When the Capitals almost relocated in 1982

[HisIceness]

When The Caps Were Saved In The Summer Of '82

So I remember reading about this on here, but with the Capitals recently winning their first Cup I got to thinking about this.

It sounds like a merger with the Colorado Rockies (NJ Devils today) was the likely scenario but Tacoma Washington or Regina, Saskatwachan were the two rumored destinations.

So what would have happened here....

1. They merge with the Rockies, would a DC team have been one of the expansion/relocated teams in the 90's?

2. They relocate to Regina. How long would they have lasted there? My guess is that would not have lasted more than 15 years and they probably would have relocated to the states, is it possible that maybe instead of the Nordiques moving to Denver, it would have been the Regina team instead?

3. Assuming they move to Tacoma, I would imagine that they eventually land in Seattle. Could this have possibly saved the Supersonics from moving 10 years ago? With a (presumably) local owner in place, could this person be the one to build the arena that the NHL team and the Sonics share? If this happens, would Houston today be the 32nd team?

A whirlwind of scenarios here to ponder. You'd have to assume that the NHL would eventually get back to the DC area, so going back to question 1 who today wouldn't have a team because of them?

Click to read more...

 

[VaCaps Fan]

What a mess, good thing the "save the caps campaign" convinced Abe Pollin to stick it out in Washington.

 

[The Panther]

Weren't the St.Louis Blues also nearly moved to Saskatchewan (or elsewhere) in about 1985? And was that the year the franchise missed out on the entry draft entirely?

(Too-lazy-to-look-it-up Panther)

 

[ICM1970]

Weren't the St.Louis Blues also nearly moved to Saskatchewan (or elsewhere) in about 1985? And was that the year the franchise missed out on the entry draft entirely?

(Too-lazy-to-look-it-up Panther)

That was in about 1983-84, when there was talk of moving the Blues to Saskatoon. There was also brief talk of renovating the Nepean Sportsplex in Ottawa to make the big arena there larger for NHL standards and move the Blues there. But Harry Ornest (RIP) came in and bought the team and kept it in St. Louis.

 

[DowntownBooster]

An interesting article. The franchise has sure come a long way since those early years. Looking at things now, it's hard to imagine the struggles the team had at that time. It's also hard to picture the NHL without the Washington Capitals. I'm glad the franchise was able to endure and finally win a championship for their long-suffering fans.

 

[tony d]

I remember reading up on this before as well. Would have been interesting to see if they would have gotten a team back in a future NHL expansion if they had moved.

 

[ForsbergForever]

If not for the Habs gifting the Caps Langway, Engblom, and Jarvis I'm sure the team would have continued to be terrible and fold/move within a few seasons.

 

[Stephen]

The Ovechkin/Leonsis era has sort of cemented the Washington Capitals as a marquee franchise in the NHL. Prior to that they always reminded me of a less successful version of the New Jersey Devils. Good program, great defensively, but never seemed to have that marquee star forward (despite Peter Bondra) and always got bounced by a bigger, badder Eastern Conference beast.