On Monday morning the Washington Capitals signed the leader of penalty minutes in the AHL, Joel Rechlicz, to a one-year NHL contract and called him up to play in the Capitals first game since the All Star break. In that game, he played a total of 1:49 in two shifts, which both came in the first period of the Capitals 4-3 OT loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning. So that brings up the question, does Joel Rechlicz really have a place in the NHL, especially on the Capitals roster?
By now, everyone knows the style of play that Capitals head coach Dale Hunter played back when he still laced the skates up on a nightly basis. He was a tough guy, grinder, fighter, but he was also capable of making plays and putting the puck in the back of the net. He was just under a .75 ppg player throughout his career of 1,407 games. He is the ONLY player in NHL history to rack up over 1,000 points and over 3,000 penalty minutes in his career.
Not many were, or will ever be like him, because the NHL is trending...
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