Posted on 06/07/2018 8:11:33 PM PDT by EdnaMode
Across their 43 seasons, the Washington Capitals have dabbled in hapless hockey and exquisite hockey, boring hockey and effective hockey, but never had they played winning hockey through four playoff rounds, all the way to a grueling, glorious end.
It took a team hardened by those postseason lures but liberated from high expectations to complete a run as dazzling as it was cathartic, capping it on Thursday night by dispatching the upstart Vegas Golden Knights, 4-3, to win the first Stanley Cup in franchise history.
It was the Capitals fourth consecutive victory in the finals after a disorienting 6-4 loss in the opener that made little sense in the context of how they played immediately before and afterward. After twice shutting out the offensive powerhouse Tampa Bay Lightning to advance to its first Cup finals since 1998, Washington outscored the Golden Knights across these last four games.
The Capitals overwhelmed Vegas with the same elements that propelled them past Columbus, their nemesis Pittsburgh and Tampa Bay: stifling neutral-zone defense, superb goaltending by Braden Holtby and waves of prolific talent headlined by the superstar scorer Alex Ovechkin, who will no longer be labeled the best player never to win a Cup.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Washington colludes with Russians to win Stanley Cup...
I fondly remember the days of Rod Langway, Mike Gartner, Al Jensen, Bengt Gustafsson, Scott Stevens, and others from the Caps teams of the mid 1980s.
Yea! The CRapitals get it done!
The Knights should be very proud. To be brand new and rise to these heights is fantastic.
Check off the end of the Canuck Olympics.
In about a week or so we will also be able to check off the end of the Inner City Olympics.
Some kobs on the team already said not gonna visit WH if we win.
I think the time for sports teams to have the privilege to see the presient is over.
Its a stupid tradition and it has nothing to do with the president, and if they are now going to make it a circus with their personal politics to “send a message”, it is time for it to end, for all sports.
Sports are not that important and these narcissist spoiled dempgraphic hating millionaires who do not do anything other than play with various balls, doing nothing remotely meaningful with the “careers” they are graced with, do not have anything to do with potus.
Any blacks on the team? Can they go to the WH?
Congratulations to both teams for a job well done!
?????
Which players said they won't visit the WH? Those from Russia?
Who’s gonna be the first politician to try to remotely take some credit for the win?
There actually is one.
Look at the team picture and a guess. It's not rocket science.
Wasnt rooting for them but the caps deserved to win this series. And the Cup for it. Nice to see their joy right now. Ovechkin is amazing. I always love watching the team win the cup. Glad its someone new.
My favorite night of the Stanley Cup was when the Kings won the second time in 3 years and before I went to bed I stood out on my balcony and looked over the ocean and the town of Manhattan Beach and knew that Cup was partying somewhere not far away. Sure enough by dawn on Instagram was a photo of the Cup shining on a lifeguard tower at the beach just a ways away. So nice.
I love this sport and I love this Cup. Congrats to the Capitals and their fans.
Smith-Pelly who scored the tying goal is black and said he won’t go. He called Trump racist and sexist.
Hockey isn’t like that.
Huh. The swamp froze over.
Vegas v DC. Who does the devil root for? (Besides NJ)
No helmets?
Who was the last NHL player to have a grandfather exemption from wearing one?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.