Author: Sherri Muzzuco

 

It’s nearly three weeks into the Caps season and we finally have to call it quits on being able to get buses for the Stadium Series game in February in Carolina. In what is yet another residual effect from the Covid Pause, the charter industry is experiencing a shortage of drivers and none of our trusted transportation partners can commit to providing service outside of their long-term contracts. That this one would require three drivers for the 18-hour itinerary made it a deal breaker for them and honestly, also makes it cost prohibitive for us. Please make use of the Event listing on our Facebook Group page or email us to coordinate carpools and share leads on hotels and tickets. We’ll keep an eye out for NHL press releases on the fanfest plans in hopes we can find an opportunity to tailgate that day. For the trips that did come together this season, here is their current status. The NJ trip is in just a few weeks so get in touch asap if interested: Saturday, November 26-New Jersey (fewer than 10 tickets remain) Tuesday, December 7-Philadelphia (all tickets claimed, waitlist only) Saturday, January 21-Las Vegas (all tickets claimed, waitlist only) Saturday, March 11-Long Island If you need additional information or would like to make a reservation, please contact us via email at info@capsroadcrew.com.   We’ll keep you posted as trip statuses change so keep your eye on your inbox in the coming weeks. Away game listings Speaking of our Facebook Group, every season we list all the Caps away games as “Events“, not just those the Crew is attending.  This feature allows fans to collaborate on their trips to those games. From sharing hotel info and transportation plans to ticket availability and pregame options, fans in the know have found it to be a helpful resource. Not on Facebook?  Email us with your plans and we’re happy to share them anonymously on your behalf. Keep your contact info current Plans for some trips this season are pretty fluid so to get the updates promptly, be sure to keep your contact information up-to-date in our database. You can always use the tool on our homepage to add an extra email address but if you would prefer to substitute one instead, we are happy to process that from our end, just let us know. Also, we keep a list of Caps fans in enemy territory so if you live outside the DMV and want to be sure to be included on our activities in your area, shoot me an email with your zip code and I’ll update our records. We love getting together with our fellow fans near and far! GO CAPS!

Thank you for your feedback!

Your response to our poll in the July newsletter on where you’d like to go this season was super-helpful and we’ll definitely be using that process every offseason. Thank you to everyone who participated!

Based on your interest, here is the list of destinations that came together for the upcoming season and their current status. Fans who expressed interest via the poll or by email were the first notified as trips came together so a few have limited availability remaining:

Website Upgrades

A HUGE thank you to our webmaster, Tyler, as he helped us through a much-needed transition to a new webhost this offseason. With the change we expect more reliability and functionality and hope this translates to better service and utility for our fellow fans. That said, we recommend clearing your cache if you have any issues accessing pages on our site since the transition.

Speaking of the Road Crew site, did you know you can use the search function on our Trips page to pull up our past trips by city, team, arena, etc.?  When making travel plans of your own, seeing how past trips to those same venues came together can be a great resource. And even if you just want to check out photos of trips past, the search function is definitely more efficient than scrolling through all 22 seasons.

Keep your contact info current

Plans for some trips this season are pretty fluid so to get the updates promptly, be sure to keep your contact information up-to-date in our database. You can always use the tool on our homepage to add an extra email address but if you would prefer to substitute one instead, we are happy to process that from our end, just let us know.

Also, we keep a list of Caps fans in enemy territory so if you live outside the DMV and want to be sure to be included on our activities in your area, shoot me an email with your zip code and I’ll update our records. We love getting together with our fellow fans near and far!

Can’t wait for the puck to drop!!

GO CAPS!

That was a short offseason!

The NHL schedule is out early this summer so there’s already trip news to share! Here is the list of destinations we’re working on for the upcoming season. To better inform our plans, we’ve drawn up a poll to gauge interest and save you having to email your input. Please take a few minutes to complete it and help us better prepare.

Of course if you prefer, shoot us an email at info@capsroadcrew.com with your thoughts.

