Photo: Hockey Gods.com Blog
The Washington Capitals celebrate their 50th anniversary.th anniversary in the NHL this season, NoVa Caps summarizes each of their previous seasons, from earliest to most recent.
The 1976–77 season was the third NHL season for the Washington Capitals. They improved greatly from the previous season, but were still far from making the playoffs.
The Capitals’ record for the 1976-77 season was 24-42-14 in 80 games with 62 points, which was fourth best in the Norris Division and third worst in the NHL. They finished ahead of the Detroit Red Wings in the Norris Division and had a better record than their expansion twins, the Colorado Rockies, who came from Kansas City that offseason. The Capitals finished 17thth of 18 for goals scored and 14th of 18 for goals conceded.
This season, the Capitals won at least two games in a row for the first time, winning three games in a row from November 7 to 10. They also won three games in a row in January and four games in a row in late March, setting a franchise record.
Their longest losing streak lasted five games and occurred from late December to January, avoiding the extremely long losing streaks of their first two seasons.
Photo: Getty Images
Notable Capitals draftees in the 1976 NHL Draft
- Rick Green (1st Round – #1 overall)
- Greg Carroll (1st Round – #15 overall)
- Tom Rowe (3rd Round – #37 overall)
- Jim Bedard (6th Round – #91 overall)
Managing Director: Max McNab
Head coach: Tom McVie
Captain: Yvon Labre
management
Goals: Guy Charron (36), Gerry Meehan (28)
Assists: Guy Charron (46), Hartland Monahan (36)
Points: Guy Charron (82), Gerry Meehan (64)
Penalty minutes: Gordon Lane (207), Yvon Labre (169)
Important Trades
- August 31, 1976 – Nelson Pyatt was traded to the Colorado Rockies in exchange for Guy Charron.
- November 30, 1976 – Greg Joly was traded for Bryan Watson
Previous summaries
Season 1974–75
Season 1975–76
By Diane Doyle
