About Washington Capitals
Washington Capitals were established in 1974 and it took them several years to reach the playoff phase which they eventually achieved in 1982-83. Ever since the Caps missed the post season only 7 times. The fairly decent success of regular season hasn’t translated fully into postseason as the franchise reached the Finals only once in its history in 1997-98 where they came short against the Red Wings.
The team captured 8 divisional titles and one Presidents’ Trophy. Most of their division titles come from the Southeast Division (7). Since the NHL realignment in 2013 the Capitals are members of Metropolitan Division in Eastern Conference.
The team’s colours are red, navy blue and white and their official mascot is a large bald eagle who goes by the name Slapshot and who apparently has a fiery rivalry with Stormy, Carolina Hurricanes mascot.
Barry Trotz is the head coach. He has many coaching years under his belt as his career started in 1984 with 1998 marking the year when he became NHL coach, firstly for the Predators and then for the Capitals in 2014.
Braden Holtby is the starting goalie. He was drafted by the team in 2008 and played for them since 2010-11 season with each one spending more time on ice eventually earning him a starting job after he proved his skill and potential.
First overall pick of 2004 draft, Alexander Ovechkin is the Capitals captain. He spent all his NHL career with the team and has set on setting a variety of milestones with his aggressive and creative play style. Season 2007-08 was one of his best when he won Rocket Richard (most goals scored) and Art Ross (most points) Trophies to go along Lester B. Pearson Award (too player as voted by the NHL players) and Hart Memorial Trophy (NHL MVP) making him the only player to win all four awards since Rocket Richard’s Trophy inception in 1999. But it didn’t stop there he led the NHL league in goals four more times, he was named the league MVP two more times and he became the fifth fastest player in NHL history to reach 500 career goals making him the first Russian to achieve the feat. It’s a quite a resume here and it’s not everything that he has done and is yet to achieve!
But he can’t exist on ice by himself and luckily he can count on support from Evgeny Kuznetsov a young center who has played for the franchise since 2014 and who is yet to establish himself amongst the NHL breed but who has a rich resume playing for Russian junior team in world championships earning himself the MVP title of tournament in 2012 among other accolades.
It almost seems there shouldn’t be a power able to stop the ruthless and never ending offensive storm delivered by the Capitals. The team can be on top as long as they can keep themselves focused on the big picture.
