WASHINGTON (WUSA9)--Being a Washington Capitals fan can be very hard on your emotions, spirit, and sometimes even your diet.
And yes, it's always been that way.
46 years ago, when Richard Nixon was the President of the United States, Washington was granted the right to bring in a expansion team by the NHL.
Two years later in 1974, Washington selected defenseman Greg Joly as their first pick in the NHL Amateur Draft.
On October 9, 1974, the Caps played their first regular season game against the New York Rangers and loss 6-3 at Madison Square Garden.
In mid February, the Capitals took on the Kansas City Scouts and delivered their first shutout in team history, defeating them 3-0.
A month later, the Caps beat the California Gold Seals 5-3 on the road, which happened to be the team's only road win during their first season.
The rest of the 70's would be an adjustment period for the Capitals since the organization was still very new.
In November, 1979 the Capitals hired 26-year-old Gary Green to be the team's new head coach.
This made Green the youngest head coach in NHL history.
In 1983, Green led the Caps to their first playoff game.
Even though the team would go on to lose the Division Semi-finals to the New York Islanders 1-3, Bobby Gould goes down in history for scoring Washington's first ever playoff goal.
After the 1983-1984 season the Capitals advanced to the NHL Playoffs, 13 seasons in a row.
Seven of those games, the Caps were knocked out in the first round!
The Caps only made it to the Conference Finals once in that time frame (1990), but were swept by the Boston Bruins.
Perhaps team owner Abe Pollin had enough of the disappointing seasons, and that's why in 1999 he sold the Capitals and minority interest in the Washington Sports and Entertainment to current owner Ted Leonsis.
From 2000 to 2007, it was a rocky time for the Capitals.
Washington couldn't seem to get consistent wins, especially in the postseason.
Even with the selection of 1st overall pick Alex Ovechkin in 2004, the team struggled to be successful.
In 2007, the Capitals made it back to the playoffs and almost advanced past the Philadelphia Flyers but took a loss in Game 7.
Even with a loss, fans could tell that things were different with the Caps.
The team even revealed new uniforms at the draft party in June of that year, which switched the colors back to the team's original red, white and blue color scheme.
From 2007-2013, the Caps made the playoffs every season, making it to the semi-finals three out of those six times.
Each year the Caps would get so close but not close enough.
So when Washington made the playoffs this year, it was easy for fans to not let themselves get too excited.
How could fans get their hopes up only to be let down with disappointment and failure again?
But lucky for fans, that's not what happened.
The Capitals played through not one, not two, but three Game 7 series, to make it to the Stanley Cup Finals, the first time since 1998.
The last time the Caps were in the finals, it was a short run, having been swept by the Red Wings.
Fans are not counting on that happening this year.
It's ALL CAPS, and they aren't stopping until they are holding up the Stanley Cup Trophy.
Contact Ashley on Twitter @AshleyHasSpoken
