With the Capitals on their bye week and no hockey in the District until after the All-Star break, we thought it might be fun to try something different in lieu of our daily Noon Number… enjoy!
There are so many things that make being a sports fan fun. Obviously the most fun, as we discovered in 2018, is getting to see your team win it all. Short of something so rare and wonderful as that, however, we can take joy in other aspects like watching some of the all-time greats play, appreciating a great season by your team even it falls short… and sometimes, yes, in channeling our energy toward a keen dislike of opposing players, teams and coaching staffs.
Throughout the history of the franchise, there have been plenty of people at whom we aim our displeasure — but who forms the top tier? Who makes up a Mount Rushmore of villains? And who sits atop the heap as the #1 most villainous of villains?
We humbly offer up a bracket of 16 names, pulled from all eras of Caps history, and put the question to you: which of these people ranks as the rankest, most vile of them all?
Here are our contestants, in alphabetical order:
Rod Brind’amour
Most of the people on this list have crafted their reputation as a Caps’ villain as either a player or a coach. Brind’amour holds the rare, impressive distinction of building up that rep as a player and then carrying it over to his role behind the bench, as we saw in the build-up to and aftermath from the Caps’ first-round series against his Hurricanes. It sure takes a brave man to yell at Tom Wilson in a suit from behind a bench with 20 players, several officials, and silly NHL “rules” separating the two of you…
Ryan Callahan
Callahan is one of those players who has just proven to be a thorn in the side of the Caps for years now, throughout the Ovechkin era — first with the Rangers, then with the Lightning (two teams that the Caps have tangled with a number of times, particularly in the playoffs).
Sidney Crosby
While some of the rivalry has been a bit media-contrived, there’s no question that the Caps and Pens — and specifically Crosby and Ovechkin — are often at their best and most acrimonious when facing each other. This has been true for well over a decade, and continues to be true even as each superstar settles into his 30s. That Sid’s raised the Cup three times to Ovechkin’s one, and beaten the Caps on the way for all three, will continue to be a sore spot for many a Caps fan.
Steve Downie
Every so often a pest and a “goon” comes along who seems to absolutely delight in that reputation — who doesn’t seem to care about whether he injures people with his frequent cheap shots. That was Steve Downie during his heyday. What makes that insanely frustrating is the fact that when he wasn’t running around like a moron, he was actually a semi-decent hockey player.
Marc-Andre Fleury
Like Crosby, Fleury has often stood in the way of the Caps’ Cup dreams over the years, turning into a much better goalie during a few of Pittsburgh’s playoff runs than he ever was during the regular season. One could argue that his save on Alex Ovechkin back in Game 7 of the Caps-Pens 2009 playoff series won what ended up being a lopsided game for Pittsburgh, sending a very good Caps team home early. And all of that combined sure made beating him in 2018 all that much sweeter.
Jaroslav Halak
Speaking of goalies who turn superhuman in the playoffs… Halak almost singlehandedly ended the run of one of the best Capitals’ teams ever built, helping Montreal rebound from a 3-1 series deficit to bounce Washington in the first round. “2010” will forever be a trigger because of him (and his unimpressive stint in DC didn’t do much to diminish this).
Ron Hextall
Hextall combined the presence of a solid goalie with the pugnacious attitude of the ‘80s and ‘90s-era Flyers, making him the perfect target for vitriol. Aside from his willingness to get right into a scrum (of which there were many in those days) Only Martin Brodeur has more career wins against the Caps than Hextall’s 27; only a handful of goalies have a better save percentage vs. DC. And only Hextall did this:
Jaromir Jagr
He spent the first part of his career destroying the Caps from the outside, and a significant portion of his career destroying them from the inside, both as a member of the team and an expensive castoff later. And while to some his image has been rehabilitated, and while his presence and departure from DC led to the Caps getting Alex Ovechkin… it’s hard for many to not get at least a little twitchy thinking about #68.
Chris Kunitz
Sidney Crosby’s frequent sidekick should be enough to land him on this list — but he’s also inexplicably been the member of several Cup-winning squads and been a huge pest in the process, as well. He’s just one of those players who seems to delight in injuring players (or at least doesn’t care if he does). Perhaps it’s his way of coping with being a mediocre NHLer… or perhaps he’s just an ass. We’re not psychiatrists.
Mario Lemieux
Before there was Crosby, the Penguins had someone who both represented the franchise and drove the Caps and Caps fans crazy – and that was Mario. In just 61 career regular-season games against Washington, he racked up a whopping 51 goals and 101 points, adding another 19 goals and 50 points in just 29 playoff games.
No wonder that Bobby Gould punch was so damn satisfying.
Henrik Lundqvist
While he has never quite reached the Promised Land himself, one could make the argument that Lundqvist has frequently been the reason that the Capitals did not until 2018, either. Consider this: in four Game 7 outings against the Caps, Lundqvist is 3-1 and has an insane save percentage of .974 in those games. Ugh.
Adam Oates
This one could seem a bit controversial to some people. An elite player during his time with the Caps, he undid a lot of the goodwill he might have built up in DC when he took the job as the team’s bench boss in . His coaching style didn’t mesh with the team, he tried to change the greatest goal-scorer of all time, and he was kicked to the curb after just a couple of seasons… taking the man who hired him down with him.
Ulf Samuelsson
In an era replete with heavy hitters and masterful pests, Samuelsson was one of the best – and he did his dirty work as a member of the Penguins, Rangers, and during a brief stint in Philly. Anyone who watched hockey during his heyday developed a keen dislike for that man — let’s just say that there was a reason Samuelsson was one of Dale Hunter’s frequent sparring partners over the years.
Martin St. Louis
St. Louis was a prolific scorer during his career, and as a frequent division rival of the Caps, he often turned that productivity against the good guys and was one of the biggest Caps-killers of his time.
Eric Staal
Staal, like St. Louis, was part of a new generation of Caps-killers ushered in with the creation of the Southeast Division. He’s performed over his usual level against the Caps over the years, with 74 points in 78 games — making him the leader among active players.
John Tortorella
A man who thinks obnoxious is a synonym for interesting, Tortorella’s grumpy face has been behind the bench of many a team that has driven the Caps crazy. From his time with the Lightning to his tenure in New York to his current spot behind division-rival Columbus, his shot-blocking teams and terse press conferences have long since crossed the line to tedious.
There you have it — 16 worthy contestants for the title of Biggest Caps’ Villain.
We’ve put together a very preliminary, very loose ranking of the 16 candidates in order to create a bracket, pitting 1 vs. 16, 2 vs. 15, etc:
Now the rest is up to you! Cast your votes in the polls below and we’ll reveal the results each day this week, whittling the group down to eight tomorrow, four on Wednesday, the final two on Thursday, and the reveal of the ultimate villain on Friday.
[Note: voting in each round closes at 11:59 p.m. that day.]
So vote, debate in the comments, and check back tomorrow for the first round of results!