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Thursday, July 12, 2001

By Chuck Finder, Post-Gazette Sports Writer

That Stanley Cup playoffs mating dance with Washington, D.C., the one in which the Capitals prostrate themselves before everything Penguins and then expire, just got a new twist.

Springtime with Jaromir Jagr, Beltway boys?

"This is AMAZING!" posted somebody by the handle of StarterCap on WashingtonCaps.com, where 1,258 posts last night followed in the first three hours after the stunning announcement that the Capitals pried Jagr from the Penguins for the low, low price of three prospects who aren't old enough to buy an Iron City. "All I can say is ... I am optimistic about the Caps in the playoffs."

Another poster, named Irish200proof, declared it Capitals Mardi Gras and summoned all readers to Champ's for "an uncensored, unofficial 'Capitals are finally contenders Fat Wednesday celebration' brought to you by Ted [Leonsis, the owner] and GMGM," a cute reference to General Manager George McPhee.

Three hours. Three prospects for Jagr and Czech throw-in Frantisek Kucera, a seldom-used Penguins defenseman. And attitudes change. Hope springs like cherry blossoms.

Could the Capitals now actually survive a first- or second-round date with the Penguins, something they've accomplished only once in seven collisions during the past decade?

Such a hockey history between these clubs even caused Penguins General Manager Craig Patrick to crack a smile and a joke: "We'll just have to beat them again next year. That's a goal every year: beat the Capitals in the first round, and go on from there."

The Washington Post's Web site played the Jagr deal -- for 20-year-old prospects Kris Beech, Michal Sivek and Ross Lupaschuk, plus hazy "future considerations" -- at the top of its homepage. The transaction was described as "the boldest move" in the 27-year history of a franchise that has known only one Stanley Cup final (it lost in four games) and too many forgettable players.

The Post went on to characterize the three traded junior-hockey players as no one "viewed by [Capitals] scouts as a can't-miss prospect." It also called the trade "one of the most significant sports maneuvers in Washington's sports history."

Leonsis told the media yesterday to consider the Jagr acquisition a free-agent signing because "it didn't take any starters out of our lineup." More than that, "we didn't strip-mine our youth," after which he named three top prospects who weren't part of the deal.

"This is a great day for the city. This guy is a once-a-generation player," Leonsis said of Jagr.

The transaction moved so rapidly Leonsis didn't even have time to discuss Jagr with Capitals Coach Ron Wilson. In fact, McPhee was quoted yesterday morning as saying of the Penguins, "I think they're using us to get the Rangers to bid up." Less than 24 hours after uttering that quote, Jagr was a Capital.

Washington showed it cared on afternoon-drive radio. Sort of.

"If you say the name 'Jaromir Jagr' in Washingon, I'd say 50 percent of the sports fans know who he is," said Andy Pollin, an ESPN Radio and WTEM-AM talk show host based there. "There's more excitement here when the Redskins sign a kicker."

What were Capitals fans saying about their playoffs future? "They've been beaten up like a red-headed stepchild by the Penguins all those years," Pollin said. "The feeling is, maybe this will make a difference. Or the feeling is, he'll come in here and join the rest of them as big spring collapsers."

Elsewhere in this hockey hemisphere, questions were being raised.

In Toronto, the focus of sports-talk radio was the "future considerations." Could they involve forwards Jeff Halpern or Andrei Nikolishin, or defenseman Brendan Witt? The popular Canada sports Web site SLAM! Sports, at Slam.ca, put the query of the day into its headline on the trade story: That's it?

A talking head on ESPN's "SportsCenter" referred to what the Penguins received as "used pucks and a bucket of water." On that same network, hockey analyst Barry Melrose figured that cash was involved, and Darren Pang expressed surprise that nobody off the Washington roster was involved.

At Faceoff.com, Nick from London, Ontario, put it simply: "This is the stupidest trade I have ever heard."

In Washington, the trade caused breathless excitement from the staid Post to the Capitals' Web site. On the latter, at the bottom of the story headlined "Jagr is a Cap!," the club made an admission:

"For years, Caps fans have been clamoring for the addition of a scoring threat. ... On this day, their pleas have been realized. Now, time to rejoice and buy tickets!" (To which Pollin said, "That sounds like something Ted wrote himself.")

Gee, Leonsis might not have to ban Pittsburgh area codes from his ticket-ordering site.

And the Penguins might have to alter their spring dance card.

"Maybe this time we won't put them on our wish list right off the bat," Penguins winger Kevin Stevens said, jokingly.