Tuesday marks the 20th anniversary of the first Washington Capitals game at the Verizon Center. The following is an excerpt of 草莓传媒 sports anchor Ben Raby鈥檚 book, 鈥溾�� about the lead-up to that first game.
When Abe Pollin first unveiled plans for the Capital Centre in Landover, Maryland, in 1972, the real estate mogul presented a futuristic facility complete with skyboxes and the world鈥檚 first scoreboard capable of showing instant replays.
By the 1990s, though, the home of the Capitals and the Washington Bullets had grown obsolete. Across both the NBA and NHL, teams were upgrading their home facilities with even more luxury suites and amenities.
If the NHL鈥檚 Boston Bruins, Chicago Blackhawks and Montreal Canadiens could move from their historic home arenas 鈥� as all three did in the mid-1990s 鈥� surely the Capitals could relocate from their suddenly outdated home.
In the summer of 1995, Pollin announced his intent to privately finance a $200 million facility that would house both the Capitals and the Bullets, who would be rebranded as the Wizards in the new building.
This meant that after playing all of their prior home games in the state of Maryland, the Washington Capitals would at long last play within the city鈥檚 limits. Pollin wanted his new arena built in an otherwise desolate part of downtown at Seventh and F streets NW.
Construction took 25 months, and it wasn鈥檛 without its challenges, with the discovery of contaminated soil and asbestos among the early obstacles. There was also a successful lawsuit from the Paralyzed Veterans of America to increase the number of seats for wheelchair-bound spectators.
Through it all, Pollin remained confident that his life鈥檚 work had prepared him for the biggest business venture of his career.
Washington-based MCI Communications Corp. helped ease some of Pollin鈥檚 financial burden, agreeing to a $44 million, 13-year deal for arena naming rights.
鈥淚 walk through that building [and] I get tears in my eyes,鈥� days before the MCI Center opened in 1997. 鈥淚t鈥檚 unbelievable. I鈥檝e got everything I鈥檝e ever done in my life on the line. I鈥檝e pledged everything. My advisors think I鈥檓 nuts. But I wanted to do something special for my town.鈥�
Pollin was born in Philadelphia but moved to Washington with his family when he was 8. He graduated from George Washington University in 1945 and became a D.C. lifer in the historically transient region. But for all the pride Pollin held for his hometown, he was also well aware of its diminishing reputation.
Despite Metro accessibility and the proximity to the Capitol Dome and National Mall, venturing downtown for a social night on the town, for example, didn鈥檛 appeal to locals during the 1980s and early 1990s. Crime was rampant, and .
鈥淲hen we played at the Caps Centre way out on the Beltway,鈥� said one-time Capitals captain Ryan Walter, 鈥渨e鈥檇 practice around the city and in Fort DuPont and different places, but downtown was pretty scary in those days. We were specifically told not to go downtown.鈥�
By the mid-1990s, Pollin wanted to change that. The arena would stand in the Penn Quarter neighborhood of Chinatown, but offered little in the form of nearby restaurants or entertainment when ground was broken in October 1995. Pollin, though, had dreams of a revitalized downtown with his arena as the centerpiece.
鈥淢r. Pollin always had the vision for Washington,鈥� said former Capitals general manager David Poile. 鈥淗is background was in building and in real estate and he saw this. I remember coming downtown to the area where they were talking about putting the building and at that time I couldn鈥檛 see it all. I couldn鈥檛 see how it was going to work out and how it was going to be a destination place.鈥�
Ultimately, it would in fact turn into a $6.8 billion redevelopment project with restaurants, condominiums and businesses now lining the once-vacant lots.
On Dec. 3, 2007, Pollin celebrated his 84th birthday, with Mayor Adrian M. Fenty unveiling F Street between 6th and 7th streets NW as 鈥淎be Pollin Way.鈥�
鈥淲hen you look at it years later, it鈥檚 fabulous down there,鈥� Poile told the Capitals Radio Network in 2009. 鈥淚t is exactly what someone with a vision, someone who could see these things, would think of. That was his vision.鈥�
Two years after the MCI Center first opened its doors, the that went toward construction of a $195 million entertainment, retail and housing complex atop the Gallery Place Metro station, next to the arena.
Today the complex is home to such establishments as Regal Cinema, Lucky Strike, Bar Louie and Clyde鈥檚 of Gallery Place, all of which have become popular pregame or postgame destinations.
鈥淣ow, it鈥檚 just so beautiful,鈥� Walter said. 鈥淭o be able to walk through Chinatown and [Capital One Arena] is just spectacular.鈥�
鈥淚 have tremendous respect for the man and for what he did for Washington and what he did in terms of building the MCI Center and what it did for the area,鈥� said Kelly Miller, who played for the Capitals in 1997-98, when they moved downtown midseason.
鈥淚t鈥檚 cool to go back now and see that area and see how it鈥檚 grown and developed around that rink. When they first built that rink, there wasn鈥檛 a whole lot going on down there. But to see now how it鈥檚 gone up and what a wonderful area it鈥檚 become around the rink, that鈥檚 a credit to Mr. Pollin and his vision and the contributions that he made to the Washington, D.C. area and to redeveloping that entire area.鈥�
The MCI Center opened its doors on Dec. 2, 1997, with the Wizards hosting the Seattle SuperSonics 鈥� the same opponent the Bullets played to open the Capital Centre in 1973. The Wizards christened the new building with a 95-78 win before a capacity crowd of 20,674 fans.
Three nights later, the Capitals won their first home game in the District, beating the Florida Panthers 3-2 in overtime on Dec. 5, 1997. Richard Zednik and Chris Simon scored for the Capitals in regulation, with Jeff Toms beating Florida鈥檚 John Vanbiesbrouck for the game-winning goal in the extra session.
Toms scored five goals over parts of three seasons with the Capitals but the overtime winner in the MCI Center opener tops the list.
鈥淚 remember [Panthers defenseman] Paul Laus was trying to get the puck by me, and I blocked it,鈥� Toms recalled in 2017. 鈥淭hen I went down and just tried to get Vanbiesbrouck to give me a little bit of the five-hole and put it home.
鈥淚t was just such a big game. There was a lot of excitement and there was a lot of emotion; there was a lot of energy in the building.鈥�
There was also a sellout crowd, including 42 former Capitals players and then-Vice President Al Gore.
鈥淚t was a really exciting night,鈥� Toms said. 鈥淎nd it was good to get a win that first game. That was important for us. I remember the energy, how excited the fans were and even the organization and the owners, it was just a great night of hockey.鈥�
