Washington Capitals
Washington Capitals | |
---|---|
File:Washington Capitals.gif | |
Conference | Eastern |
Division | Southeast |
Founded | 1974 |
History | Washington Capitals 1974 - present |
Home arena | Verizon Center |
City | Washington, D.C. |
Team colors | Black, Blue, and Gold |
Media | Comcast SportsNet News Channel 8 WTEM (980 AM) |
Owner(s) | ![]() |
General manager | ![]() |
Head coach | ![]() |
Captain | ![]() |
Minor league affiliates | Hershey Bears (AHL) South Carolina Stingrays (ECHL) |
Stanley Cups | None |
Conference championships | 1997-98 |
Division championships | 1988-89, 1999-00, 2000-01 |
The Washington Capitals are a professional ice hockey team based in Washington, D.C.. They play in the National Hockey League (NHL).
Early History
Along with the Kansas City Scouts, the Capitals joined the National Hockey League as an expansion team for the 1974-75 season. With a combined 30 teams between the NHL and the rival World Hockey Association, both the Capitals and the Scouts had few players with professional experience and were at a disadvantage against the long-standing teams that were stocked with more experienced players. In their first season, the Capitals would set an NHL record for futility, losing 67 of 80 games, and only winning one on the road. The Scouts fared only marginally better.
The Capitals did not fare much better through the rest of the 1970s and early 80s. By the summer of 1982, there was serious talk of the team moving out of the U.S. capital, and a "Save the Caps" campaign was underway. Then two significant events took place to solve the problem.
Playoffs
First, the team hired David Poile as General Manager. Second, as his first move, Poile pulled off one of the biggest trades in franchise history on September 9 when he dealt longtime regulars Ryan Walter and Rick Green to the Montreal Canadiens for Rod Langway, Brian Engblom, Doug Jarvis, and Craig Laughlin. This move not only turned the franchise around, but the addition of these new players helped the team reach the playoffs for the first time in 1983. In addition, the Caps were also helped by the explosive goal-scoring of Dennis Maruk, Mike Gartner, and Bobby Carpenter. Although they were swept by the eventual and three-time-defending Stanley Cup Champion New York Islanders, their first ever playoff appearance helped the team remain in Washington.
The Capitals would make the playoffs for each of the next 14 years in a row, but every time it ended in heartbreak. In the late 1980s the Caps, though always a contender in the regular season, could never shake off their reputation for being "chokers" in the playoffs. Particularly painful was a loss to the Islanders in the 1987 Patrick Division Semifinal, a series which ended with the classic Easter Epic game. Despite a continuous march of stars like Gartner, Carpenter, Bengt-Åke Gustafsson, Mike Ridley, Dave Christian, Dino Ciccarelli, Langway, Larry Murphy or Kevin Hatcher, only once in that time period did the team ever get past the second round of the playoffs, a 4-game sweep at the hands of the Boston Bruins in the 1990 Wales Conference Finals. Gartner had been traded to the Minnesota North Stars in 1989.
Lost chances
By the mid-1990s, the Stanley Cup seemed to elude the Capitals. Despite having rising stars in right-winger Peter Bondra, defenseman Sergei Gonchar, and center/left-wing Joé Juneau, the team's core players were mostly aging. One of the team's darkest days came in a 1993 playoff series with the New York Islanders, when enforcer Dale Hunter was suspended 21 games for a late hit on the Isles' Pierre Turgeon after he had just scored the series-winning goal.
Eastern Conference Champions
Then in 1998, Peter Bondra's 52 goals led the team, veterans Juneau and Adam Oates returned to old form, and Olaf Kolzig had a solid .920 save percentage as the Caps got past the Bruins, Ottawa Senators, and Buffalo Sabres (the latter on a dramatic double-overtime win in game Six) en route to the team's first (and to date, only) Stanley Cup finals appearance. However, the team was no match for the defending champs, the Detroit Red Wings, who won in a four-game sweep.
In 1999, the Capitals missed the playoffs. They went on to win back-to-back Southeast Division titles, yet both years lost in the first round to the Pittsburgh Penguins. Yet the Caps scored a major coup in the summer of 2001, landing five-time Art Ross Trophy winner Jaromír Jágr, one of the best players in the NHL in the 1990s, in a trade with Pittsburgh. Despite the new power, the Capitals failed to perform. In the summer of 2002, the Caps made even more roster changes, including the signing the highly regarded Robert Lang as a free agent, also from Pittsburgh.
