Coach Boudreau may be one of the most unassuming coaches in all of professional sports, but all he knows how to do is win. And win he did in his first year in D.C.

On Thanksgiving Day 2007, he inherited the worst team in the NHL and then led his charges from a 6-14-1 record to a Southeast Division championship and the team’s first playoff berth since 2003. Pacing Boudreau’s exciting offense was 22-year-old Alex Ovechkin, a ‘goal-scoring machine’ with a penchant for eclectic clothes and variations of facial hair. The Russian-born power forward scored 65 goals in 2007-08 – the most in the NHL in 12 years – and became the first player in league history to win the Hart Trophy, Lester B. Pearson Award,Art Ross Trophy and the Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy in one season.New to the D.C. scene in 2007-08 was Ovechkin’s running mate, rookie Nicklas Backstrom. The 20-year-old center from Sweden set a team rookie record with 55 assists and finished second in NHL rookie of the year balloting.

As active as Boudreau, Ovechkin, Backstrom and the rest of the Capitals are in the rink, the team is equally involved out of it. Ovechkin sponsors his own section in Verizon Center called Ovi’s Crazy 8s. The perennial NHL All-Star purchases eight Capitals season tickets and donates them to Most Valuable Kids, who distribute the tickets to underserved children or soldiers so they can see the Capitals up close at Verizon Center.

The Capitals piloted a reading program several years ago to encourage local elementary school students to complete a series of different reading challenges. The team recently expanded the program to include more subjects and renamed it ‘Caps @ School’, which is an initiative that will reach nearly 15,000 students. Caps @ School is an all-inclusive educational program that encourages teachers to incorporate hockey and Capitals players into their daily lesson plans. Classes that complete the program are eligible to win a visit from a Capitals player or tickets to a Capitals home game. The club also partners with local schools in the D.C. area to bring Hockey School to many of area’s middle schools. Capitals players and coaches visit schools to discuss their hockey background, answer questions, sign autographs and interact in a floor hockey demonstration with the students.

The Capitals launched the successful Courage Caps during the 2007-08 season in an effort to raise money for charity. Courage Caps were sold at Capitals home games, and the popular hats sold out in the first few games they were available. Courage Caps are returning for the upcoming season and 100% of the proceeds benefit the Fisher House Foundation.

The team’s largest fundraiser is the annual Caps Care Classic, a golf tournament held at the beginning of the season. Now in its fifth year, the event, which includes a silent auction, has raised nearly $1million for charity. The Capitals visit the Children’s National Medical Center annually and have numerous game-day sales and auctions to raise money for charity. Since 2000, the Capitals have raised nearly $3 million for charity.