For WashingWashington Capitals ton Capitals Washington Capitals the BWashington Capitals asketball Association Washington Capitals of America crew, see Washington Capitols. For the American Basketball Association Washington Capitals group, see Washington Caps.Washington CapitalsConferenceEasternDivisionMetropolitanFounded1974HistoryWashington Capitals
1974–presentHome arenaCapital One ArenaCityWashington, D.C.
ColorsRed, white, blue[1][2]
Media
- NBC Sports Washington
- WRC (NBC 4)
- Federal News Radio (1500 AM)
- The Fan (106.7 FM)
Owner(s)Monumental Sports & Entertainment
(Ted Leonsis, Washington Capitals chairman)General managerBrian MacLellanHead coachPeter LavioletteCaptainAlexander OvechkinMinor league associates
- Hershey Bears (AHL)
- South Carolina Stingrays (ECHL)
Stanley Cups1 (2017–18)Conference championships2 (1997–98, 2017–18)Presidents’ Trophythree (2009–10, 2015–sixteen, 2016–17)Division championshipsthirteen (1988–89, 1999–00, 2000–01, 2007–08, 2008–09, 2009–10, 2010–11, 2012–13, 2015–16, 2016–17, 2017–18, 2018–19, 2019–20)Official websitenhl.com/capitals
The Washington Capitals (colloquially referred to as the Caps) are a professional ice hockey team based totally in Washington, D.C. The crew competes inside the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference, and is owned by way of Monumental Sports & Entertainment, headed by means of Ted Leonsis. The Capitals first of all perWashington Capitals formed their domestic games at the Capital Centre in Landover, Maryland, earlier than shifting to the Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C., in 1997.
The Capitals have been founded in 1974 as an expansion franchise, alongside the Kansas City Scouts, and struggled for the duration of its first 8 years of existence. In 1982, David Poile was employed as standard supervisor, supporting to show the franchise’s fortunes round. With a core of players along with Mike Gartner, Rod Langway, Larry Murphy, and Scott Stevens, the Capitals have become a ordinary playoff contender for the following fourteen seasons. After shopping the crew in 1999, Leonsis revitalized the franchise with the aid of drafting celebrity players which include Alexander Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom, John Carlson, and Braden Holtby. The 2009–10 Capitals received the franchise’s first Presidents’ Trophy for being the team with the maximum factors on the quit of the regular season. They won it a second time in 2015–sixteen, and for a 3rd time the following season in 2016–17. In addition to 12 department titles and 3 Presidents’ Trophies, the Capitals have reached the Stanley Cup Finals in 1998 and 2018, prevailing inside the latter.
The Capitals have retired the use of four numbers in honor of 4 players. In addition, the crew holds an association with a number of individuals inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. The Capitals are currently affiliated with minor league teams: the Hershey Bears of the American Hockey League and the South Carolina Stingrays of the ECHL.History[edit]Early years (1974–1982)[edit]
The NHL provided an enlargement franchise to the city of Washington on June 8, 1972, and the Capitals joined the NHL as an growth group for the 1974–75 season along side the Kansas City Scouts. The Capitals were owned by Abe Pollin (also proprietor of the National Basketball Association’s Washington Bullets/Wizards). Pollin had built the Capital Centre in suburban Landover, Maryland, to house each the Bullets (who formerly played in Baltimore) and the Capitals. His first act as owner changed into to hire Hall of Famer Milt Schmidt as wellknown manager.
With a blended 30 teams between the NHL and the World Hockey Association (WHA), the available skills become stretched thin. The Capitals had few gamers with Washington Capitals expert revel in and had been at a downside towards the long-standing groups that had been stocked with veteran players.
The Capitals’ inaugural season become dreadful, even through enlargement requirements. They finished with the worst record within the league at eight–sixty seven–5; their 21 factors have been half of that of their enlargement brethren, the Scouts. The 8 wins are the fewest for an NHL team gambling at the least 70 games, and the .131 triumphing percentage is still the worst in NHL history. They additionally set statistics for maximum road losses (39 out of 40), most consecutive road losses (37), and most consecutive losses (17). Head train Jim Anderson said, “I’d alternatively discover my wife became cheating on me than keep losing like this. At least I ought to inform my wife to cut it out.” Schmidt himself needed to take over the training reins overdue in the season.
