Your top 10 NOT favorite Caps ever.

[sycamore]

1. Jaromir Jagr -- get a haircut
2. Anthony Mantha -- we trade Jakub Vrana for this?
3. Martin Erat -- we trade Filip Forsberg for this?
4. Justin Williams -- Mr Game 7 my a**
5. Dale Hunter -- I'm sorry, but the Pierre Turgeon hit was a black mark for this franchise.
Also a poor coach.
6. Marcus Johanssen -- for years the organization put their faith in this guy and he never delivered
7. Micheal "Circles" Nylander -- shoot the puck! pass the puck! do something!
8. Adam Oates (coach) -- clueless and a player killer
9. Craig Berube -- an impressive mullet does not necessarily make you an impressive player. Never
understood why this guy was a fan favorite.
10. Alexander Semin (hey its my list, ok?) -- Nerd posing as a hockey player. Get some chest hair.

I should elaborate a little more on Semin: I just didn't see us winning a Cup with him, not in the top 6 at least. And in those days we were desperate for a Cup. He had all the skill, yes, but the physical presence and competitive fire just weren't there. You need to be the complete package as a top 6 player if you stand a chance of winning the Cup -- skill, size, determination, fire. Guys like OV, Nicky, Wilson, Knuble and Oshie. Semin would have been awesome in a bottom 6 role, but in the top 6 he was just standing in our way.

 

[g00n]

I know "not favorite" is a polite way of saying dislike or even hate.

Can't apply that to anyone who's willingly put on a Caps jersey and worked hard, whatever their limitations.

I think the very, very low number of real assholes the last 25 or so years speaks to how respectfully Ted generally treats his players.

I can't recall many really public spats with disgruntled guys demanding trades or being shitty about their contracts. A few have played hardball within the boundaries of normal negotiation but there's never been rancor or wars of words, at least in the press.

I guess Jagr is the only guy that comes close and I will say I never liked that trade or seeing him as a Cap, but 20 years later it doesn't matter as much so f*** it. Carrying that shit around weighs on only one person.

Clearly I did not follow instructions.

 

[Ovechkins Wodka]

I should elaborate a little more on Semin: I just didn't see us winning a Cup with him, not in the top 6 at least. And in those days we were desperate for a Cup. He had all the skill, yes, but the physical presence and competitive fire just weren't there. You need to be the complete package as a top 6 player if you stand a chance of winning the Cup -- skill, size, determination, fire. Guys like OV, Nicky, Wilson, Knuble and Oshie. Semin would have been awesome in a bottom 6 role, but in the top 6 he was just standing in our way.

Semin in the bottom 6? He might’ve the most skilled player we ever had. Not his fault McPhee couldn’t build a D.

Semin had playoff OT winners. Ovie still has 0.

 

[twabby]

I can’t for the life of me understand the Alex Semin hate.

The dude carried the second line for years while rarely playing with a legit 2C. He’s a big reason the Capitals weren’t a one line team.

He had all the talent in the world and he produced like it.

He was also 7th in 5v5 points/60 over the 2007-11 time span, behind only Crosby, both Sedins, Ovechkin, Malkin, and Gaborik. How much better should he have been?!

 

[Alexander the Gr8]

Semin in the bottom 6? He might’ve the most skilled player we ever had. Not his fault McPhee couldn’t build a D.

Semin had playoff OT winners. Ovie still has 0.

I love both Ovi and Semin, but playoff OT winners is not a compelling argument.

You know who has multiple playoff OT goals?
Esa Tikkanen, same guy who missed a completely empty net in a SCF game for us against Detroit.

You know which other legends don’t have a playoff OT goal to their names?

Mario Lemieux and Gordie Howe, best players of all time aside from Gretzky.

 

[Ovechkins Wodka]

I love both Ovi and Semin, but playoff OT winners is not a compelling argument.

You know who has multiple playoff OT goals?
Elsa Tikkanen, same guy who missed a completely empty net in a SCF game for us against Detroit.

You know which other legends don’t have a playoff OT goal to their names?

Mario Lemieux and Gordon Howe, best players of all time aside from Gretzky.

I can never put a Caps player with a playoff OT goal on my hate list. We all celebrated them.

 

[Ovechkins Wodka]

I can’t for the life of me understand the Alex Semin hate.

