Washington Capitals
Player Pos G
Alexander Ovechkin * LW 706
Peter Bondra RW 472
Mike Gartner RW 397
Nicklas Backstrom * C 243
Mike Ridley C 218
Alexander Semin RW 197
Bengt Gustafsson RW 196
Dave Christian RW 193
Bobby Carpenter C 188
Dennis Maruk C 182
The Washington Capitals (colloquially known as the Caps) are a professional ice hockey team based in Washington, D.C. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division of the Eastern Conference. The Capitals are owned by Monumental Sports & Entertainment, headed by Ted Leonsis. From 1974 to 1997 the Capitals played their home games at the Capital Centre, in Landover, Maryland (a suburb in the Washington metropolitan area). In 1997 the team moved to the arena now called Capital One Arena, their present home arena in Washington, D.C. The Capitals were founded in 1974 as an expansion franchise, alongside the Kansas City Scouts. Since purchasing the team in 1999, Leonsis revitalized the franchise by drafting star players such as Alexander Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom, Mike Green and Braden Holtby. The 2009-10 Capitals won the franchise's first Presidents' Trophy for being the team with the most points at the end of the regular season. They won it a second time in 2015-16, and did so for a third time the following season in 2016-17. In addition to twelve division titles and three Presidents' Trophies, the Capitals have reached the Stanley Cup Finals in 1998 and 2018, winning in the latter. The Capitals have retired the use of four numbers in honor of four players. In addition, the team holds an association with a number of individuals inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.