Ron Low (1974-77)

Sometimes writers get scoops from informed sources. Other times...

Like during the 1975-76 season, when Caps goalie Ron Low was reportedly headed to Boston, in exchange for winger Terry O’Reilly.

Longtime radio host Phil Wood knows how this one got started. One night, the Capital Centre press room conversation turned to who might help the home team.

Other media members overheard the names Low and O’Reilly, and casual speculation morphed into a legitimate trade rumor.

Wood writes at masnsports.com, “It reached a point where O'Reilly pleaded with the Bruins not to send him to Washington, and Low's wife asked the Caps if she should prepare to move.”

Although the rumor had no factual basis, it does give me the chance to share this heroic photo of Low - a great representation of hockey goalie as mythic warrior.

And no netminder ever deserved the warrior label more than Low, the #1 goalie for their first three seasons. Let's get the ugly numbers out of the way, because Ron deserved better. 30-94-9 is the record. But remember his GAA was 5.45 each of those first two woeful seasons, while with a competitive Caps team the following year, his GAA plunged to 3.87.

One website came up with a statistical formula, to determine the goalies since 1955 who had the hardest job. Guess who topped the list: Ron Low. (brodeurisafraud.blogspot.com)

The barrage of shots and lopsided scores took an emotional, as well as physical, toll. The Caps first coach, Jim Anderson, quoted by espn.com: "I'd see Low with tears in his eyes after games."

"It was a pretty scary hockey club, not a whole lot you remember as great," Low recalled to nhl.com.

"You look at a lot of things that took place, 13 goals at Buffalo against and four of them by your own defensemen. You could make a pretty good movie out of it." (Don't tell Ron it was actually 14 goals scored by the Sabres.)

After recording the team's first-ever shutout, Low gave the Washington Star-News a classic downtrodden sports quote: "It wasn't that I felt so good - I just felt like I do when I don't feel lousy."

Ron did have a stylistic triumph with the Caps - his Bicentennial goalie mask is considered one of the fraternity's finest designs.

The Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto features it in its goalie exhibit, as you can see at right. So Ron, if you can walk into a professional sports hall of fame and see your equipment behind glass, you're a success.

Pete Peeters (1985-1989)

Throughout the 1980’s, the Capitals searched in vain for a playoff stud goaltender. You know, the kind that would make the other team say, for once, that they had run into the hot goalie, the kind who can steal a series.

It never happened. In the 7 playoff seasons between 1983-1989, Washington lost 7 of 10 series, never advancing past the 2nd round.

Most often, they pinned their hopes on the stick, glove and pads of Pete Peeters.

Over the course of the 1986, ’87, ’88, and ‘89 postseasons, Pete sported a 15-15 record. That fits, because as with his previous stops in Philly and Boston, Peeters sometimes was invincible, and other times… very vincible.

That partly explains why he could be abrasive to talk to after games. His locker-room nickname, according to bruinslegends.blogspot.com: “Grumpy”, if that gives you any idea.

It’s surprising, then, that Pete once produced a gem of an answer, on a night when he had a good reason to be grumpy.

As Peeters backstopped the Caps to a playoff victory over the Rangers at Madison Square Garden, "He was hit in the left eye by a quarter thrown from the stands.” (AP game story.)

Here’s the money quote from Pete: “I can’t understand why so many people want to vent their frustrations on sports. We’re entertainers, same as the circus, but nobody throws a shoe at the guy as he’s swinging on the trapeze.”

To be sure, Peeters wasn’t alone on the Capitals high wire.

A parade went between their pipes each spring in the ‘80’s; solid goalies all, sparkling regular seasons. Yet not one elevated his game when it counted most, evidenced by their post-season records: Pat Riggin (2-5), Al Jensen (5-5), Bob Mason (2-2), and Clint Malarchuk (0-2).

The tandem of Don Beaupre and Mike Liut finally pushed the Caps to their first conference final in 1990. But it wasn’t until Olie Kolzig, with four shutouts in the 1998 Stanley Cup Finals year, that a goalie actually carried the Capitals on his back in the playoffs.

McNab, McVie, Mason Have No Meeting Of The Minds

GM Max McNab, coach Tom McVie, and goalie Bob Mason are key names from the first dozen years of the Capitals franchise. In fact, McNab and McVie had a lot to do with Mason coming to Washington in 1984.

