Washington Capitals: Top 10 most iconic moments in team history

#7 Winning the Southeast Division in 2008

After three consecutive last place finishes in the Southeast Division, the Capitals turned a corner in the 2007-08 season. But it didn’t happen right away. The Caps got off to a slow start with a 6-14-1 record before Thanksgiving which led to the dismissal of head coach Glen Hanlon. The Caps went with Bruce Boudreau to coach the rest of the way, who had previous success with the Hershey Bears.

The Caps used the next four and a half months to go from worst to first. Down the homestretch the team encouraged fans to wear red to the home games and “Rock the Red” was born. The Caps closed out the regular season by winning 11 of their last 12 games and 14 of their final 18 games to claim the Southeast Division.

Alex Ovechkin led the Caps with a career high 65 goals to go along with 47 assists and 112 points. Nicklas Backstrom finished a solid rookie season with 14 goals and 55 assists for a nice 69 points. Defenseman Mike Green would add 18 goals and 38 assists for 56 points.

Although the Caps would get eliminated in the first round by the Philadelphia Flyers, this run to the Southeast Division title helped rejuvenate the excitement around the sport of hockey in our Nation’s Capital.