Now…where were we? RIGHT, there were 0.6 seconds left on the clock.
We won’t leave you in any more suspense. The 0.6 seconds passed, Holtby fittingly made one final save, the final horn sounded, and:
Your Washington Capitals were Stanley Cup Champions!!!!
The Caps would celebrate for a long time. A very long time. Like, probably a little too long – but it was fitting, and right, and the Knights would just have to wait for their handshakes until the chaos subsided.
Once it did, the last handshake line of the 2018 playoffs would commence:
The Knights would salute their inaugural home crowd one final time, exit to the locker room…and then the real fun could begin. Because a couple of gorgeous, shiny trophies were headed to the ice.
First up, the Conn Smythe trophy for the playoff MVP. One could make the argument that another Cap deserved this as much, if not more…but one shouldn’t, because this was just perfect.
Yeah, that’s a cool trophy. But it’s not the one we were all waiting for. No, the one Ovechkin wanted, the one we all wanted, was the most beautiful trophy in all of sports: Lord Stanley. Let’s gooooooooo!
You’re probably saying “gee, I wish I knew the entire order of who got the Cup when” WELL…I got you, babes. Here’s the full order:
Ovechkin. Backstrom. Orpik. Niskanen. Oshie. Beagle. Carlson. Holtby. Eller. Orlov. Kuznetsov. Wilson. Burakovsky. Kempny. Smith-Pelly. Connolly. Vrana. Chiasson. Grubauer. Stephenson. Djoos. Bowey. Walker. Boyd. Trotz and the rest of the coaching, training and equipment staff. MacLellan. Leonsis. Patrick.
Family and friends soon flooded onto the ice to greet their victorious boys. Many tears would be shed (T.J. Oshie’s interview alone is enough to make anyone bawl like a baby), many a picture would be taken, many a smooch laid upon Lord Stanley, until finally, the Cup exited the ice.
But the celebration was just getting started.
First, there was champagne and beer aplenty to drink (from the bottle and from the Cup) – and, of course, plenty of alcohol to spray around the plastic-covered room, as well.
And of course, the first belting of a song we would all hear on a loop for at least the next three months…and it would never get old.
Now, eventually the Caps did have to leave the arena. But you know the old saying – “you don’t have to go home, but you can’t stay here”? Well, the Caps definitely did not go home just yet.
What happened next can only be described as a rolling party that didn’t end until the exhausted group piled onto the plane and flew back to DC. Highly encourage reading Adam Kilgore’s amazing recap of that adventure in Vegas, which he kicks off by saying the following:
“Ovechkin first touched the Cup at 8:19 p.m. local time. Following it from there until daylight threatened — from the ice to the booze-soaked locker room to a subdued family dinner to a thumping nightclub hosted by one of the world’s most famous DJs and back out to the fluorescent desert — meant witnessing an entire work day’s worth of unadulterated joy, a party 44 years in the making.”
Excerpt from “What happened in Vegas: All night with the Capitals and the Stanley Cup“
Seriously, go read it, and then marvel at how these guys managed to survive not just that night-into-morning, but the days that immediately followed.
They did survive, thankfully, and returned home the next morning looking tired, hungover, and so, SO happy.
…and then they almost dropped the Cup. ALMOST. It was fine. Everything was fine.
The Caps touching down at Dulles ended the Vegas portion of their celebration – and officially ushered in the DMV portion. A party that would last for days.
But more on that later…
The boys in white weren’t the only ones celebrating on this night No, the Caps hoisting the Cup set off parties in and around DC, across the country, and around the world, as Caps fans finally got to experience the ultimate joy of a Stanley Cup victory.
Here are some pics from Carl, who was in Vegas to experience the magic:
Also in Vegas, our own Brendan (@capitalshill), who captured this amazing view:
And from our friend @rockinredbirdie:
“Baby Birdie was a TERRIBLE sleeper. Up multiple times a night screaming, really difficult to get him back to sleep. Right before DSP scored the tying goal, he woke up screaming, and we just decided to throw in the towel, bring him to the living room, and watch the rest of the darn game. And that’s how 16 month old Baby Birdie saw the Caps win the Cup!”
