The Washington Capitals Players

The Washington Capitals of Washington, D.C. was an expansion team for the 1974-75 season of the National Hockey League. Abe Pollin, owner of the Washington Bullets, a basketball team, was the owner. He built the Capital Centre in Landover, Maryland to have a place for both of his teams to play. Abe hired Hall of Famer Milt Schmidt as general manager. They had very few players with any professional experience so they were sitting ducks for their veteran competition.

Their first season was disastrous. They set records for the most losses, the most road losses, and the most consecutive losses both at home and on the road. By 1982 they were not much better and they were considering moving out of the D.C. ares. The local fans started a campaign to "Save the Caps."

They hired David Poile as General Manager and he pulled off the biggest trade in Franchise History. In 1982 he traded Ryan Walgter and Rick Green to Montreal for four of their players. Their solid defense turned the franchise around. They made their first playoffs in 1983. Things were looking up. They were conference champions from 1997-98. They won Division championships in 1988, 1999, 2000, 2007, and 2008.

In the 1995 season they tried to give the team a more modern look in order to make more merchandise sales. They abandoned the original logo and color scheme in favor of a blue, black,and bronze palette with an American Bald Eagle with five stars as its logo. As an alternate logo they had hockey sticks crossed behind the picture of the Capitol Building.