It seems to me that people who attend a season's very first home exhibition game, on a Monday night, necessarily rank among those who most missed hockey over the summer. I was struck not only by the overall volume attending Monday night's 2-1 Caps' loss to Buffalo -- the crowd was demonstrably larger than those of a good many regular season games in 2005-06 -- but how many on a warm muggy night wore their red sweaters. Yes the Caps are the hot sports ticket in town these days, but it seemed to me that last night there was a palpable urgency on the part of a hungry fan base to be seen on Metro and in Chinatown reaffirming, showcasing an allegiance of which they're distinctly proud.* * * * *I'm not sure this should pass without comment: the Washington Times on Tuesday ran a front-page color photo of the Caps'-Sabres' game in a box announcing the score . . . of an exhibition game . . .on the front page. I mean, that's the stuff you'd e...
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