Noise Maker: Caps Fans Reach Fever Pitch

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YOU MAY NOT SEE HIM, but you'll certainly hear him.

When the Capitals come back to Verizon Center on Saturday, Sam Wolk will be there with his horn. He has season tickets, and has spent almost every game this season — and for the last eight seasons — in section 415, blowing his horn to the tune of "Let's go Caps!"

Wolk's wife, Sherri Muzzuco, introduced him to hockey and the two of them have been season ticket holders since 1999. The original horn, which Wolk started bringing that season, was crushed by Penguins fans in 2000, and this season, Wolk wrapped his new horn in a red scarf to match the Caps new colors.

"Sometimes you need to get the house rocking. If we kill a penalty, I'll blow it. I always blow it right after a goal's scored," says Wolk, who adds that he won't blow it when the Caps are on special teams. "Then I'll do it when there's a lull and I feel like we need to do it."

Wolk was in the stands for the Caps' run to the Stanley Cup in 1998, and he said watching Peter Bondra made him a Caps fan. But he says Alex Ovechkin is more fun to watch and the arena is louder now than he's ever seen it.

» EXPRESS: How long have you been going to games?
» WOLK: I've been a season ticket holder sine 1999-2000. Watching Peter Bondra score goals was always a great thing to see. His enthusiasm was just excellent.

» EXPRESS: How does he compare to Ovechkin?
» WOLK: I don't think there's any comparison. I never saw a young Bondra, but Ovie seems to have this fire inside that no one can tame. It's unlike anything I've every seen. I've never seen someone get so crazy. The fact that he's always the first to congratulate his teammates when they score speak volumes about him.

» EXPRESS: How do this year's crowds compare to past seasons?
» WOLK: Coming off a season where they went to the Stanley Cup final and got swept, there were a lot more fans. It was exciting. But from what I understand, the house has never rocked as loud as it did during the last week [of the regular season]. I wouldn't have imagined at any point this season that we would be there right now.

» EXPRESS: What do you think of what Bruce Boudreau has done?
» WOLK: I was at that game in Philadelphia — his first. There was this feeling that this was a reboot. We just knew it had to get better, and it did. They won in OT and only lost two games back-to-back the rest of the season.

» EXPRESS: When did you start bringing the horn?
» WOLK: I started bringing the horn to games that first year and pretty much just blew it around goal celebrations. I wanted to make some more noise. Goat [William Stillwell] — I knew he was a loud guy, so I started blowing the horn to echo him because he's got these amazing pipes on him. People started to respond, so I'd let him do his thing and then I would do my thing.

» EXPRESS: When do you blow the horn now?
» WOLK: If we kill a penalty, I'll blow it. I always blow it right after a goal's scored. I used to blow it after the anthem. but there's a new guy and he wanted me to stop so he could show the referees and linesmen. When there's a lull and I feel like we need a boost, I do it. ... I don't blow it if we're on special teams because that's when the game is really on the line. I just like to watch the game at that point.

» EXPRESS: Are there any other rules?
» WOLK: It's all instinct. Except if we kill a 5-on-3 I'm going to thank the guys and get the crowd to cheer. Sometimes they don't notice that stuff.

» EXPRESS: I noticed you also do "Let's go Capitals" now.
» WOLK: I just started that this season. Goat started it. I just wanted to change it up a bit. When you have a house full of Penguin fans they'll shout "Let's go Pens" and it sounds the same. For the 'Canes, same thing.

» EXPRESS: Do you come to the games by yourself?
» WOLK: I have tickets with my wife, Sherri [Muzzuco]. We've been together 11 years, and she got me into hockey. A friend of hers took us to our first game at Verizon Center. It was all I needed. I have never been much of a sports fan. I got into it from the first game, and it's all her fault.

» EXPRESS: Where did you get the horn?
» WOLK: It's not the original horn. The original was a blue plastic horn I got when I was 13 in D.C. We got a free day off school if we went to the inauguration, and there was a vendor who had the horns. In 2000-01 season, we beat the Penguins. The horn fell out of my bag, and some Pens fans smashed it. They popped it so it didn't sound right any more. And people were pissed.

» EXPRESS: So where did you get this one?
» WOLK: Goat had one in his basement. It was gold and I painted it black. I went to a D.C. United game and got four horns. I gave one away, one got broken, and one I was using up until the lockout — but that year I got it autographed by everyone in the broadcast booth, so I retired it. When we switched colors, I dug up the old horn. It has a more mellow tone.

» EXPRESS: So are you the only one who is allowed to bring a horn in?
» WOLK: Anyone's allowed to bring one. I'm just the loudest. A few years back, there was a guy in 426 who had a horn and blew it. I don't know if he comes to games anymore. The lockout hurt a lot of people. There's a kid who sits down stairs and he used to blow it in echo of me. The Hershey Bears sell them, but they are collapsible and they sound kind of dead.

Krista Vogt contributed to this report
Photo by Toni L. Sandys/The Washington Post