Caps owner Leonis involved in altercation with fan

[JMU Soccer!]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A50620-2004Jan26.html?nav=hptop_tb

Varying reports as to what happened, but Leonis did apologise and the fan in question won't press charges.

Just not the Caps' season this year.

[Beau Dure]

No, it certainly isn't, and 20-year-old punk kids blaming the guy who deserves less than 5 percent of the blame don't help.

Ted should probably be punished, but this guy deserves a sentence of his own: Let him move to Philly and fight Flyers fans.

(I still remember going to a Caps-Flyers game where I helped to break up a fight in the bathroom in which an enraged guy kept trying to get back in the fray even after breaking his glasses. And that was in D.C.)

I've been a hockey editor for a year and a half, but man, this sport's in trouble. Leonsis comes in, does everything he can, gets let down by everyone in his organization ... and for what? So some kid can come up and wave a sign in his face and taunt him all game? (Check out the Caps' message boards -- his act got bad reviews.) I'm amazed he doesn't sell to the highest-bidding sucker.

Then perhaps he could buy a soccer team ...

[JMU Soccer!]

I do agree with your assessment of Leonis, he should be punished, but both parties have handled themselves well after the incident.

Leonis did so much for the club though. He spends the money and goes after the big name scorer that fans have called for for the last 20 years, and then does it again the next summer by signing Robert Lang. How does the market repay him? 15,000 seats sold at a playoff game in which the Caps had a 2-0 lead in the series. (It's not like that has always been the case, in the 80's and 90's Caps playoff games were a hot ticket.) No wonder why he said the hockey market might be broken.

When the team is eliminated from the playoffs, trade Bondra and Kolzig to contenders to give them much deserved chances at the cup and start from scratch, rebuild the market and rebuild the team. Whenever a new Collective Bargaining agreement is reached that is.

The sport is in trouble. As much as I love the game, Hockey fans are some of the dumbest in all of sport and the more I think about it, they are just as much to blame for the troubles of the league.

[Beau Dure]

Yeah, it's a sad situation. Such a great sport to see live, especially at its highest level (the sold-out Wings-Caps game last year was one of the most incredible live events I've ever seen).

And if Ted can't make it work, can anyone?

[JMU Soccer!]

Originally posted by Beau Dure


And if Ted can't make it work, can anyone?

I've said it once, and I'll say it again. Ted is a god-send. What other person with deep pockets has this much passion for the Capitals? Dan Snyder? forget it. If Ted were to bail. I'd worry about that franchise staying put. I love the Caps more then DC United or the National team, but I'll even concede that I sometimes think that D.C. doesn't deserve a hockey team.