Canada Day fun

Thank you to everyone who made it out to Penn Quarter Sports Tavern to celebrate Canada Day on July 1. It was a low-key affair but a great test run of plans for next year when it’s on a Saturday.

 

Keep your contact info current

Once the details of our trip schedule are finalized, some will sell out quickly as fans are eager to travel and ticket availability may be limited. To get the info first, be sure to keep your contact information up-to-date in our database. You can always use the tool on our homepage to add an extra email address (or five) but if you would prefer to substitute one instead, we are happy to process that from our end.  Just let us know.

Also, we keep a list of Caps fans in enemy territory so if you live outside the DMV and want to be sure to be included on our activities in your area, shoot me an email with your zip code and I’ll update our records. We love getting together with our fellow fans near and far!

GO CAPS!

Go Caps!

This season certainly presented an unusual set of challenges for both the team and the fans but it is still sad to see it end so soon. May the players and personnel enjoy a well-earned summer break to refuel the tank for next season.

It has been challenging for the Crew and our Roadies as well with more last-minute trip changes in a year than we usually see in a decade. After a short break for some site maintenance, we’re eager to get back at it planning next season’s schedule.  Stay tuned for details!

Offseason Homework

The past two seasons has seen a TON of people relocating to parts far and wide. We keep a list of Caps fans in enemy territory so if you live outside the DMV and want to be sure to be included on our activities in your area, shoot me an email with your zip code and I’ll update our records.

I expect that many of our trips this season will be again be geared towards those Caps fans local to the venue so keeping this list current is more valuable than ever. We love seeing our fellow fans on the road!

Summer Fun!

With the jerseys packed up for the season, we can’t wait to see everyone in their Caps tees enjoying the summer!  We hope to see you representing in the Beer Garden at PQST and when the frozen drinks are this good, why wouldn’t you?

Stay safe Babes!

Down to the wire

Wow, where did the season go?  I can’t believe we are down to our last few regular season games and only one away game left on our schedule.  That said, here’s the skinny:

 

Division tilt

The Flyers came out hot putting two on the board in the first when we visited on February 26. They hung on to win 2-1 but the Roadies had a great time in spite of the loss.  Such an exciting game!  Thank you to everyone who joined us.

 

Keep your locale updates coming

We keep a list of Caps fans in enemy territory so if you live outside the DMV and want to be sure to be included on our activities in your area, shoot me an email with your zip code and I’ll update our records. This is especially crucial if we end up with last-minute or extra tickets for a game near you.

 

GO CAPS!

Only two more to go this season

While we’re usually just getting started in January, this season we’re down to only a pair of games in Pennsylvania remaining. Here’s the dates and the current status. All are ticket-only at this time. For prices and other details, refer to the TRIPS page in our header.

For more information or to make a reservation, shoot us an email at info@capsroadcrew.com. Those who have already contacted us about attending these games are counted among those with pending reservations.

Two more trips, two more wins!

All four trips so far this season have been wins. What a time!

The Roadies who attended the game in Detroit on New Year’s Eve gathered at Harry’s Detroit beforehand and were treated to a great time with the locals before heading over to the incredible Little Caesar’s Arena to witness history yet again. Ovechkin scored power play goal no. 275 to pass Dave Andreychuk for the most all-time. With an additional goal by Ovie and one by Kuznetsov, our boys brought home a thrilling 3-1 victory over the Red Wings.

Just two weeks later, the Crew braved the polar temps on Long Island for the first-ever Caps game at the new UBS Arena! It’s much nicer than the Coliseum with hot running water and everything. Bad jokes aside, it’s a nice barn and long overdue for a passionate fan base. Those fans were disappointed when Vanecek shut out their team 2-0 sending the Roadies home all smiles.

Keep your locale updates coming

We keep a list of Caps fans in enemy territory so if you live outside the DMV and want to be sure to be included on our activities in your area, shoot me an email with your zip code and I’ll update our records. This is especially crucial if we end up with last-minute or extra tickets for a game near you.

GO CAPS!