In 1975–seventy six, Washington went 25 immediately video games with out a win and allowed 394 dreams en direction to some other horrendous report: eleven–fifty nine–10 (32 points). In the center of the season, Schmidt was changed as standard supervisor via Max McNab and as head train by using Tom McVie. For the rest of the Seventies and early 1980s, the Capitals alternated among dreadful seasons and completing just a few factors out of the Stanley Cup playoffs; in 1980 and 1981, for Washington Capitals instance, they had been in playoff contention till the closing day of the season. The one bright spot in the course of these years of futility became that a lot of McNab’s draft choices (e.g., Rick Green, Ryan Walter, Mike Gartner, Bengt Gustafsson, Gaetan Duchesne, and Bobby Carpenter) might effect the team for years yet to come, both as crucial individuals of the Washington Capitals roster or as crucial portions in predominant trades.
Pollin stuck it out via the Capitals’ first decade, even though they had been commonly slightly aggressive. This stood in contrast to the Scouts; they had been compelled to transport to Denver after simplest years because their original owners did no longer have the assets or patience to withstand the struggles of an growth crew. By the summer time of 1982, but, there has been serious Washington Capitals talk of the crew shifting out of the U.S. capital, and a “Save the Caps” marketing campaign turned into underway.Gartner–Langway generation (1982–1993)[edit]
Mike Gartner helped the Capitals come to be a playoff contender inside the Nineteen Eighties.
In August 1982, the group hired David Poile as trendy manager.[three] As his first move, Poile pulled off one among the biggest trades in franchise records on September nine, 1982, when he dealt longtime regulars Ryan Walter and Rick Green to the Montreal Canadiens in exchange for Rod Langway (named captain just a few weeks later), Brian Engblom, Doug Jarvis and Craig Laughlin. This pass became the franchise around, as Langway’s solid defense helped the group to dramatically lessen its desires-towards, and the explosive intention-scoring of Dennis Maruk, Mike Gartner and Bobby Carpenter fueled the offensive assault. Another massive move become the drafting of defenseman Scott Stevens at some stage in the 1982 NHL Entry Draft (the pick became made by interim trendy supervisor Roger Crozier, prior to Poile’s hiring). The result turned into a 29-factor jump, a third-place end within the effective Washington Capitals Patrick Division, and the crew’s first playoff appearance in 1983. Although they had been removed via the 3-time-protecting Washington Capitals (and eventual) Stanley Cup champion New York Islanders (three video games to one), the Caps’ dramatic turnaround ended any talk of the membership leaving Washington.[4]Fourteen consecutive playoff appearances (1983–1996)[edit]
The Capitals would make the playoffs for every of the next 14 years in a row, becoming regarded for beginning gradual earlier than catching fire in Washington Capitals January and February. However, regular-season fulfillment did not convey into the playoffs. Despite a non-stop march of stars like Gartner, Carpenter, Langway, Gustafsson, Stevens, Mike Ridley, Dave Christian, Dino Ciccarelli, Larry Murphy, and Kevin Hatcher, Washington was knocked out in either the primary or second spherical seven years in a row. In 1985–86, for instance, the Caps finished with 107 points and received 50 games for the primary time in franchise history, desirable sufficient for the 1/3-quality report in the NHL. They defeated the Islanders within the first round however had been removed within the 2nd spherical via the New York Rangers.
First Lady Nancy Reagan capturing a % against Washington goaltender Pete Peeters even as attending a Capitals-Flyers sport in 1988.
The 1986–87 season delivered even greater heartbreak, with a loss to the Islanders inside the Patrick Division Semifinals. This series became capped off through the conventional Easter Epic sport, which ended at 1:fifty six am on Easter Sunday 1987. The Capitals had very well ruled maximum of the game, outshooting the Islanders 75–52, but misplaced in additional time when goaltender Bob Mason turned into overwhelmed on a Pat LaFontaine shot from the blue line. For the 1989 playoff push, Gartner and Murphy had been traded to the Minnesota North Stars in change for Ciccarelli and defenseman Bob Rouse. However, the goaltending yet again faltered and that they were eliminated inside the first spherical by using the Philadelphia Flyers. The Capitals finally made the Wales Conference Finals in 1990, however went down in a 4-game sweep at the palms of the first-region Boston Bruins.Bondra–Gonchar technology (1993–2005)[edit]