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Fashion
Faux Pas
Before Milt Schmidt was GM in DC, he played
for Boston, where goalies said the black pants of Bruin defenders made it harder to see the black puck.
So the Capitals skated into Madison
Square Garden for their first-ever game in 1974 sporting white pants.
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a
This proved ill-advised,
because (a) white shows stains, duh, and (b)
they were laughably silly, hardly the competitive
advantage they were designed for.
a
So new duds (at right) were hastily ordered.
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a
First, the Capitals tried
red pants, then settled on blue, home and
away.
That is, until the 1995-96 season, when the team switched
again,
to... wait for it... Black.
Milt was not consulted.
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There really isn't anything I can add to embellish this photo of the Capitals first mascot - allegedly
an eagle - named "Winger".
After Winger was euthanized, the team's
current mascot
arrived.
Named Slapshot, he was "hatched" from inside
an egg right on the rink during a 1995 game.
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While an aesthetic improvement, it was
a difficult birth.
"Inside the egg was pretty hot. And upon exiting it, the person inside the costume
got dizzy and fell to the ice."
(St. Petersburg Times)
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Lucky No. 7
This is a hockey card of Caps defenseman
Yvon Labre.
Labre played for the first seven seasons
of the franchise, and served another two decades in the team's front office.
Notice his No. 7 sweater, a number the team
later retired in Labre's honor.
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This is not our man Yvon in the
card at right.
Apparently, card fact-checking is less
than rigorous. Without looking at the photo, someone saw the "7" on the sweater - it was actually "17" - and plastered Labre's
name on the card.
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One Night Only Battle Royale * Detroit vs. Washington *
March 24, 1978
The
Star called it a “15-minute, name-calling, hair-pulling, fist-fighting, jersey-pulling fracas.” The Post
described it as “a 38-man tag team match, with half-dressed warriors punching and
pushing until they were too tired to continue.”
Referee Ron Wicks called
for the Anthem to be played again. “I didn’t know what else to do to stop guys from killing each other.”
It was all good fun for Detroit
goalie Ron Low. He's in the upper left of the photo, his jersey pulled by former Capitals teammate Bernie Wolfe. “I
grabbed Bernie and told him that I had waited two years to punch him silly. Of course I was kidding, but you should have seen
his eyes light up.”
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Bargain
Bin
Remember when these "Washington Capitals
Ms. Piggy" pins were flying off the shelves faster than stores could stock them?
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No?
Me either.
Maybe fans were too busy snapping up these Washington Capitals
Toothbrushes.
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Penalty
for Boarding (the Bus)
The Capitals suffered a glass-shattering
hit during the 1976 season... and they weren't even playing hockey at the time.
As the team was returning from a road trip, a large-antlered deer started
running alongside their bus. The deer then rammed the bus, shattering windows and ripping the fabric of a empty seat.
No word on whether it was a Milwaukee Buck looking for a ride into town to play
the Bullets.
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