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) |
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.
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. 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.
The Capitals had an appalling first season and did not qualify for the playoffs. They had the worst points percentage all-time in NHL post expansion history with a 0.131 win percentage average. In addition, they had the worst road record in NHL history.
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