Putting the "Laugh" in Laughlin

One thing we've learned about Craig Laughlin: he's a funny guy. The Capitals winger-turned-broadcaster creates his own vocabulary - "Kabong" for a hard hit, "Coconatta" for forehead.

Little surprise, then, that during his playing days with the Caps (1982-88), Craig was both witness and participant in a never-ending series of frat-boy hijinks. Laughlin detailed the hilarity in Dan Steinberg's blog at washingtonpost.com.

On Plane Trips: Players would ask flight attendants for sodas they knew weren’t on the plane. “I'd ask for a Mountain Dew. 'Sorry sir, we don't have Mountain Dew.' Rod would be next, 'Give me a Pibb Cola' or whatever. We'd be driving people crazy.”

At The Airport: "Davey Christian would light everybody's newspaper on fire. It was called Hot News - hey guys, what's the hot news - and he'd have this cigarette lighter under a guy's paper, and all of the sudden the paper would catch flames in the middle of the airport."

In The Hotel: Bobby Carpenter would steal teammates’ room keys, “rip stuff off your bed, put everything in the shower, and turn on the water.”

Rod Langway got locked out of his room… Naked. Laughlin was his roommate. “I let him stand there for a while. But then we worked it out and he got in." (Maybe that's how he got the nickname "Locker.")

In Meetings: “When (coach) Murray would leave the room, Larry Murphy would get up and act like Bryan Murray."

After Morning Practice: Laughlin told Mike Vogel of washingtoncaps.com about walking back to the team hotel in frigid Winnipeg. "We’d have to sort of walk through buildings because if we walked outside our wet hair would freeze immediately. We finally just said ‘Ah, who cares?’ And our hair was just frozen."

Practical jokes and one-liners are as much as part of hockey as slapshots and faceoffs. Players even like telling tales on themselves:

Dale Hunter's "teammates and others with the Capitals love him for a hundred reasons... practical jokes among them." That from David Sell in the Post. In the Baltimore Sun, Sandra McKee profiled Hunter's victims. "Yvon Corriveau never saw the scissors that snipped his tie while he was sleeping on a team flight. Garry Galley never saw the screwdriver used to remove the doors of his jeep." Speaking of vehicles, Hunter's ride of choice, befitting his off-season farm life, was a big Ford pickup. That truck was used by teammates to get revenge on their impish Captain, as Hunter relates in the audio clip at left.

Unlike Hunter, you can't guess all pranksters from their on-ice demeanor. Take Bob Girard, the most responsible of defense-first wingers for the Caps from 1977-79. Often assigned to the opposition's top scorers, he was never intimidated playing in hostile arenas.

Off the ice, Bob was, let's say, a "cutup." As in sneaking up during plane rides and snipping the neckties of unwary teammates.

Girard could also be, to quote the Caps Media Guide, "A turbaned figure in the locker room, throwing baby powder in the air, appealing to Buddha for goals."

The incantations didn't often work; Girard scored 18 goals total in his two seasons in Landover. But his honest effort each night was no trick.

Sometimes the motive behind comedy is that it's better to laugh than to cry.

During that interminable first season, Mike Bloom remembers
Tommy Williams trying to lighten the mood.

Bloom told the Post, "After we had lost 15 in a row, Tommy called a team meeting and said, 'Guys, let's not get down. We're a good team. We're just in the wrong league.'"

The World Is Not Enough

Between 1976-78, the Capitals played eight pre-season games against the rival World Hockey Association. The Caps won their only meeting with the Indianapolis Racers, lost all three matches with the New England Whalers, split two games with the Cincinnati Stingers, and split two games with the Quebec Nordiques.

Some games were played by WHA rules, which included 10-minute overtimes. So the Caps 5-4 loss to the Whalers in 1977 was the first overtime game in team history.

Banner Year

In the 24 years prior to joining the Southeast Division in 1998, the Capitals won just one regular-season title.

