The National Hockey League lockout could easily last until 2006, but you wouldn’t know it from the 2004–2005 D.C. Yellow Book. The Washington Capitals have tattooed the spine of this year’s edition with the team’s logo and the number of its ticket office. In what seems like bad timing, the team placed the order for the ad space, which according to Yellow Book cost $2,443, shortly after the lockout began this fall. But Caps Communications Director Kurt Kehl defends the team’s decision to hawk season-ticket packages even in the absence of games. “If somebody wants to buy tickets, we’ll sell them to them,” says Kehl. “There will be games eventually.” Even with the Yellow Book spot, it seems unlikely that the Caps will sell many season-ticket packages during the strike. When contacted this week through the number on the advertisement, a salesperson at the ticket office said that she had not yet received a single request.

—Mike Martinez