Ik herinner me lettend op Bondra in `94 en denkend, hoe de hel landden wij deze kerel, zo laat? Bondra’s discovery by then Caps’ scout Jack Button is the stuff of Entry Draft lore. Bonzai was the proverbial backwoods prospect, completely off of everybody’s radar, until Button got a tip and somehow found the slick-skating Slovak without a GPS. It was, hands down, Button’s greatest and most important scouting work for the Caps.

There’s no such thing as a Peter Bondra in a round eight of the NFL or NBA drafts (heck, the NBA doesn’t even have a round four anymore). I love that about hockey’s.

In our lifetime we may never see the likes of the ‘90 class again. Owen Nolan, Jaromir Jagr, Martin Brodeur, Petr Nedved, Doug Weight — gracious, Sergei Zubov went in round 5 that summer! After the Caps selected Bondra in round 8 they did ok in round 9, too: Ken Klee.

Fast forward to 1996. The leadup buzz with that draft surrounded a big-bodied, ungodly talented Russian power forward named Alexander Volchkov. (Our good friend JP exercises his inner DraftGeek with this update of Volchkov, one of the all-time Entry Draft marvels.) Without question there were scores of questions surrounding Volchkov’s commitment and heart — in hindsight, magnificently inpsired and well-placed ones — but there was no denying that in ‘96, Volchkov’s talent stood head and shoulders above his draft classmates. He was that tantalizing, once-in-decade-or-two talent that makes scouts and GMs drool. That he landed in Washington seemed a stunner of massive fortune to a franchise that by then had endured an unhealthy share of postseason misfortune. Volchkov and his dazzling skill set were worth taking a flyer on.

Some flyer. More like an airplane with icy wings and an engine that wouldn’t. But it’s hit-or-miss intrigue like Volchkov that adds additional flavor to the draft.

That ‘96 draft further tormented the Capitals and their fans with one Jaroslav Svejkovsky — he the scorer of four goals in 1997’s final regular season game in Buffalo. Who who watched that vintage performance would have thought that the apex of Yogi’s career? Alas, it was, but early that offseason more than a few DraftGeeks experienced irrational exuberance imagining the Caps the draft winners of ‘96 coming away with both Volchkov and Svejkovsky.

If 1990 was the NHL’s vintage year for prospects, 1996 was its white zinfandel — from a box.

2002’s draft was also supposed to be a lemon. That draft, conducted in Toronto, was the first I attended. Actually being in the building for a draft affords you a powerful and lasting sense of how much of a family celebration the draft is, parents and siblings by the thousands dressed in their Sunday finest, with camera flashes illuminating Air Canada Centre like cigarette lighters at a rock concert. On TV the draft is all about the players and the draft floor mass of scouts and managers on telephones and talking heads second guessing. In the stands it’s all about the biggest day in the lives of five thousand families.

‘02 was really panned for its lack of depth. And yet the Caps came away with Steve Eminger, Alexander Semin, Boyd Gordon, even Tomas Fleischmann eventually. The worst drafts still manage to produce players; ‘96 for instance delivered Dainius Zubrus.

By Draft 2003 — billed by insiders as a fair rival in talent to ‘90 — we’d evolved with technology to the point where DraftGeeks were well linked from Canada, Europe, and America with message board madness related to the draft. Hockeysfuture was exploding into the consciousness of future-minded puckheads. In the early spring of ‘03, Friday and Saturday nights for your blogger were laden with bottled beer and HF boards immersion. I was never happier.

Hockeysfuture has been a godsend for DraftGeeks, but there are enough of us that its server regularly crashes around 10:00 a.m. on draft mornings. I remember that agony, too. A religious rite at Hockeysfuture is the posting of serious-minded mock drafts. There is a stable of Tier I DraftGeek there who annually offer near pro scout quality stuff with their mocks. And there are genuine scouts who both read and post there, regularly.

It was only recently that we in the States began seeing the draft on TV. And now the draft has become enough of an event for the league that it receives prime time TV coverage, on Friday nights, with the NHL Network even picking up Saturday morning’s post-first round action. Heaven.

My favorite draft moment? A funny thing happened one super sunny April day in the District in 2004, not long after the Caps had basically bottomed out in the league standings: a ping pong ball bounced their way in the league’s New York office, awarding them a coveted Russian prospect who’d already made a name for himself as an organization-altering talent. I’ll remember the fortune of that day ’til they toss dirt over my casket. (And likely I’ll be buried clutching a mock draft for that year.)