From Brandon, taken at the Portrait Gallery steps:
From @jmcleman1:
From @afetherolf:
The go ahead goal from Eller pic.twitter.com/nbIfPcLdpH
— TronVin (@_TronVin_) June 8, 2018
The games may be done, but stay tuned for everything leading up to and including the Stanley Cup Parade – because we still need to talk about the Caps’ beer-soaked, fountain-drenched, tattoo-getting romp around the DMV, and a long-awaited stroll down Constitution Ave.
Lots to cover. Lots to remember. Lots more to talk about. Happy anniversary, boys and girls and babes!
Condensed Game:
[Note: You can also watch the ENTIRE GAME, including the Cup ceremony, here, which is unheard of. Even better, since it was the NHL online stream…no NBC crew. Just saying.]
Defining Moment:
There are so many moments from which to choose in this one. Incredible, iconic plays and moments that none of us will ever forget.
But one stands above the rest.
Although…this one is a close damn second (tied with just about every moment between these two throughout the evening, the weekend, and the entire summer):
They Said It:
“We never make it easy, do we?” – Matt Niskanen
“Throughout the whole year, not a lot was expected out of us. Maybe on paper we weren’t as elite as teams past. But man, did we ever come together.” – T.J. Oshie
“Years of heartbreak, years of breaking things down and trying again, breaking things down and trying again. This group never gave up, and we finally did it.” – Braden Holtby
“I don’t say this lightly, this is the best group of guys in my career. I think it was noticeable how guys stuck up for each other. Every game it seemed like a guy stepped up and no one cared about who gets the credit. That’s why we had so much success this year.” – Brooks Orpik
“Too good to be true. You can dream about it but it’s writing the best ending to the story yourself.” – Lars Eller
“I’ve been trying to change the narrative for a couple of years, and I’ve just so glad this group just got off the floor from last year, and they just said, you know what, it’s not going to happen anymore.” – Barry Trotz
“I don’t know how you explain it. This was the team that played most like a team, in the end, or maybe it was what we went through the past couple of years to get to this point. I’m not sure how to explain it. Our group was mentally tough all year. They responded to things. It felt like from the beginning of the year we have a tough grind to get through, and maybe we were tougher mentally as a result.” – Brian MacLellan
“It’s not a dream. It’s not a desert mirage. It’s Lord Stanley, and he is coming to Washington!” – John Walton’s iconic Cup-winning call
“Fans, we did it! Get some beers, get some whatever, and start celebrating! We’re the Stanley Cup Champions! Washington Capitals, baby! WOO!” – Alex Ovechkin
Additional Reading:
- Sweet Sixteen [Caps]
- Capitals win Stanley Cup, Washington’s first major sports championship since 1992 [WaPo]
- Capitals Moments that Mattered: Lars Eller is a Golden God [Rink]
- Capitals win Stanley Cup, defeat Golden Knights in Game 5 of Final [NHL]
- Capitals carried by Ovechkin in triumphant run to Stanley Cup [NHL]
- The ‘but’ stops here: Alex Ovechkin’s 14-year Stanley Cup chase is over [ESPN]
- Alex Ovechkin’s first Stanley Cup flips the script of his legacy and should shut all his haters up for good [CBS Sports]
- Ovechkin leads Capitals to ‘unbelievable’ Stanley Cup [NHL]
- Backstrom, Capitals end years of frustration with Stanley Cup victory [NHL]
- The Capitals’ supporting cast was again center stage in Stanley Cup clincher [WaPo]
- Capitals, and Washington, celebrate a victory decades in the making [WaPo]
- Eller makes history for Capitals in Cup-clincher against Golden Knights [NHL]
- Lars Eller’s game-winning goal ignited a Capitals watch party in Denmark at 5 a.m. [WaPo]
- Smith-Pelly, Capitals defy expectations by winning Stanley Cup [NHL]
- Washington has a new hero. His name is Devante Smith-Pelly. [WaPo]
- Oshie emotional after winning Stanley Cup with Capitals [NHL]
- T.J. Oshie held back tears as he shared the Stanley Cup with his dad [WaPo]
- Capitals’ Wilson thankful for teammate support during Stanley Cup run [Sportsnet]
- What happened in Vegas: All night with the Capitals and the Stanley Cup [WaPo]
- Stanley Cup ready for busy summer after Capitals win first championship [NHL]
- Stanley Cup winner Alex Ovechkin may just be getting started [AP]
- So this is what it feels like [WaPo]
- How the Washington Capitals built a championship roster [WaPo]
- Stanley Cup Final blog: Chandler Stephenson [NHL]
- Carlson’s future with Capitals unknown after Stanley Cup victory [NHL]
- Trotz ‘absolutely’ open to staying with Capitals after winning Cup [NHL]
- For Capitals and their fans, tears of joy replace years of frustration [WaPo]
- Capitals’ Stanley Cup win has fans celebrating in streets [NHL]
- Washington becomes a sea of red in celebration of the Capitals’ first Stanley Cup championship [WaPo]
Additional Viewing:
- Alex Ovechkin to fans: Get some beers & start celebrating!
