Washington Capitals: Top 10 Defensemen In Team History
Washington Capitals Top Ten Defensemen: #6
. Defenseman. Capitals. Sergei Gonchar. 6. player. 19
Before Mike Green, there was another offensive defenseman who rocked the red. His name? Sergei Gonchar. Gonchar put up some incredible numbers with the Washington Capitals despite not getting to play with Ovechkin and Backstrom. One can only imagine what he could have done had he been able to play with those two while he was in his prime.
"Watching Gonchar play, the first thing you notice is his powerful wrist shot. Often you don’t even see the puck flying through the air; you only spot it when it’s already in the net. He didn’t have such a powerful shot playing back in Russia. Gonchar transferred smoothly to the North American style of hockey. In a way, he was lucky that his first season was during the 1994 NHL lockout. Gonchar had a two-way contract with the Capitals, so he was able to spend the lockout months with Portland of the AHL, the Capitals’ farm team. He perfected his English and started learning the North American playing style. In the second half of the season, Gonchar was called up to the regular team but was slow to get accustomed to his new milieu. At first he communicated only in Russian with Dmitri Khristich and Peter Bondra (a Slovak who spent the first 14 years of his life in the Ukrainian city of Lutsk and speaks perfect Russian). Eventually, though, he widened his circle. New Capitals coach Ron Wilson has had an influence on Gonchar’s career. Within six months they had gotten to know each other better, and Wilson soon considered Gonchar indispensable to the team. Gonchar’s trip to Nagano, Japan, with the Russian Olympic team helped raise his profile. In Nagano he performed well, and back in Washington his star began to shine. In the 1998-99 season, Gonchar became the first Russian defenseman to score over 20 goals in regular-season play. Gonchar is regarded as one of the most offensive defenseman in the NHL and proved it yet again in 2001-02 when he scored 26 goals and finished with a career high 59 points. The smooth skating defenseman saw the defensive aspect of his game improve in 2002-03, while establishing career highs in assists and points. In 2003-04, Gonchar and the Caps struggled and piece by piece high profile members of the team were traded away. Sergei Gonchar found a new home with the Boston Bruins. – Washington Capitals"
Gonchar is an extremely impressive offensive defenseman who holds a few of the records for the Washington Capitals. He played 654 games with the Capitals over 10 seasons. Here’s how he stacks up against the rest of the defensemen who qualified.
- 416 points (fourth out of 34)
- 144 goals (second out of 34)
- 272 assists (fourth out of 34)
- +51 plus minus rating (eighth out of 34)
Gonchar deserves some credit for being a leader on some very good teams and for being very good on some bad teams. Had he not been traded to Boston and kept playing for the Capitals, Gonchar would probably be in the top five. Gonchar could be a future Hockey Hall of Famer. Not just because he’s a great defenseman, but because he has been a huge influence on Russian defenders.
Next: Number Five: Down the Hatch(er)