Get to know new Caps defenseman Scott Hannan

By Lindsay Applebaum

Scott Hannan (Getty Images)

Here's a quick rundown on Scott Hannan, the durable defenseman acquired from Colorado in exchange for forward Tomas Fleischmann:

*From the Caps' news release, some basics:

Hannan, 31, is an 11-year NHL veteran who has played for Colorado and the San Jose Sharks. The 6'1", 225-pound defensive defenseman has played 775 career games, recording 30 goals, 150 assists, 456 penalty minutes and a +22 rating. This season Hannan has six assists and a +1 rating while playing all 23 games for the Avalanche.

Hannan has played at least 71 games in each of his 11 pro seasons, including 97.2% of the games since he made the NHL full-time in 2000-01. He has averaged 18:37 of ice time per game this season and 22:02 per game in the course of his career. His teams have made the playoffs eight times in 10 seasons prior to this one, playing a total of 73 playoff games.

*George McPhee's comments are here.



*Scored a B- on his Denver Post "report card" from the 2009-10 season (also: used to have really goofy-looking hair). Columnist Adrian Dater wrote:

Hannan had 67 hits in his 81 games. He was billed as a physical D-man when he came to Denver. You can't call Hannan "soft" at all. But, again, there's an element of "Is that all there is?"

He did block 144 shots, second most on the team. And I thought he played pretty well in the playoffs. He was a plus-3 in the six games and played hard.

Again, he's a nice guy to have on a team, a reliable D-man in many respects. But has he been worth every penny of his big contract? I don't think it's unfair to have reservations about that.

*Dater summed it up today like this: "He seemed more like your basic ham-and-egger type of player, but with a filet mignon contract."

*He may or may not be called the "Minister of Defense."



*He likes wakeboarding and has a "surfer-dude mentality," writes Justin Bourne (in July 2009):

Scott Hannan, a Kelowna resident, genuinely claimed that he stopped doing leg workouts a few summers back, because wakeboarding was his new workout. I know it's a leg burn, but it isn't squatting 315 pounds 12 times.

The guy consistently showed up to skate minutes before we went out, fully equipped with his crazy long hair, uber-summer tan, and surfer-dude mentality. Kinda strikes me as more of a "minus-five SPF-oil guy" than the "concerned-about-melanoma's type".

Stay tuned for more from Hannan, who will join reporters on a conference call in a few minutes.

