February | 2010 | WOOD SPORTS PHOTOGRAPHY

By Rodger M. Wood

In their game January 19th, Gonzaga and Paul VI HS battled for 47 minutes of regulation time. If they didn’t know beforehand, the average fan would not have been able to tell which team playing was the #1 ranked Washington Post Metropolitan Area high school basketball team.

Tied at 42-42 with a minute to go in regulation, the game was up for grabs until Malcolm Lemmons stole the moment, sweeping in for a hard lay up to put Gonzaga ahead for keeps by two points and with a few free throws in the last few moments, win 50 – 46.

Freshman and sophomore ladened Paul VI will live to play another day. 3-6 W-L in tough WCAC conference play, the seasoning they are getting this season against several Division 1 colleges prospects will only serve to put them in very close competition in coming seasons against perennial power house Gonzaga and Dematha, who were also USA Today #18 and #20 ranked in the nation February 16th.

Mark my words. I wouldn’t count the Paul VI Panthers out for the duration.

2010 was another first for me – I shot photos at the Tampa Bay Lightning/Washington Caps game last Sunday January 31^st for the first time since the 1995 season…

The Caps made my day beating the Lightning 3-1 for their 10^th consecutive win. The Caps’ streak did not end with Sunday’s win, as they followed up with an 11th straight win Tuesday in Boston and 12th Thursday against New York in a wide open 6-5 shoot out at the new Madison Square Garden.

^{See the Highlight Gallery}

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My love affair with the Capitals goes back to their inaugural 1974-75 season. With my sons Mark and Tommy, I saw their first ever win against the Chicago Black Hawks and first ever tie game against the Los Angeles Kings. I was on the roll that season. Whenever I went to a game, they’d win or tie, which was pretty remarkable considering they won only 8 games and tied 5, while losing a record 67 games that season.

Growing up in Detroit and seeing Gordie Howe and great Red Wings teams of the 1950”s, it was difficult for me to be a Caps fan those early seasons. I used to get sick of seeing their lop sided losses in person or listening about them on Ron Weber’s radio broadcasts. But if the score got too bad, I would turn them off to listen to WBZ and Johnny Most talk about Bobby Orr and the Bruins winning ways..

The Caps didn’t start percolating until 1980 – 81, when Denis Maruk scored 50 goals and defenseman Rick Green played the blue line well enough to make the games more competitive. .

During the “1982 Save the Caps” campaign, I bought two season tickets, and shared two others to do my share in keeping the team here in Washington.

In 1984, my daughter Aimee and I drove to Philadelphia to see the Caps win their first playoff series against the Philadelphia Flyers at the old Spectrum. I almost lost my life there when on reflect I jumped up in joy to boisterously and conspicuously applaud

Caps Darren Veitch’s dramatic goal in the second period of the third game clincher. I saw the Easter Epic Playoff Game in 1987, which ended at 1:56 AM when Islanders Pat LaFontaine beat the Caps with a clutch goal in triple overtime.

I saw the Bruins sweep the Caps in four games in the 1990 Wales Conference Finals and the Detroit Red Wings sweep them in a 4 game sweep in the 1998 Stanley Cup Finals…

I shared two season tickets the Caps first season but bought my own two each season afterwards until the 1990 -1991 season. Even after giving up my season tickets, I continued seeing the team at least three or four or more games a season every season to the present.

In the early days of Caps hockey, I often thought I would have to climb the glass to help our poor defensemen, Ivan Labre, defend himself from various NHL hockey goons.

HOF defenseman, and two time Norris Trophy winner, Rod Langway was my hero because I felt he saved hockey in Washington when he came over to the Caps in the big trade with Montreal before the 1982-1983 season and was responsible for making the Caps instant big winners for the first time in their 10-year history.

I was pained when Scott Stevens went to the St. Louis Blues after the 1990 season, but loved seeing him win the Stanley Cup with New Jersey a few seasons later. Scott was one of those always smiling, big young tough players you liked even though he often played for the wrong team later in his career.

Defenseman Kevin Hatcher was awesome in the 1990-1991 playoffs, almost single handedly carrying the Caps to the Conference Finals against the Bruins.

I have never seen a more intense player than another of my favorites, Dale Hunter who reminded me of the old Montreal great, Rocket Richard, who I remembered flying down the ice at old Olympia Stadium in Detroit, where I grew up.

After beating Boston, Ottawa, and Buffalo in the 1998 playoffs, I thought there was a chance Peter Bondra, who scored 52 goals during the regular season, might lead our Caps past the Detroit Red Wings in the finals for the coveted Stanley Cup at last.

I have seen lots of Caps games, I’d guess well over 500 games. During the 1987-88 season, I saw all 40 home games and all the playoff games. There have been lots of big wins, big losses, and a couple 10-game streaks in the early 1980s, but nothing; I remember compares with the 2009-2010 Washington Capitals.

Led by their captain, the awesome Alex Ovechkin, I think this year’s team won’t be stopped until they win our first ever Stanley Cup here in Washington, DC. And when that happens, I hope some of the old fans from Landover will come back to enjoy the celebration with all the other Washington Capitals fans. Indeed, we have waited all our lives for this glorious moment.