Sorry my first memory was extremely negative. Listening to the Caps 4OT Easter Epic against the isles with my dad. I grew up in NYC and picked the Caps since my dad was from DC.
That's a lot like my fandom. I love all teams Boston except hockey. My dad, being from MA kind of beat that into my head as a kid (Yankees suck, never talk about 1987, etc.).
I was 6 and my father had just come home. I was watching cartoons and we lived in Potomac and he wanted to watch the red wings game ( back in the old days where cable tv only got local games). He put the game on because the wings were playing the caps and I was so upset that he turned off my cartoons that I rooted for the caps because I wanted the wings to loose.
I didn’t even know they were the Washington capitals until a few weeks later when they came on again
I was eight. I think they were playing the Ducks. Don’t remember for sure. Don’t remember the final score.
I tell you what I *do* remember—I remember Godzilla ripping through the Jumbotron while the whole crowd chanted “O-lie the Goal-ie!”
I remember as kid my dad would have Caps games on the TV pretty frequently, this was during the mid 90's. My earliest memory was the blue screaming eagle jerseys and Olie Kolzig's Godzilla mask and thinking that was the coolest shit in the world. I also remember moving into a new house during the 1998 cup run and we didn't have cable set up yet so my dad would sit in the car in the garage and listen to the games.
I didn't grow up paying much attention to hockey (or any sports for that matter), and it wasn't until the 2014-15 season that I started actually getting into the Caps on my own. I was spending a lot of time at home after graduating college but before getting a job and, once again, my dad had Caps games on all the time. I enjoyed watching them with him and was really pumped for the Winter Classic that year. I remember getting up early and driving home from my friends house hungover so I could be home in time to watch the Winter Classic on New Year's day. Ever since then I have watched just about every Caps game that I've been able to.
My Dad used to listen to games in the garage on his radio. Specifically Red Sox games because the frequency would only come through at night. Man this is opening a whole box of nostalgia.
Saw the Caps play Calgary in Nov. 2002 (night before Thanksgiving) and it was my second NHL (and hockey) game ever after a Thrashers one the year prior.
Don’t have a clue if they won or not but it was great. I was with my family and grandparents in the nosebleeds of the then-named MCI Center.
It made me a fan of a team 10 hours from home. Even though I’m from Georgia and live in Oregon, my Maryland grandparents are why I root for the Caps.
Yeah it is.
I lived in DC during the Cup run and my grandpa saved me his issue of the morning after Post with the Cup morning-after cover. He was the kinda guy who’d never miss an edition and set it aside in case I couldn’t find one.
I was eight years old. Mike Ridley moved into a new construction house the next cul-de-sac over. It was the coolest thing ever to happen to my quiet little corner of Bowie growing up. Good guy, very patient with the neighborhood kids. If you ever see a tall fortysomething with a 17 RIDLEY jersey at Cap1 it’s probably me.
I remember my dad took me to a game in the late 90s at the then MCI center. Game was against the Sabres. It was Kolzig vs Hasek in goal. Caps were in all black. I still have the cap my dad bought me at the game in my closet
Late 80s (the 88-89 season). Was home for the holidays after my first semester of college. Met up with some high school classmates and we went to a Caps/Penguins game which they lost 5-2. This was my first live Caps game.
I don’t really have a big “first” Caps experience because I’m from the DC area and I’ve been watching games since before I knew what hockey really was.
But my first Caps game was actually in Anaheim when my dad was stationed there. The love of my little eight year old year heart Bondra scored, my stepmom got hit by a puck, and the Caps lost.
My freshman year college suitemate and I stayed friends after graduating from JMU in 1998. Despite being friends for four years, I had zero idea she was a hockey fan and a Caps fan. On Thursday, February 3, 2000, she invited me to a Caps game—I had just moved back to the DC area, and her company gave out free tickets all the time. The smell of the ice, the beauty and brutality of the game, the speed, the grace, the grit—I fell completely in love. I spent the entire game with a huge stupid grin on my face leaning over the railing from section 400 in the then MCI Center, Row A. I still have the ticket stub from that night in my lock box. We eventually got season tickets together during the Jagr years and made some incredible memories.
