# seasons – 46
Record – 1,700-1,467-303-163 (3,866 points)
Playoff appearances – 31
Stanley Cups – 1
First player: Ron Low G 1st round 1974 NHL Expansion Draft (June 12th, 1974).
First-ever Draft Selection: Greg Joly 1974, 1st overall
Highest Draft selection: Greg Joly 1974, 1st overall Rick Green 1976, 1st overall Alex Ovechkin 2004, 1st overall
HOFers – Mike Gartner, Rod Langway, Larry Murphy
Retired #’s – #5- Rod Langway, #7- Yvon Labre, #11- Mike Gartner, #32- Dale Hunter
Leaders
Games Played – Alex Ovechkin, 1,197
Goals – Alex Ovechkin, 730
Assists – Nicklas Backstrom, 722
Points – Alex Ovechkin, 1,320
Plus/minus – Nicklas Backstrom, +119
Penalty Minutes – Dale Hunter, 2,003
Power Play Goals – Alex Ovechkin, 269
Shorthanded Goals – Peter Bondra, 32
Hat Tricks – Alex Ovechkin, 27
Goalie Wins – Olaf Kolzig, 301
Goals Against Average – Philipp Grubauer, 2.29
Save pct. – Philipp Grubauer, .923
Shutouts – Olaf Kolzig, 35 Braden Holtby, 35
Coaching Wins Leader – Bryan Murray, 343
Team Captains
Doug Mohns ‘74-75
Yvon Labre ‘75-78
Bill Clement ‘75-76
Guy Charron ‘79-79
Ryan Walter ‘79-82
Rod Langway ‘82-93
Kevin Hatcher ‘92-94
Dale Hunter ‘94-99
Adam Oates ‘99-01
Brendan Witt ‘01-02
Steve Konowalchuk ‘01-04
Jeff Halpern ‘05-06
Chris Clark ‘06-10
Alex Ovechkin ‘09-
| Did you know… … The 1974-75 Washington Capitals not only had an NHL-fewest wins with 8, they also gave up an NHL-record 446 goals. … Michael Raffl, in just his 10th game as a Washington Capital, scored the game-winning goal in the season finale, a 2-1 win over Boston. It was the 1,700th win in Caps history. The Caps followed that up with a 4-1 series loss to Boston in the first round of the playoffs. … During their inaugural NHL season, the 1974-75 Washington Capitals gave up double-digit goals 7 times! MTL 11-1, 10-0, 10-2; BOS 10-4, 12-1; CHI 10-3; PIT 12-1. The Caps were outscored 75-12 over those 7 games. The Caps did earn a single shutout, winning 3-0 over the other expansion team that year, the Kansas City Scouts. |
| Did you know… … The Capitals two Stanley Cup appearances were 20 years apart. They were swept by the Detroit Red Wings in 1997-98 and defeated the Vegas Golden Knights in 2017-18. … At the start of the Washington Capitals inaugural season (1974-75), the team wore blue pants at home but white pants on the road. However, the player’s perspiration stained the white pants. The league decided to give the Caps permission to use their home blue pants on the road, as well. … When the Capitals home rink (Capital One Arena) was called the MCI Center, it was niocknamed The Phone Booth. … The 1974-75 Capitals team won their final game of their historically futile season by defeating the Pittsburgh Penguins 8-4. It was their 8th win. The celebrated in the locker room hoisting trash cans over their heads like Stanley Cups. They’d lost to the Montreal Canadiens the previous night 10-2, and the same Pittsburgh team 12-1 just three weeks prior. … The 2013-14 Capitals had 21 games decided by shootout (10-W 11-L). … The dismal 1974-75 Washington Capitals scored 8 goals in their 8th and final win of the season. They also scored 3 goals in their 3rd win, 7 goals in the 5th win, and 5 in their 7th. … The Caps have blown a 3-1 playoff series lead 5 times (NYI-1987, PIT 1992, PIT 1995, MTL 2010, NYR 2015). A 3-1 series comeback has only happened 29 times in league history. … Only two players with the first name Brooks have ever played in the NHL. From 2014-16 they both played for the Capitals (Brooks Laich, Brooks Orpik). |
Quotables…
“Maybe he’s just jealous I have hair.”- Alex Ovechkin