Cap Of The Day: John Druce

JP – we’re in synch today. Without knowing you had posted this, I threw Druce’s name into the other chain for no other reason than nobody had written his name, and it just seemed that his lightning in a bottle playoff run needed to be acknowledged. All but shat myself when I exited and say you’d posted him as COTD. Thanks.

Was he the Caps version of Timmy Smith? You never saw him again after that playoff run…

A Vic Hadfield reference? Genius….

In the month of April, 1990, John Druce, not Wayne Gretzky, not Mark Messier, not anyone else, was the best hockey player in the world. :)

The years after his magical playoff appearance he scored 22 and 19 goals before getting hurt, which would nag him the rest of his career, as he played more than 60 games only once after that, when he played 77 for LA and Philly in 95-96.

Washington got the best years of John Druce, and certainly the best month!

Boy there were a LOT of guys in that 1985 draft that ended up playing for the Caps! Everyone from Benoit Hogue, John Druce, Calle Johansson , Randy Burridge, Ulf Dahlen, Tom Chorske, Yvon Corriveau, Bill Ranford, Joe Reekie and the immortal Jamie Huscroft. For an interesting side note, Paul Maurice was the very last pick of that draft.

“Druce on the Loose” (Hockey news headline circa 1990)

At the start of the Cup Finals, when I was still a lad, I wore a sandwich board to Piney Orchard that read “Will Work for Tickets.” Naturally, I drew the first “t” in the shape of our favorite stylized stick.

For some reason, I also taped a bunch of former Caps’ autographed cards to the board, along with the inscription “Choke on This.” At the center lay a Druce card, surrounded by a tombstone reading “R.I.P.” The whole thing made no sense.

So many panicked fans asked me if Druce had died that I began to realize: we should celebrate this chapter in our history, not seek to overcome it. Charles Mann then asked to interview me and I obliged, pondering this lesson on camera. As he asked what proved to be his final question, a young man to my left belted out: “F*ck John Druce!”

Clearly audible in the segment that aired. Wherever you are, John, I’m sorry.

/arrives at cul-de-sac on Memory Lane

Right? Throw in a dolphin that jumps through the window and eats Yogi’s head and you’ve got yourself a Family Guy.

Let’s go Caps!