It came during the 1988-89 season, when the Caps were members of the Patrick Division. Washington finished 41-29-10 for 92 points, five points better than the Penguins, with the Rangers, Flyers, Devils, and Islanders back in the pack.

The banner didn't help: The Flyers bounced D.C. out of the playoffs in the 1st round.

The Capitals best pre-Ovechkin regular season record actually came in 1985-86: 50 wins, 23 losses and 7 ties for 107 points. Philly won the division with 110 points.

In the next post, some number-crunching reveals why '85-'86 still deserves consideration as the best regular season in Caps history.

Here's The Point

Changes in how the league awards standings points, and extending the regular season, make it harder to compare teams from different generations.

Such as: the 2009-10 Capitals smashed team records for wins (54) and points (121). By comparison, the 1985-86 Capitals earned 50 wins and 107 points.

But just hold on a gol-darn minute. (Or is that goal-darn minute?)

Back in '85-'86, teams played two fewer games, didn't earn a point for overtime losses, and there was no shootout.



The '09-'10 Caps, by comparison, earned *1* win and *3* standings points during the extra two games at the end of the season. They added *5* wins and *5* points for shootout victories, and *13* points for OT and shootout losses.

So, here's the "point". By 1980's NHL standards, the 2009-10 Caps would have earned 48 wins and 101 standings points.

That's fewer in both categories than '85-'86 squad of Gartner, Gustafsson, Langway, et al.

For what it's worth, a computer simulation playoff series between the two squads (whatifsports.com) resulted in a 4-game sweep by the Ovechkin team.

The Very, Very, Very First

At left is a Washington Post ad promoting the first games at Capital Centre, pre-season tilts with the Canadiens and Flyers.

It asks, "How good is this scrappy new team of fast-skating wild men?" As Jerry Seinfeld once asked, who are the ad wizards that came up with that one?

At least the name was right. For one exhibition at their training camp in London, Ontario, the game program listed the new team as the "Washington Generals." That, of course, being the fictional basketball foils who always lost to the Harlem Globetrotters.

The very, very, very first time NHL hockey was played in Washington was
September 28, 1974, and it got off to a very good start.

The photo at right shows Tommy Williams, just 11 seconds into the game, after scoring on legendary Montreal goalie Ken Dryden. The game ended in a 4-4 tie.

Don't Get Mad, Get Even

If the Caps won that first game in NY, they could have boasted that the franchise had a winning all-time record at least once. Instead, it wouldn't happen for 35 years!

The low-water mark came early in the 1982-83 season. When the Capitals lost a 4-3 home decision to St. Louis, the franchise dropped 216 games under .500 since their inception.

Langway & Co. then undertook the long trek back to respectability. Ovechkin & Co. grabbed the baton, completing the Everest-like climb beyond even with a 5-2 home victory over Atlanta on April 9, 2010.

It took a mere 2,944 games and 12,935 days for the Capitals to reach the heights of one game above .500 for the first time ever. Their record: 1,215 wins, 1,214 losses, 303 ties, and 71 overtime defeats.

Uh, 71 OT defeats? Doesn't that mean the Caps still are really 70 games underwater? Not according to the New Math, NHL style.

Bottle Caps, Part 1: Eastward Ho

The Capitals made their first post-season appearance in the spring of 1976 - in fact, they won the Cup. It's not in the record books; the appearance was in Japan, and the trophy was the Coca-Cola Bottlers Cup.

A week after the conclusion of the '75-'76 season, the Caps and Kansas City Scouts were invited to play a series of four exhibition games in Tokyo and Sapporo. When players and wives arrived in Japan, the greeting read, "Welcome great great fighters and sweet ladies." (L.A. Times)

The Scouts' Guy Charron remembered taking in the sights, including sumo wrestling. "To have an opportunity to go this far and see a different culture, it was exciting,” he told nhl.com. (Capitals brass found Charron's play exciting, signing him to a free-agent contract during the summer.)

