Before hitting the ice during the 1983-84 season, Dave Christian performed an unusual pregame assignment. He pushed the play button on a cassette recorder, as the team got revved up by listening to “Break On Through” by The Doors. Strange Days, weren't they?
Capitals owner Abe Pollin once speculated on the reason behind the team’s bad luck. “Maybe the Capitals were cursed by some voodoo doctor from Saskatoon.”
According to the Washington Post, guess who helped secure an NHL franchise for the Nation’s Capital: President Richard Nixon, in 1972. (Maybe that was the curse.) Then again...
NBC broadcaster Mike Emrick heard it differently: "Nixon lobbied for another city other than Washington to get a franchise. History does not record who the President got involved for. The Caps were discourged that the guy who lived in town wasn't going to help them."Stories collected from:
Washington Post, washingtoncaps.com, The Argus-Press, Montreal Gazette.