A Big Thank You

It's official! In October GreatestHockeyLegends.com, now entering it's 4th season, had the third busiest month in site history!

When you combine sister site HockeyBookReviews.com I blew away my previous best for readership.

A big thank you goes out to my loyal readers.

Washington Capitals Greatest Players

Greg Adams Don Beaupre Peter Bondra Bobby Carpenter Dave Christian Dino Ciccarelli John Druce Gaetan Duchesne Mike Gartner Bengt-Ake Gustafsson Kevin Hatcher Alan Haworth Dale Hunter Al Iafrate Joe Juneau

Rod Langway Jack Lynch Mike Marson Dennis Maruk Alan May Bill Mikkelson Kelly Miller Andrei Nikolishin Doug Patey Pat Peake Pete Peeters Mike Ridley Bill Riley Scott Stevens Ryan Walter Bugsy Watson Bernie Wolfe

Pat Peake

Drafted by the Washington Capitals in the first round (14th overall) in 1991, Peake was destined to be a star. Two years later he would even be named the Canadian junior player of the year, scoring 136 points (58 goals) in just 46 games.

He was quickly on his way to NHL stardom. In his first year with Washington, he scored 29 points in 49 games. Two years later he had 36 points in 62 games.

But as quickly as the accolades came, so did the bad luck. Peake endured a variety of injuries to his ankles, shoulders, kidney and knees. He even suffered a concussion in a car accident, had mononucleosis and broke cartilage in his thyroid.

He figured the thyroid injury would go down as the NHL's strangest injury. Then, in a playoff game against Pittsburgh in 1996, Peake was chasing a puck trying to prevent a routine icing call. He crashed against the boards, shattering his right heel.

It was the beginning of the end for Peake, who spent most of the rest of his career trying to rehabilitate the injury. After 5 operations and two years, Peake finally tried to make a comeback attempt. He was sent to the Capitals' minor league team in Portland, Maine, on a conditioning stint. He was back in good enough form to play in a home game on Nov. 8, but his foot hurt immensely afterward. A few days later, an MRI exam showed dangerously torn ligaments. His season was ended just like that.

When the season ended with a four-game sweep of the Capitals by Detroit in the Stanley Cup Finals, Peake's contract ended, too. In August he met with the Capitals' doctors, and he was not surprised when they told him there was little to be done. His career was over.

"He endured a lot of pain; it's the dark side of our sport that people don't see," Capitals General Manager George McPhee said. "There aren't players that have the gift he had that come along that often. He was one of those natural players that had instincts and hands you can't develop."

Obviously it was difficult for Peake to accept that he could no longer play hockey.

"That’s the hardest part, at least mentally. It was taken from me. I didn’t go out on my own terms and that’s very hard."

But at least Peake has always been able to laugh about it.

"If I had kept playing I could have made a lot, lot, lot more money obviously, but I have to thank the Caps, because they could have bought me out two years ago," he said "I made $500,000 the last two years, and I played five games – I'm the highest-paid player per game in the league!"

Peake continues to deal with injury to this day. He recently had his 16th operation on the heel, and said "I'm trapped in a 93 year old body. Now you limp and your back hurts and this and that."

Peake remained in the game, first trying his hand at coaching, then scouting, first for agents and then for NHL Central Scouting.

Doug Patey

Doug Patey was drafted 73rd overall in the 1976 Entry Draft after playing 2 seasons with the OHL's Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds. Doug began his professional career the following season in 1976-77 as he played in 37 games with the Capitals while playing the rest of the season in the IHL with the Dayton Gems. He scored three goals in his first NHL season with Washington, including his first NHL goal against Cesare Maniago of the Vancouver Canucks.

Patey split the next two years between Washington and their AHL farm team in Hershey, scoring more than 20 goals in each of those two seasons in Hershey. However his combined time in Washington during those two years consisted of just 8 games.

Doug was selected by the Edmonton Oilers in the 1979 Expansion Draft. The Oilers were looking for a sleeper in the draft and thought they had got one in Doug. They believed that he never got a fair chance in Washington and that he had a lot more to give. Doug, the brother of 12 year veteran Larry Patey, admitted that his statistics hadn't been impressive.

"I've been up and down. Up is better and that's where I hope I'll finish," he said.

Doug had an impressive training camp with the Oilers. He was in very good shape and showed a good shot, good skating ability and a sense of how to get open for a pass. At the training camp Doug was completely focused on taking a spot on the Oilers roster.

"I want to play in the NHL. I don't mean a few games or part of a season but for a long time. I know it will take hard work and I'm prepared to do that. The object is to play and win. You have to do whatever it takes."

Doug was picked by Edmonton after a recommendation by Oilers assistant coach and ex-NHL'er Bryan Watson.

"We'll never be sorry," Watson predicted. "He's young and he wants to play in the biggest league. He's really got something. For one thing, he's a good guy. He's never had a chance in some ways and he's got a real chance to get better."

