Washington Capitals: Top 10 toughest players of all-time

#6 Joe Reekie

Joe Reekie is a defenseman who always did the dirty work yet hardly got recognition. But he expressed once during his playing career how he’s not intimidated by anyone. He spoke to Dave Feete of LCS Hockey:

"“As a defensive defenseman, I’m not going to get a lot of points in a year,. But you know, I just can’t get scored against. I take a lot of pride in [defense], just like a goal scorer does scoring goals, and I do whatever it takes not to let one in. It eats me alive when I get scored against.”"

Reekie played in 515 career games with the Washington Capitals ranking third in franchise history in plus/minus rating at plus 86. He totaled 688 penalty minutes which is the fifth most all time among Capitals defenseman.

Joe Pelletier of WashingtonCapitalsLegends.com described him as this:

"“From 1994 to 2002 Reekie served as a top four defender. He was often used against the other team’s top players because of his strength and seemingly flawless defensive positioning. He was smart and tough, although that brought inevitable injuries that slowed him. Regardless, he always played with a subtle savvy that I always admired, as well as with a tough and physical, yet clean, presence.”"