The Capitals were back in the playoffs 2003, but disappointed fans again by losing in six games to the Tampa Bay Lightning after starting off with a two-game lead in the best-of-seven first-round series. The series is well-remembered for the three-overtime Game 6 at the then-MCI Center, the longest game in the building's history, which was eventually decided by a power play goal as a result of Jason Doig skating on the ice too early and warranting a too-many-men-on-the-ice penalty.
In the early part of 2004, the Caps unloaded a lot of their high-priced talent in order to save money — not just a cost-cutting spree, but also an acknowledgment that their attempt to build a contender with high-priced veteran talent had failed. Jágr was traded to the New York Rangers, which was quickly followed by Bondra going to the Ottawa Senators. Not long after, Robert Lang was sent to Detroit and Gonchar to the Bruins. The Robert Lang trade marked the first time in the history of the National Hockey League that the league's leading scorer was traded in the middle of the season. The Capitals ended the year 23-46-10-6, tied for the second worst record, along with the Chicago Blackhawks.
In the 2004 NHL Entry Draft, the Capitals won the Draft Lottery, and selected Alexander Ovechkin first overall. During the NHL labor dispute of 2004-05, which cost the NHL its entire season, Ovechkin stayed in Russia, playing for Moscow Dynamo. Several other Capitals played part or all of the lost season in Europe, including Olaf Kölzig, Brendan Witt, and Jeff Halpern. The Capitals' 2005 off-season consisted of making D.C.-area native Halpern the team's captain, signing Andrew Cassels, Ben Clymer, Mathieu Biron and Jamie Heward, and acquiring Chris Clark and Jeff Friesen via trade.
Post-Lockout
The Capitals finished the 2005-2006 NHL season in the cellar of the Southeastern Division again, with a 29-41-12 campaign, having 12 more points then the 2003-04 Season, good for 27th out of the 30 NHL teams. Yet the team played close in every game, playing in 42 one-goal games, although losing 2/3 of those games. Ovechkin's rookie season exceeded the hype, as he led all 2005-06 NHL rookies in goals, points, power-play goals and shots. He finished third overall in the NHL in scoring and tied for third in goals; and his 425 shots not only led the league, but also set an NHL rookie record and was the fourth-highest total in NHL history. Ovechkin's rookie point total was the second-best in Washington Capitals history, and his goal total was tied for third in franchise history. Ovechkin won the Calder Memorial Trophy, beating out Pittsburgh center Sidney Crosby and Calgary Flames defenseman Dion Phaneuf. Many longtime Capitals had career years, with Dainius Zubrus netting 57 points, Halpern having a career-best 33 assists, Matt Pettinger putting in a career-best 20-goal, 38-point effort and seven others on the relatively young team topping 20 points for the first time. Two notable landmarks were also hit by Capitals, as the team's longest tenured Capital, Olaf Kölzig, won his 250th game in goal and Andrew Cassels became the 204th player to play 1,000 games, although he did not finish out his season with the team. A notable first was that Washington area native Jeff Halpern was named captain of the hometown Capitals. At the 2006 trade deadline, March 8, Witt was traded to Nashville.
2006-2007 Season
In the 2006 offseason, Halpern left the Capitals to join the Dallas Stars; Chris Clark became the Capitals' new captain. Alexander Semin returned to the organization, scoring a hat trick in the Second Game of the 2006-2007 Season. Richard Zedník returned to the Capitals in 2006-07 after a "disappointing" 16-goal, 14-assist 2005-06 in Montreal; the Capitals also signed former Philadelphia Flyers enforcer Donald Brashear.
Alexander Ovechkin was the Capitals' lone representative in the All-Star game.
