How do you quantify frustration, in a sports context? How much pain and ache can a heart take over a team’s repeated failures? And how long do you wait for success before you give up hope? For hockey fans in this region, those questions have seemed to have no answers since the day in 1974 when the Washington Capitals began play in the NHL. The early years brought on so much misery. The 8-67-5 record in the inaugural campaign remains the worst single season in NHL history, which dates back to 1917.The Caps eventually came to resemble a functioning franchise, but they also became snake-bitten.