A Inland northwest Upper case come the National Hockey League (NHL) team based inside Washington, D.C.

Franchise history
After a Upper case played its foremost year around 1974-75 the team set an NHL record for futility, losing 67 of Fourscore games, & single winning a single on tour. A team did non fare tremendously better through the Seventies, & it was non until 1983 that a Caps processed a playoffs first, behind the explosive goal scoring of Dennis Maruk, Mike Gartner, and Bobby Carpenter. A team was swept within its number 1 ever playoff appearance per eventual Stanley Cup champion New York Islanders.

the Caps would produce a playoffs for both of the next Xiv years inside a row, however each instance it ended inside heartache. In the late 1980s, the Upper case, universally a challenger in the regular year, can never dislodge slay its reputation for existence "chokers". Despite the continuous march of stars prefer Gartner, Carpenter, Mike Ridley, Dave Christian, Dino Ciccarelli, Rod Langway, or Kevin Hatcher, only once in that period of time did a team ever acquire retiring a 2nd around of the playoffs, a Four-game sweep at the paws of the Boston Bruins in the 1990 Wales Conference Finals.

Per mid-1990s, a Upper case seemed to shoot whatever risk it experienced at lifting a Stanley Ventral suction cup. Despite getting rising stars within correct-rightist Peter Bondra, defenseman Sergei Gonchar, and center Joe Juneau (a latter already getting his better times behind him after he was traded from either a Bruins around 1994), the team's core players were mostly aging. One of a team's darkest times come inside the 1993 playoff series with a New York Islanders, when Dale Hunter was suspended 21 games for the vicious hit in Pierre Turgeon after he had good scored a series-winning goal.

the Upper case eventually took a step to inducing eliminate their choker image within 1998. Peter Bondra's 52 goals led a team, veterans Juneau & Adam Oates returned to old form, and Olaf Kölzig had a firm .920 save percentage when a Caps had past a Bruins, Ottawa Senators, and Buffalo Sabres (the latter within the spectacular double-overtime win in game Sestet) on the way to the team's number one (& up to now, single) Stanley Ventral suction cup finals appearance. All a same, the team was there are no match for the juggernaut Detroit Red Wings, who won inside the 4-game sweep.

Around 1999, a Upper case missed the playoffs. When ii sir thomas more 1st-around playoff defeats to the Pittsburgh Penguins), the Caps scored the major coup in the summertime of 2001, landing Jaromir Jagr, one of the better players in the NHL in the Nineties, at the low price from either a touching-bankrupt Pittsburgh team. Despite a fresh power, a Caps failed to produce a playoffs around 2002. In a summertime of 2002, a Caps, manufactured potentially other roll changes, including a sign language the extremely regarded Robert Lang as a free professional.

A Caps were back within the playoffs in 2003, but disappointed fans once agaaround by losing in sestet games to the Tampa Bay Lightning after starting off sustaining the 2-game lead in the right-of-seven number one-spherical series.

In a early a share of 2004, the Caps unloaded much of their high-pricey talent sequentially to save money. Jaromir Jagr was traded to the Rangers, which was quickly followed by Peter Bondra going to the Ottawa Senators. Shortly fallowing Robert Lang was sent to Detroit and Gonchar to the Bruins. A Robert Lang trade marked the foremost instance in the history of the NHL that the league's leading scorer was trade the middle of the year.

In the 2004 NHL Entry Draft, a Upper case had the 1st pick & utilized it in Russian phenom Alexander Ovechkin. When you took a NHL labor dispute of 2004-05, which cost a NHL its entire year, Ovechkaround has been swimming in his native Russia along by having an additional Russian rising star, Alexander Semin, who experienced processed his NHL debut as a 19-month-old by owning a Upper case around 2004. Many more Upper case keep close at hand played section or even a lot of the misused year around Europe, including Olaf Kölzig, Brendan Witt, and Jeff Halpern.

Season-by-season record
Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, OTL = Overtime losses, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against, PIM = Penalties within minutes

Notable players
Current Squad
When of 13 October, 2005

Hall of Famers
Mike Gartner Rod Langway Larry Murphy

Team captains
Doug Mohns 1974-75 Bill Clement & Yvon Labre 1975-76 Yvon Labre 1976-78 Guy Charron 1978-79 Ryan Walter 1979-82 Rod Langway 1982-92 Rod Langway & Kevin Hatcher 1992-93 Kevin Hatcher 1993-94 Dale Hunter 1994-99 Adam Oates 1999-01 Steve Konowalchuk/Brendan Witt 2001-02 (co-capts) Steve Konowalchuk 2002-03 no captain 2003-05 Jeff Halpern 2005-

Not to be forgotten
Peter Bondra Bobby Carpenter Dave Christian Sylvain Cote Sergei Gonchar Bengt Gustafsson Kevin Hatcher Al Jensen Calle Johansson Dennis Maruk Kelly Miller Michal Pivonka Mike Ridley Scott Stevens

Retired Numbers
5 - Rod Langway 7 - Yvon Labre 32- Dale Hunter 99 - Wayne Gretzky (retired league-wide by the NHL)