Ice Girls

No, this isn't a post about the Sabres. Rather it's a response to a post on Ted's Take in which the Caps owner asks his fans a question that you knew had to be coming eventually:

What do you think of ice girls and cheerleaders in hockey arenas?

While we at The Rink have certainly enjoyed other teams' use of bare midriff-ed young ladies as an attempt to sell hockey tickets and rile up fans, it was always with a certain sense of mocking pleasure. "Look at what these rubes in the South have to do to keep their fans' attention." Never did I think that the Caps would stoop to such a level.

Though Washington hasn't yet been blessed with a Stanley Cup, there is a 30+ year old tradition of hockey here that doesn't include bubbly blondes (other than when Brendan Witt bleached his hair). If people aren't coming to Caps games, it's not because they've been waiting for the team to add a dance squad.

Further, D.C. is as sophisticated and educated a city as you'll find. Manhattan's Rangers don't have ice girls - Long Island's Islanders do. See where I'm coming from?

Finally - and I guess this is the underlying theme here - to me it comes down to what type of franchise you want to model yourself after. Sure, I'm jealous of Carolina's Stanley Cup. But I'm more jealous of Montreal's tradition. Of course I'd like to see the Caps fill a building like Tampa does. But I'd rather see it filled with fans like they have in Edmonton.

To Mr. Leonsis I'd say this: make two lists, one of the teams that have ice girls/cheerleaders and one of the teams that don't. Then think about which list you'd rather see the Caps on.

One last thing. I of course understand that sex sells (though I doubt anyone has ever bought a hockey ticket because of the cute brunette that cheers for Section 111), so I feel I have to add this: if you must have ice girls, make sure they're real hot.