Season-by-season record
Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, OTL = Overtime Losses/SOL = Shootout Losses, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against, PIM = Penalties in minutes
Records as of February 6, 2007. [1]
Season | GP | W | L | T | OTL/SOL | Pts | GF | GA | PIM | Finish | Playoffs |
1974-75 | 80 | 8 | 67 | 5 | — | 21 | 181 | 446 | 1085 | 5th, Norris | Did not qualify |
1975-76 | 80 | 11 | 59 | 10 | — | 32 | 224 | 394 | 951 | 5th, Norris | Did not qualify |
1976-77 | 80 | 24 | 42 | 14 | — | 62 | 221 | 307 | 1231 | 4th, Norris | Did not qualify |
1977-78 | 80 | 17 | 49 | 14 | — | 48 | 195 | 321 | 1332 | 5th, Norris | Did not qualify |
1978-79 | 80 | 24 | 41 | 15 | — | 63 | 273 | 338 | 1312 | 4th, Norris | Did not qualify |
1979-80 | 80 | 27 | 40 | 13 | — | 67 | 261 | 293 | 1198 | 5th, Patrick | Did not qualify |
1980-81 | 80 | 26 | 36 | 18 | — | 70 | 286 | 317 | 1872 | 5th, Patrick | Did not qualify |
1981-82 | 80 | 26 | 41 | 13 | — | 65 | 319 | 338 | 1932 | 5th, Patrick | Did not qualify |
1982-83 | 80 | 39 | 25 | 16 | — | 94 | 306 | 283 | 1329 | 3rd, Patrick | Lost in Division Semifinals, 1-3 (Islanders) |
1983-84 | 80 | 48 | 27 | 5 | — | 101 | 308 | 226 | 1252 | 2nd, Patrick | Won in Division Semifinals, 3-0 (Flyers) Lost in Division Finals, 2-4 (Islanders) |
1984-85 | 80 | 46 | 25 | 9 | — | 101 | 322 | 240 | 1161 | 2nd, Patrick | Lost in Division Semifinals, 2-3 (Islanders) |
1985-86 | 80 | 50 | 23 | 7 | — | 107 | 315 | 272 | 1418 | 2nd, Patrick | Won in Division Semifinals, 3-0 (Islanders) Lost in Division Finals, 2-4 (Rangers) |
1986-87 | 80 | 38 | 32 | 10 | — | 86 | 285 | 278 | 1720 | 2nd, Patrick | Lost in Division Semifinals, 3-4 (Islanders) |
1987-88 | 80 | 38 | 33 | 9 | — | 85 | 281 | 249 | 1680 | 3rd, Patrick | Won in Division Semifinals, 4-3 (Flyers) Lost in Division Finals, 3-4 (Devils) |
1988-89 | 80 | 41 | 29 | 10 | — | 92 | 305 | 259 | 1836 | 1st, Patrick | Lost in Division Semifinals, 2-4 (Flyers) |
1989-90 | 80 | 36 | 38 | 6 | — | 78 | 284 | 275 | 2204 | 3rd, Patrick | Won in Division Semifinals, 4-2 (Devils) Won in Division Finals, 4-1 (Rangers) Lost in Conference Finals, 0-4 (Bruins) |
1990-91 | 80 | 37 | 36 | 7 | — | 81 | 258 | 258 | 1839 | 3rd, Patrick | Won in Division Semifinals, 4-2 (Rangers) Lost in Division Finals, 1-4 (Penguins) |
1991-92 | 80 | 45 | 27 | 8 | — | 98 | 330 | 275 | 1777 | 2nd, Patrick | Lost in Division Semifinals, 3-4 (Penguins) |
1992-93 | 84 | 43 | 34 | 7 | — | 93 | 325 | 286 | 1709 | 2nd, Patrick | Lost in Division Semifinals, 2-4 (Islanders) |
1993-94 | 84 | 39 | 35 | 10 | — | 88 | 277 | 263 | 2007 | 3rd, Atlantic | Won in Conference Quarterfinals, 4-2 (Penguins) Lost in Conference Semifinals, 1-4 (Rangers) |
1994-951 | 48 | 22 | 18 | 8 | — | 52 | 136 | 120 | 1144 | 3rd, Atlantic | Lost in Conference Quarterfinals, 3-4 (Penguins) |
1995-96 | 82 | 39 | 32 | 11 | — | 89 | 234 | 204 | 1553 | 4th, Atlantic | Lost in Conference Quarterfinals, 2-4 (Penguins) |
1996-97 | 82 | 33 | 40 | 9 | — | 75 | 214 | 231 | 1652 | 5th, Atlantic | Did not qualify |
1997-98 | 82 | 40 | 30 | 12 | — | 92 | 219 | 202 | 1198 | 3rd, Atlantic | Won in Conference Quarterfinals, 4-2 (Bruins) Won in Conference Semifinals, 4-1 (Senators) Won in Conference Finals, 4-2 (Sabres) Lost in Finals, 0-4 (Red Wings) |
1998-99 | 82 | 31 | 45 | 6 | — | 68 | 200 | 218 | 1381 | 3rd, Southeast | Did not qualify |
1999-00 | 82 | 44 | 24 | 12 | 2 | 102 | 227 | 194 | 994 | 1st, Southeast | Lost in Conference Quarterfinals, 1-4 (Penguins) |
2000-01 | 82 | 41 | 27 | 10 | 4 | 96 | 233 | 211 | 1141 | 1st, Southeast | Lost in Conference Quarterfinals, 2-4 (Penguins) |
2001-02 | 82 | 36 | 33 | 11 | 2 | 85 | 228 | 240 | 1043 | 2nd, Southeast | Did not qualify |
2002-03 | 82 | 39 | 29 | 8 | 6 | 92 | 224 | 220 | 1268 | 2nd, Southeast | Lost in Conference Quarterfinals, 2-4 (Lightning) |
2003-04 | 82 | 23 | 46 | 10 | 3 | 59 | 186 | 253 | 1282 | 5th, Southeast | Did not qualify |
2004-052 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
2005-063 | 82 | 29 | 41 | — | 12 | 70 | 237 | 306 | 1426 | 5th, Southeast | Did not qualify |
2006-07 | 55 | 22 | 25 | 8 | 52 | 167 | 192 | 843 | |||
Totals | 2481 | 1043 | 1105 | 303 | 29 | 2418 | 7903 | 8331 | 43561 | — | — |
- 1 Season was shortened due to the 1994-95 NHL lockout.
