There will be something amiss when the Washington Capitals play the Calgary Flames at Capital One Arena on Monday night. The team will not play in front of a sell-out crowd for the first time in 14 years, per reporting from the Washington Post.
Scott Allen writes that the sellout streak first started in a game against the Toronto Maple Leafs on March 5, 2009.
Bruce Boudreau was the head coach of the team then and Alex Ovechkin was in midst of a 56-goal season — his third 50-plus-goal campaign of his career. The Capitals broke a four-year postseason drought the season before, starting what would be known as the Rock The Red era in DC.
The ending of the sellout streak comes after a disastrous 2022-23 campaign under Peter Laviolette where the Capitals had their worst full season since 2006-07 and finished 12 points out of a playoff spot. The Capitals struggled with injury and Laviolette employed a difficult-to-watch system, resisting to regularly play young players and grow the team into the future.
The news also comes as Alex Ovechkin chases Wayne Gretzky’s once-thought-unbreakable goals record of 894. Ovechkin remains one of the greatest players in the game and has three seasons left on what could be the final contract of his career.
The sellout streak officially lasted 588 home games.
What do you make of the news and why do you think the streak is over? Let us know in the comments.
