A ROUGH START | letsgocaps

1975-1982: STRUGGLING TO REACH THE PLAYOFFS

There's really no way to sugarcoat it - the 1974-75 Washington Capitals were not just an abysmal hockey team, they were a historically bad sports team which set a multitude of records for futility. They weren't much better the next season, either. In fact, they'd make it out of the '70s with a record of 93-281-63 and it would still be a few years before they even sniffed a winning record (or even a .500 points percentage) over a full season.

Because there was precious little talent available through the expansion draft to build Washington’s franchise, nailing their picks in the amateur draft was absolutely critical. The Caps had the first pick in the 1974 draft and took defenseman Greg Joly of Regina in the WHL. Also available for Washington with the first pick in their entire history was a teammate of Joly on Regina named Clark Gillies; who would go on to score 299 more goals in his career than Joly’s meager 21 tallies. Joly played two seasons in D.C. before being traded to Detroit for Bugsy Watson, and only played 370 total NHL games. The Caps also bypassed other future NHL stars like Mario Tremblay, Bryan Trottier and Mark Howe.

Washington did make a solid first round pick in 1977 with Robert Picard; a defensemen who would pick up 44 assists and 65 points in his rookie season. A pair of centers—Dennis Maruk and Guy Charron---each cracked the 80 point mark with Charron lighting the lamp 36 times during the 1976-77 season and 38 more the following season. So there were some notable individual Caps performances during The Me Decade, and surprisingly, not all of it was awful.

But like wide-lapel plaid suits and other disco-era monstrosities, most of it was.

by Rick Benson

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MARUK SCORES CAPS 1ST HAT TRICK

In season two, the Caps had three more wins and five more ties than their dreadful initial year but remained camped in last place in the Norris Division. Season three (1976-77) saw the Capitals climb out of the basement and almost double their point total from 32 to 62. Washington got some offensive firepower from a pair of centers—Charron (36g, 46a, 82 points) and Gerry Meehan (28g, 36a, 64 pts) and wingers Hartland Monahan (23g, 27a, 50pts) and Garnet “Ace” Bailey (19g, 27a, 46pts). Ron Low and Bernie Wolfe shared net minding duties with so-so results. Wolfe did register the second shutout in franchise history with a 2-0 blanking of the Detroit Red Wings in January 1977.

Despite some positives, the Capitals still weren’t a very good hockey team. They closed out 1976 with a 10-22-4 mark and finished the season at 24-42-14. Any hopes of marked improvement in season four died quickly as the dreaded slow start, which was to become a Capital’s staple, reared its ugly head in the 1977-78 season with a 2-18-5 mark after 25 games. Charron was still the team’s top goal scorer, but Meehan slumped badly and Bailey missed half the season with injuries. Monahan was also traded to the Los Angeles Kings. Washington goalie Jim Bedard turned in a franchise-best 3.66 GAA as the number one man between the pipes.

1978-79 saw the Caps escape last place again with some more new fire power. The Capitals were all set to make Ryan Walter the face of the franchise. He was the second overall pick in the 1978 amateur draft and not only did he come straight to Washington but he was also named team captain as well; despite being just 21 years old. Walter had a nice rookie season with 28 goals and 55 points. Maruk also made his Washington debut and became the first Capital to hit the 90 point mark; including 59 assists. In addition to Walter, Maruk (31) and Charron (28); Picard (21), Tom Rowe (31), and Bob Sirios (29) each topped the 20 goal mark. Bedard’s GAA jumped to 4.34 and had to share starting duties with Gary Inness.

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With a more balanced scoring attack and an influx of new talent, Capitals fans were hoping for a further climb in the standings and maybe their first playoff appearance. But another signature bad start (5-20-5) to the 1979-80 season doomed the Caps to the first of three more last place finishes. Moving from the Norris division to the Patrick division with traditional powerhouses like the Philadelphia Flyers, New York Islanders and New York Rangers didn’t help matters either. Maruk missed most of the season with injuries and finished with only 27 points. Gary Green took over as head coach and bore the brunt of the on-ice lack of success. The season’s bright spot was the emergence of left winger Mike Gartner, who registered the first significant plus/minus total in Capitals history (+15) while leading the team in goals scored (36) and points (68). The following year, Maruk and Gartner each topped the 90 point mark and Maruk became the first Capitals to score 50 goals in a season. Coach Green got the axe after the Caps lost 14 of their first 15 games to start the 1981-82 season and was replaced by Bryan Murray. The much heralded arrival of American Olympic star Bobby Carpenter also provided some needed excitement into the DC hockey world. But the biggest sports story out of Washington that didn’t involve the NFL Redskins was the monster season of Dennis Maruk. The Caps center broke his own team record for goals with 60 and shattered his franchise marks in assists (76) and points (136).

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The arrival of Murray signaled the start of Washington’s winning ways after eight seasons of futility. A blockbuster trade involving Walter brought in a certain franchise blue liner that would usher in some of the most memorable seasons in Washington Capitals history. The DC hockey faithful were about to experience something they’d never enjoyed before---playoff hockey.