The NHL Draft is about families who’ve dedicated so much of their lives to the cultivation of elite hockey talent, driving the family car through amazingly harsh northern winters — pre-dawn black ice and frozen door locks and ice-crusted windows for pre-school skates and homework over hot chocolate and other ice rink nutrition. It’s about an end-of-every-round dynamo Detroit confounding 29 other clubs with diamond-in-the-rough picks guiding them to annual contention and, every few years, Lord Stanley. It’s about a “weak” draft delivering, in round six, a pint-sized MVP from the Quebec League. It’s about the CHL versus U.S. college hockey. It’s about wheeling and dealing.

No wonder I’m addicted.

Filed in Alexander Ovechkin, DraftGeek, Entry Draft, George Michael, Hardcore Hockey Fans, Internet, Mathieu Perreault, Media, Morning cup-a-joe, National Hockey League, Peter Bondra, Prospects, TV, Training Camp, WRC, Washington Capitals| Permalink| Comments (12)

The End of the Magical 1998 Run to the Finals

By OrderedChaos (Mike Rucki)
Tuesday, June 17, 2008

We recently reminisced about the ten-year anniversary of a golden moment: when Joe Juneau’s goal propelled the Washington Capitals to their first Stanley Cup Finals appearance.

Today, Steinz looks back on D.C. Sports Bog to the day the run ended with excerpts from the Post’s coverage 10 years ago. It’s a good read and, lest you think it’s a depressing topic, Tony Kornheiser (gasp!) put it in perspective:

The fact is that the Capitals made hockey matter in this city for the first time. The hundreds of shots Kolzig turned away, the playoff goals that Bellows, Sergei Gonchar, Adam Oates, Todd Krygier, Joe Juneau and Peter Bondra scored — even the shot that Tikkanen missed — they’ll all be remembered fondly, long after the pain of losing four straight to Detroit is forgotten.

While I still cringe at the seared-on-my-cerebellum image of Tik’s yawning-net miss, I have to agree with Kornheiser’s overall sentiment. 10 years later — when a Finals appearance for the Caps with a very different outcome seems not only likely, but imminent — I think we can safely look back fondly on the Caps’ far-away-yet-so-close brush with the Cup, with the strong belief of better things to come.

Filed in '98, Dale Hunter, Dan Steinberg, Peter Bondra, Tony Kornheiser, Washington Capitals, Washington Post, Washington the Hockey Town| Permalink| Comments (7)

Ain’t No Party Like a ‘Vechkin Party

By OrderedChaos (Mike Rucki)
Sunday, June 15, 2008

Ovechkin practices his mind-reading (Photo: Mike Rucki)
WASHINGTON, D.C.–Alexander Ovechkin is a machine. On the ice and off he constantly gives his all, to the delight of Capitals fans and lovers of hockey everywhere.

Yet even Ovechkin looked a bit tired on Friday night at the party in his honor at chic D.C. restaurant Teatro Goldoni. Given his recent schedule, that’s no surprise. When asked what his favorite part of Thursday night was, he replied, “Finally going to sleep,” and seemed at least half-serious. Still, Ovechkin gamely posed for photos and gave a bevy of interviews — he even dedicated 5 minutes to an impromptu blogger roundtable consisting of me, Greg “Puck Daddy” Wyshynski, and Jon “JP” Press.

Wyshynski mentioned to Ovechkin that one of the 134 voters did not give him a Hart vote despite each voter picking their top 5 candidates, a revelation that seemed to surprise him as much as it surprised us earlier. After some consideration as to who the ‘hater’ might be, Ovechkin jokingly replied, “Um… maybe Tarik?” Tarik got just as good a laugh out of the joke when we relayed it to him later in the evening.

Washington Capitals owner Ted Leonsis summed up Ovechkin’s attitude perfectly as he addressed the festive crowd early in the evening: “On the way home I asked Alex what he thought about the awards. He said he’d trade them all for one Stanley Cup.”

The best “frozen moment” of the evening was seeing three decades’ worth of great Capitals together. Rod Langway, Peter Bondra, and Alex Ovechkin could arguably be considered the best Caps of the 80s, 90s, and 2000s respectively. Seeing Bondra and Langway celebrating Ovechkin’s quad-fecta of awards warmed my Capitals heart.

Rod Langway, Alex Ovechkin, and Peter Bondra (photo: Mike Rucki)

Phil Pritchard was there as well, the Hockey Hall of Fame Resource Centre Vice President and Curator — better known to hockey fans as the white-gloved caretaker of Lord Stanley’s Cup. Engaging and friendly to all, Pritchard too looked a bit haggard as he watched over the four awards. Yet his passion for hockey’s precious metal was always clear.

