As we continue killing time before the season starts, we came up with the Capitals Dream Team using the best possible lineup of current or former Caps while in their prime with the team (so no Red Wing Sergei Fedorov). There are a few ways of doing this. The first is to pick the best lineup of players, in their natural positions, who would compliment each other. These are not necessarily the top 20 players in Caps’ history, but ones that together would make one heck of a team. First, the forwards (after the jump).
Forwards
| Left Wing | Center | Right Wing | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Line 1: | Alex Ovechkin | Dennis Maruk | Mike Gartner |
| Line 2: | Kelly Miller | Adam Oates | Peter Bondra |
| Line 3: | Gaetan Duchesne | Nicklas Backstrom | Jaromir Jagr |
| Line 4: | Steve Konowalchuk | Dale Hunter | Dino Ciccarelli |
| Scratches: | Michal Pivonka, Dmitri Khristich, Bengt Gustafsson | ||
| ____________________________________________________________________________ | |||
I already hear the groans. Why did we include Jagr? Sure, he puts up points, but his time with the Caps was a debacle, so now we present:
The Sans-Jagr Forwards
(And while we’re having fun, we’ll also move some players out of position because the lines look better that way.)
| Left Wing | Center | Right Wing | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Line 1: | Alex Ovechkin | Adam Oates | Dino Ciccarelli |
| Line 2: | Dennis Maruk | Nicklas Backstrom | Mike Gartner |
| Line 3: | Kelly Miller | Bengt Gustafsson | Peter Bondra |
| Line 4: | Steve Konowalchuk | Dale Hunter | Alan May |
| Scratches: | Michal Pivonka, Dmitri Kristich, Dave Christian | ||
| ____________________________________________________________________________ | |||
While Maruk nominally plays center, he’s left-handed so we’ll try him on that side, and dropped Duchesne to make room. Ciccarelli would be a great net-crasher on the top line with Oates and Ovie. The fourth line of Kono, Hunter and May is one heck of a grinding line. May is also playing out of position, but he could make it work.
Defense
| Line 1: | Scott Stevens | Larry Murphy | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Line 2: | Rod Langway | Kevin Hatcher | |
| Line 3: | Calle Johansson | Mike Green | |
| Scratches: | Sergei Gonchar, Al Iafrate | ||
| ____________________________________________________________________________ | |||
Defensive hockey was traditionally the Caps’ strength and we looked for the meanest, most efficient top two pairs. Calle Jo wasn’t the meanest, but he may be the most well-rounded of the bunch. Green won’t get much ice time at even strength; he’s on the roster as a power play specialist. We’ll chose Green over Gonchar because he’s slightly less of a defensive liability than Gonchar was, and has a proven rapport with Ovechkin on PP.
Goalies
| Starter | Backup | Call-up |
|---|---|---|
| Olaf Kolzig | Don Beaupre | Jim Carey |
| ____________________________________________________________________________ | ||
These are the best two goalies in Caps’ history. Jim Carey had an outstanding, Vezina-winning season, and was better than Beaupre in his prime. However, Beaupre in his prime would be a better veteran presence at backup than Carey, particularly in the playoffs, where Carey flopped.
Now we present…
The Skill-Only Team
Forwards
| Left Wing | Center | Right Wing | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Line 1: | Alex Ovechkin | Dennis Maruk | Jaromir Jagr |
| Line 2: | Kelly Miller | Nicklas Backtrom | Mike Gartner |
| Line 3: | Steve Konowalchuk | Adam Oates | Peter Bondra |
| Line 4: | Gaetan Duchesne | Dale Hunter | Dino Ciccarelli |
| ____________________________________________________________________________ | |||
Defense
| Line 1: | Scott Stevens | Larry Murphy |
|---|---|---|
| Line 2: | Rod Langway | Kevin Hatcher |
| Line 3: | Sergei Gonchar | Mike Green |
| ____________________________________________________________________________ | ||
Goalies
| Starter | Backup |
|---|---|
| Olaf Kolzig | Jim Carey |
| ____________________________________________________________________________ | |
Thoughts?
Picks by Abram Fox
