Lifelong Washington Capitals fan Anna McMahon '19 started her internship with the team not long after the franchise hoisted hockey’s ultimate prize.
From as early as she can remember, Elon University senior Anna McMahon found herself in hockey rinks. The McLean, Virginia, native would sometimes make her hockey home in Rockville, Maryland, watching her dad skate, shoot and score in a recreational league (where her dad still plays to this day).
And sometimes the rink got bigger, when she would head to Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C., to watch the NHL’s Capitals—her favorite team.
“My dad plays hockey, so I have always gone to his games,” says the strategic communications and political science double major. “I remember being a little girl and going to (Capitals) games and being small enough so that I didn’t need a ticket.”
But no matter the venue, players and skill on the ice, she has reveled in the speed and excitement of the game. And now, some 15 years since she joined Capitals fandom, she’s working as a media relations intern with the team. She picked a good time to join the organization, which won this year’s Stanley Cup.
The road to the team’s only championship in its 44-year existence has been long, trying and painful. The team has changed dramatically even since McMahon was able to attend games ticketless.
Her favorite players at the start were Chris Clark, a gritty, injury-prone winger who once captained the Capitals, and Donald Brashear, an enforcer famous for his ability to punch, not his ability to score. Her start as a Caps fan pre-dates only slightly the arrival of Alexander Ovechkin, a left wing who has scored more than 600 goals in his 13-year NHL career and who changed the fortunes of the franchise.
McMahon started her internship soon after the Capitals hosted their Stanley Cup parade through D.C. But before that, she attended Stanley Cup final watch parties in Capital One Arena. And, she says, the charged atmosphere of 15,000 fans watching a game inside on a jumbotron — the games were being played in Las Vegas — with several thousand more watching in the streets outside the arena hasn’t dissipated since the Caps clinched the Cup on June 7.
“It was unique that we had hockey to watch into June,” McMahon says. “The arena hosted a lot of viewing parties, and it filled up. Being there and watching the games surrounded by the fans was a great environment. It felt like we were at the game. I think the mood in D.C. is really amped up. The energy in the city is evident.”
McMahon’s internship responsibilities include compiling media clips about the Capitals, working on an end-of-season media guide and assisting with press conferences. The second week of her internship coincided with the Caps development camp, which is designed to introduce prospects to the team, its coaches and the league. She was given more responsibilities to interview players and write. And, oh yeah, she also had her picture taken with the Stanley Cup
“I watched how the media might be conducted during the season, so seeing the behind-the-scenes work was a great learning experience,” she says. McMahon credits courses like Media Writing and Strategic Writing – “any writing experience at Elon, really,” she says – to the success she’s had in her internship so far. And she’s thinking this may be the start of a future career.
“I went into the internship wanting to know more about sports PR. I want to see if sports PR is an industry I want to work more in after graduation,” McMahon says. “I really enjoy the fast-paced sport of hockey. And that translates to the internship experience, as well. I like to explore new things and be on the move. I would consider pursuing this field after graduation.”