Here is the letter followed by a video of Leonsis speaking at the National Press Club in Washington. He talks about his "moment of reckoning" when he thought his plane was going to crash and how it changed his life and the way he does business. Fascinating.

Open Letter to Washington Capitals Fans

Thursday, 06.10.2010 / 1:00 PM / News

By now you have probably heard the news that my partners and I have completed our purchase of the Washington Wizards and Verizon Center and created a new company – Monumental Sports & Entertainment – that owns those entities as well as the Capitals and the Mystics. You’re likely to see and hear more from me on this news in the coming days – in the media, on my blog (tedstake.com), at the NBA Draft. It’s big news, and something my partners, my family and I are very excited about.

But I’m here to assure you that even if you hear me talking about the Wizards a lot, I haven’t – and never will – overlook the Capitals and our commitment to bring a Stanley Cup to Washington. I will continue to be focused on your well being and happiness.

A few people have asked how I expect to juggle these new responsibilities. I believe I’ve always been someone with great “bandwidth” to cover a variety of interests, including different companies, film projects and, foremost, my family. The Wizards will have a place in those interests, no bigger or smaller than the Caps – just as I don’t choose between my son and my daughter!

The creation of Monumental actually creates opportunities that I hope Capitals fans are excited about. We now program Verizon Center and we hope to be able to offer terrific new cross-marketing opportunities to our fans. We plan to continue to improve the fan experience at Verizon Center and will count on your feedback to do so. And we will over-index on scheduling and maintenance-oriented projects related to all of your teams.

Thanks as always for your support, and I will see you at Kettler Capitals Iceplex, the Caps Convention and Verizon Center in the upcoming months. And I’m always available to you at washingtoncaps@aol.com.

Sincerely,

Ted Leonsis

Of course the game lived up to the hype. It seems every time these bitter rivals tangle that fans are treated to some fantastic hockey from both sides.

But my how the tables have turned. With their come-from-behind shootout victory over Pittsburgh tonight, my Washington Capitals have won all three games against the Penguins this season.

When I was growing up as a Caps fan in the Virginia suburbs of Washington, there were two constants every spring -- the Cherry Blossoms would bloom along the Tidal Basin and the Caps would lose to the Pens in the playoffs.

For so many years the Pens had our number and the number of fans from Western Pennsylvania filling up half of the Capital Centre in Landover, Maryland was just plain embarrassing. Bus after bus would roll into the Capital Centre parking lot and unload thousands of black-clad fans with Lemieux or Jagr on the back of their jerseys. And more times than not they would celebrate another playoff series win over the Caps.

But change has come to Washington and I'm not talking about Obama. While Pittsburgh beat Washington in seven games last year to eventually win the Stanley Cup, the Caps have their best chance in a long time to finally silence all those obnoxious Penguin fans.

Owner Ted Leonsis and General Manager George McPhee have been nothing short of brilliant in building the pieces of this team to shape a Stanley Cup contender.

Now we have the answer to the hated Penguins. They have Crosby, Malkin and Staal. But we have Ovechkin, Semin and Backstrom. They have Fleury. But we have Theodore, who played tonight like the Hart and Vezina winning goalie that he is.

And instead of half of Pittsburgh busing down to D.C., the Verizon Center rocks the red every home game. The Caps have some of the most passionate fans in the NHL as is evident when every seat is taken and the VC becomes a sea of red.

The ultimate goal is to win the Stanley Cup, but I hope the Caps get to face off against the Pens in the playoffs this year because after years of suffering at the hands of Pittsburgh, it's about time for some sweet, sweet revenge.

Highlights from tonight's game courtesy of NHL.com:

This is a story from my beloved birthplace of Washington, D.C. about two proud professional sports franchises that are going in opposite directions.

One, the Washington Capitals, are on the cusp of a Stanley Cup because their owner, Ted Leonsis, did all the right things. The other, the Washington Redskins, are a perpetual disappointment because their owner, Daniel Snyder, did everything wrong.

So what did Leonsis do right and what can Danny boy learn from his success?

First, let's get one thing crystal clear for those of you readers who aren't familiar with the sports obsessions of our nation's capital -- Washington is a football town, not a hockey town. There are many historical and demographic reasons for this that I won't get into. But when it comes to sports, despite their current state of mediocrity, the 'Skins are number one and the Caps are somewhere behind the Wizards and in front of the Mystics and D.C. United.

That said, Leonsis has turned a night at the Verizon Center into an event where loyal Caps fans and bandwagoners alike "Rock the Red" to cheer one of the most exciting and talented teams in the NHL.

And how did this happen? Listen up Danny boy.

