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I Felt His Heartbeat
by Paul on 04/05/06 at 10:11 AM ET
Comments (20)
“When Alexander reached the podium, he stood beside me and I felt his heartbeat against my shoulder, it was pumping fast.”
What a way to describe your first meeting with your future.
Let me explain, I had set up an interview with Washington Capitals Owner Ted Leonsis in Detroit for this Friday, but his schedule was quite full for his upcoming visit. Last night Mr. Leonsis was kind enough to call me and conduct a phone interview.
We discussed the outlook for the Capitals and Ted mentioned he has learned a lot from the past. The Caps are stressing team orientated play and want to be known as a team hard to play against. Even though he hated losing players from the past like Lang and Bondra, current players like Chris Clarke, Brian Willsie and Matt Pettinger are filling in nicely.
Mr. Leonsis is very happy with coach Glenn Hanlon, who has handled the team very well. He is stressing a team orientated game, is bringing the players around slowly and is a great teacher.
Now on to Ovechkin; I asked Ted who he hopes Alex turns out to be like, maybe a Messier type and his response is Alex tells everyone “I am me”. Speaking about AO, he says he is an athletically gifted athlete. Before he was drafted by the Caps, the Capitals Russian scout told him Alex has a fifth gear and as the game goes on, he goes into sixth gear and takes advantage of other players slowing down during the game. His production this year has proved that point and Ted also stressed Ovechkin is a team player, fits in well in the locker room and along with Kolzig, is a great player to look up to.
Ted stated there is no “easy fix” to change the Capitals into a winning franchise. He realizes the Southeast division is getting stronger with players like Staal, Luongo, Jokinen, Lecavalier and Kovalchuk and must get his team stronger to compete with them. He has told fans and the press alike he is not afraid to spend money to win, but he will no longer try to “buy” a winning team. It all begins with team chemistry and the Caps are concentrating on getting team players that will fit into the system they are trying to create.
I brought up the NHL on OLN and Ted replied since Comcast is behind OLN, he has faith in them. He believes Comcast is powerfull enough to do anything they set their mind to. He did mention ESPN did not want hockey and they were disrespectful to the NHL and the move to OLN was in the best interest of the league.
The topic switched to new media and the NHL. Ted supplied some very informative information, over 185 million homes in North America are now wired into the web. He claims the NHL fan is the most web savvy, and it is up to the NHL to establish a footprint for all of the information the fans want. He feels newspapers are a dying breed, and bloggers and the web have become very important in getting the NHL news out to the public. Do a search on recent NHL news, and you will see bloggers and websites show up prominently and will continue to do so. He mentioned he reads the blogs on a regular basis, pointing out Off Wing Opinion and Jaspers’ Rink as a two of his favorites. The recent Tony Kornheiser column was brought up and Ted mentioned he does that type of article on a yearly basis. He has no problem with what was said because Kornheiser is a columnist and has the right to express his views, but if it was from a writer, he would make sure to point out some of the facts to him.
I thoroughly enjoyed my fifteen minutes with Mr. Leonsis and strongly encourage others associated with the NHL to open up to my fellow bloggers. We care about the game, promote it whenever possible and do this for the love of hockey. Our voices are heard and respected and Mr. Leonsis’ lead should be followed.
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Comments
AWESOME job! Paul rules!
Posted by Pete on 04/05/06 at 10:43 AM ET
Great jobe Paul, maybe Ilitch will get on the boat soon.
Posted by Buzzy on 04/05/06 at 10:55 AM ET
I have tried Buzzy, numerous times, with no reply from Mr. I.
Posted by Paul from Motown Area on 04/05/06 at 10:59 AM ET
Caps are on their way up. I have faith in ownership and the team. Go Caps.
Posted by Godzilla on 04/05/06 at 11:11 AM ET
Leonsis sure seems to be grasping the bloggers. Why others don’t is a question that needs to be answered. Whatever happened to a more friendly NHL?
Posted by KM on 04/05/06 at 11:28 AM ET
I hope the Caps become a good team again soon! The fans are in the D.C. region, but with so many distractions (Redskins first, Nationals, Wizards, etc) they need a good team to bring in the fans. Fans will come! Evidence is the 1998 playoffs when the Caps lost to Detroit in 4 games. Before every practice those last few weeks, the Caps training facility was standing room only, and the games sold out. They were actually mentioned on the news, and in water-cooler conversation.
Thanks for doing this interview Paul! Great stuff!
Posted by penguinsfan on 04/05/06 at 12:01 PM ET
Just a quick note Paul, you are doing a tremendous job. I get more hockey information here than anywhere else including TV, newspaper or radio.
You deserve some type of recognition from the NHL!!!
Posted by Henry on 04/05/06 at 12:17 PM ET
At least one owner knows where his bread is buttered. Why the others don’t join in is beyond me. What are they afraid of.
Mr. Leonsis, if you read this, you are to be commended for allowing bloggers to interview you and you have gained a fan because of it.
Posted by Nathan Brown on 04/05/06 at 12:28 PM ET
Henry, thanks for the props. I just ask you keep on reading, that is enough recongition for me.
Posted by Paul from Motown Area on 04/05/06 at 12:29 PM ET
It is nice to know that he reads blogs. My advice to all bloggers is keep on blogging, be truthfull and never give up.
You will be noticed and this should be proof that you will be.
Maybe others owners will start coming out and be more open to people like Paul.
Posted by GMac on 04/05/06 at 12:39 PM ET
Great job Paul. My buddies here at work think it is just great a blogger can interview an owner of an NHL team.
Maybe you should go after William Clay Ford next.
Posted by Jack in Motown on 04/05/06 at 01:17 PM ET
Hey Paul, nice job on the interview. Great opening quote.
Posted by Phil Coffey on 04/05/06 at 01:39 PM ET
Thanks Phil, now can we get that link from NHL.com to this story, lol.
I’d say about a week on the homepage would do just fine!!!
Posted by Paul from Motown Area on 04/05/06 at 01:43 PM ET
Can I excerpt it for Ice Age this weekend, attributed of course!
Posted by Phil Coffey on 04/05/06 at 02:45 PM ET
Of course Phil, no need to even ask. It is much appreciated.
Looking forward to reading it.
Posted by Paul from Motown Area on 04/05/06 at 02:47 PM ET
The Caps have been a team I pay particular attention to for no particular reason, if that makes sense. Maybe it’s because I have an aquaintence that once had a cup of coffee with them. Anyway, great job, Paul. Interesting and highly entertaining. Your blog is always the first stop on my daily hockey internet tour.
Posted by Carl on 04/05/06 at 04:14 PM ET
Thanks Carl. As I said, I was very impressed by Mr. Leonsis. Taking the time out for an interview with me will be something I will never forget.
Posted by Paul from Motown Area on 04/05/06 at 04:33 PM ET
Excellent stuff, Paul. I’ve got this post linked up on my site — looking forward to more interviews and original content from the blogosphere.
Posted by James Mirtle from Toronto, ON on 04/06/06 at 04:10 AM ET
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Grat job Paul. Nice jester by Ted to make this interview happen.
Posted by Grayboy on 04/05/06 at 10:26 AM ET