Amateur
As a youth, Hatcher played in the 1979 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament with the Michigan Hylanders. [5] He then played for the Little Caesars 15U AAA team and Detroit Compuware Ambassadors while enrolled at Stevenson High School. As a member of the Ambassadors, he helped them win the 1983 Midget Nationals championships. [6] Hatcher left the Ambassadors after his junior year at Stevenson. [7] upon being drafted by the North Bay Centennials of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL). [8] He chose to play major junior hockey in Canada, rather than remain in Detroit, as he believed it would be the fastest route to the National Hockey League (NHL). [9] However, he had informed all OHL clubs prior to the 1983 OHL draft that he would only play in the league if the Centennials drafted him as they were the team his brother played for. [10]
Hatcher joined his brother Mark on the Centennials for the 1983–84 season [3] and scored his first OHL goal on October 10, 1983, against the Toronto Marlboros. [11] By the mid-point of his rookie season, Hatcher had tallied four goals and 20 assists through 36 games. [8] As a result of his play, he was ranked 22nd amongst all eligible skaters by the NHL Central Scouting Bureau [4] and was named to Team USA's roster for the 1984 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships. [8] Hatcher improved his ranking by the end of the season to 17th overall after finishing with 10 goals and 39 assists. [4] Due to his late birthday, Hatcher was the youngest player available in the 1984 NHL entry draft. [12] He was subsequently drafted in the first round, 17th overall, by the Washington Capitals. [7] Prior to the draft, Hatcher stated he would not mind being drafted by the Capitals as they told him they "let players learn from their mistakes." [4]
After signing a contract with the Capitals on September 6, 1984, [12] Hatcher participated in their training camp and scored five points through six preseason games. [13] However, due to his young age and other strong players available, he reassigned to the OHL for the 1984–85 season. [3] [14] As an 18-year=old, Hatcher led all defensemen in regular-season scoring with 26 goals and 37 assists. [13] He finished the 1985 OHL playoffs with five goals and eight assists [15] and was named to the OHL's Second All-Star Team. [16]
Washington Capitals
The Washington Capitals recalled Hatcher to the NHL level for the final two games of the 1984–85 regular season. [3] He made his NHL debut on April 6, 1985, against the Pittsburgh Penguins, as a replacement for an injured Peter Andersson. While he did not score any points, head coach Bryan Murray praised his stay-at-home defensive style of play. [17] Hatcher played in his second game the following day and scored his first NHL goal. [18] At 18 years, 210 days old, Hatcher became the second youngest defensemen in franchise history to score his first NHL goal with the team. [19] As the Capitals qualified for the 1985 Stanley Cup playoffs, he made his postseason debut in their first round series against the New York Islanders. [20] At the age of 18 and seven months, Hatcher became the youngest player to appear in a playoff game. [2]
Over the 1985 offseason, Hatcher worked on his strength and cardio abilities to boost his chances of making the Capitals opening night roster. The departures of Mike McEwen and Dave Shand over the offseason also opened up a spot on the Capitals 1985–86 roster for him. [21] [22] Hatcher finished his rookie season with nine goals and 10 assists for 19 points. He later credited the defensive-mindedness of the team for making his transition to the NHL easier. [20] As a result of his successful rookie season, the league named Hatcher to the 1986 NHL All-Rookie Team. [23]
Hatcher struggled to match his previous season's success in the 1986–87 season and drew immediate concerns from the coaching staff. They pinpointed the second week of training camp as the point at which Hatcher began to struggle. He began to improve in January after sitting as a healthy scratch for two games and working with assistant coach Terry Murray. [24]
After representing the United States at the 1987 Canada Cup, Hatcher returned to the Capitals training camp for his third season with the team. However, the day before the start of the 1987–88 season, it was announced that he would miss the first three weeks due to a knee injury. [25] Hatcher played a vital role for the Capitals during the 1988 Stanley Cup playoffs. In their first round series against the Philadelphia Flyers, he set a franchise record for points by a defenceman in a single playoff series. [26]
After tallying four goals and 19 assists through 43 games, Hatcher was selected to participate in the 1990 NHL All-Star Game. [27] He helped the Capitals advance to the 1990 Stanley Cup playoffs but suffered a knee injury in Game 5 of their series against the New York Rangers. [28] At the time of the injury, he had accumulated eight assists over 11 games. [29] As a result of the injury, Hatcher sat out for the entirety of the Capitals series against the Boston Bruins. [30]
During the Capitals 1992–93 exhibition games, head coach Terry Murray made Hatcher a temporary captain. This extended into the regular season as Hatcher replaced Rod Langway as team captain while the latter was injured. [31] On January 13, 1993, Hatcher recorded three goals and an assist in a 5–4 win over the Rangers. He subsequently became the first Capitals defenseman to record a hat-trick and finished the season with a franchise record 34 goals. [32] In February, Hatcher officially replaced Langway as team captain. [31] In this role, he reached the 30-goal mark helped all Capitals defencemen set a new league record for most combined points by defensemen on one team. [33] He finished the season with 79 points to clinch second place on the Capitals all-time points list for defenseman in a single season. [34]
United States