1974–75 Washington Capitals season

1974–75 Washington Capitals
Division 5th Norris
Conference 9th Wales
1974–75 record 8–67–5
Home record 7–28–5
Road record 1–39–0
Goals for 181
Goals against 446
Team information
General Manager Milt Schmidt
Coach Jim Anderson
Red Sullivan
Milt Schmidt
Captain Doug Mohns
Team leaders
Goals Tom Williams (22)
Assists Tom Williams (36)
Points Tom Williams (58)
Penalties in minutes Yvon Labre (182)
Wins Ron Low (8)
Goals against average Michel Belhumeur (5.36)
1975–76>

The 1974–75 Washington Capitals season was the first in Capitals history. Along with the Kansas City Scouts, the Capitals joined the National Hockey League as an expansion team for the 1974–75 season. The team was owned by Abe Pollin, owner of the NBA's Washington Bullets. Pollin had built the Capital Centre in suburban Landover, Maryland, to house both the Bullets (who formerly played in Baltimore) and the Capitals. His first act as owner was to hire Hall of Famer Milt Schmidt as general manager.

Offseason

NHL Draft

Round # Player Nationality College/Junior/Club Team
1 1 Greg Joly (D)  Canada Regina Pats (WCHL)

Expansion Draft

# Player Drafted From Drafted By
2. Ron Low (G) Toronto Maple Leafs Washington Capitals
4. Michel Belhumeur (G) Philadelphia Flyers Washington Capitals
6. Dave Kryskow (F) Chicago Black Hawks Washington Capitals
8. Yvon Labre (D) Pittsburgh Penguins Washington Capitals
10. Pete Laframboise (LW) California Golden Seals Washington Capitals
12. Bob Gryp (F) Boston Bruins Washington Capitals
14. Gord Smith (D) Los Angeles Kings Washington Capitals
16. Steve Atkinson (RW) Buffalo Sabres Washington Capitals
18. Bruce Cowick (F) Philadelphia Flyers Washington Capitals
20. Denis Dupere (LW) Toronto Maple Leafs Washington Capitals
22. Joe Lundrigan (D) Toronto Maple Leafs Washington Capitals
24. Randy Wyrozub (C) Buffalo Sabres Washington Capitals
26. Mike Bloom (C) Boston Bruins Washington Capitals
28. Gord Brooks (RW) St. Louis Blues Washington Capitals
30. Bob Collyard (C) St. Louis Blues Washington Capitals
32. Bill Mikkelson (D) New York Islanders Washington Capitals
34. Ron Anderson (RW) Boston Bruins Washington Capitals
36. Mike Lampman (LW) Vancouver Canucks Washington Capitals
38. Lew Morrison (RW) Atlanta Flames Washington Capitals
40. Steve West (C) Minnesota North Stars Washington Capitals
42. Larry Bolonchuk (D) Vancouver Canucks Washington Capitals
44. Murray Anderson (D) Minnesota North Stars Washington Capitals
46. Larry Fullan (LW) Montreal Canadiens Washington Capitals
48. Jack Egers (RW) New York Rangers Washington Capitals

Regular season

Along with the Kansas City Scouts, the Capitals joined the NHL as an expansion team for the 1974–75 season. With a combined 30 teams between the NHL and the rival World Hockey Association, the talent pool available to stock the new teams was extremely thin. In their first season, the Capitals would set an NHL record for futility, losing 67 of 80 games, and only winning one on the road. The Scouts fared only marginally better, and the expansion was widely seen as having been a mistake.

The Capitals' inaugural season was dreadful, even by expansion standards. They finished 8–67–5, which is the worst record in NHL history.[1] Their 21 points were half that of their expansion brethren, the Scouts. They won only eight games, the fewest ever by a team playing at least 70 games. Their .131 winning percentage is still the worst in NHL history. They also set records for most road losses (39 out of 40), most consecutive road losses (37) and most consecutive losses (17), most of which have now been broken. Schmidt himself had to take over the coaching reins late in the season.

