Glad Oshie didn’t have to take the Metro to the game on Sunday. 
I would have had to wait at the gate to make sure his farecard was loaded.
There were over 18k indoors at CapOne Arena watching the game on the jumbotron and 80,000 watching it on screens outside! Thankfully, the weather has been in the 70s all week, which made being outside pleasant. The crowd was a real cross-section of DC and were happy and celebratory without nonsense. (One person was arrested on Monday for climbing a lampost. It was big story in the Post the next day. That’s the only arrest I’ve head about.)
I stood facing the Gallery Steps as the National Anthem played on the screen and the crowd fell silent as it began. Then suddenly, the entire crowd began singing along as one – all ages, colors, backgrounds – at the top of their lungs. With love and respect. (And when they got to the Caps tradition of shouting "O’ and “RED”, the ground shook.) Afterwards, they all cheered. It was the loudest thing I’ve heard in my life. I get goosebumps writing about it.
I left at the end of the first quarter (my back was acting up) and got updates on the Metro home. Pulled into the driveway at the end of the second period. S2 called us from Ukraine at the end of the game in tears of joy and I pointed my camera at the TV so he could see the local coverage since his streaming didn’t cover the DC area coverage.
This was a great series with two outstanding teams with two compelling stories. A great way to grow the sport. And my favorite local sports radio station has been taking callers from Penguins fans congratulating the Caps all day.
Yeah, HOCKEY!
While he often tries deflect the spotlight off of himself and onto others, particularly Kuznetsov, Smith-Pelly, and Eller, I’m very happy for Alex Ovechkin to finally have his Stanley Cup moment after 13 seasons.
Though I don’t know him personally, a neighbor has worked for the Caps since he was a teenager. He’s now in his early 50s. Another neighbor who is friends with him sent me a picture of him drinking from the Stanley Cup, while two,players hold it above him. Pretty cool!
Has the parade date been announced yet? My h.s. junior is freaking out b/c he wants to go but has finals on Mon and Tues mornings next week. My other son finished finals earlier this week so there’s going to be a huge fight if one gets to go and the other doesn’t!
Multiple outlets here in DC are reporting Tuesday starting at 11 am down Constitution from 17th Street to 7th St. (towards the Capitol and due south of the arena), and a rally at the end.
Updated to reflect actual start point per NHL and 106.7 radio.
Will be there!
@dfbdfb Happy for you! And all Caps fans! I know that you’ve participated in our Cup threads for a while and have faced disappointment far too often.
I loved seeing the celebration last night. Ovechkin could not contain his sheer joy. It was lovely to watch! He has matured greatly in the past couple of years and I can’t imagine any true hockey fan not being thrilled to see him hoist the Cup. I am especially happy for him but also for Backstrom who has been there almost as long and who is such a talented player.
It gives me hope as a Leafs fan that the winner of the Cup finished the regular season tied for 6th with us. Maybe next year? 
Thanks to all who joined us for this year’s playoff thread. It’s been fun!
@CountingDown thanks. I was hoping to hear something on WTOP earlier but they hadn’t heard anything last I had the radio on. Of course he’s not done until noon on Tuesday. Grrr. Just his luck he only has one exam on Monday but I doubt his school would let him take the second one on Tuesday a day early. I was keeping fingers crossed it would be Monday or Wednesday.
@alwaysamom, your Leafs are on my list of teams to cheer for if the Caps aren’t in it—I’ve always had a soft spot for teams with fans who’ve suffered through painful dry spells.
[Now let us all ponder a moment on Vancouver, and then move on to happier thoughts.]
@CountingDown The tradition of shouting “O” was taken from the Baltimore Orioles, who have done it for much longer - and it actually makes sense since that’s how you spell the team name. The Caps were founded in 1974 and many of their fans also rooted for the Orioles, as they were successful and just down the road (I-95). The Washington Senators had departed for Texas a few years earlier and had much less success or following than the O’s.
Personally I had a small tie to the Capitals from their expansion year, since my father was associated with them as the team’s neurosurgeon. That wasn’t like a regular team doctor with regard to responsibility, but it came with season tickets just above the locker room in case he was needed. So I spent my teenage years watching them lose regularly (they were historically bad during their early years) and twiddling my thumbs while my dad hung out in the locker room between periods. My family did attend one of the team’s holiday parties, which was pretty cool - and I caught a handful of pucks that ended up in our section.
