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Remembering the Stick Giveaways at the Capital Centre

(Caps Outsider)

Back in the 1980s and into the 1990s, the Capitals held an annual stick giveaway after a game. They handed out Mylec sticks, with signatures of that year’s team printed on them. I remember this happening every Jan. 1, for kids under 16.

I can’t say for sure how many kids suddenly took up hockey as a result of this giveaway, but it certainly got my friends and I playing. We’d organize big trips to those Jan. 1 games, then play street hockey so much that we’d wear out the blades.

With area ice hockey still being a very inconvenient sport to play locally at the time, Rollerblades became more popular in the early 90s, leading young hockey enthusiasts to play on tennis courts, still using Mylec sticks.

I recently stumbled upon an unused Mylec stick, given away sometime during the 1983-84 season, though I can’t make out some of these signatures. If you can make them out, let me know and I’ll update this post. Also, please let us know if you have these sticks, as any left in good condition would likely be rare at this point.

Ben Sumner

Ben Sumner is the editor of Capitals Outsider. He also works for The Washington Post and contributes there when he gets a scoop.

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