On Frozen Blog

Making Right in the Rafters on the Right Wing

By The OFB Team 3 September, 2008

Something felt very very right about the Capitals retiring Dale Hunter’s number back in March 2000, and my¬†hunch is that a similar sense of appropriateness will accompany the retiring of Mike Gartner’s no. 11 this December. The Caps announced yesterday that they would be retiring Mike Gartner’s sweater then.
Huntsy was the greatest captain in Capitals’ history (and still is), and his was a career iconic in its emblem of old time hockey. Garts is bettered as¬†the most prolific right wing in¬†Caps’ history only by Peter Bondra, he is already a member of the pro hockey Hall of Fame, and he was a star hockey player in red, white, and blue at a time when Washington really didn’t know how to acknowledge stars in hockey. He will receive his just star status here on December 28.
I forget who said it — it may have been Ken Dryden — that great skaters aren’t developed, they’re born. You couldn’t have watched Mike Gartner without noticing how extraordinary a skater he was. Beyond his blinding speed — and for my money, he was faster than Peter Bondra — there was an effortless but nonetheless¬†technical brilliance to his skating, one that certainly seemed genetic. When I authored a series of critiques of¬†the NHL’s decision last summer to jettison the traditional hockey sweater in favor of its present Amish-confining look, it was with a profound and lasting association of watching Mike Gartner’s three Caps’ colors¬†flutter like a flag in a coastline gale as he power-glided past well-positioned defenders, for 10 years here in D.C.¬†It’s sad for me to think that until the present fashion fad fades contemporary youths won’t have that special association.
When a hockey player skates as Mike Gartner did, in his uniform he ought to look distinctive out on the sheet from his peers.
Mike Gartner scored 708 goals in his NHL career, and nearly 400 of them here in Washington. You’re damned right he deserves what’s coming to him December 28.
Still, there are those in hockey who would dispute both Gartner’s number retiring by the Caps and his Hall of Fame selection. To them I would address this question: if on the day of Gartner’s drafting by the Caps in 1979 — on that very day — you could have accurately crystal balled no. 11’s playing 19 seasons and scoring more than 700 goals in the NHL, what would you have said about his career that day? That it was¬†. . . alright?
Garts played¬†seven of¬†his 19 seasons¬†in All Star¬†fashion, but he along with Larry Murphy was especially associated with the Caps’ ’80s playoff failures.¬†He played on six Caps’ clubs that ever seemed doomed come springtime. And so along with Murphy he¬†was dealt by the Caps¬†for Dino Ciccarelli and Bob Rouse in 1989.
It was one of the more intriguing trades in Caps’ history. With the benefit of hindsight it looks like a no-brainer loser for the Caps — two Hall of Famers dealt away in the prime of their careers for two very nice hockey players.¬†And were David Poile awarded a do-over of that deal, the wager here is that he’d keep his two Hall of Famers. But in the maddening moments of the Caps’ ’80s playoff collapses, some shakeup was deemed necessary. In pro sports, perception is often reality, and in the heartbreak of the postseason moment circa 1989, it just seemed like Garts would light the lamp October through March just fine, then pepper Billy Smith’s pads when it counted most.¬†¬†
In a very real sense Gartner and Murphy were scapegoated for Caps’ team failures two decades ago. This December 28 is partly about reconciling that unfairness.¬†¬†
Just as important as Gartner’s sweater retiring is the accompanying sense that stability and order¬†are arriving to the totality of the Capitals’ operations. Loose ends are getting tied up.¬†Greats from the past¬†who’ve gone¬†under-mentioned or altogether forgotten are being brought back into the fold.¬†It was magnificent to see Bengt Gustafsson in Verizon Center last season. It’s been cathartic to see Rod Langway involved again in team functions.¬†This season Garts is at long last getting his much deserved due. That gorgeous new center-ice video screen at Verizon Center is sure to show¬†highlights of no. 11’s magnificent career here¬†on December 28; newer Caps’ fans in attendance then are in for a treat.¬†
HockeyWashington has greatness in¬†its present and rafter-raising heroism in its past. The two are converging magnificently these days.

11 Comments

TG wrote:

I really think that trade was one of Poile’s kinder moves. Murphy was bearing the brunt of the fans’ displeasure. (Until the idiots started doing it to all former Caps, the “whoop” call was solely for Murphy.) But I never understood that blame. After all, it’s not Murphy’s fault that the best power play the esteemed Murray brothers could come up with was to have four guys pass it around until it went to Murphy at the point who was instructed to shoot it. Even though EVERY SINGLE PERSON IN THE STANDS AND ON THE ICE knew that that was the plan, that’s what the Caps insisted on doing. *sigh*
And Gartner didn’t seem to be able to raise his play in the playoffs. But he certainly wasn’t the only one on the team that spit the bit on a regular basis come springtime.

