The Washington Capitals have had their fair share of villains against them in their franchise’s history, and they’ve had their own villains that the rest of the league hated.
Right now, Capitals’ Tom Wilson may top a lot of fans’ most-hated players in the entire league, but similar to Brad Marchand, every fan would love to have someone like him on their team; that’s what makes him such an important asset.
Over the course of the Capitals’ history, perhaps nobody was a bigger villain against them than Pittsburgh Penguins’ legend Mario Lemieux, and it seems as though staff at The Athletic agree, after a recent post on their X, formerly Twitter, platform.
In their tweet, they wrote, “Whether it’s a rival who is despised for physical play, controversial hits, relentless agitating or competitive success, many players have found themselves loathed in certain cities.”
According to StatMuse, Lemieux played 61 regular season games against the Capitals in his career, scoring 51 goals and adding 50 assists for 101 points, which comes out to a 1.66 points-per-game average.
Where he really killed the Capitals was in the postseason, where he played 29 games against them, scoring 19 goals and adding 31 assists for 50 points, which comes out to a 1.61 points-per-game average.
There is obviously an argument to be made that Sidney Crosby has been the bigger villain against the Capitals, considering his success in the playoffs over the course of his career with multiple Stanley Cups, to Alex Ovechkin’s one, but Lemieux has seemingly been given the title of biggest villain, which has sparked debate.
The famous call when the Capitals defeated the Penguins in 2018, where we heard “the demons have been exercised,” showcases how deep the Penguins-Capitals rivalry goes, so it’s not surprising to see one of the greatest players in league history, who had so much success against the Caps, be named their biggest villain.
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