Coronavirus

The Capitals’ first home game with fans will be April 27 against the Islanders. Season-ticket holders will get priority on tickets.

Monumental Sports & Entertainment had their waiver approved last week by the DC government to reopen Capital One Arena for Washington Capitals and Washington Wizards games. Now, MSE is announcing its plans moving forward.

The Washington Capitals’ first game with fans will be their April 27th home game against the New York Islanders. 2,100 fans will be allowed to attend at a maximum, which is 10 percent capacity. The Capitals will give tickets to DMV first responders and frontline and essential workers of the COVID-19 response and honor them during the game.

“Our fans bring a lot of energy to our arena,” Jakub Vrana said recently. “They’re like an extra player for us. Even if it’s not going to be full, we’ll still be happy to see people in the stands cheering for us, giving us some extra energy. We’ve been missing that. Without them, it’s been quiet out there.”

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By Ian Oland 6 days ago

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Canucks to play 19 games in 31 days after 21 players test positive for COVID-19

The NHL announced on Saturday that the Vancouver Canucks will be allowed to begin practicing again on Sunday, April 11, and return to action on Friday, April 16 in a game against the Edmonton Oilers. The return comes after the Canucks postponed eight games due to a severe COVID-19 outbreak.

A COVID-19 variant swept through the team causing nearly the entire roster (21 players) and four staff members to test positive for the disease, including all four former Capitals players: Braden Holtby, Nate Schmidt, Jay Beagle, and Travis Boyd. The Washington Post described the Canucks’ outbreak as “the worst in the NHL this season — and perhaps in North American professional sports since the start of the pandemic.”

After an investigation, the Canucks said that the source was a single person who contracted the virus in a “public exposure location.” The investigation was conducted by club officials and Vancouver Coastal Health.

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By Eliza Kravitz 1 week ago

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District approves waiver for Capital One Arena to host fans at Capitals and Wizards games at 10 percent capacity

Washington Capitals fans will be allowed to attend a hockey game as soon as next week.

Friday, the District approved Monumental Sports & Entertainment’s waiver for Capital One Arena to host fans at Washington Capitals and Washington Wizards games immediately. DC gave MSE permission to host fans at 10 percent capacity.

The news was reported by the Washington Post’s Michael Brice-Saddler.

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By Ian Oland 1 week ago

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MSE doubtful DC will allow Capitals and Wizards fans to return before end of regular season

Muriel Bowser announced in mid-March that local sports teams could apply to host fans after March 22. The Washington Nationals and DC United had their waivers approved at their outdoor stadiums, but weeks later, Monumental Sports & Entertainment’s request to reopen Capital One Arena to Capitals and Wizards fans remains pending.

Monday, Mayor Bowser announced that while indoor capacity for Capitals and Wizards games cannot resume yet, a decision will be made “soon.”

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By Ian Oland 2 weeks ago

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Nationals’ Opening Day game postponed due to COVID-19 issues

The Washington Nationals had a player test positive for COVID-19 on Monday while the team was still in Florida for Spring Training. During the flight home, there were four players and one staff member who had close contact with the player. Those five were forced into quarantine after contract tracing was conducted.

Now, the seemingly inevitable has happened. Thursday, ESPN’s Buster Olney reported that the Nationals, who were set to be down at least five players, have had their Opening Day game against the New York Mets postponed by the MLB.

The game was set to be played at 7 PM at Nationals Park.

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By Ian Oland 2 weeks ago

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Washington Nationals announce 5,000 fans can attend Opening Day

Hours after the DC United received approval for 2,000 fans to attend home games, the Washington Nationals received a thumbs up from the district to host 5,000 fans for Opening Day.

The Nationals play the New York Mets on April 1 at Nationals Park.

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By Ian Oland 1 month ago

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Gary Bettman: NHL helmet ads are ‘likely’ staying long term

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman and deputy commissioner Bill Daly met with the media on Thursday to reflect on the one-year anniversary of the NHL suspending its 2019-20 season due to the coronavirus pandemic. The two executives celebrated the league’s accomplishments during that time and looked forward to the future.

“We completed a CBA extension, we negotiated a new US media rights agreement, and we signed 13 new corporate partners with the league,” a proud Bettman said. “We created new assets – the helmet decals, the virtual slot ads, the division sponsors — to help our clubs retain 100 million dollars in revenues.”

Bettman said that the temporary helmet ads, which were previously reported as only a one year experiment, are likely here to stay.

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By Ian Oland 1 month ago

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Half of all NHL teams have plans or are already allowing some fans back at arenas

The Pittsburgh Penguins became the latest NHL team on Monday to announce that they would allow fans back to their home arena during a coronavirus pandemic that has killed over 500,000 Americans.

“The Pittsburgh Penguins received approval today from Governor Tom Wolf and the Pennsylvania State Department of Health to reopen PPG Paints Arena to fans at 15 percent capacity (2,800),” the team wrote in a press release.

The Penguins were opening up tickets to “season ticket holders only” on a “priority basis.” The first game fans would be allowed back was Tuesday’s matchup against the Philadelphia Flyers.

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By Ian Oland 2 months ago

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Evgeny Kuznetsov on his difficult bout with COVID-19: I ‘almost cried happy tears when I realized I can walk and breathe’ again

Evgeny Kuznetsov conducted a Russian language interview with Sport24’s Alena Grebenkova while the Capitals were in Pittsburgh earlier this week.

During the chat, Kuznetsov gave extensive insight into events that led to the team’s four Russians being placed on the COVID-19 Unavailability List and the Capitals being fined $100,000 by the NHL.

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By Ian Oland 2 months ago

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The Washington Capitals have not yet arrived

If you go the NHL’s stat site, go to teams, and then sort by goals against per game, you see the Capitals right near the top: 3.77 per game, second highest in the league, behind only Ottawa.

That’s atrocious. It paints a picture of the Capitals — now nursing a four-game losing streak — as a disaster. But I don’t think that picture is accurate.

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By Peter Hassett 2 months ago

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