These trophies, unlike the Stanley Cup, don’t travel with the winners for the most part. Rather than Ovechkin escorting them to Moscow, for instance, Pritchard had an 8-hour post-party drive to bring the hardware back to the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto. The trophies will return to the D.C. area for opening night of the 2008-09 season and likely for a visit to the Capitals’ training facility at Kettler some time during training camp.

I remembered to bring my Ross replica trophy for a photo op with the real thing — these detailed replicas were sold at Canadian McDonald’s locations in 2003; I picked up the Ross in Halifax. Six of the trophies had replicas that year and, according to Pritchard, the plan to make replicas of the remaining trophies the following season was derailed by the lockout.

I shall call it... Mini-Ross

I also have a Stanley Cup replica ready to pose for a similar photo in DC with the real Cup… hopefully soon.

Continue reading ›

Filed in Alexander Ovechkin, George McPhee, Mike Vogel, NHL Trophies, Nate Ewell, Peter Bondra, Rod Langway, Spike Parker, Ted Leonsis, Washington Capitals| Permalink| Comments (19)

Washington Capitals 1998 Playoffs Montage

By The OFB Team
Wednesday, June 4, 2008

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_xVf_5DxLg

Filed in '98, Boston Bruins, Buffalo Sabres, Chris Simon, Dale Hunter, Eastern Conference, Joe Juneau, Joe Reekie, Olaf Kolzig, Ottawa Senators, Peter Bondra, Richard Zednik, Sergei Gonchar, Stanley Cup Playoffs, Video Clips, Washington Capitals| Permalink| Comments (3)

The Lethal Mr. Brooks

By pucksandbooks
Saturday, March 15, 2008

Brooks Laich - bio pic from the Washington CapitalsThe Capitals’ communications team Saturday morning passed along some eye-opening data for Brooks Laich, who didn’t have a two-goal game in his first 214 NHL games but has three in his last nine outings. Laich has 10 goals and 12 points in the Capitals’ last 12 games, and now ranks third on the team with 19 goals. He entered this season with just 15 goals in 151 career NHL games.

The Capitals acquired Laich from the Ottawa Senators on February 18, 2004, in a somewhat controversial trade for a fella named Peter Bondra. Coverage of the deal was famous/infamous for camera shots of Bondra in tears out at Piney Orchard and Internet message boards littered with “Brooks who?” sentiments. Four years later, all of hockey is beginning to learn who Brooks Laich is.

At the time of the deal, Laich, then just 20, had played a grand total of one NHL game, and in the 2003-04 season, tallied a modest 16 goals for Binghamton and Portland in the American Hockey League. Bondra would go on to add 52 goals in a little more than two seasons in Ottawa, Atlanta, and Chicago before retiring. Laich, who won’t turn 25 until this summer, will score his 20th goal of the season any shift now, and by all appearances, he has a good many more ahead of him in his NHL career. He’s a magnificent skater, a grinder with soft gloves, a heart-and-soul type.

He’s particularly comfortable doing the dirty work in front of the opposition’s net.

“If you want money, you go to the bank. If you want bread, you go to the bakery. If you want goals, you go to the net,” Laich said.

Who in hockey back in February 2004 would have identified McPhee’s dealing of Bondra as lopsided . . . in favor of the Caps? That 2004 deal, incidentally, also brought from Ottawa a second-round pick, and in the summer of 2005 George McPhee flipped it to Colorado at the Entry Draft for a late first-round selection that day.

Joe Finley.

Filed in Brooks Laich, George McPhee, Joe Finley, NHL Trades, Peter Bondra, Washington Capitals| Permalink| Comments (12)

