Washington Capitals: Top 5 All-Time American-Born Players
Happy Fourth of July, Washington Capitals fans! In this slideshow, we’ll take a look at the top 5 American-born players.
Hockey is diverse when it comes to the game globally. On any given NHL roster, there’s players from all walks of life. Athletes from Canada, Russia, Sweden, the Czech Republic or the U.S. among other countries that weren’t listed.
We’ve got a little bit of everything in this top five list for the younger generation of Capitals fans, to the older generations. One has a cool nickname called the “Secretary of Defense.” Another made a name for himself on Team USA hockey just one one year before the Capitals traded for him.
Another player is one who came up through the Capitals organization and established himself as one of the top defensemen in the NHL. And yet there remains two more.
The next two players that round out this list include one with a nicknamed dubbed the “can’t miss kid” from the early-to-mid 1980s and a second stint in Washington in the early 1990s.
We also included the top American-born goalie in Capitals history within this slideshow after he posted a strong rookie campaign in the mid-90s.
Without further ado, here’s our top-five American-born Capitals players of all-time.
#5 Jim Carey
Jim Carey was a goaltender from 1995-97 with the Capitals. The Dorchester, Massachutetts native was drafted by the Capitals in the second round at 32nd overall. He made his first NHL start on March 2, 1995 and made 21 saves in a win over the New York Islanders.
That victory would be the first of seven unbeaten starts and Carey was named to the NHL All-Rookie Team at the end of the season. Carey finished his rookie campaign with an 18-6-3 record, .913 save percentage, and 2.13 goals-against average. He earned the starting netminding job the next season.
In the 1995-96 season, Carey played in 71 games and posted a career-best 35-24-9 record with a 2.26 GAA, .906 save percentage and nine shutouts. His strong full season earned him a Vezina Trophy and was named to the NHL’s First All-Star Team.
Just prior to the 1996-97 season, Carey was a backup goaltender on Team USA to Mike Richter in their World Cup of Hockey Gold Medal run which culminated in a three-game sweep over Team Canada.
Carey struggled back in Washington with a 17-18-3 mark, a 3.08 GAA and a .886 save percentage and was traded to the Boston Bruins at the trade deadline. He never found his Vezina form again and left the NHL two seasons later.
#4 T.J. Oshie
T.J. Oshie came to the Capitals in a trade with the St. Louis Blues for Troy Brouwer, Pheonix Copley and a third rounder in 2016.
The Everett, Washington native who also spent his youth in Warroad, Minnesota has been the heart and soul of the Capitals lineup. Aside from his speed, physicality, and dangle heroics, Oshie also shined the brightest on the international stage. In particular, it was his performance in the 2014 Olympics that got Capitals fans fired up for this franchise-changing trade.
In the 2014 games held in Sochi, Russia, Oshie stole the spotlight in an exciting preliminary contest between Team USA and Team Russia. After Oshie began the rotation for the first three rounds, USA coach Dan Bylsma used Oshie for the remainder of the shootout. This was a rule that was permissible in the international rules. NHL rules prohibit a player being used more than once in a shootout round.
Oshie came through in four of his six attempts against Russia netminder Sergei Bobrovsky and his goal in the eighth round sealed the victory for USA after Evgeni Malkin missed his attempt.
Although this was just a preliminary, the 3-2 USA victory over Russia catapulted them into the tournament before falling in the Bronze Medal game.
It is unlikely that Oshie will be back in the Olympics with the NHL prohibiting players to participate in the games. Regardless, Oshie will be remembered among hockey fans throughout the country for his heroics and the upset over Russia was shades of the 1980 “Miracle on Ice”.
#3 John Carlson
John Carlson, born in Natick, Massachusetts and raised in New Jersey, was selected at 27th overall by the Capitals in 2008. The defenseman would be a vital piece to the Capitals in the future, helping establish a defense that was once a weakness.
Before Carlson became a star in Washington, he was an alternate captain for Team USA in the 2010 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships. In the Gold Medal game on Jan. 5, 2010, Carlson netted the game-winning goal in overtime to lift Team USA to a 6-5 win over Team Canada.
