1975–76 Washington Capitals season explained

League:	NHL
Season:	1975–76
Year:	1975
Team:	Washington Capitals
Record:	11–59–10
Divisionrank:	5th
Coach:	Milt Schmidt
Altcaptain:	None
Goalsfor:	224
Goalsagainst:	394
Goalsleader:	Nelson Pyatt (26)
Assistsleader:	Hartland Monahan (29)
Pointsleader:	Nelson Pyatt (49)
Pimleader:	Yvon Labre (146)
Winsleader:	Ron Low (6)
Gaaleader:	Bernie Wolfe (4.16)

The 1975–76 Washington Capitals season was the Washington Capitals second season in the National Hockey League (NHL). They improved by three games over their dreadful previous season, faring worse than the Kansas City Scouts, who went 12–56–12 (while going 1–2–1 against them), although the latter would move to Colorado after the season while the Capitals remained in their location.

Regular season

Record vs. opponents

Schedule and results

No.	R	Date	Score	Opponent	Record
1	L	October 7, 1975	2–4	Pittsburgh Penguins (1975–76)	0–1–0
2	L	October 9, 1975	4–5	@ Philadelphia Flyers (1975–76)	0–2–0
3	L	October 11, 1975	5–7	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1975–76)	0–3–0
4	L	October 14, 1975	2–7	@ Vancouver Canucks (1975–76)	0–4–0
5	L	October 15, 1975	3–4	@ Los Angeles Kings (1975–76)	0–5–0
6	T	October 17, 1975	3–3	@ California Golden Seals (1975–76)	0–5–1
7	L	October 19, 1975	4–5	@ Buffalo Sabres (1975–76)	0–6–1
8	L	October 22, 1975	2–4	Kansas City Scouts (1975–76)	0–7–1
9	L	October 24, 1975	3–6	Toronto Maple Leafs (1975–76)	0–8–1
10	W	October 26, 1975	7–5	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1975–76)	1–8–1
11	L	October 28, 1975	0–6	@ Los Angeles Kings (1975–76)	1–9–1
12	W	October 30, 1975	6–2	@ Kansas City Scouts (1975–76)	2–9–1
13	L	November 1, 1975	3–7	@ New York Islanders (1975–76)	2–10–1
14	L	November 5, 1975	1–3	Los Angeles Kings (1975–76)	2–11–1
15	L	November 9, 1975	3–5	St. Louis Blues (1975–76)	2–12–1
16	T	November 12, 1975	6–6	Pittsburgh Penguins (1975–76)	2–12–2
17	L	November 14, 1975	1–4	Atlanta Flames (1975–76)	2–13–2
18	L	November 15, 1975	2–9	@ St. Louis Blues (1975–76)	2–14–2
19	L	November 18, 1975	2–4	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1975–76)	2–15–2
20	L	November 19, 1975	2–5	Vancouver Canucks (1975–76)	2–16–2
21	L	November 21, 1975	0–2	California Golden Seals (1975–76)	2–17–2
22	W	November 26, 1975	7–2	Los Angeles Kings (1975–76)	3–17–2
23	L	November 29, 1975	3–5	@ Minnesota North Stars (1975–76)	3–18–2
24	T	December 3, 1975	4–4	Buffalo Sabres (1975–76)	3–18–3
25	L	December 4, 1975	2–3	@ Boston Bruins (1975–76)	3–19–3
26	L	December 6, 1975	3–9	@ Montreal Canadiens (1975–76)	3–20–3
27	L	December 7, 1975	2–5	@ New York Rangers (1975–76)	3–21–3
28	L	December 9, 1975	1–7	@ Atlanta Flames (1975–76)	3–22–3
29	L	December 10, 1975	2–7	Chicago Black Hawks (1975–76)	3–23–3
30	L	December 12, 1975	3–5	Detroit Red Wings (1975–76)	3–24–3
31	T	December 14, 1975	4–4	Minnesota North Stars (1975–76)	3–24–4
32	L	December 17, 1975	2–3	Boston Bruins (1975–76)	3–25–4
33	L	December 19, 1975	5–7	Philadelphia Flyers (1975–76)	3–26–4
34	L	December 21, 1975	2–14	@ Buffalo Sabres (1975–76)	3–27–4
35	T	December 26, 1975	1–1	Minnesota North Stars (1975–76)	3–27–5
