Capitals History Pt. 1 (former players & coaches, past seasons, etc.)

[Hivemind]

I never really believed George's spoken words

Secrecy was the order of the day with him. When he did speak, it thus rang hollow to me.

It is Braden Holtby's turn. Next day, it wasn't. Have fun in Hershey another year.

Didn't Vokoun's agent say that they were the ones who reached out to Washington? I believe GMGM legitimately thought it would be Holtby's turn, then Vokoun fell into his lap at a dirt cheap price .

Niemi isn't that good either. He's not a world apart from Theodore and Theodore is certainly better than Conklin, Markannen or Leighton.

Not saying that Niemi is a world beater, but he's not a scrub. I'm saying the only way we win with a goaltender on the level of Niemi or Theodore is with a stacked blueline, which we didn't have (with or without Pronger).

Didn't matter Pronger was a RD. Oates wasn't coaching us back then. And Poti was pretty darn good for us btw

Oates isn't the only coach in the world to prefer to play defensemen on their natural side. His stringency with forwards was certainly unusual, but defensemen generally are much more comfortable on one side of the ice. We weren't going to see a Green/Pronger pairing.

Poti was fine, but he's not a cup caliber 1LD.

If you don't think that Chris F'ng Pronger would have made us an infinitely better team then we will have to disagree on a great many things. Pronger was a stud and dominated in all phases of the game.

Made us better? Obviously.
Made us a cup caliber team? I don't believe so, not without more changes. The goaltending and defensive depth on those teams were weak. They were more than Chris Pronger away from the Stanley Cup.

GMGM threw out all those names but he never said that. If we look at what Pronger historically went for it would not have taken all that. Guys like Lupul, Sbisa and a couple draft picks. Again take what GMGM says and throw it out the window.

The guy was never a straight shooter like BMac is.

Luca Sbisa was viewed on a similar level to Alzner and Carlson at that point in his career, and already had a half-season of NHL experience under his belt. Joffrey Lupul was a young, legitimate top 6 forward coming off of back-to-back 20 goal seasons and with a 28 goal season a couple years before that. They then gave up TWO first round picks on top of that. If you want to use that as the basis for the trade (rather than the widely reported ask of a young prospect and young goalie), then the similar package from Washington is giving up Laich, Alzner, and two first round picks (which turned into Johansson and Kuznetsov).

 

[AlexBrovechkin8]

McPhee only ponies up when gamebreakers like Martin Erat are available. This conversation reminds me of how he made a lowball offer to Chara.

The single most damaging move he made in his tenure, in my opinion. Worse than trading Forsberg.

 

[Xaroc]

Niemi isn't that good either. He's not a world apart from Theodore and Theodore is certainly better than Conklin, Markannen or Leighton.

Didn't matter Pronger was a RD. Oates wasn't coaching us back then. And Poti was pretty darn good for us btw

If you don't think that Chris F'ng Pronger would have made us an infinitely better team then we will have to disagree on a great many things. Pronger was a stud and dominated in all phases of the game.

GMGM threw out all those names but he never said that. If we look at what Pronger historically went for it would not have taken all that. Guys like Lupul, Sbisa and a couple draft picks. Again take what GMGM says and throw it out the window.

The guy was never a straight shooter like BMac is.

Yeah, Pronger would have made a difference. Dominant teams can win with average goaltending. Chris freaking Osgood has multiple cups.

 

[BobRouse]

Poti was fine, but he's not a cup caliber 1LD.


Made us better? Obviously.
Made us a cup caliber team? I don't believe so, not without more changes. The goaltending and defensive depth on those teams were weak. They were more than Chris Pronger away from the Stanley Cup.

Sean O'Donnel was Chris Prongers D partner when Anaheim won a cup and he was in his mid 30s and basically a bottom pairing dman at the time.

Cup caliber team in those years we were!

http://stats.hockeyanalysis.com/teamstats.php?disp=1&db=200809&sit=5v5&sort=CFPCT&sortdir=DESC

http://stats.hockeyanalysis.com/teamstats.php?disp=1&db=200910&sit=5v5&sort=CFPCT&sortdir=DESC

We were a top 5 possession team each year and last I checked thats the strongest indicator of team success.