Even Oilers coach Glenn Sather was optimistic about Doug. "Maybe he won't have to go (to the minors)," said Sather. "It's up to Doug. If he plays all season the way he played in training camp,he'll be around."

Unfortunately Doug didn't live up to the expectations that the Oilers had for him. He was sent down to the minors where he scored 14 points in 14 games for Cincinnati Stingers (CHL) and 30 points in 33 games for Houston Apollos (CHL).

That 1979-80 season was Doug's last. He retired only 23 years old when his hockey career was about to start. Who know's, he might very well had been one of the guys to lift the Cup with his Oilers teammates if he had continued.

Doug described his playing style as follows:

"I guess my strong points were at that point was as a winger, pretty good skating with a fairly quick shot. That was my asset, that I got the puck away quickly and usually put the puck in the net and set up plays."

Following his hockey career Patey got into the insurance business for many years. For Patey it has been a rewarding experience.

"Well, it worked out pretty well for me and I know it's not always that way. I started with London Life back in '81 and the training was very good and I was very fortunate to have been able to do that. From then on, it was really quite smooth for me. It was the sales area and I was very comfortable with people and I just continually learned over the years, a little bit every year and it's worked out just fine."

Don Beaupre

Don Beaupre entered the NHL with a bang.

In his first season, Don was an All-Star, helped the North Stars win the Norris Division and advance to the Stanley Cup finals where they fell just short against the New York Islanders. It was the start of a pro career that young goalies usually only dream of.

None of the teams Don played for ever reached that lofty status again. But Don said that the first NHL season was a blessing in disguise.

"When I got drafted, before I went to training camp my parents had a party for me and a bunch of friends came over and stuff like that," Don said. "It was kind of a good luck party, and I really shouldn’t have made it that year. I wasn’t thinking I should or shouldn’t make it, it was just the next step and you go and see what happens. If I was thinking, 'Boy, I really have to go and make it,' I probably wouldn’t have. The pressure would have probably got to me. Being naive probably helped my chances then."

Don enjoyed a pretty good junior career with the Sudbury Wolves and made the First All-Star Team in 1980. His fine play prompted Minnesota North Stars to pick him 37th overall that year.

Don's rookie season in the NHL was sensational and he played like a seasoned veteran. As mentioned previously, he made the All-Star team, helped the North Stars win the Norris Division and also helped them reach the Stanley Cup finals.

"That was quite a year," Don admitted. "Just to make it to the NHL, we won a few games, I made the All-Star team out in Los Angeles and I'd never been there before, and we were in the finals. It was quite a year, no doubt, and I never had anything like that again."

Don played in two of the games in the finals (Gilles Meloche played in the other three). Don earned the lone North Stars victory when his team was facing elimination, down 3-0. They eventually lost the series in five games as Don played in the fifth and final game.

"We had a lot of young guys with energy and enthusiasm, and we had a pretty good group of guys," he said. "Perhaps the difference between winning and not was that most of the talent was in the young and inexperienced guys. We had older guys with a lot of heart, but most of the talent was in the guys 25 and under, so maybe that was the difference."

Don spent seven fairly successful seasons in Minnesota although none as good as his rookie season. He was then placed on waivers and sent to the minors early on in the 1988-89 season. It didn't sit well with Don who demanded a trade. His wish was granted and Don was traded to Washington for rights to Claudio Scremin on November 1, 1988.

At first, Don was sent down to the minors and it seemed that his situation wasn't going to improve since Clint Malarchuk and Pete Peeters were between the pipes in Washington .

"That took some of the excitement away," Don said. "I knew I had to put in my time, but it was tough, it was probably the toughest point of my career. Pete Peeters and Clint Malarchuk were there. I had to unseat them. You could play as well as you could, but if they are playing well for the Caps you aren’t going to get a shot. It was tough, because the rumor was that a couple of teams wanted to make a trade for me because they had injuries, and the Caps didn’t want to make any deals. It was pretty frustrating."

But soon Don got another chance and seized it. He not only made his way back to the NHL, but went on to make his mark in the Capitals' record book. Don held the franchise record in career wins (128) until Olaf Kolzig broke that mark.

The Capitals had a strong team defensively with a defense-first mentality, anchored by blueline stalwart Rod Langway.

"No doubt, those were some of the most fun times in my career," Don said. "I was playing all the time, we were winning in a tough division, it was real satisfying for me.

"I had five shutouts in one year [league leading in 1990-91], and I struggled to get one in every other year I think. It was fun to play with guys like Rod Langway and Mike Gartner, real good players and respected players. It was a good experience, and I really enjoyed living in Washington D.C., too."

