Peter Bondra choked up twice while talking about his trade to the Ottawa Senators. Not even the prospect of playing for a Stanley Cup contender could ease the trauma of a sudden goodbye after 14 years with the Washington Capitals.
"I grew up here. I grew up as a player. I grew up as a person," Bondra said in an emotional farewell appearance Wednesday in the Capitals locker room. "I have to understand that I have to move on."
Bondra became the latest victim of the Capitals' salary purge. The franchise's all-time leading scorer is heading north, giving the Senators another potent offensive threat in their drive toward the Stanley Cup playoffs.
PHOTO: EPA
The Capitals received prospect center Brooks Laich and a 2005 second-round pick for the fan favorite who had spent his entire NHL career in Washington.
"We're supposed to be big, tough guys, but there were a lot of tears this morning," general manager George McPhee said. "We thought it was best for Peter. We worked harder to find the best place for him to play. Peter didn't want to leave. This wasn't something management and ownership wanted to do. We thought it was good for Peter and good for us."
Unaware that something was up, Bondra showed up for practice Wednesday morning with his two children, who had the day off from school. Then Bondra noticed McPhee at the rink.
"I never see George that early," Bondra said. He said he then instinctively turned to his kids and said: "This is it. This is my last day here."
"When George told me, I was so shocked and, like, my stomach had butterflies," Bondra said. "It was almost emotionally a breakdown. It was tough ... I was here for 14 years, and all of sudden it's gone."
The money-losing, last-place Capitals have been trying all season to trim payroll and start rebuilding. Captain Steve Konowalchuk was sent to Colorado in October, and Jaromir Jagr went to the New York Rangers last month.
Goaltender Olaf Kolzig, defenseman Sergei Gonchar or center Robert Lang could be next, but no one has represented the Capitals over the past decade like Bondra.
"When you say Washington Capitals, the first thing you think is Peter Bondra," Kolzig said.
Bondra said all the right things about Ottawa, but it was clear his heart had not yet accepted the trade. He will join the Senators for Thursday's home game against Atlanta, but the Slovak native's family will stay in the Washington area.
"I still don't believe it," Bondra said.
Ottawa moved into a first-place tie with Toronto in the Northeast Division with a 1-1 tie last night at Washington. Already the NHL's top-scoring team with 196 goals, the Senators now have added the player who trails only Brett Hull, Jagr and Brendan Shanahan in goals scored among active players since 1990.
A five-time NHL All-Star, Bondra has 21 goals and 14 assists in 54 games this season, including four game-winning goals. The Senators are now the only team in the NHL with 10 players who have scored 10 or more goals this season.
"Peter Bondra deserves a chance to compete for a Stanley Cup," Capitals owner Ted Leonsis said. "I know what he means to our fan base, but allowing him the opportunity to win a Cup is important. This was a difficult trade."
Bondra, who turned 36 this month, leaves the Capitals as the franchise's career leader in goals (472), points (825), power-play goals (137), game-winning goals (73), short-handed goals (32) and hat tricks (19). Had he finished the season with the Caps, he would have become the leader in games played, passing Calle Johansson.
"If Peter was 26, we wouldn't have done it," McPhee said. "He's sort of on the back nine at 36."
Bondra is in the third year of a four-year US$18 million contract, and the final year is an option year. He will become a free agent this summer and could be re-signed by the Capitals if the Senators decide not to keep him, but Ottawa general manager John Muckler said he intends to exercise the option.
"He is not a rental," Muckler said.
Islanders 4, Penguins 3
Mariusz Czerkawski scored a pair of power-play goals, and Garth Snow stopped 18 shots as the New York Islanders held on for a 4-3 victory over Pittsburgh on Wednesday night that sent the Penguins to their 16th straight loss.
"I just try to concentrate and stay positive," Czerkawski said. "Every shift is challenging."
Roman Hamrlik and Kenny Jonsson also scored for the Islanders, 20-8-2 at home.
