Our look back at the All-alphabet Team for the Washington
Capitals reaches the half-way point in the alphabet with All-Team M. When we published the original squad in 2014,
the roster was:
- LW: Kelly Miller
- C: Dennis Maruk
- RW: Alan May
- D: Shaone Morrisonn
- D: Larry Murphy
- G: Bob Mason
This is a team that had something for everyone. There was the plucky, hard-working winger who
combined timely offense with strong defense (Miller), one of the most prolific
goal scorers in Caps history (Maruk), the very epitome of “truculence (May),”
the “stay-at-home” defenseman (Morrisonn), the “offensive” defenseman (Murphy),
and, what makes this a truly Caps club, the young goalie upon whom fate looked
unkindly in the biggest moment (Mason).
This is another squad dominated by players arriving in DC
from elsewhere. Miller was drafted by
the New York Rangers before being traded to the Caps. Maruk was drafted by the California Golden
Seals, the first of three teams for whom he would play before coming to
Washington. May was an undrafted free
agent signing by the Boston Bruins before going to Edmonton and then Los
Angeles before becoming a Capital.
Morrisonn was a first round draft pick of the Boston Bruins before he
was traded to the Caps. Murphy was likewise a first round pick, then of the Los
Angeles Kings before he was traded to Washington.
Despite their coming to the Caps from other places, the
skaters do have a considerable body of work with the Caps. All five skaters dressed for more regular
season games with the Caps than did for any other team for which they
played. Combined, the five skaters total
2,458 regular season games, and account for 466 goals and 1,315 points. When Maruk posted 60 goals in 1981-1982 for
the Caps he became the first player in team history to accomplish the feat and
the seventh to do it at least once in NHL history.
When Miller’s career ended with the Caps after the 1998-1999
season, he was the team leader in games played for the franchise (940) and was
a Selke Trophy finalist as best defensive forward (1991-1992).
Despite appearing in only 345 games with the Caps, May
ranked third in franchise history in penalty minutes (1,189; behind only Dale
Hunter (1,460) and Scott Stevens (1,628)) when he departed in 1994 in a trade
with the Dallas Stars.
When Murphy was traded by the Caps to the Minnesota North
Stars in 1989, he left as the second-leading point-getter among defensemen in
team history (345, trailing only Scott Stevens (389)).
Even Morrisonn, who might be the least renowned of this
group, had one third of the nine goals he scored as a Capital be game-winners.
In goal, Bob Mason had a brief career with the Caps (five
years, 76 regular season and four postseason games after being signed as an
undrafted free agent in 1984), but he might be the first tragic figure in the
Caps’ long journey of postseason frustration.
Here was a goalie who pitched a shutout in his first playoff appearance,
a 26-save effort in a 2-0 win over the New York Islanders in Game 3 of the 1987
Patrick Division semi-final. He followed
that up the next night by stopping 25 of 26 shots in a 4-1 win over the Isles
in Game 4 of that series to give the Caps a 3-1 series lead. Both of those wins came on the road. Pete Peeters, who started Games 1 and 2 at
home, got the call in Game 5 and lost, gave way to Mason once more on the road
in Game 6. It did not go well, the Caps
losing, 5-4, to force a Game 7 in Washington.
It was an epic. On Easter. An “Easter Epic,” if you will.
Despite making 54 saves on 56 shots in more than 128 minutes and into a fourth
overtime, it was the 57th shot that eluded him, a Pat LaFontaine
shot that clanged off the post to Mason’s left and in to send the Caps into the
night, disappointed.
But back to the business at hand. If you are thinking of replacements on
All-Team M among players to dress for the Caps since this team was published in
2014, you do not have much from which to pick.
Only two skaters have dressed for the Caps since then whose last names
begin with the letter “M” – forwards Beck Malenstyn and Garrett Mitchell. Between them they have four games played, no
points, and both averaged less than ten minutes of ice time in their brief
stays with the club. Neither make an
argument to crack this lineup.
Still, two skaters are two more players as potential
replacement than there are potential replacement goalies for All-Team M. There are no suitable replacements available
among the five goalies to dress for the Caps since the original team was
published in 2014.
So, All-Team M is another team that remains intact from its
original release in 2014. It is among
the most versatile of teams with players that bring their own unique gifts to
the ice to a degree that both individually and as a group is uncommon among the
alphabet teams. And perhaps with this
group, Bob Mason might not have to endure in goal the disappointment of his
“epic” night in Caps history.
