Halpern Regains Home-Ice Advantage
ANALYSIS/OPINION
Jeff Halpern used to laugh when Chris Simon, his old Washington Capitals teammate, would refer to players as “suitcases.” Of course, Halpern was just breaking into the league then. In his first six seasons, he knew only one club: his hometown Caps. For frequent-flyer Simon, on the other hand, Washington was just the latest stop in an odyssey that would take him to Quebec, Colorado, Chicago, New York (both franchises), Calgary and Minnesota.
But then a not-so-funny thing happened: Halpern became a “suitcase” himself. In 2006, when he qualified for free agency, he fell victim to the Capitals‘ youth movement — not to mention the constraints of the salary cap - and ended up signing with Dallas. For the next five years he lived your basic American Tourister existence, riding the NHL carousel to Tampa Bay, Los Angeles and finally Montreal.
It was never what Halpern wanted. He was, after all, the Caps’ captain. He had grown up, in Potomac, following the team. But the business of sports is notoriously unsentimental — kind of like a baggage handler at an airport.s and finally Montreal.
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