number one guy in front of him for a couple of seasons was Jason Doig
This is simply not true. Not even close. First of all, Jason Doig played 120 games with the Caps in his career. That's it. That's almost a season and a half, but it makes him hardly a mainstay in front of Kolzig. Secondly, he was NEVER the "number one guy" in front of Kolzig.
Looking at Doig's two seasons in Washington, 2002-03 was the first. He played 55 games and averaged 14:11 in time on ice per game. That doesn't sound like a top defenseman, does it? That's because he wasn't one.
| 2002-03 | GP | TOI/G |
|---|---|---|
| Gonchar | 82 | 26:35 |
| Klee | 70 | 21:49 |
| Johansson | 82 | 21:45 |
| Witt | 69 | 20:44 |
| Boumedienne | 6 | 19:33 |
| Kwiatkowski | 34 | 15:32 |
| Fortin | 33 | 15:14 |
| Doig | 55 | 14:11 |
In 2002-03, Gonchar, Klee, Johansson, and Witt were clearly the top-4. The bottom pairing was a bit more of a rotation, and while Doig played the 5th most games of any Caps defenseman that season, he plays fewer minutes than guys like Boumedienne, Kwiatkowski, and Fortin. Doig was a 6/7 defenseman that season.
Looking at 2003-04, Doig's role definitely increased as Washington tanked. He went up to 65 games played at 19:09 per game. That took him into legitimate defenseman territory, but he was still hardly a number one.
| 2003-04 | GP | TOI/G |
|---|---|---|
| Gonchar | 56 | 27:57 |
| Witt | 72 | 22:48 |
| Kwiatkowski | 80 | 21:16 |
| Doig | 65 | 19:09 |
| Morrisonn | 3 | 18:52 |
| Eminger | 41 | 17:32 |
| Rohloff | 35 | 14:07 |
| Doig | 55 | 14:11 |
Looking at Doig's second season, the numbers are better. Gonchar is still the obvious number 1, though he was traded in March. Still, Witt and even Kwiatkowski both played more games and more minutes. Doig was a second pairing guy. To say that Doig was the number one in front of Kolzig for a few seasons is ridiculous.