1976–77 Washington Capitals season

1976–77 Washington Capitals
Division	4th Norris
1976–77 record	24–42–14
Goals for	221
Goals against	307
Team information
General manager	Max McNab
Coach	Tom McVie
Captain	Yvon Labre
Team leaders
Goals	Guy Charron (36)
Assists	Guy Charron (46)
Points	Guy Charron (82)
Penalty minutes	Gord Lane (207)
Wins	Ron Low (16)
Goals against average	Bernie Wolfe (3.84)

The 1976–77 Washington Capitals season was the 3rd in the franchise's history. The Capitals finished 4th in the Norris Division and did not qualify for the playoffs.

Pre-season

The Capitals had two exhibition games against teams from the WHA, winning both:

September 26, 1976: Washington Capitals 2, Indianapolis Racers 1
September 29, 1976: Washington Capitals 3, Cincinnati Stingers 2

Regular Season

Final Standings

Norris Division

	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts
Montreal Canadiens	80	60	8	12	387	171	132
Los Angeles Kings	80	34	31	15	271	241	83
Pittsburgh Penguins	80	34	33	13	240	252	81
Washington Capitals	80	24	42	14	221	307	62
Detroit Red Wings	80	16	55	9	183	309	41

Note: W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, Pts = Points
Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold.

