When the NHL Invaded Japan: The Washington Capitals, the Kansas City Scouts and the Coca-Cola Bottlers' Cup, 1975-1976

by Steve Currier

When the NHL announced in early 1976 that its two worst teams, the Washington Capitals and Kansas City Scouts, would travel to Japan for a four-game exhibition series dubbed the Coca-Cola Bottlers' Cup, fans and media were baffled. The Capitals and the Scouts were both expansion teams, with a combined 46 wins, 236 losses and 38 ties in their first two seasons--stats made more dismal when considering seven of those wins were against each other. Yet lagging so hopelessly behind the rest of the NHL, they were perfect for a one-off event on the other side of the globe. The series was an eye-opening success. Players skated on an Olympic swimming pool ringed with rickety boards hung with fishing nets that boomeranged pucks into their faces, as curious Japanese fans gasped at the gap-toothed Canadians wrestling on the ice. Filled with rare photos and player recollections, this book tells the story of how two league doormats became hockey heroes half-way around the world.

Genres: Sports

300 pages, Paperback

Published July 8, 2022

Reviews

[Matt]

This is more than a book of the four game series between the Capitals and Scouts in 1976. Instead it looks at the first two seasons for both teams (1974-75 and 1975-76) for each team, almost game-by-game, in solid detail. Currier also goes over the expansion process for the teams, and what happened to each, particularly the Scouts. Really, the Japan series only covers one chapter, and is closure on a wild story of two of the worst teams in NHL history. It's bolstered by some rare photos of the teams, including some game action from Japan, and is a solid look at a rather niche part of NHL history.

[Calvin Daniels]

The book was ok, but title is misleading, in that the Japanese experience was only about 50 pages amid the story of the dismal birth of the two teams.