1977–78 Washington Capitals season

1977–78 Washington Capitals
Division5th Norris
Conference9th Campbell
1977–78 record17–49–14
Home record10–23–7
Road record7–26–7
Goals for195
Goals against321
Team information
General managerMax McNab
CoachTom McVie
CaptainYvon Labre
Alternate captainsNone
ArenaCapital Centre
Team leaders
GoalsGuy Charron (38)
AssistsBob Sirois (37)
PointsGuy Charron (73)
Penalty minutesGord Lane (195)
Plus/minusMike Marson (+1)
WinsJim Bedard (11)
Goals against averageJim Bedard (3.67)

The 1977–78 Washington Capitals season was the Washington Capitals fourth season in the National Hockey League (NHL). The Capitals still had several years to go before they would win enough games to qualify for the playoffs. The 1977–78 season was the fourth season in a row that the Capitals missed the playoffs.

Offseason

Regular season

Final standings

Norris Division
GP W L T GF GA Pts
Montreal Canadiens 80 59 10 11 359 183 129
Detroit Red Wings 80 32 34 14 252 266 78
Los Angeles Kings 80 31 34 15 243 245 77
Pittsburgh Penguins 80 25 37 18 254 321 68
80 17 49 14 195 321 48

[1]Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against
Note: Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold.