Game log

No.	R	Date	Score	Opponent	Record
1	W	October 5, 1976	6–5	Atlanta Flames (1976–77)	1–0–0
2	T	October 7, 1976	3–3	@ Detroit Red Wings (1976–77)	1–0–1
3	L	October 9, 1976	3–6	@ Cleveland Barons (1976–77)	1–1–1
4	L	October 13, 1976	1–4	@ Vancouver Canucks (1976–77)	1–2–1
5	L	October 16, 1976	1–7	@ Los Angeles Kings (1976–77)	1–3–1
6	L	October 19, 1976	0–6	Montreal Canadiens (1976–77)	1–4–1
7	T	October 21, 1976	5–5	Los Angeles Kings (1976–77)	1–4–2
8	L	October 24, 1976	1–2	@ Buffalo Sabres (1976–77)	1–5–2
9	W	October 29, 1976	2–1	@ Colorado Rockies (1976–77)	2–5–2
10	L	October 31, 1976	4–5	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1976–77)	2–6–2
11	L	November 3, 1976	0–7	@ Atlanta Flames (1976–77)	2–7–2
12	L	November 5, 1976	2–3	Buffalo Sabres (1976–77)	2–8–2
13	W	November 7, 1976	4–1	Minnesota North Stars (1976–77)	3–8–2
14	W	November 9, 1976	4–2	Vancouver Canucks (1976–77)	4–8–2
15	W	November 10, 1976	7–5	@ New York Rangers (1976–77)	5–8–2
16	L	November 12, 1976	4–5	Chicago Black Hawks (1976–77)	5–9–2
17	L	November 14, 1976	2–3	Cleveland Barons (1976–77)	5–10–2
18	L	November 18, 1976	2–3	@ Boston Bruins (1976–77)	5–11–2
19	L	November 19, 1976	1–4	Boston Bruins (1976–77)	5–12–2
20	W	November 21, 1976	3–1	Colorado Rockies (1976–77)	6–12–2
21	L	November 24, 1976	2–6	@ Atlanta Flames (1976–77)	6–13–2
22	L	November 27, 1976	1–6	@ Minnesota North Stars (1976–77)	6–14–2
23	W	November 30, 1976	6–4	Pittsburgh Penguins (1976–77)	7–14–2
24	L	December 1, 1976	1–4	@ New York Rangers (1976–77)	7–15–2
25	T	December 3, 1976	4–4	Philadelphia Flyers (1976–77)	7–15–3
26	T	December 5, 1976	5–5	@ Boston Bruins (1976–77)	7–15–4
27	W	December 7, 1976	4–3	Vancouver Canucks (1976–77)	8–15–4
28	L	December 10, 1976	1–7	@ Cleveland Barons (1976–77)	8–16–4
29	L	December 11, 1976	2–4	Cleveland Barons (1976–77)	8–17–4
30	L	December 14, 1976	2–4	Los Angeles Kings (1976–77)	8–18–4
31	W	December 17, 1976	3–2	Toronto Maple Leafs (1976–77)	9–18–4
32	W	December 18, 1976	5–3	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1976–77)	10–18–4
33	L	December 23, 1976	2–5	@ Philadelphia Flyers (1976–77)	10–19–4
34	L	December 26, 1976	2–5	@ Buffalo Sabres (1976–77)	10–20–4
35	L	December 28, 1976	2–5	New York Rangers (1976–77)	10–21–4
36	L	December 29, 1976	1–3	@ Colorado Rockies (1976–77)	10–22–4
37	L	January 1, 1977	1–3	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1976–77)	10–23–4
38	W	January 2, 1977	2–1	St. Louis Blues (1976–77)	11–23–4
39	T	January 4, 1977	2–2	Detroit Red Wings (1976–77)	11–23–5
40	T	January 6, 1977	3–3	Pittsburgh Penguins (1976–77)	11–23–6
41	L	January 8, 1977	2–7	@ Montreal Canadiens (1976–77)	11–24–6
42	W	January 10, 1977	2–0	@ Detroit Red Wings (1976–77)	12–24–6
43	L	January 11, 1977	2–3	Boston Bruins (1976–77)	12–25–6
44	L	January 15, 1977	1–2	@ New York Islanders (1976–77)	12–26–6
45	T	January 16, 1977	2–2	New York Islanders (1976–77)	12–26–7
46	L	January 18, 1977	0–3	Montreal Canadiens (1976–77)	12–27–7
47	W	January 19, 1977	4–2	@ Buffalo Sabres (1976–77)	13–27–7
48	L	January 22, 1977	2–5	@ Montreal Canadiens (1976–77)	13–28–7
49	W	January 23, 1977	6–3	St. Louis Blues (1976–77)	14–28–7
50	W	January 27, 1977	4–1	Detroit Red Wings (1976–77)	15–28–7
51	W	January 29, 1977	5–2	@ St. Louis Blues (1976–77)	16–28–7
52	T	January 30, 1977	5–5	Philadelphia Flyers (1976–77)	16–28–8
53	L	February 2, 1977	2–7	@ Los Angeles Kings (1976–77)	16–29–8
54	T	February 5, 1977	3–3	@ New York Islanders (1976–77)	16–29–9
55	L	February 6, 1977	2–5	@ Boston Bruins (1976–77)	16–30–9
56	T	February 9, 1977	4–4	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1976–77)	16–30–10
57	L	February 10, 1977	2–9	@ Philadelphia Flyers (1976–77)	16–31–10
58	L	February 12, 1977	0–10	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1976–77)	16–32–10
59	T	February 15, 1977	3–3	Minnesota North Stars (1976–77)	16–32–11
60	T	February 17, 1977	4–4	@ Minnesota North Stars (1976–77)	16–32–12
61	L	February 19, 1977	1–4	@ St. Louis Blues (1976–77)	16–33–12
62	T	February 20, 1977	2–2	New York Islanders (1976–77)	16–33–13
63	W	February 22, 1977	3–1	Pittsburgh Penguins (1976–77)	17–33–13
64	W	February 25, 1977	4–2	Toronto Maple Leafs (1976–77)	18–33–13
65	L	February 26, 1977	1–2	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1976–77)	18–34–13
66	L	March 1, 1977	2–3	Los Angeles Kings (1976–77)	18–35–13
67	W	March 3, 1977	7–4	Chicago Black Hawks (1976–77)	19–35–13
68	L	March 6, 1977	2–4	Atlanta Flames (1976–77)	19–36–13
69	L	March 9, 1977	2–5	@ Vancouver Canucks (1976–77)	19–37–13
70	L	March 10, 1977	0–6	@ Los Angeles Kings (1976–77)	19–38–13
71	T	March 13, 1977	3–3	@ Detroit Red Wings (1976–77)	19–38–14
72	L	March 15, 1977	1–5	Cleveland Barons (1976–77)	19–39–14
73	W	March 18, 1977	5–0	Colorado Rockies (1976–77)	20–39–14
74	L	March 20, 1977	2–6	Buffalo Sabres (1976–77)	20–40–14
75	W	March 25, 1977	7–2	New York Rangers (1976–77)	21–40–14
76	W	March 27, 1977	7–4	Toronto Maple Leafs (1976–77)	22–40–14
77	W	March 29, 1977	6–1	Detroit Red Wings (1976–77)	23–40–14
78	W	March 30, 1977	4–3	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1976–77)	24–40–14
79	L	April 2, 1977	0–11	@ Montreal Canadiens (1976–77)	24–41–14
80	L	April 3, 1977	1–2	Montreal Canadiens (1976–77)	24–42–14

Playoffs

• The Capitals failed to qualify for the post season for the third year in a row.

