Confusing Messages

Posted on November 03, 2009

There are some confusing messages a-coming my way so hear me out. Lately I have been getting positive feedback from fans and media because I don't get involved in hockey related decisions regarding the Washington Capitals. I help set vision, strategy, culture and provide the resources. Then I am a cheerleader for the team and the franchise and I also get involved in many business affairs such as sponsor relations and season ticket holder communications. I believe in the folks that work for us in hockey operations. I trust them. And the results are starting to speak for themselves. Anyone ever check the record that our Coach has generated since he took over the team? Or our record as a team over the last three seasons as to points garnered? It is pretty impressive. And we have upside, we haven't peaked. Dick Patrick has an amazing background in the NHL. George McPhee does too. I hear from many of our fans that it is a good thing that I am not involved because after all, I am not a "hockey person." Their rationale is that I never played in the league - even though I went to my first hockey game in 1966 and went to my first Capitals game in 1976 and have been a season ticket holder since 1992 and have owned the team for 11 years spending literally thousands of hours per year around the team and the professionals managing the team and the players - I still wouldn't know what I was doing. I try to attend every home game and I watch every road game on television if I don't attend it myself. I literally have watched tens of thousands of hours of hockey in my lifetime now. But I am not a "hockey person" by definition. I am also on the Executive Committee now at the NHL. I am on the Board of Governors too having attended almost 50 meetings since we bought the team. I have also become a student of the game talking to as many successful people in the league as I can so I can do what is called "Best Practices" for our team. Yet even with all of this on the job training and exposure to the team and league, I AGREE that I am not a hockey person and would never assume that I would know what to do to build a team as to specifics; salary cap management; execution; systems; lines to play; players to draft and the like. So I agree with you all. Thank you. And thank goodness. At the same time, if I do agree with you - and I admit that I am not an expert even with all of the time and effort I have put in to owning the team - how do you then think I can rationalize when many of the same folks that say it is good that I am not involved in hockey decisions write to me and insist on:

• Trade this player
• Fire that executive
• Move to this kind of system
• Play these lines
• Draft this kid
• Change this and do that

So if I am not an expert - which I agree which is why I don't tell our coach and GM what to do - what makes you such an expert? :-). I had to say it. If we listened to some of you day to day, email by email and took action, why would that be any different in my meddling with the team? I actually don't think it would be. We would look like a fantasy hockey organization lurching from decision to decision. Action to action. I think what some of you are saying is this, "You shouldn't meddle with the team but I should be allowed to meddle with the team. You aren't that smart or an expert but I am that smart and I am an expert." Because why exactly? Because you are a fan. You have watched a lot of hockey and you love the game and the team as do I. So I just found it ironic that some of the same people that say nice things for NOT meddling with hockey decisions are the exact same people that would be meddling with the team should they have had the good fortune to own it. Very mixed signals. Very confusing. Think about it. Go Caps!