On an interesting note, of Washington's eight wins, seven of them were decided by two goals or more.

Final standings

Norris Division[2]
GP W L T GF GA DIFF Pts
1 Montreal Canadiens 80 47 14 19 374 225 +149 113
2 Los Angeles Kings 80 42 17 21 269 185 +84 105
3 Pittsburgh Penguins 80 37 28 15 326 289 +37 89
4 Detroit Red Wings 80 23 45 12 259 335 −76 58
5 Washington Capitals 80 8 67 5 181 446 −265 21

Schedule and results

No. R Date Score Opponent Record
1LOctober 9, 19743–6 @ New York Rangers (1974–75) 0–1–0
2LOctober 12, 19740–6 @ Minnesota North Stars (1974–75) 0–2–0
3TOctober 15, 19741–1 Los Angeles Kings (1974–75) 0–2–1
4WOctober 17, 19744–3 Chicago Black Hawks (1974–75) 1–2–1
5LOctober 19, 19744–6 @ Detroit Red Wings (1974–75) 1–3–1
6LOctober 20, 19740–5 New York Islanders (1974–75) 1–4–1
7LOctober 22, 19740–3 Detroit Red Wings (1974–75) 1–5–1
8LOctober 23, 19742–3 @ Chicago Black Hawks (1974–75) 1–6–1
9LOctober 27, 19743–4 Toronto Maple Leafs (1974–75) 1–7–1
10LOctober 31, 19740–3 Montreal Canadiens (1974–75) 1–8–1
11LNovember 3, 19744–5 Kansas City Scouts (1974–75) 1–9–1
12LNovember 7, 19744–10 @ Boston Bruins (1974–75) 1–10–1
13LNovember 9, 19742–6 @ Philadelphia Flyers (1974–75) 1–11–1
14LNovember 10, 19741–11 Montreal Canadiens (1974–75) 1–12–1
15TNovember 12, 19742–2 Atlanta Flames (1974–75) 1–12–2
16LNovember 13, 19743–4 @ Atlanta Flames (1974–75) 1–13–2
17LNovember 16, 19741–8 @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1974–75) 1–14–2
18LNovember 17, 19740–6 Pittsburgh Penguins (1974–75) 1–15–2
19WNovember 19, 19746–4 California Golden Seals (1974–75) 2–15–2
20LNovember 20, 19743–7 @ Buffalo Sabres (1974–75) 2–16–2
21TNovember 24, 19744–4 Minnesota North Stars (1974–75) 2–16–3
22LNovember 27, 19744–6 @ Minnesota North Stars (1974–75) 2–17–3
23LNovember 30, 19741–7 @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1974–75) 2–18–3
24LDecember 1, 19742–5 California Golden Seals (1974–75) 2–19–3
25LDecember 3, 19743–5 Buffalo Sabres (1974–75) 2–20–3
26LDecember 5, 19742–9 @ Buffalo Sabres (1974–75) 2–21–3
27LDecember 7, 19742–8 @ St. Louis Blues (1974–75) 2–22–3
28LDecember 8, 19741–3 St. Louis Blues (1974–75) 2–23–3
29TDecember 12, 19746–6 New York Rangers (1974–75) 2–23–4
30LDecember 14, 19741–12 @ Boston Bruins (1974–75) 2–24–4
31WDecember 15, 19743–1 Toronto Maple Leafs (1974–75) 3–24–4
32LDecember 17, 19742–4 @ Vancouver Canucks (1974–75) 3–25–4
33LDecember 19, 19741–4 @ Los Angeles Kings (1974–75) 3–26–4
34LDecember 20, 19742–5 @ California Golden Seals (1974–75) 3–27–4
35LDecember 22, 19740–4 Buffalo Sabres (1974–75) 3–28–4
36LDecember 26, 19741–4 Philadelphia Flyers (1974–75) 3–29–4