Buzz Trades, a Big Game, a Big-Buzz Atmosphere Stream of Consciousness

By pucksandbooks
Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Was in the then MCI Center the night of March 13, 2001 — also deadline day — when earlier in the day GMGM dealt Zednik and Bulis and a pick to Montreal for Zubrus and Linden, and the mood in last night’s rink felt larger and more significant . . . that dealmaking carried a component of risk; this was pure aggression with minimal assets heading out . . . the better comparison may be with March 1997, carried out not in a single day but over the course of a couple of weeks, when McPhee, in his first season on the job, added Brian Belllows and Esa Tikkanen . . . Enjoyed most of all throughout the late Tuesday afternoon and evening messages from friends and strangers who were busy with business throughout the day and wholly unaware of the deadline day madness that enveloped the Caps, who arrived at the news late and lavished it (in my email inbox) with happy obscenities and exclamation points . . . Mike Vogel, looking terrifically telegenic, rinkside on Comcast in the 5:00 hour to help analyze the breaking big news, me comparing his polished appearance before TV DC with his pre-sunrise, blogging-through-the-Moscow-night, comrade shagginess with me during last year’s Worlds . . . big bonus: dinner with Ron Weber in the press room on such a big day . . . look at all the media big wigs who show up when hockey creates the day’s sports buzz: George Solomon of the Post, three Times’ reporters, the one-time Queen of OFB even, I think I may have even seen Arch Campbell in Bruce Boudreau’s post-game presser . . . Ted’s box is filled as I hadn’t seen it since perhaps opening night . . . Commissioner Bettman, in his pre-game presser: “This is a team that has been built on prospects and for the future” . . . He’s in town for some chit-chat on the Hill about drugs and athletes, and he mentions “players as role models” and a clear concern that his sport not be painted with a broad brush of they-all-do-it cynicism: “What goes on in one sport doesn’t [necessarily] go on in others” . . . “We’ve had one player in two-and-a-half years caught [for performance enhancing drugs],” and he references the tough remedies that face the offenders — a quarter-of-a-season suspension, three-quarter-of-a-season, three strikes and you’re out . . . and I think, Bud Selig he ain’t, but it’s also true that this sport has a much different relationship with its players union than all the rest . . . He is also asked about the prevalence of players exercising the “No” in their no-trade clauses: “Nobody makes a club give a player a no-trade clause” . . . I ask the commissioner about Ted’s expressed wish to take the team on a goodwill tour of Russia, “sooner rather than later,” and he expresses cautious support. When he references what a “big deal” it’s going to be for Jagr to return to Prague next season, I think I have my answer about the likelihood of Ovechkin’s returning to Moscow . . . He also acknowledges that the league today doesn’t have the relationship with the Russian Hockey Federation it once did . . . Even the arena’s game night personnel working in catering and as ushers seem buoyed by the day’s big news — they are all chipper and wide smiling in every encounter. . . On a day like today I appreciate the professionalism and the quasi-renaissance of renewed hockey coverage by our town’s two print beat reporters, both of whom blogged and filed on Tuesday until their fingers were sore, giving Washington hockey fans timely and superb breaking news; following Corey’s blog a bit during the game, I chuckled at his reflection “at some point I’ll eat” . . . Midway through the game I have a minimial amount of notes and reactions recorded, as friendly folks keep bending my ear for reaction and basic “Can you believe all this?” empathy, vanquishing my between-periods composition, and I relish it . . . Peter Bondra is back in the press box tonight, and on the ice sheet below the young prospect he was traded for, Brooks Laich, is having a career night, and I just sorta like the symmetry of that . . . in the second row of the press box, where the Caps’ communications staff works each game, I see each and every one of them, no one missing, and I think there’s so much work for them to do on a day like this they all have to be here, but it’s probably also the case that such a day makes a Caps’ staffer proud to have the careers they do, and they want to be in the rink, well dressed, helpful, and full of good cheer . . . very loud rock music typically greets bloggers and press in the post-game locker room after victories, but tonight it’s quiet, and I infer that the day’s drama has drained the entire team, that they want as efficient an encounter with media as possible, hot showers, and a race home to crash in bed . . . the circle of cameras and microphones and scribes around Kolzig is unlike anything I have seen in two years — it’s five-deep at turns, and Tarik has to make like a gymnast to get his recorder squeezed into some open space around Kolzig’s locker . . . no one much asks Olie the Goalie about the game, instead, The Trade . . . question after question on the trade: was he shocked? was he upset? how can it possibly work with three netminders? did the team approach him about a trade? . . . he says, among other things, “The thing that surprises me is that there’s three goalies here” . . . Coach Boudreau acknowledges the challenge of managing three netminders, but he dismisses a contention that the day’s developments insult the greatest goalie in Caps’ history; he maintains that the consumate professional will rise to meet the new challenge . . . Here’s hoping Fedorov this spring is Bellows of ‘98, Matt Cooke that year’s Esa Tikkanen, Olie Kolzig . . . Olie Kolzig.

Filed in Brooks Laich, Bruce Boudreau, Corey Masisak, Dainius Zubrus, Gary Bettman, George McPhee, Lindsay Czarniak, Mike Vogel, Morning cup-a-joe, NHL Trades, Olaf Kolzig, Peter Bondra, Print, Tarik El-Bashir, WRC, Washington Capitals, Washington Post, Washington Times| Permalink| Comments (8)

In-Game Knee-Jerks & Notes: Caps-Isles, 2/20

By pucksandbooks
Wednesday, February 20, 2008

I’m not one to traffic much in the off-ice affairs of star athletes, at least not in published fashion, but with local media’s over-the-top coverage today of Alex’s overseas ingenue, there was for me a slight sense of light and welcome distraction from the day-in, day-out drain of the team’s postseason pursuit. Another positive spin on the matter: when was the last time you saw the Washington Post take inches worth of interest in the romantic runnings of a Caps’ player?

