The best thing to say about the Washington Capitals 2-0 loss to the Nashville Predators at the Baltimore Civic Center 1st Mariner Arena, is that no one got hurt due to the ice surface.
By all accounts of those that witnessed the event in person, the ice was soft, cracked, and pooling with water all night long. The new voice of the Capitals, radio play-by-play man John Walton, remarked at every opportunity how poor the playing conditions were and how the pooling water and slush made stick-handling near impossible.
Of course, those conditions favored the plodding Nashville squad, who try to slow the game down at every opportunity regardless the conditions. But the outcome really isn't the story coming out of this one.
I certainly understand the Capitals desire to reach out to the Baltimore community, and it's a nice gesture playing a game up there for loyal fans to see their team without having to schlep down to D.C. for once -- even if it's for just a meaningless pre-season game. But if you're going to host a National Hockey League game, you darn sure should be required to provide an ice surface that neither impacts the game nor is potentially injurious, and the 1st Mariner Arena staff failed miserably by all accounts.
It's not like the game was played outdoors in a steady rain, or anything.
The Caps will get a chance Wednesday to shake the sting off this one off, as a squad will travel to Columbus to take on the Blue Jackets at 7:00 pm. The team has not announced at the time of this post who will be part of the travelling team.
0 comments
Post a Comment