37LDecember 29, 19740–7 New York Islanders (1974–75) 3–30–4
38LJanuary 2, 19752–5 @ New York Islanders (1974–75) 3–31–4
39LJanuary 4, 19750–10 @ Montreal Canadiens (1974–75) 3–32–4
40LJanuary 5, 19750–3 @ Atlanta Flames (1974–75) 3–33–4
41TJanuary 7, 19753–3 Boston Bruins (1974–75) 3–33–5
42LJanuary 11, 19753–5 @ Kansas City Scouts (1974–75) 3–34–5
43LJanuary 12, 19752–7 Montreal Canadiens (1974–75) 3–35–5
44LJanuary 14, 19752–6 Los Angeles Kings (1974–75) 3–36–5
45LJanuary 16, 19750–4 @ Philadelphia Flyers (1974–75) 3–37–5
46LJanuary 19, 19752–3 Pittsburgh Penguins (1974–75) 3–38–5
47LJanuary 23, 19752–3 Vancouver Canucks (1974–75) 3–39–5
48LJanuary 25, 19752–5 @ Detroit Red Wings (1974–75) 3–40–5
49WJanuary 26, 19756–3 Detroit Red Wings (1974–75) 4–40–5
50LJanuary 30, 19754–6 @ Los Angeles Kings (1974–75) 4–41–5
51LFebruary 1, 19752–5 @ Vancouver Canucks (1974–75) 4–42–5
52LFebruary 5, 19751–5 @ California Golden Seals (1974–75) 4–43–5
53LFebruary 8, 19751–5 @ New York Islanders (1974–75) 4–44–5
54LFebruary 9, 19753–7 @ New York Rangers (1974–75) 4–45–5
55WFebruary 11, 19757–4 New York Rangers (1974–75) 5–45–5
56LFebruary 13, 19751–5 @ Kansas City Scouts (1974–75) 5–46–5
57LFebruary 15, 19751–7 @ St. Louis Blues (1974–75) 5–47–5
58WFebruary 16, 19753–0 Kansas City Scouts (1974–75) 6–47–5
59LFebruary 18, 19751–6 Los Angeles Kings (1974–75) 6–48–5
60LFebruary 21, 19754–9 Buffalo Sabres (1974–75) 6–49–5
61LFebruary 22, 19753–10 @ Chicago Black Hawks (1974–75) 6–50–5
62LFebruary 23, 19752–7 St. Louis Blues (1974–75) 6–51–5
63LFebruary 25, 19752–6 Chicago Black Hawks (1974–75) 6–52–5
64LFebruary 26, 19751–3 @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1974–75) 6–53–5
65LMarch 1, 19754–5 @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1974–75) 6–54–5
66LMarch 2, 19753–7 Vancouver Canucks (1974–75) 6–55–5
67LMarch 4, 19750–8 Boston Bruins (1974–75) 6–56–5
68LMarch 7, 19754–8 @ Montreal Canadiens (1974–75) 6–57–5
69LMarch 9, 19752–4 Toronto Maple Leafs (1974–75) 6–58–5
70LMarch 15, 19751–12 @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1974–75) 6–59–5
71LMarch 18, 19752–7 Philadelphia Flyers (1974–75) 6–60–5
72LMarch 20, 19751–5 Minnesota North Stars (1974–75) 6–61–5
73LMarch 22, 19752–8 @ Boston Bruins (1974–75) 6–62–5
74LMarch 23, 19750–5 Atlanta Flames (1974–75) 6–63–5
75LMarch 26, 19751–5 @ Los Angeles Kings (1974–75) 6–64–5
76WMarch 28, 19755–3 @ California Golden Seals (1974–75) 7–64–5
77LMarch 30, 19755–8 Detroit Red Wings (1974–75) 7–65–5
78LApril 2, 19753–8 @ Detroit Red Wings (1974–75) 7–66–5
79LApril 5, 19752–10 @ Montreal Canadiens (1974–75) 7–67–5
80WApril 6, 19758–4 Pittsburgh Penguins (1974–75) 8–67–5

