Washington Capitals hire former defenseman Calle Johansson as assistant coach –NHL Update
14 years back, in 1998, Washington Capitals had made into Stanley Cup finals but they were defeated in the finals by Detroit Red Wings. Sweden’s Calle Johansson was defenseman of that Washington Capitals’ team that was unsuccessful in winning the finals
but now he is returning to Capitals’ to serve them once again, this time as an assistant coach.
Johansson last represented Washington Capitals in 2003, before playing for Toronto Maple Leafs for one last season of his career, in the season 2003-2004 as he took retirement after that. But he regrets not winning the Stanley Cup and now wants to contribute
and help Capitals win the title that they have never been able to win since being founded in 1974.
45-year-old defenseman thinks that winning Stanley Cup is more special and bigger than winning the Olympic Gold or World Championships.
It is winning the Stanley Cup after hard work and playing games for nine-ten months is one of the biggest things one can do. And he is here to finish that unfinished job that he could not do as a player but now would like to do as a member of the coaching
staff.
Record holder for serving the Washington Capitals in most matches, Johansson said,
"People ask players and they ask coaches, 'What's the biggest thing you can win? Is it the Olympics or is it the Stanley Cup?' I know that they are pretty politically correct when they say, 'Well, it's both pretty big.' To me, to win the Stanley Cup with
players or coaches that you side with every day for nine months or 10 months, that is the absolute ultimate goal and the biggest thing you can do. For me, that's really unfinished business. The team in Washington is a great hockey team and has great potential.
To me, it was just a perfect situation."
Gothenburg, a Sweden born player, who started his NHL career with Buffalo Sabres in 1987 played for New York based Buffalo side for just one full season before moving to Washington Capitals’ mid-way through the next season.
He stayed there for 14 seasons, which is most of number of seasons any player has played for Capitals. The defenseman has also got record for most number of points (474), assists (361) by a defenseman, ranked third in the most goals list with 113 goals.
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