We’re getting close to the first puck drop on a new season, Caps fans!
It’s a slow news day in the hockey world. That’s the offseason, I suppose. But as we trudge through the dog days of summer and get closer to another season of Washington Capitals hockey, let’s have a look back at an unlikely Caps squad that defied expectations for a playoff run that came up just short of the ultimate prize.
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Ah, 1997. Such a simpler time.
The Capitals entered the 1997-98 season coming off a spectacularly mediocre run the year before. Seriously, look at the Wiki for the season. Not special:
Nothing to see here, apparently.
It’s not that this Caps team was bad by any measure; there was still a lot to like about the Capitals’ roster. But up against powerhouse teams like the Philadelphia Flyers (who had just stormed their way to the Stanley Cup Final the year prior, only to be ousted by the insanely talented Detroit Red Wings), New Jersey Devils (a couple seasons removed from their own Stanley Cup win), and others, Washington had their work cut out for them.
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The 1997-98 season began with the Capitals taking to the ice for the first time in the (then) MCI Center, now the Capital One Arena.
Off the puck drop, the ’97 Capitals were already a better team than the previous year. Players like Peter Bondra, Adam Oates, and Dale Hunter all returned to form, and Washington went 7-2-1 (remember when the NHL did ties?) in their first ten games.
The regular season wasn’t without it’s problems. Look at the results, and this Washington team can easily be described as “streaky,” with several winless stretches followed up by winning streaks. In the end, the Caps finished in fourth place in the Eastern conference, good enough for a playoff spot.
Individually, several Capitals players had excellent seasons. Peter Bondra topped the team in scoring, with 52 goals and 78 points; his 52 goals also tied Teemu Selanne for most in the NHL. Adam Oates led in assists with 58 assists (second in points), and goaltender Olaf Kolzig finished with 33 wins and a .920 save percentage, which sat him firmly in the upper-echelon of goalies that season.
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One noteworthy thing about this season: future Capitals coaches Adam Oates and Dale Hunter, along with Phil Housley, all notched their 1,000th career point this season, which is the only time in NHL history that three different players managed such a feat on a single team in the same season.
Unknown Date, 1998; Washington, DC, USA; FILE PHOTO; Washington Capitals right wing Peter Bondra (12) in action against Mighty Ducks of Anaheim left wing Paul Kariya (9) at the MCI Center. Mandatory Credit: Lou Capozzola-USA TODAY NETWORK
Again, it’s not that this was a bad Washington Capitals team, even after finishing fourth in the conference, but the Flyers were heavily favored to end up back in the finals after being swept the season prior. Obviously, if you know hockey history, you know that never happened as they were upset by the Buffalo Sabres in five games. We’ll come back to Buffalo.
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The Caps faced off against the Boston Bruins in the first round, where they’d prevail in six games after splitting a pair of back-to-back 2OT games with the Bruins and taking all three games played in Boston.
The Ottawa Senators were up next, but aside from dropping game three by a 4-3 score in Ottawa, Washington managed to make easy work of the Sens. In fact, they only allowed 7 total goals in the five game series, and shut out Ottawa in the final two games to clinch the win.
Remember Buffalo? After dominating Lindros and the Flyers, the Sabres went on to sweep Montreal in order to meet the Capitals in the Eastern Conference Final.
This was an insanely difficult Buffalo team to play against, and the Sabres showed why when they shut out the Caps in game one. A pair of OT wins and a shutout later, Washington found themselves up 3-1 in the series before dropping game five back in Washington.
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Returning to Buffalo to face Dominik Hasek, Michael Peca, Miroslav Satan (pronounced Shuh-tan), and others, the Capitals prevailed on an OT goal by Joe Juneau. For the first time in team history, the Capitals punched their ticket to the Stanley Cup Final.
Unknown Date, 1998; Washington, DC, USA; FILE PHOTO; Washington Capitals center Joe Juneau (90) scores a goal against Ottawa Senators goalie Ron Tugnutt (31) at the MCI Center. Mandatory Credit: Lou Capozzola-USA TODAY NETWORK
Obviously, this wasn’t a bad Capitals team. I’ve repeated that a couple times now.
But they weren’t 90’s Detroit Red Wings good. No one was.
If you look at the results of each of the four games, you’ll see that the Capitals managed to hold their own, and even press the Red Wings better than the Flyers of the previous year. In fact, every game but game four was decided by a single goal, including OT in game two.
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But also, the Caps only managed to lead in one game of the series, which was game two. Aside from being down for approximately a period and a half of game two, Detroit grabbed leads in each game and never looked back. But again, that’s just how good this Red Wings team was, and not an indictment of Capitals.
When you play a team loaded with so many future Hall of Famers, and legendary coach Scottie Bowman, there is only so much you can do to stop them. And in the end, Capitals fans would have to wait nearly 20 more years before seeing their beloved hockey team reach the pinnacle.
06/11/1998: Detroit, Michigan, USA: Detroit Red Wings and Washington Capitals play Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Finals at Joe Louis Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kirthmon Dozier
Anecdotally, I’ve spoken with several Caps fans over the years who have forgotten about this team. Sadly, like any second-place team, history tends to leave them in the footnote of the history books as the squad that came up short to the champions.
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But look at this Caps roster, and you’ll find several players that have left lasting legacies on the team, several of which were honored this past season by the team at various games.
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Olaf Kolzig is arguably one of the team’s most beloved net minders (aside from maybe Braden Holtby), and still sits atop the team records in wins, and sits near the top in save percentage with a career .906.
While it may seem kind of funny to talk about goals after we just watched Alex Ovechkin achieve the NHL goals record this past year, Peter Bondra still sits at #2 in team history with 472 goals, and third in points at 825. Several of the ’97-98 Caps sit near the top of the team’s stats, including Bondra, Oates, Hunter, along with Sergei Gonchar and Michal Pivonka. And Dale Hunter and Adam Oates both went on to separate head coaching tenures with teh team years later.
If you’re a newer fan of the team (perhaps starting in the the Alex Ovechkin years), you may have missed out on one of Washington’s best hockey teams.
But this is certainly a Capitals squad that has contributed greatly to the team’s history. They may have came up short, but they certainly dazzled in the process.