Tomas Surovy, Ric Jackman and Milan Kraft scored for the Penguins, who haven't won since Jan. 12. Since then, Pittsburgh is 0-15-0-1. Andy Chiodo made 30 saves in his first NHL start.
"I was so entrenched in the moment, I didn't have time to be that nervous," Chiodo said. "It was pretty exciting the first time I was standing on that ice. I'll never forget that moment."
Panthers 1, Sabres 1
In Buffalo, New York, Roberto Luongo stopped 41 shots, allowing Florida to rally for a tie with Buffalo.
Tough guy Eric Boulton snapped a 54-game scoring slump, scoring for Buffalo, which had a four-game winning streak end. The Sabres, however, are 8-1-1 in their last 10 games, and are within three points of Montreal in the race for the Eastern Conference playoffs.
Luongo, fourth in the NHL with a 93.1 save percentage, was particularly sharp in the second period when he stopped all 22 shots.
Red Wings 5, Coyotes 2
In Detroit, Brett Hull tied Dave Andreychuk's NHL record with his 263rd career power-play goal and Kris Draper scored twice to lead Detroit over Phoenix.
Phoenix's Chris Gratton had a goal, then Detroit's Mathieu Schneider scored before Fredrik Sjostrom got the Coyotes within 3-2.
Draper gave Detroit another two-goal cushion with 1:50 left. Draper added an empty-netter a minute later for his 23rd goal of the season.
Barcelona star Lamine Yamal would be motivated by criticism ahead of the Clasico, Barcelona assistant coach Marcus Sorg said yesterday. Teenage winger Yamal has been in the spotlight in the Spanish capital after joking that Real Madrid “steal” and “complain” during an appearance on a social media stream. Champions Barca face Real Madrid today in La Liga at the Santiago Bernabeu, looking for a fifth consecutive win over their rivals. “Lamine is a top player and I think [the criticism] will be motivating for him,” Sorg told a news conference. “I hope we all see him tomorrow [give] the best performance.” The 18-year-old Spain
‘A HISTORIC moment’: ‘I think we all need to take a step back and appreciate Leo Messi is playing in Major League Soccer,’ league commissioner Don Garber said Lionel Messi raised the Golden Boot. He then got Inter Miami started with his head. The Argentine opened the scoring with a diving header in the first half, then capped the scoring in the 96th minute as Inter Miami opened the MLS playoffs with a 3-1 win over Nashville SC in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference best-of-three first-round series on Friday night. Messi and Ian Fray had the assists on Tadeo Allende’s second-half tally for Inter Miami, who now get two chances to advance out of the first round for the first time in Messi’s two-and-a-half-year tenure with the team. Game
‘COMPLETE GAME’: ‘To be honest, I’m not sure about the history, but I’m very happy about what I did today,’ Yamamoto said through a translator after the game Yoshinobu Yamamoto pitched a World Series game from another era. Sandy Koufax had October outings like this, and so did Orel Hershiser, but those types of performances have vanished in modern baseball. Until this 178cm starter from Japan delivered like the aces of old. Yamamoto threw a four-hitter for his second consecutive complete game, the first in the World Series since 2015, and the defending champion Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Toronto Blue Jays 5-1 on Saturday night to tie their best-of-seven matchup at one game apiece. “It’s kind of the throwback,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “When he starts a game, he
Japan’s narrow defeat by Australia showed they can compete with the best teams in the world, coach Eddie Jones said after his side fell to a 19-15 loss yesterday. Australia coach Joe Schmidt led the Wallabies for the first time against Eddie Jones, his predecessor and now Japan coach. During Jones’ second tenure as Australia coach, the Wallabies lost seven of nine tests and were eliminated in group play at the 2023 World Cup. “What I’m super pleased about is that now we [Japan] are a team that stays in the fight,” Jones told reporters. “We kept going, we could have won
RSS