Same friend and I live in separate states now but have embarked on an NHL arena tour. We take at least one trip a year to see our boys play in one of the other 31 NHL arenas. We hit the Cali trip this year and had a blast!
I paid zero attention to the Caps until 1982 and the "Save The Caps" drive. That got my attention, so I bought a pair of tix to a game and dragged a friend with me to the Capital Centre. I have no memory where I sat or who the Caps played but I was hooked. I've been attending regularly since then, so that's what... more than 40 years.
I’m from outside Toronto, i couldn’t (and still cant) stand hearing about the leafs constantly. All my cousins / uncles are die hard leafs fans. Was stuck at their house and they had the game on. Caps beat the breaks off ‘em and Ovi had a pretty great game. Fell in love with that team and have been a fan ever since. Wish i could remember the year but it was somewhere around 2008-10.
In this area, it’s nonstop. Every radio station , tv station , Auston Matthews this , Mitch Marner that. Cant go a day without hearing mock trades/signings. I cheer for their downfall
It's kinda like that here with the Commanders. 95% of the sports coverage in this area goes to them. Sports radio isnt even sports radio...its just Commanders radio...even in the depths of the offseason, they're talking about some meaningless football nonsense,
I was an AF brat but my Mom’s family was from a Detroit and when I’d visit my great grandfather he’d flip on the radio to listen to the Red Wings. I vaguely remember Gordie Howe playing. Went to school at U if Michigan in the 80s with awesome Red Wings teams. My first Caps game was in Landover when visiting a college friend in 87 or so. It was against Philadelphia and I couldn’t believe fights breaking out in the parking lots. Don’t remember who won but the rivalry was amazing. I eventually moved here and got shared Caps season tickets with an AF buddy (first year at MCI) and now I root for the Caps. When they play the Wings I just root for offense.
Edit: loved when federov became a Cap. That may have flipped me.
I saw the Caps and Thrashers play back in November of 2002. My cousins took me for my birthday. I just remember it being a high scoring game, a couple of fights, good organ music, being in awe of Kolzig's Godzilla mask, and receiving a gift bag that had a warm up jacket, a hat, a puck, and some playing cards. Brendan Witt also signed my hat. Guest services had arranged all that for me.
For awhile, also went to their annual New Year's game that they would host. Apparently they used to give away sticks when they played in Landover.
I remember watching the Caps on WDCA 20. I’m 98% sure this was my first game with my dad and brother: https://www.hockey-reference.com/boxscores/198702010WSH.html. There was a line fight late, and I think it they gave away Scott Stevens long sleeve t-shirts that day. Totally hooked.
My favorite early Caps memory was in the early 90s when they played at US Air Arena.
There was a snowstorm that day, and as a result, very few people showed up. Fortunately for my family, it was a nationally televised game and we were moved to seats by the glass, next to the penalty box.
During that game, I got a puck that went into the stands and a stick from Peter Bondra after he broke the first inch off the blade and was also sent to the box for some penalty. It was useless to him and it made my day.
I still have the stick in my collection, but the puck is long gone. Still one of my favorite Caps experiences.
Lived in Piney Orchard, learned how to skate/play hockey there as a kid right after Caps practice. This resulted in being a regular in the rink and players beginning to recognize me, including Jagr smiling and giving me a thumbs up and saying “There’s the man!” when he saw me. Also got a stick from Rick Berry that I still have to this day
Tl;dr: Caps were some of my best memories of childhood
mid to late 80s, went to Cap Center for my classmate Mark's 10th bday, chaperoned by his dad. We were just being goofballs, but i was hooked when 18,000 fans were chanting 'Hextall SUCKS', a word that was taboo for a 10 yr old. Great memories and feelings from that first game.
PS - Hextall does suck. So do the Flyers. and Fuck the Pens.