The dude carried the second line for years while rarely playing with a legit 2C. He’s a big reason the Capitals weren’t a one line team.

He had all the talent in the world and he produced like it.

View attachment 730207

He was also 7th in 5v5 points/60 over the 2007-11 time span, behind only Crosby, both Sedins, Ovechkin, Malkin, and Gaborik. How much better should he have been?!

It’s a shame he got that wrist injury and was never the same player. But as Chubbs from Happy Gilmore says “It’s all in the wrist”

 

[Carlzner]

Shattenkirk

 

[Ridley Simon]

Jagr
Tocchet
Ranford
Cooke
Erat
Volchkov
Coach Oates
Coach Forsythe
Coach Murray
Last 4 yrs of McPhee’s GM tenure

 

[IafrateOvie34]

I love both Ovi and Semin, but playoff OT winners is not a compelling argument.

You know who has multiple playoff OT goals?
Elsa Tikkanen, same guy who missed a completely empty net in a SCF game for us against Detroit.

You know which other legends don’t have a playoff OT goal to their names?

Mario Lemieux and Gordon Howe, best players of all time aside from Gretzky.

I love Tikkanen as an Oiler! He was barely able to skate by the time he was a Cap lol. What a super pest he was.

 

[Holtbyisms]

Troy Brouwer
Troy Brouwer
Troy Brouwer
Troy Brouwer
Troy Brouwer
Troy Brouwer
Troy Brouwer
Troy Brouwer
Troy Brouwer
Broy Trouwer

 

[IafrateOvie34]

I know I"m going to miss a few, but here it goes.

1. Jagr (One of my all time most loathed players in the NHL)
2. Adam Oates as a coach (Most folks know the answer)
3. Kiwi (Shouldn't have played in the NHL)
4. Mantha (Poor work ethic and wasted assets to get him)
5. Shattenkirk (Highly overrated and one dimensional)
6. Erat (Washed up and only scored one goal which was an EN)
7. Sloan (Yes, we were that bad on defense during early Ovy years)
8. Corvo (Waste of TDL trade)
9. Jeff Schultz (Happy he got a SC, but hated him as a Cap)
10. Kevin Hatcher (Talented but hated his attitude)

A few others could be added to this list. It was hard to incorporate the 80s and early 90s guys due to work ethic. Reirden would be on this list if he wasn't part of the 2018 coaching staff. It was really tough to not add Lavi. Lots of goalies could make the list. GMGM isn't on this list due to some picks, however I attribute them to the scouting staff. I really don't like GMGM.

Ok mine is probably true hockey future style:

#1 Alexandre Volchkov - Three games played no points plus my life lost stat watching post draft.
#2 Jim Carey - Pet Detective enough said.
#3 JF Fortin - My hatoraid on 'wheel wheel wheel' is strong.
#4 Brad Church/Miika Elomo - Two first rounders in the same draft two games a piece.
#5 Sasha Pokulok/Joe Finley - I still wonder if the Caps had drafted better post lockout at the time how it would have impacted that rebuild.

Need to dig deep on the next five.

I almost put some of those on my list. Good grief we wasted some first rounders back then.

 

[IafrateOvie34]

Jagr, Brouwer, Laich, and Schultz.

Jagr is really the only one that should be universal imo. Cooke has 17 games here, I can't really count him. Man didn't even have a cup of coffee here, he's not our issue.

Agreed. I picked mine mostly on performance, well most of them. If we're talking scandals etc well the list would certainly be different.

 

[IafrateOvie34]

1. Mike Green— I blame him for that Derek Stepan game 7 loss which was the most devastating loss for me as a Caps fan. If memory serves and please correct me if I’m wrong but that dildo was in the box comes out body slams someone and goes immediately back in the box and they tied the game. I was drunk so I could be misremembering.

2. Adam Oates (coach edition)

3. Jeff Schultz
4. Martin Erat
5. Troy Brouwer
6. Radko Gudas
7. Anthony Mantha
8. Kevin Shattenkirk
9. Milan Jurcina
10.Dustin Penner

Not sure how I missed Green. I never liked him, however he did have some positives. Forgot about Pancakes too.