Need last minute holiday presents for your favorite Caps fans?  We gotcha covered and nothing makes a better gift for the fan on your list than a Caps Road Crew trip!  We have really cool gift certificates that we are happy to personalize for you to present to the recipient and you can’t get easier than that. With space still available on this season’s NYE trip to Detroit and April 9 trip to Pittsburgh, either would make a terrific present for your favorite die-hard Caps fan!

If you haven’t purchased one yet, another perfect gift is Ben Raby’s comprehensive book, “100 Things Capitals Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die“, updated to include the Cup run.  With a foreword by Craig Laughlin, this book is packed with Caps lore and even long-time fans will find gems of insight yielded from Ben’s exhaustive research.

Wishing all you boys and girls and babes a safe and festive hockey holiday!  GO CAPS!

We’re barely two weeks into the season and already eager to hit the road. The trips are coming up SOON with at least one a month through the Olympic break so if you haven’t already, take a look and see what’s scheduled.

Here is the list for this season and the current status. All are ticket-only at this time. For prices and other details, refer to the TRIPS page above or the links below. For more information or to make a reservation, shoot us an email at info@capsroadcrew.com.

 

Traveling on your own?

While we love traveling with our fellow fans to cheer on our boys on the road, we are all about getting your butts in their seats however possible. In support of that mission, we established a Facebook Group a few years back where fans can share their plans or inquire about others’ itineraries. The more info you have, the better your visit will be. No problem if you’re not on Facebook, I’m happy to post on your behalf.

But the big news this month is that a long-time wishlist item has come to fruition. Those with bigger brains that mine were able to create a search function on our TRIPS page. Enter “Flyers” or “Philadelphia” for example, and every trip we’ve taken there will come up. Those trip pages have all the wheres, whens, prices, photos…all the details on our travels are there.

This function is also super-handy when searching for that photo you were in all those years ago, but you can’t remember exactly when. Not that I’ve had that problem or anything. There are only 20+ years of trip pages on the site.

HUGE thanks to our webmaster, Tyler Duchaine, for putting in the time and toil on this project.

 

Keep your locale updates coming

We keep a list of Caps fans in enemy territory so if you live outside the DMV and want to be sure to be included on our activities in your area, shoot me an email with your zip code and I’ll update our records. This is especially crucial if we end up with last-minute or extra tickets for a game near you.

See you at the rink!

Go ‘rays!

 

Cheers to the Caps ECHL affiliate, the South Carolina Stingrays, on another run for the Kelly Cup.

Bring home the hardware boys!

 

 

Offseason Homework

If social media is any indication, the past 15 months has seen a TON of people relocating to parts far and wide. We keep a list of Caps fans in enemy territory so if you live outside the DMV and want to be sure to be included on our activities in your area, shoot me an email with your zip code and I’ll update our records.

I expect that many of our trips this season will be geared towards those Caps fans local to the venue so keeping this list current is more valuable than ever.

 

Congratulations to our Joe B!

We could not be more proud to hear that Joe Beninati recieved the 2020 Board of Governors Award from the National Capital Chesapeake Bay Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences last week. Oh, and his 15th Emmy for Best Sports Play-by-Play Announcer, but who’s counting?

We are so fortunate as a fanbase to have his insights on the broadcasts and the Crew in particular could not have come this far without the support of Joe and all the Caps broadcasters. If you see him out and about, be sure to thank him on behalf of us all.

And really, they have to give him shiny awards. Who else looks so good in a tux?

 

Next Season’s Trips

It took an industrial Swiffer to knock the blanket of dust off our Rolodex but we’ve been in touch with our team reps and are ready-to-go once the NHL schedule is announced. We’ll put together a slate of trips but will need your feedback more than ever to gauge fan appetite for travel next season so keep an eye on your inbox in the coming weeks for that poll.

 

Trivia Tuesday Recap  

Kudos to our Trivia Tuesday winners this past season. It’s been great to see so many of you using your winnings in the Beer Garden at PQST and when the frozen drinks are this good, why wouldn’t you?

 

Stay safe and sane everyone!
Sherri