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.131winning percentage is still the worst in NHL history. They also set records for most road losses, most consecutive road losses and most consecutive losses, most of which have now been broken. Schmidt himself had to take over the coaching reins late in the season. The Capitals failed to qualify for the playoffs. On an interesting note, of Washington's eight wins, seven of them were decided by two goals or more, with their season superlative 8-4 win in their final game.
Final standings
Schedule and results
Playoffs
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, winning their only road game against the California Golden Seals in the 76th game of the season and third-to-last road game of the season.
Player statistics
Regular season
;Scoring
Player
Pos
GP
G
A
Pts
PIM
+/-
PPG
SHG
GWG
RW
73
22
36
58
12
-48
7
2
1
LW
53
20
15
35
8
-41
8
0
0
LW
76
16
12
28
59
-65
5
0
2
D
76
4
23
27
182
-54
0
0
0
C
50
12
14
26
27
-39
4
1
1
LW
67
7
19
26
84
-54
0
0
0
LW
51
9
15
24
83
-28
1
1
0
LW/D
75
2
19
21
54
-52
1
0
0
LW
79
8
11
19
77
-34
1
2
0
LW
25
11
7
18
12
-37
2
0
1
LW
22
4
13
17
8
-29
1
0
0
RW
28
9
7
16
8
-20
4
0
0
RW
46
11
4
15
8
-26
3
2
0
LW/C
45
5
10
15
22
-37
0
0
0
LW
27
5
8
13
21
-24
0
0
0
LW
65
5
6
11
41
-42
0
0
0
D
63
3
8
11
56
-56
2
0
0
RW
38
1
10
11
25
-19
1
0
0
C
16
6
4
10
21
-14
0
0
1
C
21
5
5
10
12
-12
1
0
0
D
59
3
7
10
52
-82
3
0
0
LW
39
4
5
9
7
-29
0
0
1
D
44
1
7
8
44
-68
1
0
0
D
20
1
5
6
16
-54
0
0
0
RW
14
3
2
5
8
-14
1
0
1
RW
18
0
4
4
6
-14
0
0
0
D
19
1
1
2
16
-14
1
0
0
G
35
0
2
2
10
0
0
0
0
LW
5
0
2
2
0
0
0
0
0
D
12
1
0
1
14
-14
0
0
0
LW
4
1
0
1
0
-2
1
0
0
C
2
1
0
1
2
-2
0
0
0
D
40
0
1
1
68
-40
0
0
0
G
8
0
0
0
2
0
0
0
0
G
48
0
0
0
4
0
0
0
0
D
3
0
0
0
2
-3
0
0
0
C
9
0
0
0
0
-8
0
0
0
RW
1
0
0
0
0
-1
0
0
0
D
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
;Goaltending
Player
MIN
GP
W
L
T
GA
GAA
SO
2588
48
8
36
2
235
5.45
1
400
8
0
7
0
46
6.90
0
1812
35
0
24
3
162
5.36
0
Team:
4800
80
8
67
5
443
5.54
1
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;