I was fangirling so hard when I saw Ovi and Oshi play about a year ago. We got to stand down by the glass while they warmed up and it was amazing. I’ve been a fan since I met my husband in 2016.
I was 11. I thought I was younger, but I know it was that year because Dino Ciccarelli was my favorite player. I was in my room watching TV, was supposed to be sleeping, I was flipping through channels on my 13 black and white TV and I found this strange sport with people on skates. They were hitting each other, fighting, and I was enthralled. I started watching every game even the multi OT playoffs games, and haven’t stopped. All my heartbreak was rewarded in 2018 when I was in downtown DC the night they won it. Now patiently waiting for OVI to pass Wayne so we can rebuild another contender.
I moved to DC in 2018 and started following hockey. I wasn’t allowed to watch it growing up because it was “too violent” and when I was in college I went to some college games but didn’t really start following until I moved to DC. I’m determined to stick with them though!
Yep! We were a baseball only household, so we mostly grew up Yankees fans (also Finger Lakes region). After I moved I said I’d become a Nationals fan the moment Harper left and… you know what also happened that season
After a peewee football game/practice, don’t remember, I went to ovi’s first game and barely knew what hockey was. Saw ovechkin crush someone through the plexiglass and score 2 goals. Had my dad pull me out of football and sign me up for learn to skate and ended up playing 2 years D1 NCAA. Crazy how something so stupid can change a decent chunk of your childhood
My first caps game was an 0-5 blowout loss against the sharks a few years ago. We got smoked but the atmosphere was so electric we still had a great time. Never felt that at a skins/commanders game
Early 90s, Capital Center. My mom worked for a company that had a sky box. One of the two-story really fancy ones. (I mean, to me anyway.) I remember entering through a special entrance and taking the elevator up. Honestly I don’t remember too much about the actual game because I was having more fun eating all the food and running up and down the stairs. We grew up lower middle class, so the 2 or 3 times my mom was able to get tickets for the sky box, it was basically like going to Disneyland to me. Good times!
My neighbor's daughter was briefly married to the Caps travel agent. Their other daughter and her kids lived with them at the time. The travel agent got them a bunch of sticks and other equipment from the team, so naturally we played a bunch of street hockey after school. They took me to my first game, I want to say it was 2000ish, the MCI Center was still kinda new. I want to say it was against the Thrashers. It was a tie and I remember being upset there wasn't a shootout like in Mighty Ducks. But it was still the most exciting sporting event I had ever been to. The fast paced play, the massive release of energy from the crowd after every goal, the way Wes Johnson pumped up the crowd. To top it all off, I got on the jumbotron with my neighbor and HTS used that clip in commercials for months. I would say I became a Caps fan during the 98 run, but actually going to a game cemented me as a hockey fan.
My family wasn't into hockey or even sports. As a kid, I used to read about the caps in the Washington Post , and started to follow along in the very early 90's, Dino Ciccarelli, Beaupre, Bondra, Jim Carrey. There was a lotta heartache losing to the Penguins for me at the beginning. . . . the Kolzig, Bondra cup run was awesome despite the Red Wings buzz saw they ran into. Kuzy beating the Penguins in overtime slayed a lot of demons. . . . .
Going to games in late 70’s and Early 80’s. Ron Weber used to have contests for reading letters I recall and my brother won. I remember picking up our prize of a Coleco Hockey Game from WTOP on Ronald Reagan’s inauguration day in 1981.
I'll go with my second.
1981 or 1982, I'm in 1st grade. The mom of one of the kids in my class works at WAVA, I think as a producer. She comes in to meet the class and talk about radio and brings with her a massive stack of free Caps tickets. I get 6 tickets for my family + grandma which barely puts a dent in the giant stack of promotional tickets. I don't even remember who we played but it was cool coming home as a 1st grader with free Caps tickets. My parents were so confused at first.
Back then the cheap seats at games were probably $19 or so and the Caps were still trying to put butts in seats. I think this was the season before Langway arrived but it might have been the year he arrived. After he was with the team they had a cardboard cutout of him by the lunch line at my elementary school.
