ARLINGTON, V.A. — When Karl Alzner heard his name called out fifth overall by the Washington Capitals at the 2007 NHL Draft, he thought he was heading to Washington State.

Then, he realized he had the map wrong.

"I had no idea that it was D.C., you know, I was in my bubble. I knew the league pretty good, but I had no idea that this was the place," Alzner laughed. "That was a shock. And then coming here, the best way to describe it, is I felt like I was on a movie set."

Almost instantaneously, though, Alzner would fall in love with the District, which he would — and still does — call home.

Alzner spent nine of his 12 years in the NHL with the Capitals, establishing himself as a top-4, shutdown defenseman who would balance out the offensive-minded John Carlson.

Now 36 and retired, Alzner joined That's D.C. Hockey to reflect on his time with Washington, and looking back at his first years there during the "Young Gun" era, he compared it to somewhat of a sideshow.

"I was just explaining this to somebody. It's like we had a bit of a reputation as being almost like a country club. The team had so much fun. Everything that we did on the ice, off the ice, away from the rink, everything was just like a little bit larger than life," Alzner recalled.

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Alzner came to love D.C. so much that he had asked his agent in 2017, after the team was eliminated once again at the hands of the Pittsburgh Penguins, for an eight-year extension at the league minimum in order to remain with the organization.

However, the "writing was on the wall" that it was time for a change, and Alzner ultimately headed to the Montreal Canadiens, where things went downhill amid coaching issues and struggles for the team. He spent three seasons split between Montreal and its AHL affiliate Laval Rocket before ultimately taking a buyout and choosing to hang up the skates.

Our full discussion with Alzner about the Capitals, their high standards, that long, bitter rivalry with Pittsburgh, what went wrong in Montreal, his ultimate return to the District, beer league and more, can be found here on YouTube.

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