- 2 Season was canceled due to the 2004-05 NHL lockout.
- 3 As of the 2005-06 NHL season, all games will have a winner; the OTL column includes SOL (Shootout losses).
Notable players
Current roster
# | Player | Catches | Acquired | Place of Birth | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | ![]() |
Brent Johnson | L | 2005 | Farmington, Michigan |
35 | ![]() |
Frederic Cassivi | L | 2005 | Sorel, Quebec |
37 | ![]() |
Olaf Kolzig (IR) | L | 1989 | Johannesburg, South Africa |
# | Player | Shoots | Acquired | Place of Birth | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2 | ![]() |
Brian Pothier | R | 2006 | New Bedford, Massachusetts |
4 | ![]() |
John Erskine | L | 2006 | Kingston, Ontario |
26 | ![]() |
Shaone Morrisonn | L | 2004 | Vancouver, British Columbia |
44 | ![]() |
Steve Eminger | R | 2002 | Woodbridge, Ontario |
47 | ![]() |
Bryan Muir | L | 2005 | Winnipeg, Manitoba |
52 | ![]() |
Mike Green | R | 2004 | Calgary, Alberta |
23 | ![]() |
Milan Jurcina | L | 2007 | Liptovský Mikuláš, Czechoslovakia |
# | Player | Position | Shoots | Acquired | Place of Birth | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
8 | ![]() |
Alexander Ovechkin - A | LW | R | 2004 | Moscow, USSR |
10 | ![]() |
Matt Bradley - A | RW | R | 2005 | Stittsville, Ontario |
13 | ![]() |
Jiri Novotny | C | R | 2007 | Pelhřimov, Czechoslovakia |
15 | ![]() |
Boyd Gordon | C | R | 2002 | Unity, Saskatchewan |
16 | ![]() |
Brian Sutherby - A | C | L | 2000 | Edmonton, Alberta |
17 | ![]() |
Chris Clark - C (IR) | RW | R | 2005 | South Windsor, Connecticut |
18 | ![]() |
Matt Pettinger | LW | L | 2000 | Edmonton, Alberta |
21 | ![]() |
Brooks Laich | C | L | 2004 | Wawota, Saskatchewan |
24 | ![]() |
Kris Beech | C | L | 2006 | Salmon Arm, British Columbia |
27 | ![]() |
Ben Clymer | LW | R | 2005 | Bloomington, Minnesota |
28 | ![]() |
Alexander Semin | LW | R | 2002 | Krasnoyarsk, USSR |
38 | ![]() |
Jakub Klepis | C | R | 2004 | Prague, Czechoslovakia |
87 | ![]() |
Donald Brashear - A | LW | L | 2006 | Bedford, Indiana |
Team captains
- Doug Mohns, 1974-75
- Bill Clement, 1975-76
- Yvon Labre, 1976-78
- Guy Charron, 1978-79
- Ryan Walter, 1979-82
- Rod Langway, 1982-93
- Kevin Hatcher, 1993-94
- Dale Hunter, 1994-99
- Adam Oates, 1999-2001
- Steve Konowalchuk & Brendan Witt,
2001-02 (co-captains) - Steve Konowalchuk, 2002-03
- No captain, 2003-05
- Jeff Halpern, 2005-06
- Chris Clark, 2006- present
- Mike Gartner, RW, 1979-89, inducted 2001
- Rod Langway, D, 1982-93, inducted 2002
- Larry Murphy, D, 1984-89, inducted 2004
Retired numbers
- 5 Rod Langway, D, 1982-93, number retired November 26, 1997
- 7 Yvon Labre, D, 1974-81, number retired November 22, 1980
- 32 Dale Hunter, C, 1987-99, number retired March 11, 2000
- 99 Wayne Gretzky, number retired league-wide February 6, 2000
Langway and former team owner Abe Pollin are the only Capitals figures honored on the Washington Hall of Stars, a series of banners honoring D.C. sports figures on the right-field wall at Robert F. Kennedy Stadium.