With a victory tonight the Caps will equal exceed the total number of wins for 2006-07. They can also go three games over .500 for the first time since . . . the season’s opening three games.

With big rugged bodies Andy Sutton and Brendan Witt out of the Isles’ lineup tonight, it’s going to be interesting to see what manner of net-crashing Bruce Boudreau asks his players to undertake. The predatory nature of NHL teams is perhaps best illustrated in a situation such as tonight’s between the Caps and Isles. Earlier today the Caps returned two young and inexperienced players to Hershey, Eric Fehr and Sami Lepisto. With tonight’s being the team’s only game of the week before Saturday, Boudreau appears to want to exploit the Isles’ backline vulnerability with a more veteran lineup.

Lunar Eclipse outside Verizon Center (photo by Mike Rucki)Thirty minutes before faceoff, the Isles’ blueline tonight apparently will consist of: Radek Martinek - Freddie Meyer; Marc-Andre Bergeron - Bryan Berard; and Aaron Johnson - Drew Fata (Rico relation, yes). Those very inexperienced final two may be partnered with more veteran blueliners, or Coach Ted Nolan may up to seriously limit their minutes and try and go with just two defense pairings as long as possible.

We’re within a week of the NHL trade deadline. To deal or not to deal, if you’re GMGM? It’s a question I’ll try and place before a few scribes up high during the intermissions.

Nolan’s opening D pairing: Martinek and Meyer.

2:17 in: Sniping Semin lights lamp on a breakaway, off a fine head-man feed from Matt Pettinger. 1-0 home team.

Milan Jurcina’s struggles this season — he’s been wildly inconsistent from week to week, offering physically dominating performances one night and inexplicably mistake-prone ones following — I think need to be corrected if the team is to do anything more than make a ceremonial postseason performance.

13:37: Brooks Laich it appears to earn a tip-in power play tally off a Mike Green point wrister. Olie is announced with a secondary assist! 2-0 Caps, and while the shots are 7-6 in favor of the Isles, in all other respects this appears to be a game that the caps ought to win comfortably. This blogger can’t remember the last game the Caps won comfortably.

2-0 Caps after one. Continue reading ›

Filed in Alexander Ovechkin, Alexander Semin, Brooks Laich, Chris Simon, Kevin Kaminski, Matt Pettinger, Milan Jurcina, National Hockey League, New York Islanders, Nicklas Backstrom, Olaf Kolzig, Peter Bondra, Viktor Kozlov, Washington Capitals| Permalink| Comments (11)

Watching Hockey with Peter the Great

By pucksandbooks
Thursday, January 10, 2008

Morning Cup-A-JoeIt was a thrill for me to run into Peter Bondra in the Verizon Center press box Wednesday night, not only because this represented the first time I’d seen him since he’d retired from hockey but because I was so curious about his new role as General Manager for the Slovakian national team, which will compete in the World Championships this spring in Canada, in Halifax and Quebec City. He was gracious enough to answer every question I put to him during the first intermission, and answer my questions with considerable thought and reflection.

But before I could ask my first question, an elated fan partitioned off from the press box but recognizing Peter shouted out to him and secured his attention, with which he appealed to the Caps’ great to come out to the Gardens Ice House in Laurel, Maryland, for some six a.m. pickup hockey during winter weekdays. Here is what you might appreciate knowing about Peter’s passion for playing hockey, today: he scribbled down the times for the ice slots. Peter and his family continue to live in suburban Maryland.

Bondra acknowledged that he was attending last night’s game to take a close look at three Slovakian players: Marek Svatos, Peter Budaj, and Milan Jurcina. Budaj of course didn’t play, but Bondra had plans to talk to him after the game. In his reflections on Jurcina, it was clear that Bondra had watched him play plenty this season.

“Jurcina started playing early in the season for Glen Hanlon 22, 24 minutes, but unfortunately his game came a little bit down because of confidence, but now he’s showing again, playing well, getting ice time, so I think it’s a good time for him.”