Nothing unusual about that... except the coach and GM were employed by the New Jersey Devils at the time, not the Capitals.

First, a little background. McNab and McVie were hired in Washington in late 1975 to bring order and discipline to a chaotic organization.

Although they succeeded admirably under the circumstances, ownership gave McVie the boot in 1978, and McNab was relieved in 1981.

Undrafted goalie Mason, meanwhile, was turning heads after being named to the 1984 U.S. Olympic Hockey Team. New Jersey coach-GM Billy MacMillan appeared to have won the bidding for Bob's services. That is, until the Devils decided a Mc-Nab and a Mc-Vie were better than a Mac-Millan.

With the former Caps brain trust now in charge in the Meadowlands, Mason had second thoughts. (Just as a college recruit might, if the team he committed to fired its coach.) Caps GM David Poile swooped in and got the free agent signed to play in D.C.

Postscript: Mason played well, though sparingly, for three seasons, compiling an 11-2-1 record. He became the go-to guy in 1986-87, finishing 20-18-5 with a 3.24 GAA.

After losing the four-overtime finale to the Islanders in that year's playoffs, Mason bounced around with Chicago, Quebec, and Vancouver. He briefly returned to the Caps in 1989-90 - most notable because the goalie demoted to make room was a teenage rookie named Olaf Kolzig.

One Game Wonders, and Don Beaupre (1988-94)

Four men share the shortest Capitals career for a goalie - one game. Technically, less than one game - all four made their appearance in relief. Yet all were the goaltender of record at the finish.

Like the others, Alain Raymond was summoned from the minors because of injury. With Pete Peeters out and Clint Malarchuk ineffective, Raymond started the 2nd period in Hartford on Dec. 9, 1987. Though the Caps rallied in Raymond's 40 minutes, he was tagged with a 5-4 loss.

Two goalies had their shining moment in wild victories over Ottawa, and neither allowed a goal. On Nov. 7, 1998, Mike Rosati stopped 12 shots in the final 28 minutes, as the Caps won in Ottawa, 8-5. Corey Hirsch went between the pipes to start the 3rd period on March 11, 2001, with Washington trailing the Senators at home, 5-2. Hirsch stopped all 8 shots in his 20 minutes, and the Caps tallied four times to win, 6-5.

The absolute shortest career of any Capitals goalie - 19:43 - belongs to Robbie Moore. In Philadelphia on October 10, 1982, Moore tended goal in the 3rd period. The Capitals rallied for two late goals, then pulled Moore in the final minute. But an empty net goal gave the Flyers a 6-4 win.

Moore was also one of the shortest in stature. He stood just 5 feet, 5 inches - though that was tall enough to record 2 shutouts for those same Flyers in '78-'79.

Robbie had a kindred spirit in 5-foot-8 netminder Don Beaupre.

Don was anything but a one-game wonder, spending six strong seasons with the Capitals during a 17-year NHL career. Once, when Beaupre was asked if he was big enough to succeed in the NHL, his answer was included in Viva la Repartee: "I just have to stop the puck," Don said, "not beat it to death."

And no discussion of Capitals one-game goalies would be complete without mentioning Shawn Simpson and Brett Leonhardt - although they only made it as far as the Caps' players bench.

Simpson began the evening of April 23, 1990 in street clothes at the Baltimore Arena, the third goalie for the AHL Skipjacks. Jim Hrivnak was playing, with Bob Mason dressed as his backup. Meanwhile, at Capital Centre, Don Beaupre was getting injured in the first period of a Caps playoff game. Mike Liut came on in relief, but what if he also got hurt?

Shawn packed his gear, hopped in a car, and made it to Landover in time to suit up for the third period. Later, Caps G.M. David Poile wondered why Bob Mason hadn't been called. "All he had to do was take off his skates and get in the car."

Déjà vu struck for Leonhardt on December 12, 2008. Backup goalie Jose Theodore got hurt the morning of a home game, and his minor-league replacement had to fly all the way from Houston. So Brett, a former college goalie who works for the team's website, was signed to a one game (unpaid!) contract.

He took shots in warmups and spent half of the first period on the bench, until Simeon Varlamov relieved him. As the Associated Press reported, "He looked down sheepishly when he was shown on the huge replay screen along with the caption: '1st NHL game.' The crowd roared."

