Ciccarelli’s First Goal: Winning Over the Fans

Not long after an opponent’s elbow to the head had given him a concussion, Dino Ciccarelli was pleading to go back into the game.

As he was being examined by a doctor a few minutes later Wednesday night in Montreal, Ciccarelli looked down and wondered what he was doing wearing a Washington Capitals jersey. The doctor reminded him he had been traded Tuesday with defenseman Bob Rouse from Minnesota to Washington for Mike Gartner and Larry Murphy. At that point, both men knew Ciccarelli needed more rest.

Ciccarelli awoke Thursday morning, fully aware and very thankful for his fresh start with the Capitals. Known on the ice for his ability to score goals in bunches and ignite a team, Ciccarelli couldn’t stand being known off the ice for two incidents he feels unfairly shaped his public image: a stick-swinging incident in Toronto that landed him in jail for a day and a misdemeanor charge of indecent exposure.

Ciccarelli, who sat out Thursday night’s game with the Boston Bruins as a precaution because of the concussion, talked about both incidents in a wide-ranging discussion.

“I’ve made a couple of mistakes in my life,” Ciccarelli said. “And I apologize for them, I really do. There are things I’ve done that I’m not happy about, but I know that I’m a good person.”

The indecent-exposure charge--to which Ciccarelli pleaded guilty and was ordered to undergo counseling and pay $200 in court costs--is a difficult issue for him.

“This is a particularly sensitive subject for me,” Ciccarelli said, “because my attorneys at the time thought it would be better to plead guilty. They advised that because of the expense, the timing, and that it would be better to get the whole thing out of the news rather than drag it through the courts. It was tough on my wife (Lynda) and my two daughters (Jenna and Kristen).

“Now, in a way, I wish I had fought the charge because I know I didn’t do anything wrong. My attorneys said, ‘Let’s do it this way,’ and I did. But I want to make clear, I was never outside of my home indecent. Never. Reports said I was in my yard or outside of my garage. That just isn’t so.

“However I was, I was in the privacy of my own home, and that’s the extent of it.”

In November 1987, when Ciccarelli was a player with the North Stars, police in Eden Prairie, Minn., said a neighbor complained of Ciccarelli appearing outside his home wearing only a sweatshirt. The neighbor told the Minneapolis Star Tribune this happened at least four times when she was driving by his home.

The woman told the Star Tribune she and her husband decided to file a complaint after her pre-school-age son allegedly saw Ciccarelli drop his pants in the garage. Police in Minnesota said they watched Ciccarelli’s home before charging him.

The Star Tribune quoted the complaint filed by police as saying Ciccarelli admitted he had been exposing himself occasionally for the previous two months.

Ciccarelli said, “I don’t know if someone was jealous of my fame, or for some other reason disliked me because of who I was. It’s tough to understand, but I know I didn’t do anything wrong.”

Part of the plea-bargaining agreement was that Ciccarelli undergo six months of counseling, to which he objected at first. “I knew I didn’t do anything wrong, and didn’t feel I needed it,” he said. “But the counseling was (therapeutic). I found out a lot about my self-esteem. I realized you can make mistakes in life, but it doesn’t necessarily mean you’re a bad person.”

In January 1988, Ciccarelli was suspended by the NHL for 10 games and put in jail for a day for striking Toronto’s Luke Richardson in the head with his stick. He thus became the first NHL player jailed for on-ice violence.

Ciccarelli was quoted as saying he was only trying to defend himself. “I never did it again, and I wouldn’t,” he said this week. “I overreacted. He had really gone after me in that game and previous games, and I had the feeling he was taking advantage of me and I had to protect myself or it would continue. But I overreacted.

“I’m an intense player, a feisty player. That’s the way I play and I’m not going to change the way I am. But it’s not like I’ve been involved in lots of incidents like that. Unfortunately, there’s lots of stickwork in the NHL, and I believe that particular judge (in Toronto) was making an example of me.”

Because of those two highly publicized incidents and a 24-day holdout at the beginning of the season over a salary squabble that ended with his receiving a salary of $425,000 this season, many presumed the North Stars were trying to get rid of 29-year-old Ciccarelli.

Lou Nanne, president of the North Stars and general manager there through most of Ciccarelli’s nine seasons, said, “That is not the case. On Tuesday, we figured he’d be staying here. We had turned down several deals for Dino. We were not looking to trade him. We wound up doing something we thought” would benefit the team by trading.

“He’s a great kid,” Nanne said. “I loved him. When he was going through some tough things, I tried to help him out and talk to him. Personally, I think this change will help him out.”

Capitals General Manager David Poile said when the trade was announced that he was aware of Ciccarelli’s previous problems, but that he felt confident “he would adhere to the standards of the Washington Capitals.” Thursday, Coach Bryan Murray said he was looking to the future with Ciccarelli.

“He’s had 50-goal seasons and that’s what I want to see,” Murray said. “He’s a quality player, a fiery kind of guy. He goes for the net and he’s not going to back off at all.”

Ciccarelli loves playing in the big games, before the sellout crowds. And the North Stars, who hadn’t made the playoffs the last three seasons, were playing before a lot of empty seats. He was shocked at first to hear he would be leaving Minnesota, but figured the new start in Washington would be something he and his family would like.

“I’m excited,” he said repeatedly Thursday night. “I’m excited about the sellout crowds, excited about playing in the Patrick Division race. I know I’m a veteran player, but I feel like a kid again. I know also that Mike Gartner was popular in Washington. We came up together playing against each other in junior hockey. And we spent some time getting to know each other in the World Cup and Canada Cup.

“I know what a good guy he was and how the fans there love him. But I’ll try to win everybody over with my effort to win.”

Nanne said the Capitals are getting something of value. “Dino has more charisma than any athlete here I can remember,” he said. “What’s of incredible value is how many times his antics and ability to draw a penalty can get a team up. He’s a fellow who can really compete.”

The first few days of the Ciccarelli-Capitals union couldn’t go any more smoothly. The club sent his wife flowers and his daughters T-shirts and other Capitals souveniers and Ciccarelli said he got so excited, “I had goosebumps.”

Ciccarelli said the first thing he did was send his father a Capitals cap. “My parents came over from Italy, and there was never any hockey history,” he said. “My mom’s a housewife and great cook, and my dad was a welder. I’m from a typical blue-collar family. My dad worked 40-45 hours a week and he always was there to kick my butt if that’s what I needed. He became an avid hockey fan.

“It’s not a lot of fancy plays, or end-to-end rushes,” he said. “I like to generate some commotion in the corners and in front of the net. But I’ll find the spots and let other guys make the plays.