On this day in Caps history...August 1st

2001...

The big signing of the summer was, of course, Jaromir Jagr on July 11th. Things were quiet on the personnel front after that until this date, when the Caps signed Peter Ferraro as a free agent. By the time he inked a deal with Washington, Ferraro had been the property of four other franchises -- the Rangers (who drafted him 24th overall in 1992), Pittsburgh, the Rangers again, Boston, Atlanta, and Boston again.

Ferraro played only four games with the Capitals early in that 2001-2002 season, an otherwise frustrating one in which the Caps went 36-33-11-2, finishing two points out of a playoff spot. In those four games (over which the Caps went 2-1-1), Ferraro chipped in a lone assist. He remained in the system until he signed with Phoenix as a free agent on July 17, 2003.

In his 92 NHL games among four clubs, Ferraro was 9-15-24, -1. He played in two playoff games with the Rangers in 1996-1997, going without a point. He is a part of NHL history, though, joining his twin brother, Chris, to become the first set of identical twins to take the ice for the same team in the NHL. They would repeat that with the Caps, both brothers taking the ice against the Kings in Los Angeles on October 16, 2001. Peter was held off the score sheet, while Chris (playing in what would be his only game with the Caps) notched an assist on an Ulf Dahlen goal in a 3-2 overtime win. However, it would be with the Caps' farm club at the time, the Portland Pirates, that the brothers would would endure a pain that makes playing a game seem small by comparison.

Peter's last appearances in the NHL came with the Caps. He shuttled between the AHL and Europe over the next few seasons. Last year, he played for the Las Vegas Wranglers of the ECHL, where he led the Wranglers in scoring. Chris was there, too, to help Peter and the Wranglers to a 47-13-12 record, the Pacific Division title, and a berth in the ECHL Kelly Cup finals, where they lost in six games to Cincinnati.