#11 The first to ever coach the Caps
That name to that trivia question is Jimmy Anderson, who had probably the hardest job ever in the 1970s, coaching an expansion NHL team. He was appointed by none other than Milt Schmidt in 1973 who spent 13 months assembling a scouting staff and joining said scouts exploring the pro and amateur hockey leagues of North America to prepare for the expansion draft. Schmit is the first general manager in Caps history.
In between tose events in the scouting year and the late spring of 1974, Schmit named Jimmy Anderson the first head coach. He would say in a TimeCAPSule article by Mike Vogel of WashCaps.com from another story that Vogs found that was written by Jim Fox:
"The job isn't going to be easy. The Caps figure to take it on the chin for a considerable time. It's even been suggested that the first coach of the Caps could be the fall guy. But the lure of coaching in the NHL - and with Schmidt, one of the best-liked men in the game - has to be irresistible to an old hockey man like Anderson."Jimmy Anderson