AP reported that 9,200 fans attended each of the Tokyo tilts, held on a makeshift rink inside, of all places, the Olympic swimming stadium.

Washington won 3 of the 4 games to capture "the Cup", behind two-goal performances by Bob Sirois (Game 1, 5-2 win), Gerry Meehan (Game 2, 6-2 win), and Mike Lampman (Game 3, 6-2 win.)

The Scouts were so despondent they relocated to Colorado in the off-season.

Bottle Caps, Part 2: The Cop And The Cola

Bill Brooks occupied the same ice-level seat for every Capitals home game between 1974 and 2007 – as a penalty box official. In the photo at left, Brooks is keeping Bobby Carpenter company.

Like the players, Bill worked his way up from the minors; he’d served as a sin bin keeper with the AHL’s Baltimore Clippers.

The gig dovetailed nicely with Brooks’ day job, as a Maryland State Trooper. He rose to the rank of Captain before retiring in 1992.

Bill pulled no punches when Dale Hunter became a Cap in 1987, telling him “I don’t like you.”

The relationship improved – after all, they shared a lot of time together – so one time, when Brooks was drinking a can of Diet Coke, Hunter asked for a swig. Soon, Brooks was stocking six-packs for Dale’s frequent visits. It was private stock, too. Kevin Hatcher requested a can once, and Bill turned him down.

That’s not to say Brooks was immune to the needs of fellow Capitals. He once helped Michal Pivonka get out of a speeding ticket.

(Sources: Washington Post, Baltimore Sun, Legacy.com)

From Russia With Dynamo

Just two weeks after the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan, Moscow Dynamo invaded Capital Centre on January 9, 1980, for the only U.S. game of their North American exhibition tour.

“Some of the 7,369 fans booed the Soviet anthem. But cheers prevailed as the Capitals and Dynamo exchanged handshakes following a 5-5 tie.” (Canadian Press)

Coach Gary Green referenced the political subplot in the locker room.

“I knew that to the fans, especially, it was more than just a hockey game.”

Bob Sirois led Washington with two goals and two assists; Vladimir Myshkin opposed Gary Inness in net.

The clubs met again in Russia in September, 1989, with Dynamo winning, 7-2.
Above Left: A souvenir puck; Lower Left: One of the exhibition tour game programs.

In January, 1991, Jeff Greenlaw, one of several Caps minor-leaguers called up for the game, scored with 1:05 to play for a 3-2 win at Landover. The game featured a shootout exhibition of 5 skaters per side – held between the 2nd the 3rd period!

The teams met a fourth time, with the Capitals besting Dynamo in 2006… in U.S. District Court. Moscow Dynamo had filed suit, claiming they owned contractual rights to a Russian forward named Alex Ovechkin.

A Post Script: The first time a Russian team played at Capital Centre, the Capitals were in the building, but not on the ice. The NHL didn’t think it fair to subject the stumbling 2nd year franchise to either of the two touring Soviet squads. So on January 13, 1976, the Soviet Wings and Red Army played a 7-7 tie in front of 8,213 spectators, including Capitals coach Tom McVie and his players.

A League Of Their Own

So Tommy Williams might have been wrong when he joked that the Capitals were playing in the wrong league. Maybe they were just playing on the wrong continent.

Four years after their victorious sojourn through Japan, the Capitals (along with the North Stars) participated in a 1980 pre-season tournament in Sweden. Washington won the "DN Hockey Cup" with a 3-0 record.

In September of 1981, the Capitals went 1-3 when they and the Rangers played exhibitions in Finland and Sweden.

Before the 1989-90 season, the Caps packed once more for training camp in Sweden (program at right), and won two exhibition games.

Then it was on to the U.S.S.R. along with the Calgary Flames, for four games against teams in Moscow, Leningrad, Kiev and Riga in the "Friendship Tour."

A Capitals team photo taken in Red Square is at left. (The original Rocking the Red?)


