Washington Capitals History: A Look Back At The 2001-02 Season
Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports
The Washington Capitals are beginning their 41st season as a franchise in 2015. To honor the Washington Capitals of the past, we’re taking a look back and reviewing each season that the Capitals have had here in our nation’s capital. Today, we take a look back at a very frustrating season for the Washington Capitals: the 2001-2002 season.
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At this point, everyone should be aware of how awful the Southeastern Division was. In any given year, there were usually at most three good teams. Everybody would stink, making the three not awful teams look better than they actually were. The 2001-2002 season was further proof of the division’s mediocrity. The Washington Capitals finished in second place in the Southeastern Division with 85 points (36-33-11-2 record). That was good for ninth place in the Eastern Conference, meaning that the Washington Capitals missed the playoffs.
The 2001-2002 season was defined by one huge off-season move: Jaromir Jagr was traded to the Washington Capitals. The Caps were expected to dominate with Adam Oates, Jagr and Peter Bondra leading their forwards. That didn’t exactly happen.
Washington Capitals Regular Season
The Washington Capitals had a very slow start to the regular season, ending 2001 with a 15-17-7-0 record. However, they heated up in 2002. Despite this, the Washington Capitals quickly realized that the team needed to rebuild on the fly. The Capitals did this by trading Adam Oates at the trade deadline to the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for goaltender Maxime Ouellet and Philadelphia’s first, second and third round picks in the 2002 Entry Draft.
What did the Washington Capitals in was their mediocre defense. While the Capitals ranked ninth in the NHL in goals scored (228), they also ranked 25th in goals allowed (240). If you look at the Capitals players and their plus/minuses that season, only seven skaters who played at least 30 games didn’t have a negative plus/minus. That’s borderline 2013-2014 bad. Their sub-par defense wound up costing them, much like the 2014-2015 Dallas Stars, because they wound up missing the playoffs by just two points.
Despite a disappointing season, they had some bright spots. Jagr was one of the league’s leading point scorers. Sergei Gonchar did a fantastic job and was named to the All-Star team at the end of the season.
Washington Capitals Roster
MORE SEASON REVIEWS:
- 2014-2015
- 2013-2014
- 2012-2013
- 2011-2012
- 2010-2011
- 2009-2010
- 2008-2009
- 2006-2007
- 2005-2006
- 2003-2004
- 2002-2003
- 1999-2000
- 1997-1998