- Coach Barry Trotz on Washington Capitals’ first Stanley Cup win: ‘It hasn’t sunk in’ yet
- The emotional moments when Capitals players reunited with their loved ones after the Stanley Cup win
- Emotional TJ Oshie overcome with joy following Stanley Cup win
Trying to watch the Bears game but that has to be the worst camera work I’ve ever seen Made me dizzy
YESSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!! BOYS AND GIRLS AND BAAAAAABBBBEESSSSS!!!!!!!!!!
that is all
Just wanted to add an extra big “Thank you” to Becca, not only for these recaps, but for putting together all the “Additional Reading” links. For those like me who are always looking for light, fun readings, you’ve made my summer.
You are VERY welcome – first of all, I’m so glad you’ve enjoyed the recaps, and second, I loved finding all of the old articles, because it’s so fun to see how it was covered in the moment, so I’m happy to help provide you with reading material for the foreseeable future 🙂
Just want to second bagace. It’s really hard to carve out enough time to read everything during the work day (and I do too much of it already), so it will be days/weeks to get through it all. And it still brings tears of joy to read.
5 years later, still gets me crying.
Ovi’s barbaric scream will always get me emotional
Every hockey fan who hears that primal yell immediately understands the combination of adrenaline, accomplishment, struggle, relief, and pure unrestrained joy it represents.
Second greatest day of my life. I’ll never forget it.
The First Time a Sports game brought tears to my eyes. The first ever Championship I watched any of my teams win
I had seen the then-Redskins and the Terps win their respective championships. Those did not come close to this championship, not even close.
Well, my Steelers, Mavs and Vols haven’t came close to a title in my knowledgeable life, Mavs and Steelers of course won in the early 2010s but I was 5 and like 3 when the Steelers won.
This was so far, the most memorable sports event ever.
Well I was there in Pgh for the Steelers heydey, starting with the 75 and 76 Super Bowls as a teen — actually had season tickets way up high above the end zone — and that was incredibly awesome. But I feel as if nothing compares to this Caps championship.
Same here. I was born december of ’91 so technically I was alive for the most recent Washington Superbowl win. But I was a babe on my Maryland-native dad’s knee. Most of my sports personality was of a long-suffering DC fan that had never seen a championship. 2018 and 2019 were some extremely cathartic times.
The day after, once they returned to DC, the team threw out the first pitch at the Nats game, which happened to be Girl Scout Day at the park. Previously, my daughters’ Girl Scouts troop had been asked to be on the field for the first pitch as part of the celebration. So my daughters and my wife, and the rest of the troop, were standing on the first base line when they brought out the Caps and the Cup.
My wife has a wonderful phone video of that moment, standing literally 10 feet away as they walked towards the mound, everyone screaming…and her camera is pointed at the ground because it was so bright and she couldn’t see what she was filming. (I was watching and recording the moment at home on TV.)
The only bad part of that whole event according to them, not surprisingly, was Bryce Harper staying seated in the dugout, looking distraught the whole time.
The infamous fountain celebrations happened immediately after the game.
That’s AMAZING. I went to that game too but was definitely not on the field 😉
And don’t you worry, I’ll have some addendum recaps going through that drunken, fountain-filled weekend. So much happened, my goodness. And the parade!
Here’s the thing that always got me about Harper sitting away from the rest of the Nats in a Vegas jersey at game 4 – just about everyone on every pro sports team is from somewhere other than the city where they play. They have rooting interests. Usually, they grew up with them, but you can’t say that in this case. In general, I think they try keep them out of discussion when the other teams in their city of employment are playing for a championship or the like (I think I remember Mike Rizzo in Blackhawks gear for the Winter Classic, but meh, so what, that’s almost meaningless.) It was such a bad look.