(Goaliesarchive.com was a resource for this post. Christine Brennan of the Washington Post and Doug Norris of hockeygoalies.org provided the Simpson story)

Michel Belhumeur (1974-75)

Whenever longtime hockey fans bring up the name Michel Belhumeur, the talk naturally turns to the team that hung the goaltender out to dry.

The name of that team, of course, is the... Philadelphia Flyers.

Wait... what? The expansion Capitals of 1974-75 were the ones who left Belhumeur, sometimes literally, defenseless. Michel suffered a winless season - 24 losses, 3 ties, 8 no-decisions, and zero victories - by far the most games ever played in a season by a goalie without getting a "W".

The first-season netminder actually holds a positive team record that stands to this day - although no Capitals goalie will be anxious to top it: 52 saves in 60 minutes of play.

Even on the night when Belhumeur stopped two penalty shots by the Blackhawks in the same game, and made 37 other saves besides, he still lost, 3-2. As the joke goes, he could have sued the Caps for lack of support.

He actually did take legal action against the Flyers a year earlier, and it was no joke. Belhumeur was a farmhand, called up during Philly's 1974 playoff run. Since he didn't play, the Flyers didn't think they owed him a check. Belhumeur sued, and according to the Chicago Tribune, the matter was settled out of court.

For the record, Michel won nine games in goal for the Flyers in the '72-'73 season, so he did taste the NHL thrill of victory there... if not the thrill of appreciation.

Limited Partnership Suffers A Net Loss

If Al Jensen hadn’t played so well, Pat Riggin might have won the Vezina Trophy in 1983-84. Of course, if Riggin hadn’t played so well, Jensen could have won it.

Instead, the Capitals goaltending tandem cancelled each other in voting (by general managers) for the league’s top goaltender.

Buffalo’s Tom Barrasso captured the award, although Riggin and Jensen had equal or better numbers.

Riggin posted the NHL’s top goals-against average by a sizeable margin, at a stingy 2.66.

Jensen’s GAA of 2.91 was 3rd best, and his .646 winning percentage was just a shade below Barrasso’s .671.

What’s more, Pat and Al each posted 4 shutouts. No other TEAM finished with more than 3!

Barrasso’s advantage was backup Bob Sauve, whose 3.94 GAA left him out of Vezina consideration. So while Capitals netminders garnered a combined 74 ballot points – a landslide - neither Jensen nor Riggin could individually bring home the hardware. In fact, Calgary’s Reggie Lemelin finished as runner-up.

Instead, they settled for the Williams Jennings Trophy, given to the goalies on the team allowing the fewest goals in a season.

Pat Riggin (1982-86)

Maybe another Capital was more disliked by teammates than Pat Riggin, but none come immediately to mind.

It wasn't his play. Riggin once stopped Wayne Gretzky on a penalty shot to preserve a 3-3 tie. During 1983-84, Riggin and Al Jensen shared that Jennings trophy mentioned in the preceeding post. Yet Jensen expressed relief when Pat was traded, because Riggin was so competitive about playing time.

Mike Gartner also felt Riggin's wrath, when the goalie objected to Gartner's high slapshots during practice. "Riggin slashed Gartner, Gartner swung his stick at Riggin's head (barely missing), and they slugged it out." (Toronto Star)

Gartner wasn't alone. "I was probably the only guy who didn't shoot high on him in practice," said former teammate Bengt Gustafsson.

Riggin's mouth betrayed him again in 1985, when he "Dumped on American hockey players," reported the Free Lance-Star. "Evidently their rah-rah approach to Canada's game had made him sick."

Riggin either didn't notice the stars and stripes on his uniform, or didn't care. Just 7 games later, he was dealt to Boston.

Once during his D.C. tenure, Riggin even turned his acid tounge on himself. Coach Bryan Murray assigned performance grades after every contest, and shared those grades with players every 20 games.

Riggin told Sports Illustrated, "My first two report cards were so bad, I had to take them home and get them signed by my parents."

Bernie Wolfe (1975-79)

Acrobatics made Bernie Wolfe a '70's fan favorite. "Wolfe, only 5-foot-9, made saves while lying on his stomach, sitting on his pants, diving to the left, right and bearings in between. He was given a standing ovation after just seven minutes." So wrote Bob Fachet in the Washington Post after one game.

