Unless you are a teenager headed for a professional career in your chosen sport, you will never, ever come as close to the experience of being in a pro locker room as what HBO showed Wednesday night on its “24/7” program.
When the Capitals finally snapped their eight-game losing streak Sunday in Ottawa, you instantly saw what it meant by the way the players reacted. That explosion of joy seemed a tick or two below when Washington clinched a playoff spot on the final day of the 2007-08 season. But it took HBO’s cameras to show us what went down off the ice.
You had Alex Ovechkin screaming in relief. The camera walked the tunnel with the players as they trumped past the coaches, who dispensed slaps on the back with smiles on their faces. Matt Hendricks yelled, “Where are the cigars? Who’s got the bubbly?” Players rocked with laughter as a song by Jersey Shore legend Pauly D blared from the locker room speakers.
It was as good as TV gets and — for the first time in a month — showed the Caps having fun.