Again the Caps were kings of Eurasia, winning 3 of 4 games vs. their Soviet competition. Поздравляю! (Pronounced Pazdra-vilya-yoo!, by the way, which means Congratulations!)

First (Season) Impressions

It’s too easy to take shots at the Capitals 8-67-5 first season. To get a sense of the despair, this UPI story recalls Ace Bailey’s misery from a late-season game in 1975.

“The Washington winger falls to his knees as his opponent skates around him and scores.

“Bailey brings his stick above his head and slams it to the ice in a picture of absolute frustration. The end of the stick splinters into a half dozen pieces and Ace Bailey looks at it sadly and shakes his head.”

Okay, there is a punchline to this anecdote.
The above scene is part of the team's 1974-75 PROMOTIONAL HIGHLIGHT FILM!

On spectacularly bad teams, it's also easy to forget that these are real people, with real pride, who had achieved success in their careers. These quotes from 1974 and 1975 are sad, funny, and especially, poignant.

Goalie Michel Belhumeur, after yet another loss:
“I don’t know what we’re doing wrong, but we’re doing something wrong.”

Center Ron Lalonde, observing the Capital Centre recreation room:
“There were more guys injured then playing. It was like a country club.”

Defenseman Yvon Labre, echoing that sentiment:
"You wondered if all of them had their hearts in it."

Washington Post, Feb. 24, 1975, on 3 losses in 3 nights:
“The Capitals wound up the most totally lost weekend in NHL history (Sunday) by dropping a 7-2 decision to the St. Louis Blues. The non-contest followed a 9-4 loss to Buffalo Friday and a 10-3 shellacking at Chicago Saturday.”

Defenseman Bob Paradise, (un)motivational speaker, at a team meeting:
“Well, if nobody else is going to say anything, I will. We aren’t going to win.”

Coach Jimmy Anderson, after a hard-fought loss:
“I went outside the arena and just screamed into the night.”
(Anderson was fired after 54 games)

Red Sullivan, who replaced Anderson as coach:
“I hope I can be behind the bench for 10 years.”
(Sullivan stepped down after 19 games)

GM Milt Schmidt, who replaced Sullivan as coach:
"I need the players more than they need me."

Montreal Gazette, Jan. 3, 1975:
“The beleaguered Capitals must be getting the impression they have been damned to eternal misery.”

(Quotes from the Wash. Post, Balt. Sun, AP, McClatchy News and Montreal Gazette.)

"The Walrus And The Carpenter" Talk Hockey

“The time has come,” the Walrus said,
“To talk of many things,
Of power plays and penalty kills,
Of Capitals and Kings.”

Isn't that how the Alice in Wonderland poem goes? No matter; let’s talk those two teams, who once defined epic fail in killing penalties.

The L.A. Kings in ’79-’80 allowed a goal
1 of every 3 times they were shorthanded -
the worst PK unit of any team, any season since they started keeping track in 1963.

The Caps of ’78-’79 rank 3rd worst of all, an abysmal 70%. (behindthenethockey.com)

Now let’s talk about great Capitals penalty killing, and how it factored into a game against those same Kings.

The Caps swaggered into the Fabulous Forum in L.A. on February 16, 1984 with a seven game winning streak. Washington had killed 35 consecutive shorthanded situations, until the Kings’ Brian MacLellan scored a PP goal in the 2nd period.

Still, D.C. won, 4-2. And it would be the only power play goal allowed by the Caps as their winning streak grew to 10 in a row.

MacLellan’s tally also broke an incredible personal streak by D.C. goalie Pat Riggin, who hadn't given up a road game goal for more than 241 minutes!
(Mike Vogel, washington caps.com)

Paying The Price

For the 1984-85 season, Caps coach Bryan Murray added new meaning to the phrase, “Costly losses.”

Murray decreed that the Capitals should achieve 12 standings points for each 10-game chunk of the season. “Failing that,” explained the AP, “each player will be asked to donate $50 to charity.”