First-round draft picks
- 1974: Greg Joly (1st overall)
- 1975: Alex Forsyth (18th overall)
- 1976: Rick Green (1st overall) & Greg Carroll (15th overall)
- 1977: Robert Picard (3rd overall)
- 1978: Ryan Walter (2nd overall) & Tim Coulis (18th overall)
- 1979: Mike Gartner (4th overall)
- 1980: Darren Veitch (5th overall)
- 1981: Bob Carpenter (3rd overall)
- 1982: Scott Stevens (5th overall)
- 1983: None
- 1984: Kevin Hatcher (17th overall)
- 1985: Yvon Corriveau (19th overall)
- 1986: Jeff Greenlaw (19th overall)
- 1987: None
- 1988: Reggie Savage (15th overall)
- 1989: Olaf Kölzig (19th overall)
- 1990: John Slaney (9th overall)
- 1991: Pat Peake (14th overall) & Trevor Halverson (21st overall)
- 1992: Sergei Gonchar (14th overall)
- 1993: Brendan Witt (11th overall) & Jason Allison (17th overall)
- 1994: Nolan Baumgartner (10th overall) & Alexander Kharlamov (15th overall]]
- 1995: Brad Church (17th overall) & Miika Elomo (23rd overall)
- 1996: Alexandre Volchkov (4th overall) & Jaroslav Svejkovsky (17th overall)
- 1997: Nick Boynton (9th overall)
- 1998: None
- 1999: Kris Beech (7th overall)
- 2000: Brian Sutherby (26th overall)
- 2001: None
- 2002: Steve Eminger (12th overall), Alexander Semin (13th overall), & Boyd Gordon (17th overall)
- 2003: Eric Fehr (18th overall)
- 2004: Alexander Ovechkin (1st overall), Jeff Schultz (27th overall), & Mike Green (29th overall)
- 2005: Sasha Pokulok (14th overall) & Joe Finley (27th overall)
- 2006: Nicklas Bäckström (4th overall) & Semen Varlamov (23rd overall)
Franchise scoring leaders
These are the top-ten point-scorers in franchise history. Figures are updated after each completed NHL regular season.
Note: Pos = Position; GP = Games Played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; P/G = Points per game; * = current Capitals player
Player | Pos | GP | G | A | Pts | P/G |
Peter Bondra | RW | 961 | 472 | 353 | 825 | .86 |
Mike Gartner | RW | 758 | 397 | 392 | 789 | 1.04 |
Michal Pivonka | C | 825 | 181 | 418 | 599 | .73 |
Dale Hunter | C | 872 | 181 | 375 | 556 | .64 |
Bengt-Åke Gustafsson | RW | 629 | 196 | 359 | 555 | .88 |
Mike Ridley | C | 588 | 218 | 329 | 547 | .93 |
Calle Johansson | D | 983 | 113 | 361 | 474 | .48 |
Dennis Maruk | C | 343 | 182 | 249 | 431 | 1.26 |
Scott Stevens | D | 601 | 98 | 331 | 429 | .71 |
Kevin Hatcher | D | 685 | 149 | 277 | 426 | .62 |
NHL awards and trophies
- Al Jensen and Pat Riggin: 1983-84
Franchise individual records
- Most Goals in a season: Dennis Maruk, 60 (1981-82)
- Most Assists in a season: Dennis Maruk, 76 (1981-82)
- Most Points in a season: Dennis Maruk, 136 (1981-82)
- Most Penalty Minutes in a season: Alan May, 339 (1989-90)
- Most Points in a season, defenseman: Larry Murphy, 81 (1986-87)
- Most Points in a season, rookie: Alexander Ovechkin, 106 (2005-06)
Facilities
In fall 2006, a twin sheet ice skating rink opened atop the Ballston Common Mall in Arlington County, Virginia. The new rinks, the Kettler Capitals Iceplex, are the Washington Capitals practice facility. [2]
References
- ^ Hockeydb.com, Washington Capitals season statistics and records.
- ^ KettlerCapitalsIceplex.com, Kettler Capitals Iceplex
See also
- List of Washington Capitals players
- Head Coaches of the Washington Capitals
- List of NHL players
- List of NHL seasons