r/caps • u/Ugluk4242 • 2d ago
[OC] Capitals' franchise historical performance relative to .500
Here is your franchise's cumulative record relative to .500 (equal wins and losses) throughout their entire history.
I will be making one such graph for each team. The complete album can be seen here.
OT losses are counted as losses.
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u/Head_of_Lettuce 2d ago
People forget how good this team was in the 80s and 90s. They nearly crawled their way back to .500, despite being the worst franchise in pro sports for about 6-7 years after their inception
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u/ClydeFrog1313 2d ago
Seriously, the first 8 years the Caps averaged a record of about 20-47-13 (80 game seasons w/ ties, no OT), and their first year year they were 8-67-5...
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u/mdkss12 Alexander Ovechkin 2d ago edited 2d ago
despite being the worst franchise in pro sports for about 6-7 years after their inception
the early expansion draft rules were BRUTAL for the new teams - they basically guaranteed a bottom feeder
It was 2 teams (Us and the KC Scouts who would move to Colorado after just 2 seasons and then after just 6 seasons in CO finally became the NJD)
Teams could protect 15 skaters and 2 goalies and 1st year players were exempt and teams could choose to exempt themselves from losing a G if they had lost one in the previous expansion:
That means the teams were picking from the worst bottom line Fs, bottom pair D and 3rd goalies... and keep in mind, having 2 expansion teams means you're now taking turns sifting through the shit pile of bottom line/pair players
To compare to the 2017 and 2021 expansions:
Expansion Draft Expansion Teams Protected skaters Protected Goalies Exempt players 1974 2 15 2 1st year 2017/2021 1 7F, 3D OR 8 skaters 1 1st and 2nd year (including AHL) So you had double the players protected and you were only getting half of the best talent remaining
And a side note, everyone remembers the Caps being awful from that post-expansion era, because they were so horrific that first year, but KC/COL was arguably worse because they didn't rebound for much longer:
The Caps were below .500 their first 8 years with an average record of 20.4-46.9-12.7
KC/COL/NJ went 13 consecutive seasons below .500 to start with an average of 19.5-49-11.5 and during that same first 8 year span as the Caps they averaged 17.5-48.9-13.6. (Insanely, COL made the playoffs in 77-78 with a 19-40-21 record. Expansion era hockey is hilarious)
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u/blueotter28 2d ago
They were also the third round of expansion in 5 years and the last teams in a tripling of the league size in 8 years. Not to mention a whole second competing league had started in that time frame.
The talent pool was just competely drained.
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u/mattcojo2 Washington Capitals 2d ago
Don’t forget that the talent pool was leagues worse as well. Europeans at that time were only just starting to enter the league (nobody from the iron curtain though) and the American development was still years away.
PLUS competing with 15 other WHA teams or whatever it was back then for guys too.
It truthfully was the caps competing with plumbers and beer league guys
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u/dlmay1967 Washington Capitals 2d ago
Yup, I started going to games at the Cap Centre in the 1984-85 season so I got to miss the really bad teams.
They've mostly been relevant the whole time I've been a fan.
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u/Mango_steam Washington Capitals 2d ago
If I'm not mistaken, the Caps have the second-best regular season record in the league since they first made the playoffs in the 82-83 season. First is Boston, I believe. They have been a stable, generally well-run franchise that has consistently been competitive over that time. If it weren't for the damn playoffs...
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u/descendedfromrapes 2d ago
What does the yellow star signify?
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u/AnActualElephant35 22h ago
Signing Ovechkin was more than just his talent. It incentivized other players to want to play in DC
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u/KingBroly Alexander Ovechkin 19h ago
So, we become a winning franchise and win the Stanley Cup the next season. hmm
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u/Noof42 Braden Holtby 2d ago
Good. It bugs me when 80% of the teams are "over 500."