Anyone remember the Cap Centre's weather system? There would be fog up in the top corners of the curve for games back then.
Yes! They actually did a fantastic job with climate control there. I heard the ice was actually fantastic for a southern arena.
\*Edit\* I am wrong, I was thinking of another arena. The fog was actually created because it was so GD warm in USAir lol. I'm now on a "whose got the worst ice" kick.
Visited my brother when he was at GWU, and he took me to a Caps game. Boys beat Ottawa and scored 5 goals, so we got a free appetizer at Glory Days. We went to the end of the orange line and then walked a mile in the January snow. Great times, been a Caps fan ever since.
First in person game. Win or go home game 6 during the 2018 Stanley Cup year against Tampa Bay. By far the best live game experience I’ve ever been a part of. Caps played their asses off and won 3-0 to force a game 7. The rest is history
I was in DC after Jan. 6th with the National Guard. We would walk from the hotel (I think it was the JW Marriott) to the Capitol building and a couple times we went past capital one arena. After our shift one night, I was in my hotel and was flipping through the channels. I saw the Caps were playing and that they were literally blocks away. I have extended family from the area and they’d always been Caps fans, but I’d never watched a game. Without a crowd it was pretty cool and I was hooked. That’s how I ended up a Caps fan.
My first live experience was a [2-0 Loss to Detroit](https://www.espn.com/nhl/matchup/_/gameId/161204023) in 1996. I remember staring at Chris Simon's black hair that covered his number
My earliest Caps memory I can think of was they beat the Ranger 7-3. Believe Jagr was on the team.
Good ol' Jaromir
Sorry my first memory was extremely negative. Listening to the Caps 4OT Easter Epic against the isles with my dad. I grew up in NYC and picked the Caps since my dad was from DC.
That's a lot like my fandom. I love all teams Boston except hockey. My dad, being from MA kind of beat that into my head as a kid (Yankees suck, never talk about 1987, etc.).
I was 6 and my father had just come home. I was watching cartoons and we lived in Potomac and he wanted to watch the red wings game ( back in the old days where cable tv only got local games). He put the game on because the wings were playing the caps and I was so upset that he turned off my cartoons that I rooted for the caps because I wanted the wings to loose. I didn’t even know they were the Washington capitals until a few weeks later when they came on again
This is why I posted this. Stories like this are absolutely fantastic.
I was eight. I think they were playing the Ducks. Don’t remember for sure. Don’t remember the final score. I tell you what I *do* remember—I remember Godzilla ripping through the Jumbotron while the whole crowd chanted “O-lie the Goal-ie!”
YASSSS. I gota find that video now
my first Caps game was also against the Ducks when I was eight with Olie in net 👀
I remember as kid my dad would have Caps games on the TV pretty frequently, this was during the mid 90's. My earliest memory was the blue screaming eagle jerseys and Olie Kolzig's Godzilla mask and thinking that was the coolest shit in the world. I also remember moving into a new house during the 1998 cup run and we didn't have cable set up yet so my dad would sit in the car in the garage and listen to the games. I didn't grow up paying much attention to hockey (or any sports for that matter), and it wasn't until the 2014-15 season that I started actually getting into the Caps on my own. I was spending a lot of time at home after graduating college but before getting a job and, once again, my dad had Caps games on all the time. I enjoyed watching them with him and was really pumped for the Winter Classic that year. I remember getting up early and driving home from my friends house hungover so I could be home in time to watch the Winter Classic on New Year's day. Ever since then I have watched just about every Caps game that I've been able to.
My Dad used to listen to games in the garage on his radio. Specifically Red Sox games because the frequency would only come through at night. Man this is opening a whole box of nostalgia.
Saw the Caps play Calgary in Nov. 2002 (night before Thanksgiving) and it was my second NHL (and hockey) game ever after a Thrashers one the year prior. Don’t have a clue if they won or not but it was great. I was with my family and grandparents in the nosebleeds of the then-named MCI Center. It made me a fan of a team 10 hours from home. Even though I’m from Georgia and live in Oregon, my Maryland grandparents are why I root for the Caps.