36	L	December 29, 1975	0–6	Montreal Canadiens (1975–76)	3–28–5
37	L	December 31, 1975	0–4	@ Detroit Red Wings (1975–76)	3–29–5
38	L	January 2, 1976	5–8	California Golden Seals (1975–76)	3–30–5
39	L	January 3, 1976	0–7	@ Montreal Canadiens (1975–76)	3–31–5
40	L	January 6, 1976	3–5	Vancouver Canucks (1975–76)	3–32–5
41	L	January 8, 1976	2–4	@ St. Louis Blues (1975–76)	3–33–5
42	L	January 9, 1976	0–5	California Golden Seals (1975–76)	3–34–5
43	L	January 11, 1976	4–7	Boston Bruins (1975–76)	3–35–5
44	L	January 13, 1976	2–3	Montreal Canadiens (1975–76)	3–36–5
45	L	January 15, 1976	3–5	@ Buffalo Sabres (1975–76)	3–37–5
46	L	January 17, 1976	3–7	@ Minnesota North Stars (1975–76)	3–38–5
47	L	January 21, 1976	2–5	New York Islanders (1975–76)	3–39–5
48	W	January 23, 1976	7–5	New York Rangers (1975–76)	4–39–5
49	L	January 24, 1976	2–8	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1975–76)	4–40–5
50	L	January 27, 1976	0–2	@ Los Angeles Kings (1975–76)	4–41–5
51	W	January 28, 1976	4–2	@ California Golden Seals (1975–76)	5–41–5
52	L	January 30, 1976	2–4	@ Vancouver Canucks (1975–76)	5–42–5
53	T	February 4, 1976	4–4	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1975–76)	5–42–6
54	L	February 7, 1976	1–5	@ Kansas City Scouts (1975–76)	5–43–6
55	L	February 8, 1976	2–4	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1975–76)	5–44–6
56	T	February 10, 1976	2–2	Los Angeles Kings (1975–76)	5–44–7
57	L	February 13, 1976	0–2	St. Louis Blues (1975–76)	5–45–7
58	W	February 15, 1976	8–5	Detroit Red Wings (1975–76)	6–45–7
59	L	February 16, 1976	1–5	Toronto Maple Leafs (1975–76)	6–46–7
60	L	February 18, 1976	4–11	@ New York Rangers (1975–76)	6–47–7
61	W	February 21, 1976	5–1	@ Detroit Red Wings (1975–76)	7–47–7
62	L	February 22, 1976	0–4	New York Islanders (1975–76)	7–48–7
63	T	February 24, 1976	5–5	Philadelphia Flyers (1975–76)	7–48–8
64	T	February 27, 1976	3–3	Boston Bruins (1975–76)	7–48–9
65	W	February 29, 1976	4–1	Chicago Black Hawks (1975–76)	8–48–9
66	L	March 6, 1976	3–6	@ New York Islanders (1975–76)	8–49–9
67	L	March 7, 1976	3–4	@ Boston Bruins (1975–76)	8–50–9
68	L	March 12, 1976	1–4	@ Atlanta Flames (1975–76)	8–51–9
69	L	March 14, 1976	1–5	@ Montreal Canadiens (1975–76)	8–52–9
70	W	March 16, 1976	5–2	New York Rangers (1975–76)	9–52–9
71	L	March 19, 1976	3–7	Pittsburgh Penguins (1975–76)	9–53–9
72	L	March 20, 1976	3–7	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1975–76)	9–54–9
73	T	March 23, 1976	5–5	Kansas City Scouts (1975–76)	9–54–10
74	L	March 24, 1976	3–7	@ Detroit Red Wings (1975–76)	9–55–10
75	L	March 26, 1976	1–4	Buffalo Sabres (1975–76)	9–56–10
76	L	March 28, 1976	1–3	Atlanta Flames (1975–76)	9–57–10
77	W	March 30, 1976	5–3	Detroit Red Wings (1975–76)	10–57–10
78	L	April 1, 1976	2–11	@ Philadelphia Flyers (1975–76)	10–58–10
79	W	April 3, 1976	5–4	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1975–76)	11–58–10
80	L	April 4, 1976	3–4	Montreal Canadiens (1975–76)	11–59–10

Playoffs

Despite a slightly improved record from the previous season, the Capitals failed to qualify for the playoffs for the second year in a row.