That early exposure engrained in me an appreciation for hockey and a love for the Caps. But his relationship with the team ended the year before they made a big trade that finally turned them into a competitive team. Wherever I lived in the 38 years that followed, they’ve had a special place in my heart - despite every season ending in ultimate disappointment before this one (some were downright devastating). So here I am planning on buying an authentic team jersey to celebrate, assuming my percetive wife doesn’t do so on her own for Fathers Day.
As if the Stanley Cup wasn’t enough for Alex Ovechkin, his wife Nastya announced on Instagram that they are expecting their first child. Congrats.
Watching the whole team at the Nats game, having a blast and showing off the Stanley Cup trophy. They were only supposed ot be there for the beginning, first pitch, show off trophy, but they have stayed for the whole game cheering on the Nats. So much fun to watch
Watching all of DC’s sports professionals come together has been rather fun to watch. It’s almost like they have fun playing games for a living.
For those of you who can’t get NHL tickets, or don’t want to pay the steep prices, have a look at the AHL team in your area. The games are great and will include many young players who will throughout the season be called up to their NHL team. Ticket prices are very reasonable and the arenas are often smaller so it’s a more exciting environment. The Leafs are fortunate that their AHL farm team is just down the street in Toronto. We are looking at a Calder Cup win on Tuesday with a win!
@CountingDown - were you along for the party last night? https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/dc-sports-bog/wp/2018/06/09/tracking-the-caps-wheres-the-stanley-cup-headed-on-alex-ovechkins-wild-saturday-night/?
^^I was following along on WaPo and Russian Machine Never Breaks. Absolute insanity!
I had my own magic Stanley Cup moment last week. Now that they’ve won the Cup and the party stories have taken over, I’ll share. If you heard about TJ Oshie taking the Metro last Monday and not having enough money on his farecard – that scoop and the pictures came from me. He was going through the turnstile at the same time as me when his card was rejected. He headed over to the Exitfare machine and I followed. He stood in line waited as others put money on their cards. (People came up to take selfies with him – some asked permission, others didn’t.) He tried to pay with a credit card, and I had to tell him that Exitfare machines don’t accept plastic. He was 35 cents short. I had change and offered it to him. Another guy behind him offered a $20. The machine doesn’t take anything larger than a $10. Oshie finally said he’d had over to the station office to see if they could help him. He was very nice and a little chagrined at not knowing how the machines work. I told him we all have that problem with Metro fare machines!
I sent the pics and tweet to Russian Machine Never Breaks (it’s a fan-based site and breaks a lot of good Caps hockey stories). I’ve been following it for a long time. Apparently a lot of other media folks follow it, too, because within 10 minutes I was getting tweets from local and national outlets asking to use the pics and/or story. The story made Sports Center.
Thanks heavens I don’t use my real name on Twitter!!!
@CountingDown what an awesome moment! Thanks for sharing.
S17 is bummed to miss the parade. His last exam ends at 11:30 tomorrow morning so no way for him to get downtown in time. If he were finished as early as 11, I would’ve taken him and S15 directly to the metro to try and make it for the rally at the end, but timing just won’t work. Works out for me anyway, as I’ve been down in OC since Friday night with my youngest-her sand soccer tournament was washed out on Saturday when we got 7.5” of rain down here! Tomorrow is the first day we are expected to see sunshine so we will try to enjoy that while we miss the parade (I was planning to come back for it if my son’s exam schedule cooperated).
In Philadelphia, they pretty much closed down the area public, private and parochial school systems for the Eagles’ Superbowl parade (R-rated as it turned out to be). Of course, it wasn’t the last day of final exams . . . .
Actually, they pretty much closed down the city. Those of us who worked downtown were invited not to come to work. The commuter rail system had limited stops, and you had to have bought a special ticket at least 24 hours in advance to get on the train at any point during the day. No passes accepted. That was very harsh, but system capacity was nowhere near demand, and they had had terrible problems with people getting stranded for hours and hours when the Phillies won the World Series.
It was quite a 1-2-3 punch in sports last week. Thursday the Caps win the Stanley Cup. Friday the Warriors complete the crushing sweep of the Cavaliers. And Saturday Justify wins the Triple Crown. And I was thrilled by each of those events.
Metro has released the Caps Stanley Cup fare cards. They are only available at www.wmata.com, but don’t rush over there. The site has crashed. Typical Metro!
Just got through and ordered fare cards. Maybe all the Caps fans have gone to bed early so they can get to the parade tomorrow!