Bondra is leading the Slovakian effort in international hockey at a particularly opportune time. When I asked him to identify Slovaks who’d caught his attention with their play in the NHL this season, he smiled widely and ran off a long list of high achievers: “I can name a lot of them . . . Marian Hossa, [Marian] Gaborik, Pavol Demitra, Big Z — Zdeno Chara — . . . we have a good team. There’s a lot of good players but they’re young and they’re [also] experienced, so it’s a good mix.”

I asked him if having this year’s World Championships contested in North America, on NHL-sized sheets, would influence his selection of players.

“You always try to take your best players,” he told me. “But I also think it’s very good to have the championships in North America, it’s great for hockey and it’s good for Canada.

“We are making preparations [for the change]. We adjust, we change our system a little bit, because we are going to play on the small ice. We will try to practice on it and maybe have a few exhibition games.”

His next observation about Slovakia’s approach to these Worlds really caught my attention: “We will try to play American style.” Likely, he meant “North American” style, but perhaps not.

Slovakia will host the Worlds in 2011, and the Slovakian hockey leadership, Bondra told me, was today carefully attempting to identify young Slovakian talent with an eye toward assembling a distinctly strong roster for those games. Bondra’s contract as General Manager is for one year, after which he’ll be reviewed, but he made clear how much he is enjoying the job.

“My number one priority is my family, but after that, if everybody is happy, if both sides are happy, I will be more than happy to continue.”

Regularly during our chat many folks in the press box who recognized Peter came by and interrupted our chat, which was fine by me. George McPhee was talking with Blackhawks’ assistant GM Rick Dudley when the two arrived near us. McPhee, pointing to Bondra, said to the former Tampa GM of the late ’90s, “Remember this guy?”

Bondra deserves a hero’s welcome in Washington’s hockey rink. I concluded my inquires by asking him if being in hockey management helped lessen his missing of playing.

“Exactly, you hit the button. It’s hard playing hockey for so many years and suddenly being away from hockey. This is helping me, coming here, to get something I’m missing. It would be nice to [still] be playing, but . . . my injuries, my body, it was the right choice. Now I enjoy being around my family, I enjoy taking my son to his hockey game.”

“Do you get out on the ice with your children to help with their practices?” I asked as followup.

“Yes — I do I do I do I do!” he exclaimed with beaming smile.

Filed in Former Coaches & Players, IIHF, Morning cup-a-joe, OFB Interviews, Peter Bondra, Washington Capitals, World Championships| Permalink| Comments (6)

THN’s Top Ten

By DC Sports Chick
Monday, November 19, 2007

In celebration of their 60th anniversary, The Hockey News took a look at the top ten players for each team over the past sixty years.

Here is how THN contributer Peter Kerzel (who also wrote this year’s Caps’ preview for the THN Annual Yearbook) saw Washington’s Top Ten:

The Hockey News logo

  1. Peter Bondra
  2. Rod Langway
  3. Olaf Kolzig
  4. Mike Gartner
  5. Dale Hunter
  6. Kevin Hatcher
  7. Calle Johansson
  8. Bengt Gustafsson
  9. Scott Stevens
  10. Alex Ovechkin

Our own Gustafsson, who initially alerted us to the list, noted that Montreal’s top ten didn’t include Patrick Roy. (As Gustafsson said, it’s hard to move past Jacques Plante and Ken Dryden on that list.) Then he read on and discovered that Roy is #3 on the Colorado Avalanche’s top ten. Apparently the rank is, among other factors, based on a player’s time in each particular sweater, so there were a number of athletes who were listed more than once. These players included the following:

  • Dave Andreychuk (BUF, TB)
  • Rob Blake (COL, LA)
  • Andrew Brunette (ATL, MIN)
  • Pavel Bure (FLA, VAN)
  • Dany Heatley (ATL, OTT)
  • Sergei Fedorov (CLM, DET)
  • Ron Francis (CAR, PIT)
  • Wayne Gretzky (EDM, LA)
  • Glenn Hall (CHI, STL)
  • Arturs Irbe (CAR, SJ)
  • Ed Jovanoski (FLA, VAN)
  • Paul Kariya (ANA, NSH)
  • Pat LaFontaine (BUF, NYI)
  • Roberto Luongo (FLA, VAN)
  • Ziggy Palffy (LA NYI)
  • Jeremy Roenick (CHI, PHO)
  • Mark Messier (EDM, NYR)
  • Scott Niedermayer (ANA, NJ)
  • Scott Stevens (NJ, WAS)

So what do you think? Did The Hockey News miss anyone or include someone they shouldn’t have?

Thanks to Gustafsson for so diligently reading The Hockey News and passing along the information.