Coincidentally, the Caps earned exactly 12 points over the first 10 games of the season. Then they relaxed the grip on their wallets, winning just two of their next ten games.

Not only did Coach Murray collect the charity donations, he upped the ante: the next 12-point quota would have to be earned in nine games instead of 10.

The team responded with a 7-1-1 stretch. In fact, they went 27-5-3 after paying the penalty. Murray credited the improvement to playing more physical. But was it possible they were just more economical?

The Overtime Period As Exclamation Point

An overtime loss in Winnipeg on February 19, 1984 is usually noted for ending the Capitals 14-game winning streak. No one knew at the time that it was the demarcation line for a new streak.

After that night, the Capitals would not lose in their next 35 regular season overtime games, winning 10 and tying the rest. The streak lasted almost 3 years, until a 5-4 OT loss to the Rangers on February 7, 1987.

The final victory of the streak came on New Year’s Day 1987 against Pittsburgh. Mike Gartner, playing despite a hyperextended elbow, scored his second goal on a breakaway for the 4-3 win.

OT success involved reversing a defense-first philosophy. “We try to win in overtime,” coach Bryan Murray told AP. “A lot of teams play for the tie. We have a lot of confidence going in because of our goaltending and defense.”

Great Expectations, and Unmet Ones

The first time the Capitals ever really felt their oats was during the franchise's third season. In 1976-77, the Caps won 24 games, more than their first two seasons combined.

When the team fashioned its first 3 game win streak, the AP wrote, "Having gone to bed hungry so many times, their third consecutive good dinner brought satisfied smiles." Goalie Ron Low, a 7-5 winner in New York, said, "The guys knew they were going to win before the game. I didn't, but they did."

The streak prompted an ad promoting upcoming games (opponents include the long-gone Cleveland Barons and Colorado Rockies).

Coach Tom McVie, flanked by three of his players, says in the ad, "Every single time we take the ice we expect to win... We don't bust our tails in two-a-day practices and expect to lose."

Now, flash forward to the mid 1980's. The slogan, "Nobody Expected Us To...", became "Everyone Expects Us To"...


The more you study this 1988 photo, the more remarkable (and frustrating) it becomes. To think that Mike Gartner, Rod Langway, and Scott Stevens - 3 future Hall of Famers - played in their prime on the same Capitals team.

The 1980's Capitals thrilled fans by piling up monster regular season win totals. But Gartner, Langway and Stevens ultimately were all dressed up with nowhere to go - not one Stanley Cup while in Washington. How could that be?

Defenseman Larry Murphy disputes that these Caps teams failed to meet expectations. "We just didn't have the complete personnel," Murphy told USA Today. "(We) got the most out of what we had. I never considered us underachievers."

Langway, meanwhile, has suggested that stellar goaltending was the missing piece. Rod also revealed that when the Caps did reach the conference finals in 1990, both he and Stevens were playing with separated shoulders.

All 3 did earn rings - with other teams. Gartner may not wear his; he was traded by the Rangers just before they won the Cup in 1994. Gartner played 1,554 NHL games, but not a single one in the Finals.

This Just In... Or Not

Back in 1988, when CNN TV still had a sports department, they reported an imminent blockbuster trade.

The Capitals would send Bengt Gustafsson, Kevin Hatcher and Geoff Courtnall to the Flyers. In return, Washington would get Mark Howe, Murray Craven, and a draft choice.

Rarely have so many big names been involved in a single NHL transaction - between bitter division rivals, no less.

When asked about the trade by the Philadelphia Inquirer, GM Bobby Clarke just laughed; Capitals GM David Poile said, "Absolutely nothing to it."

And CNN had to scrap its tagline, "The Most Trusted Name In Hockey Rumors."

Black and White and Losing All Over

Since more recent history with Pittsburgh is unpleasant, it’s soothing to reflect on the early ‘80’s. The Caps routinely beat the Pens, dare we say, “Like a rented mule.”