Player statistics

Regular season

Scoring
Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM +/- PPG SHG GWG
Williams, TommyTommy Williams RW 73 22 36 58 12-48721
Dupere, DenisDenis Dupere LW 53 20 15 35 8-41800
Marson, MikeMike Marson LW 76 16 12 28 59-65502
Labre, YvonYvon Labre D 76 4 23 27 182-54000
Lalonde, RonRon Lalonde C 50 12 14 26 27-39411
Bloom, MikeMike Bloom LW 67 7 19 26 84-54000
Kryskow, DaveDave Kryskow LW 51 9 15 24 83-28110
Mohns, DougDoug Mohns LW/D 75 2 19 21 54-52100
Lesuk, BillBill Lesuk LW 79 8 11 19 77-34120
Gilbertson, StanStan Gilbertson LW 25 11 7 18 12-37201
Bailey, GarnetGarnet Bailey LW 22 4 13 17 8-29100
Anderson, RonRon Anderson RW 28 9 7 16 8-20400
Atkinson, SteveSteve Atkinson RW 46 11 4 15 8-26320
Laframboise, PetePete Laframboise LW/C 45 5 10 15 22-37000
Gryp, BobBob Gryp LW 27 5 8 13 21-24000
Cowick, BruceBruce Cowick LW 65 5 6 11 41-42000
Smith, GordGord Smith D 63 3 8 11 56-56200
Brooks, GordGord Brooks RW 38 1 10 11 25-19100
Pyatt, NelsonNelson Pyatt C 16 6 4 10 21-14001
Hrycuik, JimJim Hrycuik C 21 5 5 10 12-12100
Mikkelson, BillBill Mikkelson D 59 3 7 10 52-82300
Nicholson, PaulPaul Nicholson LW 39 4 5 9 7-29001
Joly, GregGreg Joly D 44 1 7 8 44-68100
Lynch, JackJack Lynch D 20 1 5 6 16-54000
Egers, JackJack Egers RW 14 3 2 5 8-14101
Morrison, LewLew Morrison RW 18 0 4 4 6-14000
Jones, RonRon Jones D 19 1 1 2 16-14100
Belhumeur, MichelMichel Belhumeur G 35 0 2 2 100000
White, TonyTony White LW 5 0 2 2 00000
Brossart, WillieWillie Brossart D 12 1 0 1 14-14000
Fullan, LarryLarry Fullan LW 4 1 0 1 0-2100
Stewart, BlairBlair Stewart C 2 1 0 1 2-2000
Anderson, MurrayMurray Anderson D 40 0 1 1 68-40000
Adams, JohnJohn Adams G 8 0 0 0 20000
Low, RonRon Low G 48 0 0 0 40000
Lundrigan, JoeJoe Lundrigan D 3 0 0 0 2-3000
Peloffy, AndreAndre Peloffy C 9 0 0 0 0-8000
Riley, BillBill Riley RW 1 0 0 0 0-1000
Seiling, RodRod Seiling D 1 0 0 0 00000
Goaltending
Player MIN GP W L T GA GAA SO
Low, RonRon Low 2588 48 8 36 2 235 5.45 1
Adams, JohnJohn Adams 400 8 0 7 0 46 6.90 0
Belhumeur, MichelMichel Belhumeur 1812 35 0 24 3 162 5.36 0
Team: 4800 80 8 67 5 443 5.54 1

[3]

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/- = Plus/Minus; PIM = Penalty Minutes; PPG=Power-play goals; SHG=Short-handed goals; GWG=Game-winning goals
      MIN=Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; GA = Goals Against; GAA = Goals Against Average; SO = Shutouts;

References

  1. ↑ "NHL History: The 10 Worst Teams of All Time". BleacherReport.com. Retrieved 2015-10-17.
  2. ↑ "1974-1975 Division Standings Standings - NHL.com - Standings". National Hockey League.
  3. ↑ "1974-75 Washington Capitals Statistics - Hockey-Reference.com". hockey-reference.com. Retrieved 2009-06-02.
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