Tuesday, November 08, 2011

Battle of the Blurst: Caps and Jackets Required

Depending on how things go, we could make this a running gimmick, but here's the deal. The Columbus Blue Jackets are bad, but could they be on pace to be the worst team to ever hit an NHL ice surface?? They need a lot of work and with guys coming back from injury; they could have some kind of reversal of fortune, but it's not looking good right now.

The Washington Capitals from the 1974-75 season hold the record for fewest wins, worst winning percentage, and fewest points in the modern era of hockey. The Caps went 8-67-5, which equals 21 points and a .131 winning percentage. Thanks to the NHL History Girl, Jen for reassuring me there was no one worst in the modern era, though I begged and pleaded for her to say differently.

Alright, so we're past the 14th game of the season with the Blue Jackets, so here's the comparison:

2011-12 Columbus Blue Jackets: 2-11-1, 5 pts., 31 GF, 53 GA
1974-75 Washington Capitals: 1-12-1, 3 pts., 28 GF, 72 GA

So, as you see--we're only looking at a one-win, two point difference, three goals-for difference, but 19 goals-against difference. Neither team has won a road games (Caps lost 39 of 40 road games, so maybe the Jackets will be better than that....) and looks like it won't get easier.

Granted, we're at a modern era were there's a lot more parity and there's a lot more skill on this bad team-- considering they aren't an expansion team-- and could hit a nice little winning streak to make people forget about the awful start of the season.

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