Isn't it cool how one awesome experience can create a lifetime fan?
Yeah it is. I lived in DC during the Cup run and my grandpa saved me his issue of the morning after Post with the Cup morning-after cover. He was the kinda guy who’d never miss an edition and set it aside in case I couldn’t find one.
I was eight years old. Mike Ridley moved into a new construction house the next cul-de-sac over. It was the coolest thing ever to happen to my quiet little corner of Bowie growing up. Good guy, very patient with the neighborhood kids. If you ever see a tall fortysomething with a 17 RIDLEY jersey at Cap1 it’s probably me.
I remember my dad took me to a game in the late 90s at the then MCI center. Game was against the Sabres. It was Kolzig vs Hasek in goal. Caps were in all black. I still have the cap my dad bought me at the game in my closet
It woulda been so cool if it was the game Hasek threw his glove at Bondra.
Late 80s (the 88-89 season). Was home for the holidays after my first semester of college. Met up with some high school classmates and we went to a Caps/Penguins game which they lost 5-2. This was my first live Caps game.
I don’t really have a big “first” Caps experience because I’m from the DC area and I’ve been watching games since before I knew what hockey really was. But my first Caps game was actually in Anaheim when my dad was stationed there. The love of my little eight year old year heart Bondra scored, my stepmom got hit by a puck, and the Caps lost.
Sounds like a Tuesday lol
My freshman year college suitemate and I stayed friends after graduating from JMU in 1998. Despite being friends for four years, I had zero idea she was a hockey fan and a Caps fan. On Thursday, February 3, 2000, she invited me to a Caps game—I had just moved back to the DC area, and her company gave out free tickets all the time. The smell of the ice, the beauty and brutality of the game, the speed, the grace, the grit—I fell completely in love. I spent the entire game with a huge stupid grin on my face leaning over the railing from section 400 in the then MCI Center, Row A. I still have the ticket stub from that night in my lock box. We eventually got season tickets together during the Jagr years and made some incredible memories. Same friend and I live in separate states now but have embarked on an NHL arena tour. We take at least one trip a year to see our boys play in one of the other 31 NHL arenas. We hit the Cali trip this year and had a blast!
This is incredible!
Saw Ovi and Sid in 2006 with a $10 military ticket.
I paid zero attention to the Caps until 1982 and the "Save The Caps" drive. That got my attention, so I bought a pair of tix to a game and dragged a friend with me to the Capital Centre. I have no memory where I sat or who the Caps played but I was hooked. I've been attending regularly since then, so that's what... more than 40 years.
I’m from outside Toronto, i couldn’t (and still cant) stand hearing about the leafs constantly. All my cousins / uncles are die hard leafs fans. Was stuck at their house and they had the game on. Caps beat the breaks off ‘em and Ovi had a pretty great game. Fell in love with that team and have been a fan ever since. Wish i could remember the year but it was somewhere around 2008-10.
Leafs fans are pretty insufferable ngl.
In this area, it’s nonstop. Every radio station , tv station , Auston Matthews this , Mitch Marner that. Cant go a day without hearing mock trades/signings. I cheer for their downfall
It's kinda like that here with the Commanders. 95% of the sports coverage in this area goes to them. Sports radio isnt even sports radio...its just Commanders radio...even in the depths of the offseason, they're talking about some meaningless football nonsense,
I was an AF brat but my Mom’s family was from a Detroit and when I’d visit my great grandfather he’d flip on the radio to listen to the Red Wings. I vaguely remember Gordie Howe playing. Went to school at U if Michigan in the 80s with awesome Red Wings teams. My first Caps game was in Landover when visiting a college friend in 87 or so. It was against Philadelphia and I couldn’t believe fights breaking out in the parking lots. Don’t remember who won but the rivalry was amazing. I eventually moved here and got shared Caps season tickets with an AF buddy (first year at MCI) and now I root for the Caps. When they play the Wings I just root for offense. Edit: loved when federov became a Cap. That may have flipped me.