Chris Pronger would have certainly IMPROVED upon those already impressive possession numbers made us a better possession team!!

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1817240-the-chris-pronger-effect-examining-the-impact-of-flyers-captains-absence#articles/1817240-the-chris-pronger-effect-examining-the-impact-of-flyers-captains-absence

In other words, 52.3 percent of all shots attempted with Pronger on the ice were being attempted by the Flyers. With Pronger off of the ice, Philadelphia was out-Corsied 8,376-8,316. Basically, without Pronger, the Flyers were a below-average NHL team in this department.the ice were being attempted by the Flyers. With Pronger off of the ice, Philadelphia was out-Corsied 8,376-8,316. Basically, without Pronger, the Flyers were a below-average NHL team in this department.



That number, however, understates the case, because a player like Chris Pronger generally plays against the other team’s best players.



In the end, the primary driver of the Flyers’ collapse appears to be the loss of Chris Pronger and the subsequent failure to replace him

Yeah, Pronger would have made a difference. Dominant teams can win with average goaltending. Chris freaking Osgood has multiple cups.

Its intellectually dishonest to say otherwise. Guys like Lidstrom and Pronger are HOF, perennial norris contending/winning dmen and make a HUGE difference.

We were a contender without Pronger and those 108 and 121 pt seasons weren't a fluke.

Can you imagine Pronger taking the shutdown role and allowing norris form Mike Green to go against lesser competition back in those days????

 

[iamjs]

Gonchar wears #4 (1998-99)

Ran across this on hockeyreference, where there was a mention of Gonchar wearing #4 wearing during the 1998-99 season.

http://www.hockey-reference.com/players/g/gonchse01.html

I don't remember this happening. Was it a one-off game?

Bonus points to finding him in a #17 jersey during his rookie season.

 

[iamjs]

Player Discussion: Gonchar wears #4 (1998-99)

Rare shot of Gonchar in a 38 jersey

 

[iamjs]

Ran across this on hockeyreference, where there was a mention of Gonchar wearing #4 wearing during the 1998-99 season.

http://www.hockey-reference.com/players/g/gonchse01.html

I don't remember this happening. Was it a one-off game?

Bonus points to finding him in a #17 jersey during his rookie season.

nvm, found the 17

 

[Skrudland2Lomakin]

So Kolzig/Bondra number retirement, is it coming, does it make sense, what are you thoughts?

 

[BrooklynCapsFan]

So Kolzig/Bondra number retirement, is it coming, does it make sense, what are you thoughts?

This is a can of worms.

I vote a very firm no. If you didn't help bring a Cup to your franchise,a HHOF caliber career should be the minimum requirement for jersey retirement.

A Capitals Hall of Fame is the right place for Bondra, Kolzig, Labre etc.

 

[AlexBrovechkin8]

This is a can of worms.

I vote a very firm no. If you didn't help bring a Cup to your franchise,a HHOF caliber career should be the minimum requirement for jersey retirement.

A Capitals Hall of Fame is the right place for Bondra, Kolzig, Labre etc.

Fair points. Will be interesting to see what happens.

 

[Calicaps]

This is a can of worms.

I vote a very firm no. If you didn't help bring a Cup to your franchise,a HHOF caliber career should be the minimum requirement for jersey retirement.

A Capitals Hall of Fame is the right place for Bondra, Kolzig, Labre etc.

This. I'd endorse un-retiring everyone except maybe Langway. All those numbers in the rafters are an embarrasment.

 

[Alexander the Gr8]

This. I'd endorse un-retiring everyone except maybe Langway. All those numbers in the rafters are an embarrasment.

I think "un-retiring" jerseys isn't a good move. Bondra, Kolzig and Labre may not be exceptional players, but they were the best in Caps history (behind Ovechkin and Langway of course).

If their jersey is already in the rafters, then so be it. From now on, the franchise should just set the bar higher for jersey retirement.