Record vs. opponents

Norris Division record vs. opponents


Schedule and results

1977–78 regular season[3]
October
Game Result Date Score Opponent Record
1 W October 14, 1977 2–1 Pittsburgh Penguins (1977–78) 1–0–0
2 L October 15, 1977 2–4 @ Cleveland Barons (1977–78) 1–1–0
3 L October 19, 1977 3–5 Montreal Canadiens (1977–78) 1–2–0
4 L October 24, 1977 1–5 @ Montreal Canadiens (1977–78) 1–3–0
5 W October 26, 1977 6–2 @ Atlanta Flames (1977–78) 2–3–0
6 L October 28, 1977 1–8 @ Colorado Rockies (1977–78) 2–4–0
7 L October 29, 1977 4–7 @ Minnesota North Stars (1977–78) 2–5–0
November
Game Result Date Score Opponent Record
8 T November 2, 1977 2–2 Chicago Black Hawks (1977–78) 2–5–1
9 L November 3, 1977 1–4 @ Philadelphia Flyers (1977–78) 2–6–1
10 L November 5, 1977 1–3 Philadelphia Flyers (1977–78) 2–7–1
11 L November 8, 1977 1–5 Los Angeles Kings (1977–78) 2–8–1
12 T November 9, 1977 1–1 @ Detroit Red Wings (1977–78) 2–8–2
13 L November 11, 1977 1–3 Toronto Maple Leafs (1977–78) 2–9–2
14 L November 13, 1977 0–6 New York Islanders (1977–78) 2–10–2
15 T November 15, 1977 2–2 @ St. Louis Blues (1977–78) 2–10–3
16 L November 16, 1977 2–5 @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1977–78) 2–11–3
17 L November 19, 1977 6–7 Buffalo Sabres (1977–78) 2–12–3
18 L November 20, 1977 2–5 @ Buffalo Sabres (1977–78) 2–13–3
19 T November 23, 1977 2–2 Atlanta Flames (1977–78) 2–13–4
20 L November 24, 1977 0–6 @ Boston Bruins (1977–78) 2–14–4
21 T November 26, 1977 4–4 @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1977–78) 2–14–5
22 L November 29, 1977 2–4 @ Los Angeles Kings (1977–78) 2–15–5
December
Game Result Date Score Opponent Record
23 L December 2, 1977 2–3 Cleveland Barons (1977–78) 2–16–5
24 L December 4, 1977 2–4 Pittsburgh Penguins (1977–78) 2–17–5
25 L December 6, 1977 2–5 Vancouver Canucks (1977–78) 2–18–5
26 W December 7, 1977 5–3 @ Cleveland Barons (1977–78) 3–18–5
27 L December 10, 1977 1–5 @ Atlanta Flames (1977–78) 3–19–5
28 W December 11, 1977 2–1 St. Louis Blues (1977–78) 4–19–5
29 L December 13, 1977 1–3 @ Vancouver Canucks (1977–78) 4–20–5
30 W December 17, 1977 2–1 @ Los Angeles Kings (1977–78) 5–20–5
31 T December 21, 1977 5–5 @ New York Rangers (1977–78) 5–20–6
32 W December 23, 1977 3–2 Detroit Red Wings (1977–78) 6–20–6
33 L December 27, 1977 3–6 Boston Bruins (1977–78) 6–21–6
34 T December 28, 1977 2–2 @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1977–78) 6–21–7
35 T December 30, 1977 3–3 New York Rangers (1977–78) 6–21–8
January
Game Result Date Score Opponent Record
36 W January 2, 1978 3–2 Pittsburgh Penguins (1977–78) 7–21–8
37 W January 4, 1978 4–0 Los Angeles Kings (1977–78) 8–21–8
38 T January 7, 1978 4–4 Buffalo Sabres (1977–78) 8–21–9
39 L January 8, 1978 1–3 @ Chicago Black Hawks (1977–78) 8–22–9
40 L January 11, 1978 3–6 Detroit Red Wings (1977–78) 8–23–9
41 T January 13, 1978 2–2 @ Minnesota North Stars (1977–78) 8–23–10
42 L January 14, 1978 0–4 New York Islanders (1977–78) 8–24–10
43 L January 18, 1978 2–5 @ Chicago Black Hawks (1977–78) 8–25–10
44 L January 19, 1978 1–4 @ Boston Bruins (1977–78) 8–26–10
45 W January 21, 1978 5–2 @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1977–78) 9–26–10
46 L January 22, 1978 3–6 @ Detroit Red Wings (1977–78) 9–27–10
47 T January 25, 1978 3–3 Colorado Rockies (1977–78) 9–27–11
48 L January 27, 1978 2–5 Boston Bruins (1977–78) 9–28–11
49 L January 29, 1978 0–4 Minnesota North Stars (1977–78) 9–29–11
50 L January 31, 1978 2–4 @ Vancouver Canucks (1977–78) 9–30–11
February
Game Result Date Score Opponent Record
51 L February 1, 1978 3–8 @ Los Angeles Kings (1977–78) 9–31–11
52 L February 4, 1978 1–6 @ New York Islanders (1977–78) 9–32–11
53 L February 5, 1978 1–4 @ Buffalo Sabres (1977–78) 9–33–11
54 W February 10, 1978 4–1 @ Cleveland Barons (1977–78) 10–33–11
55 L February 12, 1978 1–4 @ Philadelphia Flyers (1977–78) 10–34–11
56 L February 14, 1978 2–4 Vancouver Canucks (1977–78) 10–35–11
57 L February 17, 1978 2–8 Montreal Canadiens (1977–78) 10–36–11
58 W February 19, 1978 2–1 Minnesota North Stars (1977–78) 11–36–11
59 L February 21, 1978 1–4 Los Angeles Kings (1977–78) 11–37–11
60 L February 23, 1978 1–4 @ Detroit Red Wings (1977–78) 11–38–11
61 L February 25, 1978 0–4 @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1977–78) 11–39–11
62 L February 26, 1978 1–6 Philadelphia Flyers (1977–78) 11–40–11
63 W February 28, 1978 7–4 Colorado Rockies (1977–78) 12–40–11
March
Game Result Date Score Opponent Record
64 T March 4, 1978 3–3 @ St. Louis Blues (1977–78) 12–40–12
65 L March 8, 1978 3–4 @ Montreal Canadiens (1977–78) 12–41–12
66 L March 12, 1978 2–8 @ New York Rangers (1977–78) 12–42–12
67 L March 15, 1978 2–5 Toronto Maple Leafs (1977–78) 12–43–12
68 W March 18, 1978 8–3 Cleveland Barons (1977–78) 13–43–12
69 L March 19, 1978 2–3 St. Louis Blues (1977–78) 13–44–12
70 L March 22, 1978 2–6 Chicago Black Hawks (1977–78) 13–45–12
71 L March 24, 1978 4–11 New York Rangers (1977–78) 13–46–12
72 L March 25, 1978 0–5 @ Montreal Canadiens (1977–78) 13–47–12
73 L March 26, 1978 1–4 Detroit Red Wings (1977–78) 13–48–12
74 T March 28, 1978 4–4 Boston Bruins (1977–78) 13–48–13
75 W March 30, 1978 4–3 @ Colorado Rockies (1977–78) 14–48–13
April
Game Result Date Score Opponent Record
76 L April 1, 1978 2–3 @ New York Islanders (1977–78) 14–49–13
77 T April 2, 1978 4–4 Montreal Canadiens (1977–78) 14–49–14
78 W April 4, 1978 4–3 Buffalo Sabres (1977–78) 15–49–14
79 W April 8, 1978 6–4 @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1977–78) 16–49–14
80 W April 9, 1978 4–2 Atlanta Flames (1977–78) 17–49–14