Filed in Alexander Ovechkin, Olaf Kolzig, Peter Bondra, The Hockey News, Washington Capitals| Permalink| Comments (9)

Poll: Bondra and the Hall of Fame

By The OFB Team
Thursday, November 1, 2007

Washington Capitals Sweater in the Hockey Hall of Fame

Will Peter Bondra earn admission into the Hockey Hall of Fame?
View Results
Filed in Hockey Hall of Fame, OFB Polls, Peter Bondra, Washington Capitals| Permalink| Comments (7)

Reminiscence and Appreciation: Peter the Great

By pucksandbooks
Thursday, November 1, 2007

Even in the prime of his career, there was a fairly pervasive sense that Peter Bondra, today the holder of six Washington Capitals’ offensive records, was never a member of the NHL’s elite class of superstar. Or even if he was one.

He was.

Truly, he was one of sports’ most anonymous superstars of the 1990s. I cannot recall even a modest ESPN feature segment showcasing his ample arsenal of sniping skills. This for the scorer of more than 500 NHL goals — most of them in bunches. And ESPN was the NHL’s broadcast home for almost the entirety of Bondra’s career.

No matter. He may have scored in record-setting fashion without media fanfare, but he surely secured the career-long, passionate appreciation of Caps’ fans.

BonzaiApproximately 95 percent of his 503 goals (472) were scored in a Caps’ sweater. He is remembered as fondly as he is by as many Caps’ fans as he is because in addition to scoring as frequently as he did, he did so with an endearing, infectious exuberance: there was artistry to his besting NHL goaltenders in elite fashion but also in the wide-eyed, even wider grinned, pressed-against-the-plexiglass manner which he celebrated with the home crowd.

Bondra’s place in the pantheon of all-time great Washington athletes is secure. He merits mentioning among the likes of Darrell Green, Walter Johnson, and Wes Unseld as a giant in athletic D.C.

A compelling case could be made for his classification as the Capitals’ all-time best player. Some of his offensive records (such as his 32 shorthanded goals) will withstand even Alexander Ovechkin’s special forces assault.

Peter Bondra retired from professional hockey this week. He was, from the finding of a single Caps’ scout (Jack Button), the greatest gift HockeyWashington ever received. Who would have imagined that such a slice of hockey heaven could be plucked from round seven (1990) of an entry draft?

Bondra ranks among the most popular players ever to wear a Caps’ sweater, and it was easy to understand his appeal: he didn’t just score lots and lots of goals, he did so with a sniper’s flair and a stallion’s speed. And in the immediate glow of the red lamp’s lighting and the shriek of the celebratory siren, he capped it off with his genuine exuberance. He invited the home crowd into his glee and in so doing nurtured a career-long connection with Caps’ fans. A half-inch of plexiglass ever separated Bonzai from them in the Capital Center and then MCI Center, but that physical barrier seemed only conceptual in his hundreds of celebrations over 14 years here.

In recent seasons I’d become distracted from my longstanding appreciation of Bonzai by some insiders’ reflections of intermittent acrimony between Bondra and the Caps as well as my conviction that he never should have worn any sweater but Washington’s. Management and the Bondra didn’t always see eye to eye, with blame likely shared by both sides. This, too, is part of his legacy in Washington. But now that I don’t have him any more, now that I can’t have him any more, I really miss him. Continue reading ›

Filed in Former Coaches & Players, Front Office, Hockey Heroes, Peter Bondra, Washington Capitals| Permalink| Comments (7)

Bonzai Officially Retires; becomes Team Slovakia GM

By OrderedChaos (Mike Rucki)
Monday, October 29, 2007

Long-time Washington Capital Peter Bondra has officially announced his retirement today. He takes of the mantle of General Manager for his native Slovakian National Team; he’ll be in Halifax for the IIHF World Championships in 2008. For more, click here.

UPDATE: Check out Ted Leonsis’s blog for his recent lunch with Bonzai and the Capitals’ discussions regarding “a series of things to do together” with him.

Filed in IIHF, Peter Bondra, Washington Capitals, World Championships| Permalink| Comments (8)

Morning Cup-a-Joe (2/1/07)

By pucksandbooks
Thursday, February 1, 2007

cupajoe.jpegAlexander Ovechkin’s 106 points as a rookie last season were historic not only by NHL rookie standards (bettered only by Teemu Selanne’s 132 points in ‘92-’93), but they announced the certain slaughter of the Caps’ all-time scoring record, currently held by Peter Bondra. AO began the ‘06-’07 season just on the outside of the top 50 scorers in team history — Doug Jarvis’ 112 points placed him at no. 50. Four months into his sophomore season AO has passed the likes of Keith Jones (no. 43), Darren Veitch (no. 40), Geoff Courtnall (no. 36), and Andrei Nikolishin (no. 32). He’ll pass no. 31 Al Iafrate any day now, but the best news is that he’s a virtual lock this season to bump Jaromir Jagr’s 201 points out of the top 30 in team history — for good.