#8 is a lock, #19 will eventually be there too.

 

[Calicaps]

I think "un-retiring" jerseys isn't a good move. Bondra, Kolzig and Labre may not be exceptional players, but they were the best in Caps history (behind Ovechkin and Langway of course).

If their jersey is already in the rafters, then so be it. From now on, the franchise should just set the bar higher for jersey retirement.

#8 is a lock, #19 will eventually be there too.

Of course you're right it's totally undoable in any practical sense. But man... I wish they could take them down.

 

[Chukcha]

what do you guys think, why has GMGM got rid of MP85 instead of MJ90? Obviously one of them was redundant but why Perry?

 

[Alexander the Gr8]

what do you guys think, why has GMGM got rid of MP85 instead of MJ90? Obviously one of them was redundant but why Perry?

It looked like MJ had a little bit more potential than MP. He's also younger by 2 years.

 

[billcook]

Oates didn't like Perreault, at all. The only players with less ATOI at ES than #85 were Hendriks, Crabb, Beagle and Volpatti. It was discussed here in length before and after trade. Most puzzling for me was the fact that he was great at 5v5 player on a team that sucked at ES.

Rank | Player | GP | ESATOI

1| Alex Ovechkin |48|16:13
2| Nicklas Backstrom |48|14:48
3| Mike Ribeiro |48|14:14
4| Marcus Johansson |34|13:58
5| Troy Brouwer |47|13:38
6| Brooks Laich |9|13:28
7| Jason Chimera |47|12:19
8| Wojtek Wolski |27|12:12
9| Joel Ward |39|11:56
10| Eric Fehr |41|11:49
11| Martin Erat |9|11:34
12| Mathieu Perreault |39|10:26
13| Matt Hendricks |48|09:55|
14| Jay Beagle |48|09:50
15| Aaron Volpatti |17|09:11
16| Joey Crabb |26|08:20

 

[g00n]

Hello, Caps fans. Miss me?

18 goals a year each year since leaving the Caps, and 8 points in 11 games so far this year with a shooting % that's sure to rebound and boost his stats even more. Matty P, you got done wrong, bruh.

 

[Chukcha]

i miss Perry, his celebrations were awesome

 

[Chukcha]

Wardo scored again

 

[Hivemind]

I'm not sure what it is, but Perreault doesn't seem to be well liked by coaches. Maybe he doesn't play well within their system's expectations. Maybe he dogs it at practice. But Boudreau refused to trust him (and mentioned as much when Anaheim added Perreault), Oates rarely used him and hung him out to dry when he got kneed in Philadelphia, and Hunter was scratching him in favor of Keith Aucoin in the playoffs. Heck, Anaheim even let him walk after his single season there when they could have easily qualified him.

 

[AtNightWeFly]

I'm not sure what it is, but Perreault doesn't seem to be well liked by coaches. Maybe he doesn't play well within their system's expectations. Maybe he dogs it at practice. But Boudreau refused to trust him (and mentioned as much when Anaheim added Perreault), Oates rarely used him and hung him out to dry when he got kneed in Philadelphia, and Hunter was scratching him in favor of Keith Aucoin in the playoffs. Heck, Anaheim even let him walk after his single season there when they could have easily qualified him.

Who do you think is less liked by coaches? Perreault or Semin?

 

[AlexBrovechkin8]

I was furious when we jettisoned Matty P for used pucks. The dude held his on as 1C under Hunter. He was always way underrated. He'd be a great 3C right now.

 

[Chukcha]

it seems to me Perreault was traded just due to his handedness. As we remember somebody was obsessed with that. Ovi, T-bro, Wardo, Willie, Beags, Fehrsie - all of them are right handed.

 

[Hivemind]

Perreault was traded to clear cap/roster room for Wilson making the team.

 

[MrGone]

Perreault was traded to clear cap/roster room for Wilson making the team.

I always felt like it was GMGM trying to save his job after the Forsberg trade. He keep Tom Wilson and Connor Carrick up so he could say he hit on two draft picks.