Legend:   Win (2 points)   Loss (0 points)   Tie (1 point)

Player statistics

Regular season

Scoring
Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM +/- PPG SHG GWG
Guy Charron C 80 38 35 73 12 −25 4 0 3
Bob Sirois RW 72 24 37 61 6 −11 5 0 1
Gerry Meehan C 78 19 24 43 10 −41 7 0 2
Robert Picard D 75 10 27 37 101 −26 2 0 4
Bill Riley RW 57 13 12 25 125 −15 5 0 0
Bob Girard LW 52 9 14 23 6 −3 1 0 2
Dave Forbes LW 77 11 11 22 119 −34 0 0 0
Tom Rowe RW 63 13 8 21 82 −18 1 0 0
Bill Collins RW 74 10 9 19 18 −32 0 1 1
Garnet Bailey LW 40 7 12 19 28 −12 0 0 2
Rick Green D 60 5 14 19 67 −35 4 0 1
Rick Bragnalo C 44 2 13 15 22 −6 0 0 0
Bryan Watson D 79 3 11 14 167 −12 0 1 0
Gord Smith D 80 4 7 11 78 −20 0 0 1
Larry Bolonchuk D 49 3 8 11 79 −19 0 0 0
Gord Lane D 69 2 9 11 195 −19 0 0 0
Jean Lemieux D 16 3 7 10 0 −12 3 0 0
Jack Lynch D 29 1 8 9 4 −13 0 0 0
Mike Marson LW 46 4 4 8 101 1 0 0 0
Craig Patrick RW 44 1 7 8 4 −8 1 0 0
Yvon Labre D 22 0 8 8 41 0 0 0 0
Eddy Godin RW 18 3 3 6 6 −14 0 0 0
Ron Lalonde C 67 1 5 6 16 −18 0 0 0
Walt McKechnie C 16 4 1 5 0 −14 1 0 0
Doug Gibson C 11 2 1 3 0 −3 0 0 0
Mark Lofthouse RW/C 18 2 1 3 8 −5 0 0 0
Jim Bedard G 43 0 2 2 4 0 0 0 0
Nelson Burton LW 5 1 0 1 8 −3 0 0 0
Doug Patey RW 2 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 0
Blair Stewart C 8 0 1 1 9 −3 0 0 0
Gary Smith G 17 0 0 0 6 0 0 0 0
Tony White LW 1 0 0 0 0 −4 0 0 0
Bernie Wolfe G 25 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Goaltending
Player MIN GP W L T GA GAA SO
Jim Bedard 2492 43 11 23 7 152 3.66 1
Bernie Wolfe 1328 25 4 14 4 94 4.25 0
Gary Smith 980 17 2 12 3 68 4.16 0
Team: 4800 80 17 49 14 314 3.92 1

[4]

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;

Awards and records

Transactions

Draft picks

Washington's draft picks at the 1977 NHL amateur draft held at the Mount Royal Hotel in Montreal.

Round # Player Nationality College/Junior/Club team (League)
1 3 Robert Picard  Canada Montreal Juniors (QMJHL)
2 21 Mark Lofthouse  Canada New Westminster Bruins (WCHL)
3 39 Eddy Godin  Canada Quebec Remparts (QMJHL)
4 57 Nelson Burton  Canada Quebec Remparts (QMJHL)
5 75 Denis Turcotte  Canada Quebec Remparts (QMJHL)
6 93 Perry Schnarr  Canada University of Denver (WCHA)
7 111 Rollie Boutin  Canada Lethbridge Broncos (WCHL)
8 127 Brent Tremblay  Canada Trois-Rivières Draveurs (QMJHL)
9 143 Don Micheletti  United States University of Minnesota (WCHA)
10 156 Archie Henderson  Canada Victoria Cougars (WCHL)

See also

References

  1. ^ Dinger, Ralph, ed. (2011). The National Hockey League Official Guide & Record Book 2012. Dan Diamond & Associates. p. 151. ISBN 9781894801225.
  2. ^ "All-Time NHL Results". NHL.com. Retrieved August 25, 2023.
  3. ^ "1977-78 Washington Capitals Schedule". Hockey-Reference.com. Retrieved March 22, 2025.
  4. ^ "1977-78 Washington Capitals Statistics – Hockey-Reference.com". hockey-reference.com. Retrieved June 2, 2009.
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