Seven years before the birth of the Capitals, Albert King recorded "Born Under a Bad Sign."The blues standard could have served as the theme song for several of the expansion Caps, especially the signature line: "If it wasn't for bad luck, I wouldn't have no luck at all."
In Gordie Brooks' case, the bad luck came when he least expected it. From the Orlando Sentinel: "During warmups, Brooks skated in on Ron Low, and unleashed a routine shot.
"The puck caromed off Low's skate and into Brooks' face, and Brooks would eventually require reconstructive surgery."
Gord played another decade in the minors, but never again in the NHL.In the 1976-77 season, Bob Sirois could have used his own medical clinic. And talk about a Bad Sign. "On the first day of training camp," reported the AP, "he leaned back while watching teammates run - and cut his hand on a piece of glass."
Bob never did stop singing the blues. In September, Sirois strained knee ligaments. In December, he broke his left thumb. In February, a violent check into the boards put his right arm in a sling.
Oh, and did we mention his bout with food poisoning?
For sheer volume, nothing matched a January, 1981 road trip through Western Canada. The Caps were chased by an injury bug the size of Mothra.
Both starting goalies (Mike Palmateer and Wayne Stevenson), were sidelined.
One starting center (Rolf Edberg) and 5 of the top 6 defensemen (Pat Ribble, Rick Smith, Pierre Bouchard, Paul MacKinnon and Yvon Labre) were unable to suit up. And the only “healthy” D-man, Rick Green, played with stomach cramps!