Defenseman Mike Green might not be rocking the Capitals red anymore, but on Black Friday he returned to Washington, DC as a member of the Detroit Red Wings.
Green, along with Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom, and Alexander Semin, was part of the “Young Guns” era in Washington from 2007 through 2012. Green was excited to see two of his teammates finally realize the dream they’d all been reaching for.
“As a guy who played with them for 10 years and became very close with them, I felt the excitement,” Green said according to Capitals Radio’s Ben Raby. “I thought of all the hard times that they went through to get to that point and I was beyond happy for those two.”
The ties are strong between the Capitals and many of the players who departed before the successful Stanley Cup run, including defenseman Karl Alzner.
Green was drafted 29th overall by the Capitals in 2004, the same year as Alex Ovechkin. After spending some time bouncing between the Caps and their AHL-affiliate, the Hershey Bears, Green logged 575 games for the Capitals. After a 2015 trade, and a few injury-plagued seasons with Detroit, he’s reached the 800 NHL game milestone.
#ALLCAPS alum Mike Green back in Washington today where he'll skate in his 800th career @NHL game.
Green to become first defenseman from the 2004 draft class (and fifth overall) to hit 800-game mark. #ALLCAPS vs. #LGRW 4pm @CapitalsRadio. Green joins us during 1st Intermission pic.twitter.com/0mboBYpOPh
— Ben Raby (@BenRaby31) November 23, 2018
Green is still a fan favorite in Washington for his time on the team, and for crowd-pleasing gestures like this one.
he gave pucks to so many kids i love him so much pic.twitter.com/F3rRHKLx4G
— ✨it’s okay to believe✨ (@tjoshov) November 23, 2018
The Greens purchased a house in DC over the summer, so they’ll be returning to DC after Green plays his last game, too.
Full RMNB Coverage of Caps vs Red Wings
Headline photo: Bruce Bennett