 

[usiel]

Basically yeah. I realize it might be a bit petty but a) it's Pitt, and b) I dunno, I just started disliking him after that. Fehr finding success there was also annoying but it didn't bother me as much for whatever reason

If I recall correctly the Caps were not going to resign him anyways so for that tempers things for me at least. He did go on to be more productive than I thought he would be over there.

 

[JohnCarlsaurus]

If I recall correctly the Caps were not going to resign him anyways so for that tempers things for me at least. He did go on to be more productive than I thought he would be over there.

That's true. Well not just productive but a better player overall, in particular I saw less costly mistakes there

 

[Acallabeth]

I only started really watching NHL after the lockout, so I don't relly associate Jagr with the Caps.

I look back at nearly all former Caps through the Cup prism. A-holes like Gudas and Cooke are obviously shame of the NHL, and Adam 'I know D' Oates is still frustrating as hell, but having won in 2018, recalling Mike Green recieveing 5 straight penalties in a PO game, TFS playing on a 'stacked' team or Brouwer throwing hits that wouldn't hurt a centennarian mostly brings a nostalgic smile up.

 

[Ovechkins Wodka]

Troy Brouwer
Troy Brouwer
Troy Brouwer
Troy Brouwer
Troy Brouwer
Troy Brouwer
Troy Brouwer
Troy Brouwer
Troy Brouwer
Broy Trouwer

I cant hate Troy for his walk off last second Winter Classic goal at Nats park. That was a great Caps moment.

 

[Midnight Judges]

I can’t for the life of me understand the Alex Semin hate.

Hate is definitely too strong of a word, but is there anyone who actually thinks Alex Semin maximized his (immense) talents and put forth his best effort?

Wasn't he a smoker?

 

[Holtbyisms]

I cant hate Troy for his walk off last second Winter Classic goal at Nats park. That was a great Caps moment.

It was but he was completely worthless otherwise. He got credit for so many checks but really he just lightly leaned into the guy almost as if he was looking to pad his stats. My favorite was how he fired 3 in every 4 one timers from the slot over the net. What a fleecing of a trade to get rid of him though.

 

[kicksavedave]

Hate is definitely too strong of a word, but is there anyone who actually thinks Alex Semin maximized his (immense) talents and put forth his best effort?

Wasn't he a smoker?

 

[Hivemind]

Hate is definitely too strong of a word, but is there anyone who actually thinks Alex Semin maximized his (immense) talents and put forth his best effort?

Wasn't he a smoker?

Ovechkin chugs coca-cola, eats Mama Lucia's pasta, and is known to frequent Hookah lounges in his spare time. Who cares?

Semin had 408 points in 469 games for the Capitals. 386 points in 417 games if you remove his 19 year old rookie, pre-lockout season on a god awful team. A 0.925 point/game pace. He was ahead of Patrick Kane, Patrick Marleau, Rick Nash, and Eric Staal in terms of points/game in that period. He was right on par with Jaromir Jagr and peak Brad Richards (with a lot more goal scoring than Richards). Yeah, I think he did pretty darn close to maximizing his immense talents.

To quote from @twabby earlier in the thread - "He was also 7th in 5v5 points/60 over the 2007-11 time span, behind only Crosby, both Sedins, Ovechkin, Malkin, and Gaborik. How much better should he have been?!"

 

[Misery74]

I was torn between him and ribero.

Remember though, the enormous net? Biggest shank in Caps history.

But Brouwers was god awful too.

Thank god for 2018.

 

[sycamore]

Ovechkin chugs coca-cola, eats Mama Lucia's pasta, and is known to frequent Hookah lounges in his spare time. Who cares?

Just an aside, but, Donald Trump does about the same, and he's 77! How are some of these people still alive?

 

[Acallabeth]

Hate is definitely too strong of a word, but is there anyone who actually thinks Alex Semin maximized his (immense) talents and put forth his best effort?

We can speculate on that or philosophize whether personality and great health are parts of talent, but, as others have pointed out, Semin was really good. His 40 goal season is often considered his peak, but he was even better the year before, scoring on a 100+ point pace, good for 6th in the NHL (4th if we remove players with<20 games), and going PPG in playoffs. Semin gave the Caps several great to world class seasons while being employed as a secondary scorer, I understand he might have been a frustrating player, but it's a bit sad when people put him near Jagr and Adam Oates and claim that he was a player impossible to win Cup with. Like, they won with Kuznetsov, but couldn't with Semin?