No wonder Bernie was considering other lines of work. Already a college grad, he studied finance when not stopping pucks. Since 1981, he's owned a financial planning company in Maryland.

When Wolfe and Chicago's Mike Veisor stood between the pipes for a 1977 game at Capital Centre, it was likely the first and only time both starting goaltenders were Jewish. Fittingly, the game ended in a 2-2 tie. Mazel Tov!

Roger Crozier (1977)

#1. #31. #35. Roger Crozier has the greatest uniform-to-games played ratio in Capitals history.

Each was customized with Crozier’s name; all are authentic. That’s a lot of uniform numbers for a goalie who only played 3 Games with Washington!

In the final curtain call of a legendary 14-year career, Roger allowed just 2 goals in 103 minutes as a Cap late in the 1976-77 season. He even shared in a shutout victory. Still, three different numbers?

While all sweaters pictured are authentic and custom-made, Crozier only wore #31 in battle.

Before the following season, Roger posed for the team photo wearing #35. That's Roger, highlighted by the red oval at left. Although he posed, he never played again.

On the right is the 1978-79 team picture. As you can see, Roger has moved over a couple of spots and exchanged his goalie equipment for a business suit. Which explains the ceremonial #1 sweater, presented to Roger after he joined the Capitals front office.

Despite recurring illnesses throughout his career, Crozier kept a sense of humor. "All goaltenders are going to heaven," he once said, "because we know all about hell."

Mike Palmateer (1980-82)

No player ever arrived at a Capitals game the way Mike Palmateer did once in 1981.

He came from Toronto a year earlier with much fanfare. Palmateer was flashy in net, feisty with opponents, and funny with the media. One writer dubbed him "The Popcorn Kid" for munching boxes of the stuff before games.

Mike told Goal magazine he welcomed the trade because "The popcorn at Maple Leaf Gardens was okay, but Washington's is the best. Nice and puffy."

Unfortunately, injuries kept him from fulfilling his promise with the Caps.

Legendsofhockey.net, in fact, tells an incredible story about the day Palmateer was scheduled for arthroscopic surgery:

"He was already dressed in hospital linen, on his way into the operating room when an urgent call came through from the Caps. Their other goalie, Wayne Stephenson, had been injured.

"They needed Palmateer, bad knee and all, for the evening's game. So, he was packed into an ambulance and delivered to the stadium."

Palmateer, to tenderslounge.wordpress.com, added this: "I had already been given some drugs," at the hospital.

"The drugs hadn’t worn off when the game started, but I guess they figured I was still a better option than the guy they called up from the minors. I had the surgery the next day. Probably didn’t help prolong my career."

Too true. The goalie spent almost as much time under the knife as between the pipes - a numbing 20 knee surgeries. Get that man some popcorn, Stat!

Clint Malarchuk (1987-89)

The many lives of Clint Malarchuk: Goalie; Victim; Hero; Horse Dentist (Horse Dentist?).

Let’s take those in order. Clint spent nearly two years netminding in Washington, including a remarkable stretch in February, 1988.

Malarchuk stopped 29 shots in a 6-0 whitewash in Winnipeg, followed one night later by a
33-save, 3-0 shutout at Minnesota.

Although Clint got pulled in his next start, he rebounded spectacularly on Long Island, saving 28 shots in a 3-0 win. (Sourpuss Bryan “Get Off My Lawn” Trottier claimed the Capitals “Didn’t play well enough to deserve a shutout.”)

No matter. Malarchuk had authored three shutouts in nine days, all on the road!

Less than a week later, Malarchuk blanked New Jersey for 55 minutes, eventually “settling” for a 6-1 victory. He told AP, “I feel like I’m going to stop everything. No matter what they do, shoot or pass, I’m going to stop it.”

What he didn’t see coming was the 1989 trading deadline, when Clint was shuffled off to Buffalo. “Things were going good in Washington. I was with Pete Peeters, we had a good tandem. I was pretty shocked about it.”

He faced a life-threatening crisis days after becoming a Sabre, cut by a skate blade and nearly bleeding to death.

But that was far from his only health battle. Following a blowout playoff loss with the Capitals, Malarchuk admitted, “I was depressed.” He truly did suffer from clinical depression, as well as OCD – facts he didn’t learn until much later.

