Many longtime Capitals fans who've found this site have written to

share memories, which gives me great pleasure and satisfaction -

sort of like Will Smith in the movie "I Am Legend",

learning he's not the last man on Earth!

Three Fathers, Three Sons, One Unforgettable Game

The odds had to be astronomical: that I would be contacted by two people I've never met, more than 30 years after we all happened to attend our first hockey game on the same night.

Yet, it happened. The first e-mail came from Dan, who goes by the appropriate handle of "Fansince74" on the team's message boards.

Among the 14,214 in attendance at Capital Centre on Feb. 16, 1975, were me and my dad - and, as it turned out, Dan and his dad. It was the first NHL game either of us had ever gone to.

Dan kindly attached the lineup from the game program and a pair of Montgomery Sentinel photos (below).

As I reported on the homepage, the Caps beat the K.C. Scouts that night,
3-0, the first shutout in team history.

More recently, I received an e-mail from Warren, saying he also attended his first Caps game that night, with HIS father!

I can't improve on Warren's eloquence, so here's part of what he wrote:
"I will *never* forget the first time I looked through the portal opening and saw THE ICE. It looked SOOOO magical to me. Kansas City scored the first goal ... BUT I'd noticed a penalty on the Scouts, saw the referee raise his arm, and knew the goal would be called off!

"Of course "we" won and I, like you, was "hooked"... I turned 100% to the Caps, saying at the time that I was "adopting the Caps until they win the Stanley Cup." Who knew I'd still be here, more than 3 decades later.

"My Verizon Center seats are much better than dad got me back on February 16th, 1975. I don't have my ticket stub from my first-ever Caps game; but, I *do* have the ticket stub from my son's first ever Caps game: Feb 9, 1992 (San Jose Sharks).

"I saw you got an email from someone named Dan, who also saw his first game with his dad that day back in 1975. Amazing. Just amazing."

Warren continued to correspond with me, and so did Dan, and then the two of them decided to meet at the Capitals Convention in October, 2010.

In the Convention photo they sent me, Warren and Dan are pointing to a timeline noting the night in question. "February 16, 1975: Goaltender Ron Low notches the first shutout in franchise history with a
3-0 whitewashing of the Kansas City Scouts."

To me, this game said a lot about us now graybeard Caps fans... although Warren, Dan and I don't actually have gray beards, but you get the idea.

Start with the fact that 14,000 paid to see a team that had won just 5 of its first 57 games.

As Russ White wrote in the Star-News, "With the last seconds of the game ticking away... a crescendo of cheers built." Indeed, music to the ears of one defenseman wearing the
star-spangled sweater.

"Yvon Labre... marvels at the crowds that the Capitals draw at home, and at the way the crowds back the Capitals. 'All we hear are cheers. Don't think we can't hear,' Labre said later. 'There is nothing wrong with our ears.'"

(About the Sentinel photos: Captain Doug Mohns is above right, skating the puck away from winning goalie Ron Low. Between Mike Bloom and Tommy Williams in the above left photo, #10 in Scouts blue is Guy Charron, who would star in D.C. after signing with the Caps before the '76-'77 season.)

A Six-Figure Book Deal Must Be Next, Right?

Another charter Capitals fan, Robert, generously recommended the site to Dan Daly, sportswriter for the Washington Times.
Dan wrote this mention in the Jan. 25, 2009 edition:

"Worth checking out: a Web site steeped in Capitals nostalgia - www.caps-growing-up.blogspot.com.

My friend Robert, the Virginia Tech diehard, tipped me off to it. "I feel like I just hit the jackpot," he e-mailed. "This site even has excerpts from the radio broadcast of the Caps' first-ever shutout against the Kansas City Scouts [in 1975]!"

It also has a classic picture of Roy Rogers, complete with cowboy hat, holding up a Caps jersey with star center Guy Charron. (Roy's hamburger chain was one of the club's early advertisers.)

"My father and I attended our first hockey game in February 1975," the Web site's creator says. ". . . During warmups, an errant slapshot found the forehead of a woman sitting five seats down the row from us, knocking her unconscious. Perhaps I should have taken that as a sign and avoided a lot of future heartbreak."

Do yourself a favor, and pay the site a visit - if only to listen to vintage Ron Weber play-by-play."

