Sep 17, 2013; Baltimore, MD, USA; Washington Capitals forward Chandler Stephenson (17) faces off with Boston Bruins forward Chris Kelly (23) at 1st Mariner Arena. Mandatory Credit: Evan Habeeb-USA TODAY Sports

Over the past three years, the Washington Capitals have played two preseason games at the Baltimore Hockey Classic, one in 2011 and one in 2013. The team as decided not to return for a third time in four years. The 2012 lockout precluded them from playing there.

“The Baltimore Hockey Classic was a terrific event, and we were overwhelmed with the support from the city of Baltimore, Baltimore Arena and our fans in Maryland,” a Capitals spokesman said in an email to CSNWashington.com. “But after evaluating all of our options, the decision was made to play all home preseason games at Verizon Center next season.” – NESN.com “The Baltimore Hockey Classic was a terrific event, and we were overwhelmed with the support from the city of Baltimore, Baltimore Arena and our fans in Maryland,” a Capitals spokesman said in an email to CSNWashington.com. “But after evaluating all of our options, the decision was made to play all home preseason games at Verizon Center next season.” Read more at: http://nesn.com/2014/06/capitals-pass-on-baltimore-preseason-game-after-ice-safety-issues/

The arena in Baltimore that the Washington Capitals played in was a much smaller venue and the reason for not returning were based on safety issues for the fans and the players.

You can’t hold the puck, you can’t shoot it and you’re afraid to go to the boards because it’s too dangerous out there,” Ovechkin said after last year’s game. “First couple of periods, it was hard to be out there because you know it’s kind of dangerous, and you see what happened with the glass. It’s kind of scary.” – NESN.com

There was one incident that occurred to really highlight the safety issues at the arena. After a weak check by Alex Ovechkin on Boston’s Chris Casto, the glass pane that was also hit during the check, fell to the ice.

When you are only drawing just about 7500 to a Capitals Preseason game and with the safety issues, the general manager of the Baltimore Arena, Frank Remesch, was not surprised by the decision of the team to not come back and to keep all of the preseason games at Verizon Stadium. He stated that for what they were doing, and only have one game, the place would have to be “perfect” and that “they were not”.

You can’t hold the puck, you can’t shoot it and you’re afraid to go to the boards because it’s too dangerous out there,” Ovechkin said after last year’s game. “First couple of periods, it was hard to be out there because you know it’s kind of dangerous, and you see what happened with the glass. It’s kind of scary.”

Read more at: http://nesn.com/2014/06/capitals-pass-on-baltimore-preseason-game-after-ice-safety-issues/