Photo: Washington Capitals
With the Washington Capitals celebrating their 50th anniversary, NoVa Caps is summarizing each of the organization’s previous 49 seasons, from earliest to most recent. The series continues with the 1995-1996 season, their 22nd season in the NHL.
SUMMARY
The Caps introduced a new color scheme and logo with blue, black, and bronze, apparently hoping that making fans spend a lot of money for new team swag in the year following a lockout was a great idea. But there were plenty of highlights on the ice, and enough star power to help those new jerseys sell themselves at the team store.
Fans saw a full 82-game season, which included Jim Carey continuing the momentum from his rookie year. He had nine shutouts and won the Vezina Trophy. It was reasonable to assume he’d be the starter here for another decade and his backup, some guy named Olaf Kolzig, would spend his career as a backup.
The Caps finished the regular season with a 39-32-11 record for 89 points, good enough for seventh in the Eastern Conference. In the first round of the playoffs they once again faced the Pittsburgh Penguins and immediately took the first two games in Pittsburgh to go up 2-0 in the series.
The Penguins then won Game 3, which made Game 4 a pivotal game for both sides. That game would end up going into four overtime periods (fans who had to work the next day weren’t happy, especially since the arena had stopped selling beer hours before). Then just as it looked like we were going to a fifth overtime, Penguins forward Petr Nedvěd scored to even the series. The Caps never recovered from that loss and the Penguins eliminated the Capitals in six games. If only Joe Juneau had converted on that penalty shot in the second overtime of Game 4…
Photo: Retro Seasons
Oh, and as for Carey, by the end of the playoffs, he was sharing the net with Kolzig. Maybe he wasn’t going to be the long-term answer after all.
Notable Capitals Draftees in 1995 NHL Draft
- Brad Church (LW) – (1st round — #17 overall)
- Mikka Elomo (LW) – (1st round — #23 overall)
- Dwayne Hay (LW) — (2nd round — #43 overall)
- Sébastien Charpentier (G) – (4th round — #93 overall)
- Benoît Gratton (C) – (5th round — #105 overall)
[No player from that draft played in more than 80 NHL games.]
General Manager: David Poile
Head Coach: Jim Schoenfield
Captain: Dale Hunter
Leaders
Goals: Peter Bondra (52), Steve Konowalchuk (23)
Assists: Michael Pivonka (65), Joe Juneau (50)
Points: Michael Pivonka (81), Peter Bondra (80)
Penalty Minutes: Kevin Kaminski (164), Craig Berube (151)
Major Trades
- July 8, 1995
- Capitals acquire: 1996 1st round pick (used to pick Alexander Volchkov), 1996 4th round pick
- Los Angeles Kings acquire: Byron Dafoe, Dimitri Khristich
- July 12, 1995
- Capitals acquire: 1996 3rd round pick
- Colorado Avalanche acquire: John Slaney
- October 17, 1995
- Capitals acquire: 1996 3rd round pick
- Chicago Blackhawks acquire: Rights to Igor Ulanov
- March 8, 1996
- Capitals acquire: Todd Krygier
- Anaheim Ducks acquire: Mike Torchia
- April 3, 1996
- Capitals acquire: Anson Carter
- Colorado Avalanche acquire 1996 4th round pick
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
1984-85 Season
1985-86 Season
1986-87 Season
1987-88 Season
1988-89 Season
1989-90 Season
1990-91 Season
1991-92 Season
1992-93 Season
1993-94 Season
1994-95 Season
By Ethan Berman