Player Stats

Regular Season

Scoring

Player	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	+/-	PPG	SHG	GWG
Charron, GuyGuy Charron	C	80	36	46	82	10	-28	6	1	4
Meehan, GerryGerry Meehan	C	80	28	36	64	13	-11	9	1	6
Monahan, HartlandHartland Monahan	RW	79	23	27	50	37	-28	7	1	4
Bailey, GarnetGarnet Bailey	LW	78	19	27	46	51	-21	2	0	2
Sirois, BobBob Sirois	RW	45	13	22	35	2	1	1	0	1
Lynch, JackJack Lynch	D	75	5	25	30	90	-15	0	0	0
Lalonde, RonRon Lalonde	C	76	12	17	29	24	-20	0	0	0
Riley, BillBill Riley	RW	43	13	14	27	124	4	5	0	2
Collins, BillBill Collins	RW	54	11	14	25	26	-7	0	2	1
Bragnalo, RickRick Bragnalo	C	80	11	12	23	16	-16	1	2	1
White, TonyTony White	LW	72	12	9	21	44	-15	2	1	3
Patrick, CraigCraig Patrick	RW	28	7	10	17	2	-10	1	0	0
Lane, GordGord Lane	D	80	2	15	17	207	-25	0	0	0
Green, RickRick Green	D	45	3	12	15	16	-20	1	0	0
Watson, BryanBryan Watson	D	56	1	14	15	91	-5	0	0	0
Labre, YvonYvon Labre	D	62	3	11	14	169	-5	0	2	0
Smith, GordGord Smith	D	79	1	12	13	92	-27	1	0	0
Lampman, MikeMike Lampman	LW	22	6	5	11	4	-4	1	0	0
Lemieux, JeanJean Lemieux	D	15	4	4	8	2	-9	2	0	0
Bennett, HarveyHarvey Bennett	C	18	2	6	8	34	-9	0	0	0
Stewart, BlairBlair Stewart	C	34	5	2	7	85	-6	0	0	0
Paradise, BobBob Paradise	D	22	0	5	5	20	-3	0	0	0
Patey, DougDoug Patey	RW	37	3	1	4	6	-15	0	0	0
Rowe, TomTom Rowe	RW	12	1	2	3	2	-6	0	0	0
Scamurra, PeterPeter Scamurra	D	21	0	2	2	8	-6	0	0	0
Nicholson, PaulPaul Nicholson	LW	9	0	1	1	2	-6	0	0	0
Marson, MikeMike Marson	LW	10	0	1	1	18	-1	0	0	0
Wolfe, BernieBernie Wolfe	G	37	0	1	1	2	0	0	0	0
Mikkelson, BillBill Mikkelson	D	1	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0
Forsyth, AlexAlex Forsyth	C	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Self, SteveSteve Self	C	3	0	0	0	0	-3	0	0	0
Kinsella, BrianBrian Kinsella	C	6	0	0	0	0	-2	0	0	0
Bolonchuk, LarryLarry Bolonchuk	D	9	0	0	0	12	-12	0	0	0
Crozier, RogerRoger Crozier	G	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Low, RonRon Low	G	54	0	0	0	4	0	0	0	0

Goaltending

Player	MIN	GP	W	L	T	GA	GAA	SO
Low, RonRon Low	2918	54	16	27	5	188	3.87	0
Wolfe, BernieBernie Wolfe	1779	37	7	15	9	114	3.84	1
Crozier, RogerRoger Crozier	103	3	1	0	0	2	1.17	0
Team:	4800	80	24	42	14	304	3.80	1

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

• The Capitals did not win any awards this season.

See Also

• 1976–77 NHL season

External Links

• 1976–77 Washington Capitals Games. Hockey-reference.com. Retrieved on 2009-05-07.