55 – Number of days remaining until the Caps open the 2014-15 season. But it’s also…
…the number worn by everyone’s favorite punching bag Caps’ alum, Jeff Schultz.
Drafted by the Caps back in 2004, Schultz played 399 games in DC (and another 29 in the playoffs) before being bought out last summer and signing on with the Los Angeles Kings. He spent the majority of the 2013-14 season with their AHL affiliate in Manchester, but got the call to join the big club in the second round of the playoffs… and as luck would have it, that’s where he was when the Kings captured their second Stanley Cup, making him the first Caps’ draft pick to be on a Cup-winning team since Sergei Gonchar got himself a ring with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2009.
Yesterday was Sarge’s day with Lord Stanley’s trophy, and he made the most of it – paying a visit to Calgary’s Ronald McDonald House, spending time with police and firefighters, hanging out with friends and family, and doing… this:
Jeff Shultz floating in syle with the #stanleycup @HockeyHallFame @nhl @LAKingsPR @SportsCenter @SportsNation pic.twitter.com/2al42ohIXn
— Philip Pritchard (@keeperofthecup) August 14, 2014
Just awesome. Congrats, Jeff!