The Dave Fay Award is presented annually to the Capitals player who best exhibits a strong rapport with the media. Fay covered the Capitals for The Washington Times from the newspaper's inception in 1982 until 2007.

Fay, who passed away in 2007 after a battle with cancer, was posthumously awarded the Elmer Ferguson Memorial Award by the Hockey Hall of Fame, presented in "recognition of distinguished members of the newspaper profession whose words have brought honor to journalism and to hockey."

Fay was also named a lifetime member of the Professional Hockey Writers Association and is honored by the Capitals on the Washington Capitals Media Wall of Fame.