A reader of yesterday's column, which generally praised the Washington Capitals' Alex Ovechkin (he just passed the 50-goal mark for the second time in his short career), took exception to the portion where I noted that the Caps remain a tough sell in Washington.

I mentioned that the Caps' attendance, an average of about 14,900 this season after 34 home games, was an improvement over the previous two seasons but still was near the bottom of the NHL (25th out of 30). The reader, Michael Klug, pointed out that since Washington has gotten itself back into the playoff hunt after a slow start, the attendance has been much better.

I looked it up and Klug is correct. According to the team's Web site, in the eight games since the beginning of February, every Capitals home date has had a reported attendance of more than 17,000 fans, and a few have had an attendance of more than 18,000.

Does that mean that a corner has been turned for Washington hockey? Well, the jury is still out on that one, but it's a promising trend.