Free Republic

WASHINGTON (ABC7) — The Washington Capitals will honor the World Series Champions Washington Nationals at Capital One Arena on Sunday night. The NHL says members of the Nationals, as well as the Commissioner's Trophy, will be in attendance and recognized on the ice during a pre-game ceremony. The White House announced on Friday morning that the "Nationals will be coming to the South lawn on Monday."

Canadian goaltender Braden Holtby said he will not visit the White House with his Washington Capitals teammates, joining forwards Brett Connolly and Devante Smith-Pelly as players who have declined the invitation to honor the team’s Stanley Cup victory Monday. “I’ve got to stay true to my values, and I’m going to respectfully decline the offer,” Holtby said Friday morning. “In saying that, it’s a tough situation for everyone to be in, to be forced to make a decision of that standing. You’re a team and you want to stick together no matter what, so I hope everyone kind of blows...

Count out Devante Smith-Pelly if the Washington Capitals win the Stanley Cup and are invited to the White House to celebrate with President Donald Trump. "The things that he spews are straight-up racist and sexist," Canada's Postmedia quoted Smith-Pelly as saying Wednesday as the Capitals prepared for Game 5 against the Vegas Golden Knights. "Some of the things he's said are pretty gross. I'm not too into politics, so I don't know all his other views, but his rhetoric I definitely don't agree with. It hasn't come up here, but I think I already have my mind made up." Smith-Pelly,...

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...

At last: Game over. Series over. For the first time in 20 years, a D.C. team in one of the four major pro sports is moving on to the conference finals. Let that sink in. The Capitals were the last to do it, in 1998, when they eliminated the Senators in five games in the second round and then ousted the Sabres in six games to clinch their only Eastern Conference title in franchise history. With Evgeny Kuznetsov’s breakaway goal less than six minutes into overtime, Washington improved to 2-9 all-time in postseason series against the Penguins; the Capitals’ only...

<p>Just when you think sports are about fun and happiness and escaping the real world, along comes the Internet to remind you that no, you’re crazy.</p> <p>I can’t really repeat much of the racial garbage that was tossed in Ward’s direction after he scored that dramatic game-winning goal Wednesday night, but suffice it to say there was a whole lot of vile stuff going on, in multiple platforms, on multiple sites.</p>

Earlier today, I said that Caps fans really can have an impact on the players they support when they tweet. While it’s not the case (I hope) that players are reading through their Twitter feeds between periods, it’s definitely true in the broader sense that social media has brought fans closer than ever to their teams, increasing the visibility fans, players, team staff and media have to one another. And Caps fans were wildly active on Twitter in the minutes after tonight’s win. It was what I planned to write about – messages of congratulations, excitement for the next round....