Comments on: Making Right in the Rafters on the Right Wing

By: Re-evaluating retired numbers of the Washington Capitals « the red skate

Re-evaluating retired numbers of the Washington Capitals « the red skate — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 04:56:32 +0000

By: mark

mark — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 15:28:43 +0000

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.

By: Gumpper

Gumpper — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 13:56:14 +0000

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.

By: Grooven

Grooven — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 04:07:35 +0000

Thanks Who knew I had it in me?

By: pucksandbooks

pucksandbooks — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 03:42:47 +0000

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.

By: Grooven

Grooven — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 02:23:34 +0000

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.)

By: valleycapfan

valleycapfan — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 18:38:56 +0000

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.

By: Section 117

Section 117 — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 18:15:54 +0000

“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.

By: JR

JR — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 17:55:14 +0000

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.

By: Dave Dragon

Dave Dragon — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 15:08:36 +0000

Retiring #11 to the rafters. kinda sad. Dave