Washington’s unbeaten streak in the series reached 15 wins and a tie on Nov. 20, 1985, as Craig Laughlin scored twice in a 3-1 win at Pittsburgh.

“We’re not the Edmonton Oilers,” said Laughlin. “We don’t do anything fancy. But once we pull ahead, it’s tough to come back.”

Of all the games in the streak, the Pens got the coldest shoulder on Jan. 17, 1985. Blown out at Capital Centre, 6-2, there was also no hot water for their post-game showers.

A sellout in Landover on April 1, 1986 saw the Caps win again, 5-3.
That gave Washington a remarkable 23-2-2 record against Pittsburgh, dating back to December, 1982.

David Fink of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette wrote admiringly about the stifling defensive style of the mid-‘80’s Capitals.

“There are more enjoyable ways to kill time than playing the Capitals. A trip to the dentist, an IRS audit, a week on the rack.”

“They are disciplined, and love to grind it out, wear you down, and beat you at the end,” Fink quoted Pens coach Bob Berry.

Added defenseman Doug Bodger, “More than any team, they wait for you to make a mistake, and then beat you by a goal.”

Concluded Fink, “To appreciate how committed the Caps are to defense, their brightest star is Rod Langway. He handles the puck flawlessly and prevents goals with an almost religious ferver.”

The Palmateer-Picard Saga

CBC's Hockey Night In Canada didn't know what they were foreshadowing when they paired Robert Picard and Mike Palmateer in this video during the 1979-80 season. Caps defenseman Picard and Leafs goalie Palmateer took part in a shootout-style exhibition shown between periods. At the time, Toronto was balking at Palmateer's demand for a big, multi-year contract. And Caps general manager Max McNab was looking for a franchise goaltender that could help the team finally make the playoffs. Little did Robert and Mike know they would be traded for each other just months later.

That led to this brain teaser, titled "Pick The Picard Card."

As mentioned, early in the 1980's, Picard was traded to Toronto. And Disney released a Sci-Fi film called Tron.

See if you can figure out which picture is an image from the movie, and which is a horribly-inked rendering of a Maple Leafs sweater and helmet - if they were teal instead of blue, and, you know, electrified. All to hide that Picard was still a Cap when the photo was taken.

Disney eventually made a sequel to Tron. Not sure if they also updated Picard.


Back to the trade, no one could claim that it was one sided - Neither player lived up to expectations in their new locations.

Toronto G.M. Punch Imlach, in his book, "Heaven and Hell in the NHL", traced Picard's downfall to his first game as a Leaf. Getting hammered in a fight shattered his confidence.

Meanwhile, Palmateer's two years in D.C. were marred by hamstring, ankle, wrist, and knee injuries.

Off the ice, mapleleafslegends.blogspot.com quoted G.M. McNab as saying "Mike was unhappy and missed the atmosphere in Toronto."

For good measure, his goalie mask was stolen!


The deal was equally rough on the men who made it.

Wrote Imlach, "Not far into the 1981-82 season when Palmateer was not playing, McNab was fired, and the Palmateer contract was at least a contributing factor."

(Another factor: "A 6-1 rout by Minnesota, during which Capital Centre fans jeered the players, wore paper bags over their heads and displayed a sign that read 'Handi-Caps,'" wrote The NY Times.)

Imlach's punchline: "Max wrote me a note: 'That Palmateer-Picard trade didn't do us very much good. You got a heart attack and I lost my job.'"

Hit Me With Your Best Shot

Caps fans who love pouring over shots-on-goal statistics - and really, who doesn't? - should pay special attention to games with Philadelphia.

(Okay, non-stat geeks may be excused from the remainder of this post.)

These nuggets are culled from research done by "Miami Screaming Eagles", a moderator on the Hockey's Future message boards:

• The Flyers held the Capitals to a franchise-low 7 shots in a 1978 game.

• The Capitals held the Flyers to a franchise-low 13 shots in a 1990 game.

