Washington, D.C. inhabits a different hockey world than the one Jeff Halpern left after the 2005-06 season. With his hometown team in the midst of a painful rebuild and a better financial offer with longer term from the Dallas Stars, Halpern left the Caps for greener pastures.
It didn’t quite work out. After his numbers dropped in Dallas, Halpern went to Tampa Bay in a trade late in his second season with the Stars. He played two more years there, but suffered a serious knee injury during the World Championships in 2008. Halpern returned for half of the following season. In 2009 he was traded to the Los Angeles Kings –a place where he just wasn’t a good fit. Then came a bounce back season with Montreal in 2010-11 (11 goals, 15 assists) as a checking-line center. Let’s just say it’s been a long road back home for the Potomac, Md. native.
“We hit rock bottom there going into the lockout and there’s such good signs of improvement during [Alex Ovechkin’s] first year and going into that next year,” Halpern said during a press conference at Kettler Iceplex on Wednesday. “It was definitely tough leaving. It was tough leaving the comforts of playing in D.C. and playing in front of everyone here. At the time with everything being taken into consideration it was a good decision for me. But it’s been interesting to watch this team go from what we were at the lockout to one of the best teams in the league pretty much year-in and year-out.”
Halpern is familiar with some of his teammates. Brooks Laich and Alex Ovechkin were rookies in 2005-06 – Halpern’s final season with the Caps. Mike Green saw some time that season, too (22 games). Eric Fehr (11 games) was a recall from Hershey, but didn’t have much of a role. Jeff Schultz wasn’t yet an established NHL player and was with AHL Hershey then. Halpern didn’t see Alex Semin that season at all – he remained in Russia after the lockout ended. And old friends Matt Bradley and Boyd Gordon just left via free agency last week. Hey, at least Olie Kolzig is back – as an associate goalie coach.
“I’m coming into a new situation,” Halpern said. “I’ve played with a few guys here, but you don’t want to come in and start ranting and raving right off the bat. You want to blend in and mix in. This is a tremendous group that’s playing here. And you want to add to it. You don’t want to dig into it too much.”
Interesting comments considering that’s the exact opposite of what veteran center Jason Arnott did last year after he was traded here from New Jersey. Now, maybe the Caps asked him to do that. Maybe Arnott just thought he had to stir the pot to get that team where it wanted to go. But Halpern – as a former captain for the Caps and Team USA at the World Championships – is clearly taking a different approach. Arnott, by the way, signed a one-year deal with the St. Louis Blues on Wednesday worth $2.5 million with a bonus up to $2.8 – that according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
Halpern said he never closed the door on returning to Washington. He grew up in Potomac, attended Churchill High for a year and went to prep school in New Hampshire and eventually Princeton. He’s maintained his same off-season residence in suburban Maryland since 2003. He didn’t start the free-agent period thinking Caps first. Honestly, Halpern was ready to jump at the first legitimate opportunity that came his way. But the fact it was Washington made for a perfect fit.
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