32 NHL Cities in 32 Days: Washington Capitals

Alexis Bazydola
May 31, 2020
5 min read

The Location: Washington, D.C.

Opening its doors in 1997, Capital One Arena is the home of the Washington Capitals in Washington, D.C. It is also the home arena of the NBA’s Washington Mystics and the Georgetown Hoyas men’s basketball program. From 1998-2018, the WNBA’s Washington Mystics also played at this venue. This arena is rich with sports history as it was also the site of Mike Tyson’s final fight in 2005. Capital One Arena has also hosted various entertainers throughout the years including Jennifer Lopez, Josh Groban, Idina Menzel, Phil Collins, Elton John, Lana Del Rey and many more. The arena can seat 18,573 for a home hockey game.

Team History

The Washington Capitals began play in the NHL during the 1975-75 season. Owner Abe Pollin brought in Milt Schmidt as the first general manager. With the amount of talent available at a low, the Capitals were not able to make much traction as they finished their first season with an 8-67-5 record. The next season was not much better and saw Max McNab take over as general manager and Tom McVie as head coach. The 70s and 80s were rough years for the Capitals.

In 1982, David Poile was brought in as general manager. He immediately made a blockbuster trade and swapped Ryan Walter and Rick Green to the Montreal Canadiens in exchange for Rod Langway, Brian Engblom, Doug Jarvis and Craig Laughlin. With some of their drafted talent also bolstering the team, the Caps were able to make the playoffs for the first time in 1983. They were eliminated by the New York Islanders in the first round.

1983 would start a 14-year playoff streak for the Caps, but they were never able to build on the traction they had started in the regular season. In 1990, the Capitals made it all the way to the Conference Finals but were swept by the Boston Bruins. For the next six years, the Caps would be eliminated in the first or second rounds. In 1997, they would not make the playoffs, but 1998 brought their first real chance at the Stanley Cup title.

After besting the Boston Bruins, Ottawa Senators and Buffalo Sabres, the Caps made their first Stanley Cup Finals appearance in 1998. Unfortunately, they were swept by the Detroit Red Wings. After that season, the Capitals once again failed to qualify for the playoffs in 1999. They were awarded the Southeast Division titles in 2000 and 2001, but were still unable to translate this to playoff success.

In the offseason of 2001, Jaromir Jagr was traded to the Capitals from the Pittsburgh Penguins. Captain Adam Oates was also traded in the 2001-02 season and despite a winning record, the Caps failed to make the playoffs. In the 2003-04 season, the Caps began to unload their overpriced talent trading Jagr to the New York Rangers, Peter Bondra to the Ottawa Senators, Robert Lang to the Detroit Red Wings, and Sergei Gonchar to the Boston Bruins. The Capitals ended the season with the second worst record in the league.

In the 2004 NHL Draft, the Capitals selected Alexander Ovechkin first overall. After the lockout, the Capitals finished the 2005-06 season with another losing record. Despite this, Ovechkin had a stellar rookie season in which he led the rookies in goals, points, power-play goals and shots. He was awarded the Calder Memorial Trophy.

In the 2006 NHL Draft, the Capitals selected Nicklas Backstrom and signed him to an entry level contract. During this offseason they also signed Semyon Varlamov to an entry level contract. In the 2007-08 season, the team made a dramatic turnaround and captured the Southeast Division title for the first time since 2000-01. They were matched with the Philadelphia Flyers in the first round but were eliminated after seven games. After this season, Ovechkin was awarded the Art Ross Trophy, Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy, Hart Memorial Trophy, and the Lester B. Pearson Award.

The next season saw continued success for the Caps as they captured another Southeast Division title. Ovechkin was also awarded the Hart, Lester B. Pearson, and Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophies again. The team defeated the New York Rangers in the first round before being eliminated by the Pittsburgh Penguins in the second. The 2009-10 season saw the Caps awarded their first Presidents’ Trophy. However, they were eliminated by the Montreal Canadiens in the first round of the playoffs.

The 2010-11 season saw the Capitals gain another Southeast Division title, but still unable to see any playoff success. They were swept in the second round by the Tampa Bay Lightning. The Caps repeated as Southeast Division champions again in the 2012-13 season, but again were knocked out of the first round of the playoffs. In 2013-14, the Caps missed the playoffs for the first time since 2006-07. In the offseason, Brian MacLellan was announced as the new general manager and Barry Trotz as the new head coach.

After another disappointing playoff run in 2014-15, the Capitals rebounded and were awarded the 2015-16 Presidents’ Trophy. They repeated as Presidents’ Trophy champions in 2016-17 as well but still were unable to see any playoff success. In 2018, their luck would change. After eliminating the Columbus Blue Jackets, Pittsburgh Penguins and Tampa Bay Lightning, they returned to the Stanley Cup Finals. Faced by the new Vegas Golden Knights, the Capitals won their first Stanley Cup as a franchise.

Following this season, they captured their fourth consecutive Metropolitan Division title in 2019, but were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs by the Carolina Hurricanes. At the pause of the current 2019-20 season, the Capitals sit at 5th in the league with 90 points. They will continue to the playoffs.

Fanbase & Traditions

The Capitals’ mascot, Slapshot, was unveiled in 1995. He is a bald eagle and is frequently accompanied by the secondary mascots Air Slapshot and Hat Trick at home games.

Two traditions have emerged during the singing of the national anthem. Fans have been known to scream “O!” during the “O! say does that star-spangled banner yet wave” portion and “red” during the “rockets’ red glare” portion. Fans have also been known to yell after the Caps score a goal. Touting the other goalie, they shout “it’s all your fault!” and after the announcement of the goal they shout “who cares?”