Summary of the Washington Capitals 1978-79 Season: A Positive Step Forward

Photo: Ebay

With the Washington Capitals celebrating their 50^th anniversary, NoVa Caps is summarizing each of the previous 49 seasons, from earliest to most recent. The 1978-79 season was the fifth NHL season for the Washington Capitals.

The Capitals’ record was 24-41-15 in 80 games for 63 points which was fourth in the Norris Division and tied for fourth worst in the NHL. It was their best season in franchise history thus far, edging out their record of 1967-77 by a single point.

The Vancouver Canucks, who had tied them in points but had one more win, edged them out for the last playoff slot. The Capitals ranked 10^th out of 17 for goals scored and 16^th out of 17 for goals given up.

Photo: NHL Team Picture (From EBay)

The Capitals started the season with a new Head Coach, Danny Belisle. Even with new coaching, the Capitals had a rough start to the season. They were just 8-22-7 to close out calendar year 1978, as they experienced several losing streaks of three or more games.

The 1979 portion of the season featured more wins than the earlier portion of the season did, which included a four-game winning streak in January. However, they still had multiple losing streaks, including a 10-game winless streak during March that included four consecutive losses.

Notable Capitals Draftees in 1978 NHL Draft

• Ryan Walter (1^st round — #2 overall)
• Tim Coulis (1^st round — #18 overall)
• Paul Mulvey (2^nd round — #20 overall)
• Paul MacKinnon (2^nd round — #23 overall)
• Glen Currie (3^rd round — #38 overall)
• Bengt Gustafsson (4^th round – #55 overall)
• Lou Franceschetti (5^th round — #71 overall)
• Wes Jarvis (14^th round –# 213 overall)

General Manager: Max McNab
Head Coach: Danny Belisle

Captain:  Guy Charron

Leaders

Goals: Dennis Maruk (31), Tom Rowe (31)
Assists: Dennis Maruk (44), Robert Picard (44), Guy Charron (42)
Points: Dennis Maruk (90), Guy Charron (70)
Penalty Minutes: Gordon Lane (147), Tom Rowe (137)

Notable Trades

• October 18, 1978 – Traded 1979 first-round pick to Minnesota North Stars for Dennis Maruk
• October 19, 1978 – Traded 1979 second-round pick to New York Islanders for Michel Bergeron

Previous Summaries

1974-75 Season
1975-76 Season
1976-77 Season
1977-78 Season

By Diane Doyle

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