• The shot-clock operator may have had his thumb on the scale on March 7, 1982. Make that both thumbs. The final total was exactly 45 shots apiece in Philly's 7-1 win.

• Yet quantity doesn't always equal quality. Washington's first win in the rivalry was a 6-0 shutout authored by Mike Palmateer on Dec. 21, 1980 - despite 44 Philadelphia shots.

• The Flyers took 62 shots in a 1976 game; the Capitals responded with 52 in a 1988 tilt.

For wading through those numbers, enjoy a bonus Flyers-Caps factoid: In a January 9, 1986 contest, the winning goalie was Jensen (Darren), and the losing goalie was Jensen (Al), as the Caps fell, 4-0.

American Capitalism

This is a rare - maybe the only - cover of a national sports publication to ever feature pre-Ovechkin Capitals.

Not a surprise, as the Caps lunch-pail image and limited playoff success weren't likely to push newsstand sales.

So local fans savored the March 18, 1985 headline of The Sporting News, "American Capitalism", as the team's three U.S. players pose in front of the Capitol.

Chances are Caps' goalie Pat Riggin didn't rush out to purchase a copy.

According to the Toronto Star, Riggin went ballistic just a few weeks later. "I'm sick and tired of Americans coming into the NHL and taking our jobs," he said.

"None of this was apt to enhance team spirit," the Star continued. "Some of the Capitals' important athletes - Rod Langway, Dave Christian and Bobby Carpenter - are American."

Back to the cover itself, the players are holding American Flags attached to hockey sticks. Christian seized the opportunity to promote the family business, Christian Bros. hockey sticks of Warroad, MN.

Langway, of Randolph, MA, was such an All-American boy that he was a star high school quarterback, and turned down scholarship offers from Notre Dame and the Big 10. (All from a kid who was actually born in Taiwan!)

From time to time, a Capitals story made it to the cover of a hockey-specific periodical.

A headline from the December 6, 1974 edition of The Hockey News: "Washington Capitals Beg For Player Help."

Ouch.

(A rant is in order here. The WHA raided talent. Other NHL teams hoarded players in the expansion draft. Cherry-picking the best teenagers diluted the amateur draft. No wonder the Caps went begging for players.)

When the Capitals got good, The Hockey News got giddy. The March 15, 1985, cover story asked if they were "Cup-Bound Caps?"

Answer: No.

And the October 9, 1987 issue, pictured at left, proclaimed the Capitals, "A Team of Destiny." Well, yes, if that destiny was a second-round exit from the playoffs.

*Sigh*

2011 Winter Classic - AARP Edition

A day before the Winter Classic between the Capitals and Pens, alumni from both teams met on the ice at Heinz Field.

Pittsburgh loaded its roster with Hall-of-Famers and All Stars. D.C.'s contingent mostly lacked that star power -
no Langway, Stevens, Gartner, Gustafsson or Johansson.

So it was even more impressive that the Senior Caps earned a 5-5 tie, on a Peter Bondra one-timer in the final minute.

Here's the roll call of the Capitals Alumni roster:

#2    Pat Ribble    (1980-82)
#2    Ken Sabourin    (1990-92)
#3    Sylvain Cote    (1991-98, 2000-03)
#7    Yvon Labre    (1974-81)
#8    Mark Lofthouse    (1977-81)
#9    Nick Kypreos    (1989-92)
#10    Alan Hangsleben    (1980-82)
#12    Peter Bondra    (1990-04)
#16    Alan May    (1989-94)
#16    Errol Rausse    (1979-82)
#18    Craig Laughlin    (1982-88)
#19    John Druce    (1988-92)
#20    Michal Pivonka    (1986-99)
#21    Dennis Maruk    (1979-83)
#22    Greg Adams    (1983-88)
#23    Blair Stewart    (1975-79)
#24    Robert Picard    (1977-80)
#27    Paul Mulvey    (1978-81)
#28    Gordie Lane    (1975-80)
#29    Dean Evason    (1983-85)
#33    Don Beaupre    (1989-94)