The Junkies didn’t get a chance to talk to Spencer Carbery on Wednesday as usual, as the Capitals story of the day was all about the press conference announcing their planned move to Virginia – but they got Dylan Strome in his usual spot, and as you might expect from a player in the immediate aftermath, Stromer’s opinion was more about the excitement of a new facility than the logistics of the project itself.
“I think it's an exciting situation, a new state of the art facility closer to where a lot of us live, but there’s also nothing wrong with where we play in DC,” Strome said. “The rink is great and we’re in a major city, and there’s pros and cons to both. They feel that they can make it this beautiful facility and maybe a little easier access for a lot of fans. It’s a long time in the future, but yeah, I was a little surprised at how people weren't so happy about it.”
EB understands that Cap One is “fine” but it is over a quarter-century old, so he point blank asked Strome about the facilities here compared to other NHL stops.
“To be completely honest with you, I don't think it's out of touch or, or anything really. It's not a bad arena at all, and there's definitely worse arenas for sure,” Strome said of Cap One. “Being here for a year and a half, I think it's a pretty nice arena, and from what I’ve heard from my family that’s been to games, they love the crowd atmosphere.”
Of course, as Strome can attest to, even for visiting teams, the newer the arena the better the facilities can be and are, but “there’s nothing wrong with ours for sure” – which EB corroborated when calling the Carolina facility “a dump” after going to a game there.
Other things like ice conditions can vary from player to player unless it’s unilaterally a big issue, although Strome has heard from other players who don’t think Cap One’s ice surface is that good – but “things can happen at any rink.”
Take a listen to Strome’s entire call-in above, which also touches on his hot scoring juxtaposed with the Caps’ overall scoring boom and more!
