Photo by Ghost_Bear.On a night when the Caps nearly came from behind to beat the Columbus Blue Jackets, the team did something else to help cement their identity as a D.C. institution. With 8:35 remaining in the third period, and both teams readying for a faceoff in the Capitals’ defensive end, the team’s sound crew played Chuck Brown’s “Bustin’ Loose” over the arena speaker system.
Predictably, there was almost no fan reaction. After years of blasting top 40 hits, country and heavy metal, the Caps have secured a fan demographic of top 40, country and heavy metal fans. The team certainly draws a lot of people who aren’t from D.C. in search of a cultural link to their past, and that’s OK. By providing a hockey experience that is familiar to anyone in any hockey city, you allow fans from anywhere to fit right in. For example, military transplants don’t have to learn anything more than a few players’ names to completely integrate themselves into this city’s hockey experience; and the marine on the Jumbotron always gets a standing ovation from the fans.
But play the only national hit song from one of the transformative artists of our city’s musical history (not to mention the home run song at Nationals Park), and Caps fans get up to visit the concessions, half-listening and nodding their heads.
It’s just a matter of engagement. For a weekend game in a season that could be the best in team history, there should not have been empty seats anywhere in the building. While the Verizon Center was mostly full, there were obviously a few people who had tickets and just didn’t make it to the game. Perhaps it’s because the Caps don’t have much of a history against the Blue Jackets: the Jackets are the youngest franchise in the NHL, and the Caps have only played them a handful of times. Still, they have a dynamic forward in Rick Nash, consistently among the league’s top ten goal scorers, and a goalie named Steve Mason, who in three meetings has never allowed a goal to Alex Ovechkin.
Point being: when D.C. fans feel totally engaged, they should be excited to see this game — and that means every single chair occupied, from start to finish.