Actually, Dainius Zubrus already has done that. Both Zubrus and Ovechkin will have moved into the team’s top 30 all-time scoring rankings this season.

Ovechkin’s scoring assault is all the more remarkable in light of the heavy checking he’s drawn in his first two seasons — especially last year, when the Caps were more or less an offensive army of one. As the team strengthens both up front and on the blueline in the near future AO’s numbers are likely only to improve.

Assuming reasonable-to-good health the remainder of this season and going forward, AO will move past Dino Ciccarelli, Jeff Halpern, Joe Juneau, Alan Haworth, and even Guy Charron next season. He’ll be on the cusp of breaking into the team’s top 15 scorers, all time, at the end of his third season in the NHL. And while the Caps don’t boast the offensive alumni of say the Wings or Habs, their top gunners are dotted with Hall enshrinement appointments down the road.

And AO’s making a mockery of their scoring feats.

At this pace, when is Ovechkin likely to pass Bondra’s 825 points? Assuming no gigantic leap into the 150-point realm — which is a feat I might not wager against with Nicklas Backstrom arriving soon — right around the time Ovechkin will be just entering his physical prime as a hockey player. Say 27 or 28.

I mentioned the role Ovechkin’s continued health will play in this offensive onslaught. Recall that by the end of last season a great many Caps’ fans and media suggested that Ovechkin’s bull-in-a-china-shop style doomed him to the injured reserve if he maintained it. Last season he played in 81 of the team’s 82 games. This season, he’s 51-for-51. It’s too early still to annoint the title of Iron Man on him, but his training, fitness, and nutrition from here on out are also likely to improve.

Peter Forsberg he ain’t.

Filed in Alexander Ovechkin, Morning cup-a-joe, Nicklas Backstrom, Peter Bondra, Washington Capitals| Permalink| Comments (3)

Morning Cup-a-Joe (1/31/07)

By pucksandbooks
Wednesday, January 31, 2007

cupajoe.jpegThesis: In his volume of natural ability, in the totality of his treachery, in his alternating sublime and show-stopping showcasing of sick skill, in his penchant, while sharing a sheet of ice with world-class, household name talent, for marginalizing them to the point of being away-from-the-action afterthoughts, and in this his January 2007, mid-winter’s full bloom declaration of dominance, a virtuosity free of vanity and instead organic in its ‘Oh My God!’-generating quality, Alexander Semin is, at the precocious age of 22, the most gorgeously gifted and dynamic offensive force ever to wear a Washington Capitals’ sweater.

And it isn’t even a close call.

Bondra: the north-south blazer with a great gift for scoring goals in bunches but rarely a game-dictating force, principally because he was, at best, an average passer.

Gartner: a North American version of Bondra.

Gustafsson: more a distributor than goal scorer.

Ovechkin: the complete power package of brilliance, and a wonderful compliment to his countryman Sasha Semin, but while a wonderful stickhandler in his own right, doesn’t rise to the rarefied realm of dastardly dangling that Alex II does.

The best direct comparison, in my humble judgment, is with another envy-inducing Russian set of hands: Alexei Kovalev.

One of my greatest frustrations with the MSM — and local MSM especially — is its conspicuous failure to chronicle an athlete’s arrival at greatness. And so in Semin’s case, what we’ve more or less seen in MSM coverage of him this season goes like this: (Ashburn, Va.) September — “Skilled Sourpuss Arrives in D.C. at Long Last.” An October hat trick was largely ignored, (the Skins were playing) when it should have sounded a stud’s alarm. Later the goals continued to pile up, and still we learned nothing new of their genesis.

To some extent, reporters are surrendering to Semin’s linguistic isolation, as if translators aren’t available. But let’s say for the sake of argument that he’s prickly with the press and altogether aloof. We hockey fans in this town haven’t seen the likes of his virtuosity, as ours, ever. There’s a remarkable story to tell about this kid’s game, file after file filled by inventories of his prodigy. Someone in the press with a fire lit under his hind quarters would go out and get it for us.

Or I will.

Filed in Alexander Ovechkin, Alexander Semin, Media, Morning cup-a-joe, Peter Bondra, Washington Capitals| Permalink| Comments (3)