code: public void initializeCounter(String name) {
      String escapedName = keyHandler.handle(name);
      for (MonitorPlugin p : getPlugins()) {
        p.initializeCounter(escapedName);
      }
    }
docs: If you want to ensure existance of a counter, for example you want to prevent
  spelling errors in an operational monitoring configuration, you may initialize a counter
  using this method. The plugins will decide how to handle this initialization.
  @param name the name of the counter to be initialized