1974-75 expansion Capitals were the opposite of the Golden Knights

Kevin Allen, USA TODAY Sports Published 5:45 p.m. ET Jan. 24, 2018

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Ron Lalonde recalls feeling sorry for the expansion Washington Capitals the first time he played against them in 1974.

The center's Pittsburgh Penguins humbled the Capitals by scores of 8-1 and 6-0 in a home-and-home series in November.

“A couple of (Caps) had been drafted out of the Pittsburgh organization were good friends of mine,” said Lalonde, 65. “I’m sitting on the bench looking at (ex-Penguin) Yvon Labre and thinking, ‘Boy, that poor guy. This is going to be a long year.’”

Lalonde chuckles: “A week later I’m on the bench with him and it was a very long year.”

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The Penguins traded Lalonde to the Capitals for Lew Morrison on Dec. 14, 1974, and he became a key contributor (26 points in 50 games) on what statistically is the worst team in NHL history.

The Capitals finished with a record of 8-67-5, and won only one game on the road all season.

With the expansion Vegas Golden Knights second in the league with a 32-11-4 record, Lalonde can’t help but remember the attention his Capitals received for the opposite reason.

“It was a huge advantage the way it is set up now,” Lalonde said. “The NHL was building (Vegas) to be a successful franchise right off the bat. The concern in 1974 wasn’t, ‘Let’s make sure this team is competitive and ready to go.’”

In preparation for Vegas' arrival, the 30 other existing teams could only protect seven forwards, three defensemen and a goalie or eight combined forwards and a defenseman and a goalie in June's expansion draft.

“The players Washington received were the 18th and 19th players on NHL teams at a time that the (World Hockey Association) was already raiding NHL-caliber players,” Lalonde said. “It wasn’t probably the optimum time to expand.”

Golden Knights owner Bill Foley paid $500 million for his expansion team and the late Abe Pollin paid $6 million for the Capitals. Even factoring the inflated value of 1974 dollars, the NHL had millions of reasons to be generous to Vegas.

“And we weren’t drawing as many players around the world as we are today,” Lalonde said. “The pool of NHL-caliber hockey players is much deeper today.”

The Capitals only had three wins by the midpoint of the season, and they ended the season with a goal-differential of -265. They gave up 446 goals for a goals-against average 5.58.

“It was painful to go through, with all of those losses and few wins, but honestly I wouldn’t trade that for the world,” Lalonde said.

Lalonde said he could see that season that the Capitals would be a lasting franchise.

“For as a bad a team as we had, the fans came out,” Lalonde said. “It was particularly fun when we played the Flyers or Islanders. Fans couldn’t get tickets up in Philadelphia so their fans would drive two hours to Washington and on a Sunday afternoon we’d have 18,000 seats filled.”

Lalonde said the players were realistic about their situation. “We were getting out-talented every night, but we felt if we worked hard we would have a chance,” Lalonde said.

The players found ways to revel in their plight, like late in the season when they defeated the California Golden Seals 5-3 for their only road win.

“We all signed an old green garbage can and paraded around the hallway with it,” Lalonde said. “Some went on the ice and skated around with it. You had to find some way to celebrate. Otherwise, you would go cuckoo.”

It was their version of a Stanley Cup celebration.

“Two years later we were playing in Oakland and our names were still in magic marker on the garbage can,” Lalonde said.

Lalonde isn’t envious watching the Golden Knights. He roots for them. He admires how coach Gerard Gallant has turned players from different teams and into a cohesive unit. “They play a team game,” he said.

Vegas also gives him reason to think of his own expansion experience. “It was a long challenging year, but it was still the NHL," Lalonde said. "We were still proud to play in Washington. We tried our best. We just didn’t have the talent."

One game he won’t ever forget was his three-goal game against the Detroit Red Wings.

“I scored the Capitals' first hat trick,” he said. "That’s a record that Alex Ovechkin can’t break.”

Jan. 23: Montreal Canadiens forward Artturi Lehkonen (62) celebrates a goal by forward Alex Galchenyuk (not pictured) in the second period against the Colorado Avalanche. Jean-Yves Ahern, USA TODAY Sports

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