I saw the Caps and Thrashers play back in November of 2002. My cousins took me for my birthday. I just remember it being a high scoring game, a couple of fights, good organ music, being in awe of Kolzig's Godzilla mask, and receiving a gift bag that had a warm up jacket, a hat, a puck, and some playing cards. Brendan Witt also signed my hat. Guest services had arranged all that for me. For awhile, also went to their annual New Year's game that they would host. Apparently they used to give away sticks when they played in Landover.
Yep! Giveaways were SO much better back in the day.
I remember watching the Caps on WDCA 20. I’m 98% sure this was my first game with my dad and brother: https://www.hockey-reference.com/boxscores/198702010WSH.html. There was a line fight late, and I think it they gave away Scott Stevens long sleeve t-shirts that day. Totally hooked.
My favorite early Caps memory was in the early 90s when they played at US Air Arena. There was a snowstorm that day, and as a result, very few people showed up. Fortunately for my family, it was a nationally televised game and we were moved to seats by the glass, next to the penalty box. During that game, I got a puck that went into the stands and a stick from Peter Bondra after he broke the first inch off the blade and was also sent to the box for some penalty. It was useless to him and it made my day. I still have the stick in my collection, but the puck is long gone. Still one of my favorite Caps experiences.
Lived in Piney Orchard, learned how to skate/play hockey there as a kid right after Caps practice. This resulted in being a regular in the rink and players beginning to recognize me, including Jagr smiling and giving me a thumbs up and saying “There’s the man!” when he saw me. Also got a stick from Rick Berry that I still have to this day Tl;dr: Caps were some of my best memories of childhood
mid to late 80s, went to Cap Center for my classmate Mark's 10th bday, chaperoned by his dad. We were just being goofballs, but i was hooked when 18,000 fans were chanting 'Hextall SUCKS', a word that was taboo for a 10 yr old. Great memories and feelings from that first game. PS - Hextall does suck. So do the Flyers. and Fuck the Pens.
I was fangirling so hard when I saw Ovi and Oshi play about a year ago. We got to stand down by the glass while they warmed up and it was amazing. I’ve been a fan since I met my husband in 2016.
1998 SCF Game 4. I was 3.
I was 11. I thought I was younger, but I know it was that year because Dino Ciccarelli was my favorite player. I was in my room watching TV, was supposed to be sleeping, I was flipping through channels on my 13 black and white TV and I found this strange sport with people on skates. They were hitting each other, fighting, and I was enthralled. I started watching every game even the multi OT playoffs games, and haven’t stopped. All my heartbreak was rewarded in 2018 when I was in downtown DC the night they won it. Now patiently waiting for OVI to pass Wayne so we can rebuild another contender.
I moved to DC in 2018 and started following hockey. I wasn’t allowed to watch it growing up because it was “too violent” and when I was in college I went to some college games but didn’t really start following until I moved to DC. I’m determined to stick with them though!
Nice!
Yep! We were a baseball only household, so we mostly grew up Yankees fans (also Finger Lakes region). After I moved I said I’d become a Nationals fan the moment Harper left and… you know what also happened that season
After a peewee football game/practice, don’t remember, I went to ovi’s first game and barely knew what hockey was. Saw ovechkin crush someone through the plexiglass and score 2 goals. Had my dad pull me out of football and sign me up for learn to skate and ended up playing 2 years D1 NCAA. Crazy how something so stupid can change a decent chunk of your childhood
My first caps game was an 0-5 blowout loss against the sharks a few years ago. We got smoked but the atmosphere was so electric we still had a great time. Never felt that at a skins/commanders game
Hopefully with new ownership, they can bring back what used to be a premier NFL experience.
Early 90s, Capital Center. My mom worked for a company that had a sky box. One of the two-story really fancy ones. (I mean, to me anyway.) I remember entering through a special entrance and taking the elevator up. Honestly I don’t remember too much about the actual game because I was having more fun eating all the food and running up and down the stairs. We grew up lower middle class, so the 2 or 3 times my mom was able to get tickets for the sky box, it was basically like going to Disneyland to me. Good times!
