The Washington Capitals are perennial contenders for the Stanley Cup and their star player, Alex Ovechkin is always in the top ten league scorers, if not the leader. This wasn’t always the case with the Washington franchise.

The Capitals came into the National Hockey League for the 1974-75 season, along with the Kansas City Scouts. Several records for futility that the Capitals set that season still hold today. Washington was a true lesson in professional sports futility.

That 1974-75 Capitals team won only eight games and tied five over an 80 game schedule for a grand total of 21 points. The 21 points stands today as a record for the least points in a season (minimum 70 game schedule). The eight wins is also still a modern day record. Their winning percentage of just .131 stands as the lowest of any NHL team, regardless of season length.

No team has ever let in more goals in a season that the 1974-75 Capitals. Washington allowed 446 goals, 265 more than they scored. The -265 differential also stands as an NHL record. To add to the pain, their seventeen game losing streak during that season also still stands.

The Capitals went a woeful 1-39 on the road. They finished the season 92 points behind the Montreal Canadiens, who were first in the Norris Division and tied for first in the league. The team’s top scorer was Tommy Williams with just 22 goals and 36 assists for 58 points. Williams was 81 points behind Art Ross Trophy Winner, Bobby Orr of the Boston Bruins.

Who were the victims that lost to this terrible team? Washington won twice against the California Golden Seals. They beat three teams with above .500 records: Chicago Blackhawks, New York Rangers and Pittsburgh Penguins. The remaining teams were the Toronto Maple Leafs, Detroit Red Wings and Washington’s expansion partners, the Kansas City Scouts.

On seven different occasions, the Capitals had ten or more goals scored against them in a single game. Division ‘rival’ Montreal Canadiens dominated Washington with wins of 11-1, 10-0 and 10-2. The Boston Bruins twice reached ten or more goals against the Capitals with scores of 10-4 and 12-1. The Chicago Blackhawks took the Capitals 10-3 and the Pittsburgh Penguins rolled over Washington 12-1. The team was shutout in twelve games.

Although their dismal performance would continue into the next season, the team did indeed improve. The following season, the Capitals won eleven and ended up with 32 points. The season after that, 1976-77, the improvements were vast. They were still below .500 but they won four times as many games than they did in their first season (24) and ended up with 62 points.