Why Washington is a hockey community

From Greg Wyshynski of  Yahoo! Sports:

This is nothing to be ashamed of, because this is the nature of the community: Full of transient government workers and college students and young urban professionals transplanted here from another part of the nation. The Penguins fans that show up for games at Verizon Center aren’t busing down from Pittsburgh for the night. Ditto the Sabres fans, the Flyers fan, the Rangers fans, the Devils fans, and even that guy I saw wearing a Forsberg Avs jersey last season.

Not every fan who “Rocked the Red” during the team’s playoff run last season considers his or herself primarily a Capitals fan. I know Bruins fans and Buffalo fans who own Capitals season tickets; they cheer for the home team … unless their favorite team is on the ice with them. These are hockey fans that support the Capitals.

This is where the Washington Post has failed its readership for, oh, about 30 years: It counts empty seats at the Capitals games and uses that as a barometer for its hockey coverage; dismissing the fact that there are hockey fans who only attend a game here or there, and are still watching the NHL well after Washington’s season comes to an end.

Read the entire entry here.

Well written, well thought out and I can’t say I disagree with anything the Puck Daddy said.  If contraction is going to be suggested, Washington should not be on the list of candidates.