3 September, 2008 at 8:24 am | Permalink
Dave Dragon wrote:

Retiring #11 to the rafters. kinda sad.
Dave

3 September, 2008 at 11:08 am | Permalink
JR wrote:

At first I was enjoying this read, but now I’m a little pissed looking back at those teams from 84-86. FOUR Hall of Famers (Gartner, Langway, Murphy, Stevens). Supporting players like Gator Duchesne, Bengt Gustafsson, Dave Christian, Bob Gould, a young Kevin Hatcher. Way to piss away what should have been at least one, if not multiple Cups. Damn.

3 September, 2008 at 1:55 pm | Permalink
Section 117 wrote:

“You couldn‚Äôt have watched Mike Gartner without noticing how extraordinary a skater he was.”
Here here. Most 30 goal seasons, still holds some Caps records, and was the league’s fastest skater at 37. And yes, it still hurts when he was traded.

3 September, 2008 at 2:15 pm | Permalink
valleycapfan wrote:

Believe JR hit in on the head. It’s hard to look back on the talent on the mid-80s squads a wonder how they couldn’t get past the second round.
Can’t say I agree with retiring yet another Caps jersey. I’d like to see some more conference or, better yet, Stanley Cup banners before another jersey gets retired.
Gartner was a great talent, but I remember more clutch goals by Kelly Miller than I do by Garts, who seemed to get so many goals when the Caps were ahead by 3-1 rather than down by 3-1.

3 September, 2008 at 2:38 pm | Permalink
Grooven wrote:

Most know my feelings about retiring numbers.
However, a couple points I’d like to make in favor of honoring Gartner (not addressing the method of honoring).
I think in most cases, the issue of Cups as a determining factor is rediculous. Let us use a player as an example. Brett Hull. With all he did, if he’d stayed with the Blues, he still never would have won a Stanley Cup. One, two, a handful of talented players does not automatically a Stanley Cup win. Some teams just flop. Some teams just get beaten out by better teams. Or luck, or a ref-job or whatever else there is. There’s a reason it’s a hard award to win.
It wasn’t until Hull left the team via free agency that he was on a team that won a Cup. One by a disputed goal, and one on a team in which I who can barely skate could have won a Cup.
So now take Gartner, a player on a hockey team on its way to win a Cup that season and, not through his own actions but those of the owners, trade him away.
On the simple merit of his play, Gartner made the HHOF. On the simple merit of his play here, in DC, with the team we had at the time, and with what the league was then, he’s deserving an honor here in DC.
(Side note: Yes, 84-86 might’ve seemed like a waste of years. But let’s remember that 82-83 was the first year the Caps even made the playoffs — in their history. The Caps had some very talented players, but the league was a different entity then. With the whole different system of how teams build, and free agency, it’s easy to try to put today’s standards on what happened then. Yes, it sucked. And the year they should have won was 89-90, in my opinion.)

3 September, 2008 at 10:23 pm | Permalink
pucksandbooks wrote:

Grooven, you brought a commendable volume of thought and facts to our forum with your comment. In so doing, you bettered the thread. Just a personal thanks from me.

3 September, 2008 at 11:42 pm | Permalink
Grooven wrote:

Thanks Who knew I had it in me?

4 September, 2008 at 12:07 am | Permalink
Gumpper wrote:

While I applaud the retiring of Garts’ number, what the debate highlights is the need for a way of honoring great caps that don’t quite deserve the honor of having their number retired. A Caps Hall of Fame? Wall of Stars? Ring of Honor?b As pucksandbooks notes, it is great that the Caps have been mending fences with some of the team’s older stars. Gus is a great example of someone who, while not deserving of a retired number, should be honored and remembered as new generations of fans come into the fold.

4 September, 2008 at 9:56 am | Permalink
mark wrote:

Grooven’s right about 1989-90. That was the playoff year Langway’s OT winner helped the Caps beat Gartner’s New York Rangers — without Dino, whose injury allowed some guy named John Druce to grab the spotlight.
But I’m not sure they had it in them to go all the way. After beating the Devils and Rangers, they were swept in four games by the Bruins, who in turn were beat convincingly (4-1) by the Oilers.

4 September, 2008 at 11:28 am | Permalink
Re-evaluating retired numbers of the Washington Capitals « the red skate wrote:

6 September, 2008 at 12:56 am | Permalink

Making Right in the Rafters on the Right Wing

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