Legendary hockey reporter Stan Fischler writes a weekly scrapbook for NHL.com. Fischler, known as "The Hockey Maven," brings his humor and insight to readers each Wednesday.
With Stanley Cup Playoff fever intensifying, the spotlight shifts to the Eastern Conference Second Round between the Washington Capitals and Carolina Hurricanes that began Tuesday, with a flashback to the Capitals' maiden 1974-75 season of losses, laughter and tears.
Sometimes it's hard to believe that there's more to the Washington Capitals than Alex Ovechkin.
The focus on "The Great 8" breaking Wayne Gretzky's NHL scoring record overshadowed a decisive cycle in the Capitals' saga. They opened the Eastern Conference Second Round with a 2-1 overtime loss to the Carolina Hurricanes in Game 1 on Tuesday after winning the Metropolitan Division with 111 points and scoring the second-most goals in the regular season with 286, six behind the Tampa Bay Lightning. They've come a long way from 2023-24, when their goal differential of minus-37 was the worst by any Stanley Cup Playoff team in 33 years (Vancouver Canucks, minus-72 in 1990-91).
By contrast, the second-place Hurricanes had a dozen fewer points than the division-leaders and 20 fewer goals scored. This is their seventh consecutive playoff appearance.
Game 2 of the best-of-7 series is at Capital One Arena on Thursday (7 p.m. ET; ESPN, SN, TVAS).
"The Caps climbed to the top by being as fast as the fastest teams," said historian Glenn Dreyfuss, author of "The Legends of Landover."
"They're also as big as the big teams and their players -- up and down the lineup -- have had career years."
They also have Ovechkin, their 39-year-old captain who laughs at Father Time. Goalies Logan Thompson and Charlie Lindgren are solid, and Spencer Carbery is a finalist for the Jack Adams Award given to the NHL coach of the year.
"He pulls all the right levers," Dreyfuss said of the second-season coach.
Carolina eliminated the New Jersey Devils in a five-game opening round. Their offense was powered by left wing Andrei Svechnikov, who had hat trick in a 5-2 win in Game 4. The series clincher was completed when star center Sebastian Aho scored in double overtime for a 5-4 victory.
The Capitals eliminated the Montreal Canadiens in five games thanks to offseason acquisitions such as defenseman Jakob Chychrun and center Pierre-Luc Dubois, as well as 24-year-old forwards Aliaksei Protas and Connor McMichael. They had a League-high 25 come-from-behind wins and two more against the Canadiens.
"The most impressive aspect of the Capitals has been the work done by the front office," wrote Ryan Kennedy, Editor-in-Chief of The Hockey News. "Those offseason acquisitions turned them into one of the NHL's best teams."
Interestingly, the Capitals defeated the Canadiens in their 50th season, or a wonderful historic bookend for fans with long memories. The NHL expansion team of 1974-75 played in the Norris Division, which the Canadiens won by going 47-14 with 19 ties.
"In their first 34 (games against Montreal), Washington won zero (0-31-3)," Dreyfuss said. "Ten times Montreal scored eight or more goals and eleven times the Caps didn't score at all. It was the biggest mismatch since Little Bighorn."
The Capitals finished 8-67 with five ties, the worst record in a century-plus of NHL seasons. Defenseman Bill Mikkelson was minus-82.
"To avoid humiliation, Caps players should wear unlisted numbers," wrote John Robertson of Maclean's.
Before their game at the California Seals in Oakland on March 28, 1975, the Capitals lost all 37 of their previous road games, but after their 5-3 victory something unusual happened.
"We came into the locker room, and there was a big, green garbage can," center Ron Lalonde said. "We pretended that was our Stanley Cup. We signed it and skated back on the ice with The Stanley Can. We had to have a little bit of fun that long season."
The turning point on the road to respectability occurred in the summer of 1982. Rookie general manager David Poile, 32, nervously attended his first NHL Board of Governors meeting and immediately made a deal with his Canadiens counterpart, Irving Grundman.
"I gambled by parting with my defenseman Rick Green and center Ryan Walter," Poile recalled. "They were my owner's favorite players and when I phoned the boss, (owner) Abe Pollin, and said what I had done he yelled at me: 'YOU BETTER KNOW WHAT YOU'RE DOING!' I hung up, scared over what I had done, opened the hotel window and yelled, 'YOU BETTER KNOW WHAT YOU'RE DOING.'"
But Poile knew. Defensemen Rod Langway and Brian Engblom, and forwards Doug Jarvis and Craig Laughlin were acquired from the Canadiens on Sept. 9, 1982. Until that blockbuster exchange, the Capitals missed the playoffs for their first eight seasons. Following the deal, Washington qualified in every one of Langway's 11 seasons. Langway won the Norris Trophy and was a First All-Star in 1983 and 1984. His No. 5 was retired in 1997 and five years later he was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.
In the 2018 playoffs, the Capitals defeated the Columbus Blue Jackets, Pittsburgh Penguins, Lightning and Vegas Golden Knights to win the Stanley Cup for the first time in their 44-season history. The Hurricanes are the next roadblock to a second NHL championship.
"Now they have as good a chance as anyone to do it again," Dreyfuss said. "Anyone."
