Retired Numbers that Weren't - the 1990's

In this third installment of our look at retired numbers not retired, we look back at the 1990’s.  This promises to be a hard one to sort out.

The Candidates:

“6” Calle Johansson was not as prolific a scorer as an offensive defenseman as, say, Kevin Hatcher or Al Iafrate.  He was not a thundering hitter playing with an edge like Brendan Witt or Mark Tinordi.  But he was the best two-way, most consistent defenseman to play for the Caps in the 1990’s.  He was the only defenseman to play in all ten seasons in the decade (no other appeared in more than seven), led defensemen in games played (732, almost 250 more than Sylvain Cote (483)), was first in goals/assists/points (82-282-374), was first in power play goals/points (40-185), was second in game-winning goals (13, to Kevin Hatcher’s 14), and had the only two overtime goals scored by Caps defensemen in the decade.

“12”  No number gets more attention on this topic than the number Peter Bondra made famous as a Capital.  In the 1990’s Bondra led the Caps in goals scored (337, tenth among all NHL players in the decade). Led the Caps in even strength goals (235, third among all NHL’ers in that period), led in shorthanded goals (25, tied for sixth in the league in the ‘90’s), twice led the league in goal scoring (34 in the abbreviated 1994-1995 season and 52 in 1997-1998), twice had 50-goal seasons (62 in 1996-1996 and the one mentioned above), led the league in shorthanded goals in 1994-1995 (six), and was a five-time participant in the NHL All-Star Game.

“20” Michal Pivonka seems to get lost in any conversation about the best players in Capitals history.  His story on becoming a Capital is amazing in itself,  but once he arrived, he established himself a a fine, if persistently underrated player.  He appeared in 552 games in the 90’s (fifth among all Capitals), ranked third in goals scored (119), first in assists (312), second in points (431), fifth in power play goals (38), third in power play points (137), second in game-winning goals (24), tied for first in overtime goals (four), and fourth in shorthanded goals (nine).

The Choice:

This might be the deepest pool of candidates, but there is no clearer winner here than Peter Bondra.  It would take a generational talent such as Alex Ovechin to break many of Bondras’s goal scoring records, but Bondra remains perhaps the most dangerous penalty killing forward in team history, a skill that sometimes gets overlooked among his career achievements.

Honorable Mention

“4” Kevin Hatcher was the most dangerous offensive defenseman the Caps had in the 1990’s.  Second in goals scored (91, one fewer than Johansson), third in assists (156), second in points (247), second in power play goals (36) and power play points (112), and first in game-winning goals (14), while finishing sixth in games played (313).

“10” Kelly Miller is one of those examples of a player who sacrificed a part of his game to become a better all-around player. An accomplished scorer in college (82 goals in 165 games at Michigan State), he developed into more of defensive specialist in the NHL, but still capable of chipping in offense (106-168-274, plus-45, in 663 games in the 1990’s).  He led the Caps in shorthanded points in the ‘90’s (28), was third in game-winning goals (21), and tied for most overtime goals (four).

“17” Mike Ridley is another of those Capital players whose performance seems overlooked.  In just 324 games in the 1990’s, Ridley posted 104 goals, 188 assists, and 292 points.  He led all Capitals in points per game in the decade (0.90).