Peerless Playback: The All-Alphabet Team, "The Z Team"

From the letter “A,” we now arrive at the letter “Z” in our look back at the individual elements of the All-Alphabet Team we built for the Washington Capitals back in 2014.  On paper (or at least “in pixels”), as all of these teams are, some are good, some are not so good, some are a bit of a surprise.  But now we are at the end of this revision, and here is how All-Team Z looked back in 2014 when we published it:

We are now down to the penultimate look back at the All Alphabet Team that we published originally in 2014.  The All-Team W that we published back then was among the more experienced teams in games played with the Caps and looked like this:  

• LW: Dainius Zubrus (2001-2007)
• C: Peter Zezel  (1990-1991)
• RW: Richard Zednik (1996-2001)
• D: Rob Zettler (2000-2002)
• D: Dwayne Zinger (2003)
• G: Roger Crozier (1977)

The All-Team Z is one that lacks high-end offensive production, but it is efficient (at least among the forwards) in a second-third line sort of way.  It is the experience where there is a lot of variation on this team.  For instance, the wingers – Dainius Zubrus and Richard Zednik – combined for 620 regular season games for the Caps.  They also bear the distinction in being traded for one another, Zednik going to the Montreal Canadiens with Jan Bulis and a first round pick in the 2001 Entry Draft for Zubrus, Trevor Linden, and a second round pick in the 2001 Entry Draft.  Zubrus and Zednik account for almost all of the goal scoring on this team in the regular season (155 of the 163 goals recorded) and all of the postseason goal scoring (nine goals in 34 games between them).

Peter Zezel was efficient, but in a very short stay with the club, going 7-5-12 in 20 games.  The small population of games aside, he would complete a forward line on which each member averaged 20 or more goals per 82 games (Zezel: 29, Zubrus: 21, and Zednik: 20).  But those were only 20 games, almost smack in the middle of a 15-year career in which he played in 873 games over 15 seasons.  Zezel, who passed away in May 2009 of a blood disorder, did not leave a deep footprint with the club.

The defense suffers from having few options from which to pick.  Rob Zettler and Dwayne Zinger were the only two defensemen in team history whose last names start with the letter “Z.”  The remain the only two to do so.  In fact, there are no Capitals since the original All-Team Z was published who have a last name starting with the letter “Z,” meaning that the skaters remain intact.

In goal, none of the 45 goalies who appeared in at least one game for the Caps had a last name starting with the letter “Z,” so to improvise, Roger Crozier was given a sweater for at least having the letter in his last name.  And, with no goalie since having the letter anywhere in either their first or last name, Crozier stays.

And there we have it, the re-worked All Alphabet Team for the Washington Capitals, from A-to-Z.  Perhaps we will be back in a few years to take another look, but for now, let’s get ready for what we hope will be hockey in the here and now.