Don's 2.64 GAA in 1990-91 was a career best and he played in his second All-Star game in 1992. Don was eventually traded to the lowly Ottawa Senators in 1995. There he played a total of 71 games between 1995 and 96 and was then traded to the NY Islanders who the same day shipped him to Toronto. Don finished his playing career by playing the majority of his games for St.John's Maple Leafs (AHL). He also saw time with Utah Grizzlies (IHL) and the Maple Leafs.

"I was fortunate to play 17 years professionally, and it went by quick," Don said. "The NHL was done with me, and I think I was pretty much done with it and could leave it behind.

Today Don lives in Minnesota, where he and a partner run a construction equipment rental business called Power Lift Inc. The company rents man-lifts, scissor-lifts, booms and other heavy gear used in construction.

"We started with about 78 machines and now we have 350 in a year and a half, and things are going OK," Don said. "It was rough early with the capital expenditure to buy the equipment, but it's going OK, we’re happy. It’s been a good learning experience to not only get involved in a business regularly, but to help run it."

Kevin Hatcher

I'm really not sure why, but I never truly respected Kevin Hatcher quite like I did his younger brother Derian.

Derian was one of my true favorites, mostly because of his mean streak and his commitment to team defense. Kevin on the other hand was a giant who, at times, liked to throw his weight around but was most notably an offensive defenseman.

I suspect I never warmed to Kevin because for all his skill and impressive scoring ability, never maximized himself like he could have. That's a pretty easy thing for me to say, with my grand total of 0 NHL games. Perhaps we fans just placed too high expectations on Kevin Hatcher, like so many other players over the years.

Regardless, he was never reputed to be as good in his own zone as he was in the other team's. He seemed susceptible to making boneheaded, risky plays, overhandling the puck and hurting his team defensively. He did not always maximize his size, taking nights off. Outside of the 1992-93 season he just never really could put it all together and be one of the game's truly dominant defenders.

Kevin Hatcher was a powerful straight ahead skater, which he displayed whenever he could by jumping into or leading the rush. With his giant stride he could catch even the speediest of transition attackers on the way back. Defensively he could look awkward when turning, but he compensated for that with his gigantic reach.

He had a devastating shot from the point, and would often come crashing in from the blue line looking for a surprise garbage goal. When he was on his many offensive rushes he was an excellent give and go player. Otherwise he was good passer, but not a greatly creative player.

Physically he could dominate. He was imposing at 6'4" and 225lbs, and he enjoyed banging bodies, sometimes with a mean streak. Other times, especially as his career advanced, he seemed quite disinterested in the physical game, which for someone of his size is extremely frustrating for coaches and fans alike. He lost a few fights early in his career and seemed to back down over time. Perhaps this was simply because his coaches wanted him on the ice, not by the ice box.

He could be guilty of getting out of position to make a big hit. Since he didn't have the lateral mobility to recover he could get burned by such bad reads. He was usually a safe defender when it came to clearing the puck, usually breaking a man with a good pass. He could be guilty of overhandling the puck, and when he did cough up the puck in his own zone, he usually did so royally.

Drafted by Washington 17th overall in 1984, Hatcher went on to play in 1,157 career NHL games, scoring 227 goals and 450 assists for 677 points. He also registered 1,392 career penalty minutes. He put together one of the most impressive offensive seasons by a defenseman in 1992-93 when he scored 34 goals and 79 points. Impressively he reached double digits in goals scored 12 times in a row in his career, including seasons of 24 and 19 goals.

Despite these impressive scoring stats, he was never truly among the game's elite defensemen in the 1990s, but rather firmly just a notch below.

Andrei Nikolishin

I think one of the most underrated players in the National Hockey League around the turn of the century was Washington Capitals center Andrei Nikolishin.

A quick glance at his numbers hint at nothing special. He never scored more than 14 goals in one season and outside of a 51 point campaign with Hartford back in 1996, he would challenge the 30 point mark regularly in Washington. He would play in 10 seasons in the NHL, seeing 628 games. He scored 93 goals and 187 assists for 280 points. In 43 career playoff games, he had just one goal and 17 helpers.

I always felt Nikolishin's game was much stronger than his output ever suggested.

He was a very strong skater, blessed with a powerful stride. He literally could turn on a dime, shaking many defenders, and had great balance.

He was nifty puckhandler with a pass-first mentality, almost to a fault. Unfortunately he never really had the chance to play with a triggerman on the wing who could convert his slippery passes.

Nikolishin was used more in a checking role, a role he eagerly accepted but soon became trapped in. He read plays well, backchecked with determination and killed penalties and blocked shots with authority. He almost seemed content to let his defensive game carry him. It would have been nice to see him a more offensive role, because I think he would have done well at it.

Though he was not very big (he was listed a 5'11" and 180lbs) he adapted well to the more physical North American game. He was very popular with his teammates as he had exemplary work habits.

The Caps let Nikolishin go in 2002. After failed stops in Chicago and Colorado, Nikolishin went home to Russia during the NHL lockout season of 2004-05. He never returned to the NHL, but continued to play hockey in Russia for many years.