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Knuble’s comments on Caps fans were tame, but let’s put an end to some blanket statements
Knuble Next To Knuuuuble Sign (Photo credit: clydeorama)
Former Washington Capital Mike Knuble didn’t say anything incredibly alarming about DC hockey fans on Philadelphia radio today. According to a transcription from the Washington Post’s constantly-transcribing Dan Steinberg, Knuble was asked what Philadelphia is like as a hockey market and he replied:
“It’s great. You talked about New York and Boston, I mean, it’s just tradition. Being a Flyers fan, being with the Flyers is passed down from generation to generation. Washington, everybody’s a new fan. Nobody’s from there really, they’re kind of just jumping on the bandwagon. But the cities like Boston, New York, Philly, Detroit, it’s like my grandfather was watching, my grandfather was a fan, he passed it to his son, then he passes it to HIS son. It’s all the way down.
That statement’s not the end of the world. And the four cities Knuble mentions are bigger hockey towns than DC; three of them are Original Six teams that date back to the 1920s and all four have won multiple Stanley Cups. There’s a lot of hockey history there.
But I will say this as a lifelong Caps fan and a native of the DC suburbs: My Maryland-born dad, whose parents were also Maryland-born, passed his love of hockey down to me and took my family to Caps games as a kid; to say we became huge fans feels like an understatement (this is a good excuse for me to link to one of my favorite Steinberg posts ever). I then passed my love for the Caps along to my now-five-year-old, hockey-crazy son, who has a Knuble jersey, a puck and stick he got from Knuble (the guy has always struck me as the epitome of class act) and a Knuble autographed picture in his room. I had to take some time to think about how to break it to him that Knuble was no longer a Cap after last season.
That makes three generations rooting madly for the Caps, a team that’s about the same age as I am, the middle of those three. And the DC area absolutely does have a ton of residents who aren’t from the region originally. But my family is far from the only one who can share a story of Caps tradition like the above, so let’s put an end to the untrue, blanket statements like ‘nobody’s from DC’ and ‘everybody’s a new fan.’ While I understand why they exist, these broad generalizations have grown tiresome and just keep creating more of the same talk.
Related articles
- Flyers bring back veteran winger Mike Knuble (cbc.ca)
- Kentwood’s Mike Knuble Accepts Tryout with Detroit Red Wings (fox17online.com)
Four years ago today: Alex Ovechkin’s first NHL playoff goal and Caps fans
As sportswriter Ted Starkey pointed out on Twitter, it was four years ago today that Alex Ovechkin scored his first NHL playoff goal, “stealing the puck and scoring late in a 5-4 win over the Flyers in Game 1.”
I was at that game and took some video in the crowd as we reacted to that Ovechkin goal. It’s not the steadiest camera work, but the place was total bedlam with much high-fiving, jumping, etc. happening all around Verizon Center.
Here’s one I got after Mike Green scored prior to Ovechkin’s goal to make it 4-4:
Related articles
- Is that a Flyers jersey on the dugout? (brookslaichyear.com)
- Caps arena announcer Wes Johnson pumps up the crowd at #RMNBParty4 (brookslaichyear.com)
The Crosby hit on Schenn before the cross-check
Yesterday, an observant BrooksLaichyear commenter pointed out that, just prior to Brayden Schenn’s cross-check on Sidney Crosby during the Flyers’ 6-4 victory over the Penguins on Sunday, Crosby took a run at Schenn. Check out the 10 second mark of the video below.
It looks like Mike Milbury noticed Crosby’s hit on Schenn too.
Related articles
- C’mon, Peter! You know what was up. (brookslaichyear.com)
- Crosby says Flyers “seem to bring out the worst” in him (prohockeytalk.nbcsports.com)
- Flyers coach fined $10K for role in Pens brawl (espn.go.com)
C’mon, Peter! You know what was up.
Pierre looks concerned.
After yesterday’s Flyers-Penguins game, Philadelphia coach Peter Laviolette was upset with Pittsburgh coach Dan Bylsma for the players he chose to put on the ice with just over a minute to go in the Flyers 6-4 victory.
Laviolette commented: “They hadn’t used those guys in 12 minutes. It was a completely gutless move by their coach.” — Frank Seravalli (@DNFlyers) April 1, 2012 (h/t Puck Daddy)
Seriously, Peter? You should know exactly why the Penguins had “those guys” on the ice looking to start something at that point in the game and it was anything but “gutless.” You had Brayden Schenn on the ice and, just minutes before, he’d pulled this after-the-whistle, cross-check on Sidney Crosby.
I can’t blame the Penguins for wanting to let Schenn and the Flyers know not to push one of their players around. In fact, it’s the type of thing I’d like to see the Washington Capitals do more of. I’m not looking for them to goon-it-up, but I am looking for them to stick up for their teammates when they are the victims of dirty hits like the elbow Rene Bourque gave Nicklas Backstrom earlier this year, putting him out for months with a concussion, or the one by Mark Stuart on Marcus Johansson just a few weeks ago, which my brother blogged about, wondering why the Caps had not responded:
The Caps were rightfully upset with Mark Stuart for his high and late hit on Marcus Johansson in the 1st period. Unfortunately, we only came to find out after the game that the Caps were upset, since there was absolutely no visible response from the Caps during the game. Is this team aware that you don’t have to wait for a player to be traded to Montreal in order to respond to a dirty play on a teammate? The Caps and Jets meet again next Friday and there may be a response then, but why didn’t that happen last night? That’s the kind of hit where I’m okay with a Caps player immediately charging at Stuart and risk giving the Jets a five minute PP.
I’m not a fan of all-out-goonery in hockey, but I was glad to see the Penguins go for a little in-game retribution for what Schenn did to Crosby. Laviolette must not have been watching the same game I was, but I hope the Caps were.
Related articles
- Flyers let Pens know they won’t be playoff pushover (nbcsports.msnbc.com)
- Flyers coach Laviolette calls Penguins counterpart “gutless” (prohockeytalk.nbcsports.com)
- Late brawl highlights Flyers win over Pens (sports.espn.go.com)
