Mike Green came to terms with the Capitals today on a four-year, $21 million dollar contract to play ice hockey.

In my first post on DCist, all the way back in October of 2006, I described a hard-fought match between the Caps and the Avalanche that reached its climax when “Green, the Caps star minor-league defenseman, who is expected to show signs of someday belonging in the NHL by the end of this season, went on a breakaway, faked the goalie all the way down to the ice and three feet to the left of the net, turned right and stickhandled the puck all the way over the goal-line.”

For the rest of that season, Mike Green was fairly invisible as he gradually adjusted to increased defensive responsibilities in the major leagues. In the spring, the Caps sent him back to the minors, where he helped the Hershey Bears to a second consecutive Calder Cup finals appearance. Big deal. It was the minors.

Then, last year, Green stayed in the big leagues for the whole season and scored more goals than any other NHL defenseman. Not bad. He also led the Caps in playing time. Not bad either. He was also one of two defensemen voted “first team all stars” for the entire NHL. Not bad at all.