Photo: Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images
With the Pittsburgh Penguins’ Stanley Cup-clinching win tonight, two longtime members of the Capitals – forward Eric Fehr and defenseman Sergei Gonchar – will have their names engraved on the Stanley Cup. Fehr, who signed a three-year deal with Pittsburgh last summer after nine seasons with the Caps, is celebrating his first career Stanley Cup.
(Aric Crabb/Bay Area News Group)
A fan favorite in D.C., he recorded 87 goals and 87 assists, and 164 points in 419 games played with Washington. In his first season in black and gold, he struggled, registering only eight goals and six assists for 14 points in an injury-shortened 55-game season. Coming into tonight’s contest, he had recorded three goals and an assist in 22 playoff games.
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Gonchar, on the other hand, won the Cup as the Penguins’ defenseman development coach. A member of the team’s 2009 Cup-winning team, Gonchar retired last fall after a lengthy and possible Hall of Fame caliber career. Gonchar spent his first ten seasons in a Capitals sweater and was one of the NHL’s premier offensive blueliners during that time. In 654 career games played with the Caps, the former first-round pick (14th overall in 1992) recorded 144 goals and 272 assists for 416 points.
While it may sting that the Capitals lost to the eventual Cup champions, NoVa Caps congratulates two longtime Capitals on a victory!
NoVa Caps would also like to congratulate former Cap Joel Ward on a great run this season. We miss you Big Cheese!
By Michael Fleetwood
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