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

We have been marching through our look back at the All-Alphabet Teams that we put together back in 2014, and we have arrived at the letter “R” in the review.  Back in August 2014, the “All-Team R” team we published looked like this: 

• LW: Torrie Robertson (1980-1983)
• C: Mike Ridley (1987-1994)
• RW: Tom Rowe (1976-1980, 1982)
• D: Joe Reekie (1994-2002)
• D: Bob Rouse (1989-1991)
• G: Pat Riggin (1982-1985)

If you were searching for an adjective to describe this team, it might be “reliable,” in keeping with the letter “R” theme.  There is the reliable 30-goal scorer; Mike Ridley averaged 30 goals per 82 games over 588 regular season games.  There is the reliable secondary scoring; Tom Rowe averaged 24 goals per 82 games over 191 games, and Torrie Robertson averaged 13 goals per 82 games over 62 games with the Caps.  Joe Reekie and Bob Rouse are fine examples of reliable stay-at-home defensemen.  And when the original All-Team R was published in 2014, Pat Riggin ranked sixth in team history in regular season wins by a goaltender (67), fifth in games played (143), and tied for eighth in shutouts (six).

The playoff record of this squad as a whole paints a bit less flattering a picture.  Only three of the five (Ridley, Reekie, and Rouse) had any postseason experience with the Caps, a total of 145 games.  The odd part of it, though, is how Ridley’s goals-per-82 games dropped substantially (21 per 82 games), while those of the defensemen – Reekie and Rouse – increased (five goals and 16 goals per 81 games, respectively).

In goal, Riggin had a slightly better goals against average in 10 postseason games for the Caps than he had in 143 regular season games (2.93 versus 3.03), but his save percentage was off (.875 versus .883), and he did not record a postseason shutout for the Caps.

Possible replacements among the skaters are few in number.  There is only one Capital who dressed for the team after August 2014 who qualifies – forward Mike Richards.  A strong two-way player who played a gritty style above his weight class, had a solid ten-year career in Philadelphia and Los Angeles, winning two Stanley Cups with the Kings.  In his 11^th season, 2014-2015, he dressed for 47 games through January 21^st, going just 5-10-15, before he was placed on waivers.  He cleared waivers and was sent to the Kings’ AHL affiliate in Manchester, subsequently recalled in March to finish the NHL season.  It was a signal of troubles to come, the Kings later seeking to terminate their contract with Richards following an incident involving possession of a controlled substance.  After further actions by the club and the players’ union, Richards reached a settlement with the club in October 2015 releasing him from the club and making him a free agent.

Enter the Capitals.  In early January 2016, he signed a one-year/$1.0 million contract with the club.  It might have been a low-risk deal, and it was a good thing.  Richards dressed for 39 games with the Caps in the 2016 portion of the 2015-2016 season, going 2-3-5, minus-2, primarily as a bottom-six forward averaging about 12 minutes a game.  In 12 postseason games with the Caps, Richards did not record a point, averaging a bit more than 11 minutes a game.   It would be his last NHL action.  Nothing in that portion of his resume argues for consideration to replace Mike Ridley at center on All-Team R.

In goal, we are left once more with no goalie eligible to replace the incumbent in the position.  It would be difficult to dislodge Riggin from his spot, but the absence of an eligible goalie makes the task easy.  Riggin remains.

And so, the original All-Team R of August 2014 remains the All-Team R of 2020.  It is a decent team in some respects, but it just lacks the depth to consider it among the best of the all-alphabet teams.