Highlights of E-mails sent about this site

"I was a die-hard fan, spent countless hours at the Cap Centre and this brought back so many memories. I now live in Philly but still cheer for the Caps."

"As a life-long DC resident and follower of the Capitals since 1980, I just wanted to say thank you for building that site. Your Ron Weber audio clips gave me goosebumps."

"Wow. Thanks for making me lose 2 hours at my desk this morning. I was at their first-ever home playoff game against the Islanders (still have the pom-pom they gave out that night)."

"Great site, brings back many memories (cannot call them all 'fond')."

"Hi, just wanted to thank you for putting up this great site. I'm from Sherbrooke, Quebec and I have been a Caps fan since 1975. One night, while trying to get hockey scores on the local 1510 AM station, I discovered the voice of the Capitals, Ron Weber, WTOP at 1500AM.

Many years later Ron and I became friends. He was impressed that someone in Quebec actually cared about the Caps! Hearing his voice once again on your website actually gave me goosebumps. There was something special about Ron, the Capital Centre and its fans, that very few people know about. My father took me to my first Caps game in Landover in March 1983, a 4-3 win over Philadelphia in front of a very loud Saturday night crowd. A night I will never forget."

"Very nice work. I was there when the Caps began in 74. I had mid-ice tickets for a Canadians game. It was a defensive struggle--10-1 at that point. Behind me a young lady in a French Canadian accent was shouting "shoot Henri, shoot". That was the closest I ever came to murdering someone. I think the game ended 11-1. I no longer live in DC but have followed the Caps since their inception and still do via Center Ice."

"I found your site, and it's fantastic! I've been a Caps fan since Druce was on the loose, but there are so many gems on your site that I'd never seen nor heard nor read. Had a good chuckle over your Post page mock up as well."

"I grew up with those teams as my Dad had season tickets from the beginning through the '80 season when I went off to college. We had seats, section 106, Row S. During the first season, the fee was $1.50 to park at Capital Centre. The next season, the price was raised to $2.00.

Like many season ticket holders, Dad called the ticket office to wonder why and was told that the parking lot attendants struggled with giving out change to people parking and with just dollar bills to deal with, it will be easier to maneuver cars in and people won't get held up in traffic. Of course the next season Mr. Pollin raise the parking prices again...to $2.50! Thanks for the trip down memory lane. Great, great stuff there."

"Boy does it bring back memories! I remember going to games when they were terrible and I remember the agonizing end of season waits when they were eliminated on the last day.

The Ron Weber clips brought back such memories. I can vividly remember where I was for some of them – the 7-1 game against the Islanders, the first wins against the Flyers and Canadians. I went to the first home playoff game and remember the tuxedos. Thank you so much for bringing me back."

"I was a young fan during those years myself and also have this deep emotional tie to the team that really defies logic and self-preservation. Your site just brings so many memories rushing back.

I guess it goes so deep since the Caps are literally part of my family.

As a teen when my father and I couldn't really talk to each other about pretty much anything, we could still talk about the Caps.

Your website fills a soul deep hunger and frankly I was moved beyond words just to hear Marv Brooks screaming in the background of a Ron Weber broadcast."

"Excellent site. I was born and raised in the DC area and my first game was November 12, 1974, a 2-2 tie against the Atlanta Flames. I was nine years old at the time. Some of my fondest memories are going to the games with my father and the team was horrible.

To answer your question on your website, "for reasons I don’t fully comprehend, the team remains near to my heart", I think it might be because we grew up with the team and saw their birth."

(Thanks to "Gregg from Philly" for sending along this Capital Centre zamboni photo from Sports Illustrated.)
"I just heard Billy Joel's song "Running on ice" - wasn't that the Caps pre-game video song for years? I'm still looking for the Caps 'Ice Breakers Goal Shakers' song but I think it was buried along with the Cap Centre!"

(Another member of the Caps-Scouts first-game club!)
"I love this site. My first game was the same as yours. I still have the ticket stub which I brought to the last game at Capital Centre. I miss the old place even though I have season tix to Verizon Center. I was at the first home playoff game and didn't miss one for years. I was at the game 7 win over the Flyers - still my most exciting moment in sports."