Clint became a hero by sharing his diagnoses, writing on his website, “I received thousands of letters from people suffering from OCD who thanked me for being open.”

And yes, the self-described “Cowboy Goalie” owns a degree from the Academy of Equine Dentistry.

Mike Liut (1990-92)

The trade that brought Mike Liut to Washington in March, 1990 was so lopsided, it should have capsized.

With Hartford, Liut had posted a 2.46 GAA, 2nd best in the league. The Caps gave up Yvon Corriveau, producer of just 23 goals in 146 games over five seasons. The stat the Whalers liked was his C.A. - Contract Affordability - just $90,000, compared with Liut’s $455K.

Mike felt less wanted a month later; coach Terry Murray tabbed Don Beaupre to start the 1990 playoffs.

''Page 1 of the coaches' manual says you don't change a hot goaltender,'' Murray told the NY Times. ''And if there is any doubt, refer to Page 2,'' Murray said with a smile. When asked what was on Page 2, he said, ''Refer to Page 1.''

Despite winning the last three games as the Caps ousted New Jersey, Beaupre was replaced by Liut to start round 2 against the Rangers. What about Pages 1 and 2, Terry?

''You look at Page 3,'' Murray explained. Liut and the Capitals were indeed on the same page, beating New York to earn their first trip to the conference finals.

Mike Liut is also the world’s greatest expert on Capitals rallies from four-goal deficits. They’ve done it four times in their history, and Mike played in two of them.

In a 1986 game in Hartford, Liut and the Whalers led 4-0 after two periods, only to see the Caps storm back with five in the 3rd to win, 5-4. At left, Mike & Mike (Liut and Gartner) watch one of the Capitals goals slide into the net.

(For more on this game, click the Games Of Note recap.)

Poetic justice came during a 1991 game in Edmonton. Luit, now a Cap, entered in relief with his team trailing, 3-0. An Oiler breakaway goal quickly made it 4-zip, but by the time of the final horn, the Capitals had rallied to win, 6-5.

Gary Smith (1977-78)

Of his 2 nicknames, Gary Smith must have preferred “Axe”, earned for chopping at opponents who ventured near his crease.

I reluctantly report here that Gary’s frequent changes of address left him tagged with another, less flattering nickname, “Suitcase.” When Washington acquired Smith in September, 1977, they became his 6th NHL team in 11 years.

As Smith knew all too well, changing teams was murder on goalie mask and uniform combos.

He started the ’77-’78 season wearing his Axe-themed mask (B&W photo above right).

Ever the optimist, Gary ordered a custom Caps mask, replete with patriotic colors and a sea of stars. That optimism faded quickly, as Smith posted just two wins in 17 games. By February, the Capitals unloaded the well-traveled netminder to Minnesota for cash.

Once again, Gary faced a sartorial quandary (ok, mismatched helmet and sweater).

Sure, the stars on the mask worked for the North Stars. But red, white, blue, green and gold is no one’s idea of a good look.

Goaltender fashion was simpler before the age of masks. At right is Smith, sans headgear, in a 1967 Hockey News photo. By the way, something odd is happening here - a first in an NHL game.

Smith "sent a chill up the spines of Montreal hockey fans and millions of TV viewers," wrote the Hockey News, "when he grabbed a puck and carried it up to the center red line before returning to his net.”

John Adams (1974-75)

The Capitals missed a patriotic marketing opportunity with backup goalie John Adams.

During the 1974-75 season, Adams played eight games when both Ron Low and Michel Belhumeur were injured. He’s best known as the only Capital to share a name with our 2nd President.

Yet the Caps never took advantage when John stood between the pipes. Perhaps holding a “Founding Fathers” night, and, say, handing out powdered wigs to the first 10,000 fans.

One of those games could have been December 3, 1974, when Adams faced sniper Rick Martin and his Buffalo Sabres. Afterward, the AP quoted Adams as saying, “I had Martin’s number for about 40 minutes – unfortunately, it’s a 60 minute game.”

Well, yeah. By the time Martin’s number “was gotten”, he had scored a hat trick in the game’s first 15 minutes. That’s not to imply that John played poorly. He made 41 saves in a 5-3 loss, and even Martin said later, “That goalie Adams made some terrific saves.”