Player statistics

Regular season

Scoring

Player	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	+/-	PPG	SHG	GWG
	C	77	26	23	49	14	-56	5	0	0
	RW	80	17	29	46	35	-49	2	0	2
	LW	80	25	17	42	56	-43	7	0	2
	LW	67	13	19	32	75	-42	2	0	2
	C	32	16	15	31	10	-7	3	0	0
	RW	43	10	19	29	6	-33	4	0	0
	C	80	9	19	28	19	-26	2	1	0
	LW	31	13	14	27	6	-25	5	0	0
	C	74	13	14	27	113	-53	0	0	0
	C	46	10	17	27	20	-30	2	0	0
	D	54	8	17	25	28	-46	3	1	1
	C	49	12	10	22	39	-27	1	0	1
	D	79	9	13	22	78	-52	5	0	1
	D	80	2	20	22	146	-38	0	0	0
	RW	34	8	13	21	6	-33	2	0	0
	D	33	6	14	20	2	-21	5	0	1
	LW	27	7	12	19	28	-6	0	0	1
	D	58	2	13	15	33	-38	1	0	0
	C	19	2	10	12	8	-4	0	0	0
	LW	46	6	5	11	12	-18	0	0	0
	LW	57	4	7	11	50	-19	0	0	0
	D	49	0	8	8	40	-49	0	0	0
	D	48	0	8	8	42	-41	0	0	0
	RW	12	3	3	6	8	-2	2	0	0
	D	25	1	2	3	28	-22	1	0	0
	RW	8	1	1	2	12	-5	0	0	0
	LW	14	0	2	2	9	-4	0	0	0
	D	3	1	0	1	12	-5	1	0	0
	G	7	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	0
	D	1	0	1	1	0	-1	0	0	0
	C	4	0	1	1	0	-2	0	0	0
	D	2	0	0	0	0	-1	0	0	0
	G	43	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0
	D	9	0	0	0	6	-3	0	0	0
	RW	1	0	0	0	0	-2	0	0	0
	G	40	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Goaltending

Player	MIN	GP	W	L	T	GA	GAA	SO
	2289	43	6	31	2	208	5.45	0
	2134	40	5	23	7	148	4.16	0
	377	7	0	5	1	32	5.09	0
Team:	4800	80	11	59	10	388	4.85	0

^[1]

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/- = Plus/minus; PIM = Penalty minutes; PPG=Power-play goals; SHG=Short-handed goals; GWG=Game-winning goals
      MIN=Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; GA = Goals against; GAA = Goals against average; SO = Shutouts;

Draft picks

Washington's draft picks at the 1975 NHL Amateur Draft held in Montreal.

Round		Player	Nationality	College/Junior/Club team (League)
1	18			Kingston Canadians (OMJHL)
2	19			Peterborough Petes (OMJHL)
4	55			Montreal Bleu Blanc Rouge (QMJHL)
5	73	Craig Crawford		Toronto Marlboros (OMJHL)
6	91	Roger Swanson		Flin Flon Bombers (WCHL)
7	109	Clark Jantzie		University of Alberta (CIAU)
8	127	Mike Fryia		Peterborough Petes (OMJHL)
9	144	Jim Ofrim		University of Alberta (CIAU)
10	161	Mal Zinger		Kamloops Chiefs (WCHL)

See also

• 1975–76 NHL season

External links

• Web site: 1975–76 Washington Capitals Games. Hockey-reference.com . 2009-05-07 .

Notes and References

1. Web site: hockey-reference.com . 2009-06-02 . 1975-76 Washington Capitals Statistics - Hockey-Reference.com.