Carlson recorded four goals and seven points in the seven games of the tournament and was named to the tournament All-Star Team.
Carlson also came up clutch that spring in a big Capitals Game 2 win over the Montreal Canadiens in the first round. A lot of people remember Nicklas Backstrom scoring in overtime to complete the hat trick but that might not have been possible if Carlson didn’t tie the game at 18:39 in the third period.
Carlson was also teammates with Oshie during the 2014 games in Sochi and scored Team USA’s first goal of the tournament on Feb. 13 against Slovakia at 15:27 in the opening period.
Carlson and Oshie are the only two players on the current Capitals roster who have shined on the brightest stage for Team USA Hockey.
#2 Bobby Carpenter
Bobby Carpenter, born in Beverly, Massachusetts, was drafted by the Capitals at third overall in 1981. Just prior to the draft back on Feb. 23, 1981, Carpenter graced the cover of Sports Illustrated and was the first American-born hockey player to land on the cover of the magazine. He was dubbed “The Can’t Miss Kid”.
The article noted that at the time, no high school player had ever been drafted in the top 60 and no American among the first 10. The center spent his first five full seasons in the NHL with the Capitals.
Carptenter’s best season in Washington was his fourth where he recorded a career-high 53 goals and 42 assists for 95 points in the 1984-85 campaign. His 53-goals were historic. Carpenter became the first USA-born NHL player to score at least 50 goals in a season.
Carpenter was traded in the middle of the 1986-87 season to the New York Rangers in exchange for Mike Ridley and Kelly Miller. He additionally was part of another trade later that same season when he was dealt to the Los Angeles Kings.
On the international stage, Carpenter represented Team USA in the 1981 World Juniors as well as well as the 1984 and 1987 Canada Cup.
Carpenter additionally made stops with the Boston Bruins, and New Jersey Devils with his second tour in Washington sandwiched in between in the 1992-93 season. Carpenter suited up for 490 games with the Capitals in his career and recorded 395 points (188 goals, 207 assists).
#1 Rod Langway
Although he was born in Maag, Taiwan, Rod Langway was born to an American serviceman that was stationed in Taiwan, thus making him qualified for rounding out this top five list. Langway was raised in Randolph, Massachusetts.
Langway didn’t play hockey until he was a teenager but suited up for his high school hockey team, the Randolph Blue Devils and helped lead them to the state tournament three years in a row from 1973-75. He was also a quarterback for the varsity football team and played catcher for the baseball team.
The football recruiter at the University of New Hampshire convinced Langway to play both hockey and college football for the school, which led to Langway’s college decision after high school. In hockey, Langway led New Hampshire to the NCAA hockey Frozen Four in 1977 and hockey ended up being the direction he would go professionally.
Langway was drafted at 36th overall by the Montreal Canadiens but was acquired by the Capitals in a blockbuster trade along with Doug Jarvis, Craig Laughlin, and Brian Engbolm as part of the “Save the Caps” campaign prior to the 1982-83 season. This trade saved the Capitals from a possible relocation.
In Washington’s first eight seasons, they failed to make the playoffs. When Langway came on board, the Capitals made the playoffs in each of his 11 seasons in the Nation’s Capital. Langway earned the nickname “Secretary of Defense” for his leadership as team captain.
Langway played in 726 games with the Capitals and recorded 202 points (25 goals, 177 assists). He won the Norris Trophy his first two seasons in Washington as the league’s top defenseman and came second to Wayne Gretzky in the Hart Trophy as the NHL’s MVP in 1984.
The Capitals retired Langway’s number on Nov. 26, 1997 and was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2002. He’s a regular at just about every Capitals home game and when the team salutes the troops in the middle of the game, you can spot him shaking the hands of the military members thanking them for their service.
Next. Brendan Leipsic's road to D.C.. dark
That concludes our top five list of the top American Capitals players in franchise history. Happy 4th of July Capitals fans!