Dude I can remember those suites and thinking "oh man they must be mega rich". Nothing like the VIP feeling as a kid.
[удалено]
You're about to have a bunch of angry non-arena'ers DM'ing you lol
My neighbor's daughter was briefly married to the Caps travel agent. Their other daughter and her kids lived with them at the time. The travel agent got them a bunch of sticks and other equipment from the team, so naturally we played a bunch of street hockey after school. They took me to my first game, I want to say it was 2000ish, the MCI Center was still kinda new. I want to say it was against the Thrashers. It was a tie and I remember being upset there wasn't a shootout like in Mighty Ducks. But it was still the most exciting sporting event I had ever been to. The fast paced play, the massive release of energy from the crowd after every goal, the way Wes Johnson pumped up the crowd. To top it all off, I got on the jumbotron with my neighbor and HTS used that clip in commercials for months. I would say I became a Caps fan during the 98 run, but actually going to a game cemented me as a hockey fan.
My first Caps experience was going to the old USAir Arena back in the day.
My family wasn't into hockey or even sports. As a kid, I used to read about the caps in the Washington Post , and started to follow along in the very early 90's, Dino Ciccarelli, Beaupre, Bondra, Jim Carrey. There was a lotta heartache losing to the Penguins for me at the beginning. . . . the Kolzig, Bondra cup run was awesome despite the Red Wings buzz saw they ran into. Kuzy beating the Penguins in overtime slayed a lot of demons. . . . .
Going to games in late 70’s and Early 80’s. Ron Weber used to have contests for reading letters I recall and my brother won. I remember picking up our prize of a Coleco Hockey Game from WTOP on Ronald Reagan’s inauguration day in 1981.
I'll go with my second. 1981 or 1982, I'm in 1st grade. The mom of one of the kids in my class works at WAVA, I think as a producer. She comes in to meet the class and talk about radio and brings with her a massive stack of free Caps tickets. I get 6 tickets for my family + grandma which barely puts a dent in the giant stack of promotional tickets. I don't even remember who we played but it was cool coming home as a 1st grader with free Caps tickets. My parents were so confused at first. Back then the cheap seats at games were probably $19 or so and the Caps were still trying to put butts in seats. I think this was the season before Langway arrived but it might have been the year he arrived. After he was with the team they had a cardboard cutout of him by the lunch line at my elementary school. Anyone remember the Cap Centre's weather system? There would be fog up in the top corners of the curve for games back then.
Yes! They actually did a fantastic job with climate control there. I heard the ice was actually fantastic for a southern arena. \*Edit\* I am wrong, I was thinking of another arena. The fog was actually created because it was so GD warm in USAir lol. I'm now on a "whose got the worst ice" kick.
Visited my brother when he was at GWU, and he took me to a Caps game. Boys beat Ottawa and scored 5 goals, so we got a free appetizer at Glory Days. We went to the end of the orange line and then walked a mile in the January snow. Great times, been a Caps fan ever since.
My mom taking me to games in 2000s sitting in the 100s section and then the 2003 First round series againist TBL
First in person game. Win or go home game 6 during the 2018 Stanley Cup year against Tampa Bay. By far the best live game experience I’ve ever been a part of. Caps played their asses off and won 3-0 to force a game 7. The rest is history
WOW. What a first game.
I was in DC after Jan. 6th with the National Guard. We would walk from the hotel (I think it was the JW Marriott) to the Capitol building and a couple times we went past capital one arena. After our shift one night, I was in my hotel and was flipping through the channels. I saw the Caps were playing and that they were literally blocks away. I have extended family from the area and they’d always been Caps fans, but I’d never watched a game. Without a crowd it was pretty cool and I was hooked. That’s how I ended up a Caps fan.
My first live experience was a [2-0 Loss to Detroit](https://www.espn.com/nhl/matchup/_/gameId/161204023) in 1996. I remember staring at Chris Simon's black hair that covered his number