Summary of the Washington Capitals 1984-85 Season: Winning Ways Continue

Photo by Focus on Sport/Getty Images

With the Washington Capitals celebrating their 50^th anniversary, NoVa Caps is summarizing each of the team’s previous seasons, from earliest to most recent. The 1984-85 season was the 11th NHL season for the Washington Capitals.

The Capitals record was 46-25-9 in 80 games for 101 points which was second in the Patrick Division and the third-best regular season in the NHL. It equaled the previous season’s total in points, tying for best in franchise history. The Capitals ranked 8^th out of 21 for goals scored and 2nd out of 21 for goals given up.

The team was off to a relatively modest start, 6-8-5 on the day after American Thanksgiving. As expectations were higher, players would be shuffled between their farm team and the parent team while other players were threatened with reduced ice time.

But then the Caps started winning more frequently and after their game on New Year’s Eve, they were 22-10-7. This had vaulted them into first place in the Patrick Division and second only to the Edmonton Oilers in points. This remained the case through February 28 when they were 38-16-9. But mediocrity was the word for the remainder of the regular season where they went 8-9-0 and fell to second place in the Patrick Division.

They lost to the lower-seeded New York Islanders in the first round of the playoffs. They had won the first two games in overtime but dropped the next three.

Two players had more than 50 goals: Bobby Carpenter and Mike Gartner. Two others scored 20 or more goals: Dave Christian and Scott Stevens.

Photo: Ebay

Notable Capitals Draftees in 1984 NHL Draft

• Kevin Hatcher (1^st round — #17 overall)
• Steve Leach (2^nd round — #34 overall)
• Michal Pivonka (3^rd round — #59 overall)
• Kris King (4^th round — #80 overall) – Never played for Capitals
• Paul Cavallini (#10^th round — #205 overall)
• Mikhail Tatarinov (#11^th round — #225 overall)

General Manager: David Poile

Head Coaches: Bryan Murray

Captain:  Rod Langway

Leaders

Goals: Bobby Carpenter (53), Mike Gartner (50)
Assists: Mike Gartner (52), Scott Stevens (44), Dave Christian (43)
Points: Mike Gartner (102), Bobby Carpenter (95)
Penalty Minutes: Scott Stevens (221), Bobby Carpenter (87)

Notable Trades

• March 11, 1985 – Traded Dean Evason and Peter Sidorkiewicz for David Jensen

Previous Summaries

1974-75 Season
1975-76 Season
1976-77 Season
1977-78 Season
1978-79 Season
1979-80 Season
1980-81 Season
1981-82 Season
1982-83 Season
1983-84 Season

By Diane Doyle