Leonsis and General Manager George McPhee built this franchise through smart (and lucky) drafting, smart trades (or not trading) and a solid developmental system. But when Abe Pollin sold the franchise to the AOL exec in 1999 Leonsis made some of the same mistakes that Snyder continues to make -- namely throwing heaps of cash at over-the-hill or simply unmotivated players. In this case, it was signing Jaromir Jagr to the largest ever contract in NHL history -- $77 million over seven years with an option for an eighth year. Jagr didn't live up to expectations, playing uninspired and mediocre hockey during his time in Washington.

Then in the 2003-2004 season Leonsis and McPhee made a decision to unload all the high-priced talent (or former talent) in what some refer to as a "fire sale."

This is where luck came into play as the Caps nabbed the number one draft pick in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft and chose Russian sensation Alexander Ovechkin. The rest as they say, is history. Ovechkin has turned into arguably the greatest professional hockey player in the world and his playful personality and fun-first attitude has created a buzz in D.C. not seen since Joe Theismann was taking the Redskins to Super Bowls and setting team records. Oh, and Theismann just happened to be the last D.C. pro athlete to win league MVP back in 1983 before Ovechkin won the first of two Hart trophies in 2008 and was given the keys to the city by Mayor Adrian Fenty.

The Capitals have developed and signed young talent such as Nicklas Backstrom, Alexander Semin, Mike Green and Simeon Varlamov. They also hired head coach Bruce Boudreau who took the team from the bottom of the Eastern Conference to the playoffs, earning him the Jack Adams Award as best coach. This past offseason the Caps mixed in some veteran talent with the addition of Mike Knuble, who is not afraid to crash the net and score dirty goals, something the Caps were missing in the grind of the playoffs.

And the fans are excited for a long playoff run this year. And why shouldn't they? They have watched their owner and GM guide this team the right way, methodically putting all the pieces together over the years. And this is the result -- an electric atmosphere on the streets of Gallery Place-Chinatown around the Verizon Center and loads of talented young players on the ice who are growing together into a Stanley Cup contending team.

On behalf of all Caps fan I want to say a big thanks to Ted Leonsis for rebuilding this franchise the right way and putting the fans first.

Now what not to do.

Our $1.3 billion Bethesda native Daniel Snyder really, really wants to win. But all he gets is mediocre and sometime horrific results (anybody watch the Lions game?). So why is that? It probably starts with how he was able to buy the team and the stadium following the death of Jack Kent Cooke -- borrowing $300 million from a French investment bank and assuming $155 million in debt.

What does he do next? Strips off the name of beloved owner Jack Kent Cooke from the stadium in Landover, Maryland for a naming rights deal with FedEx. I find it ironic that Snyder has no problem getting rid of the Cooke name but when it comes to the name Redskins, which many consider a racist slur, he won't budge. This despite the possibility of losing millions of dollars because the group fighting the name is taking it all the way to the Supreme Court. These Native Americans are trying to get the high court to deny the Redskins trademark because they consider the name and logo to be offensive.

The name Redskins by the way was coined by their racist owner George Preston Marshall who refused to integrate the team until 1962 when he was forced to by the federal government under the threat of revoking the lease on D.C. Stadium (now R.F.K. Stadium). But will Snyder change the name like Pollin did with the Bullets? Of course not.

Just a side note -- there actually was another professional football franchise in Washington before the Redskins arrived from Boston. The Washington Senators played for one season in 1921 and were also referred to as the Washington Pros or Washington Presidents. So there you go, three nicknames that could replace the unfortunate name Redskins.

So how does Snyder treat the fans and employees? How about suing season-ticket holders. I must be kidding right? Nope. The 'Skins sued 125 season ticket holders for $3.6 million. Because of the economic downturn the ticket holders asked to be released from multiyear contracts and instead of negotiating the Redskins sued.

And the employees are treated even worse. According to the Washington Post, six former ticket sales agents have filed suit against the Redskins arguing that they are owed thousands of dollars in overtime pay that the Redskins won't pay because of "a federal exemption for amusement and recreation workers."

And on the field and the sidelines it gets even worse. Poor decisions by Exec VP of football operations Vinny Cerrato and the impatience of Snyder in building the franchise through the draft and smart trades has led to a team of overpaid and underperforming players who talk a big game but consistently have nothing to show for it where it actually counts on the scoreboard.

Let's run through the list of awful free agent signings -- Bruce Smith, Deion Sanders, Mark Carrier, Adam Archuleta, Dana Stubblefield, Jeremiah Trotter, etc... And now Albert Haynesworth and DeAngelo Hall signed to astronomical contracts, and guess what ... underperforming.

Then there is the questionable decision to replace Joe Gibbs with an untested quarterbacks coach named Jim Zorn. His bizarre play calling is starting to reveal what a mistake that was.

And quarterback Jason Campbell has never been able to get the confidence he needs and the creativity a pro quarterback needs to make plays on the fly.

So, to all those disgruntled 'Skins fans who are furious at the organization after ending the Lions' 19-game losing streak -- there is hope in the District and it comes from a bunch of Cup-hungry young hockey players who are poised to bring a championship to Washington, D.C.