Getting to the Stanley Cup Final is one of the toughest things to do in professional sports. Just don’t ask the Vegas Golden Knights that.
But for Alexander Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals, reaching the Stanley Cup for the first time in Ovechkin’s career and only the second time in the franchise history (they were swept by the Detroit Wings in the ’98 Stanley Cup Final) is a significant milestone considering that before this playoff run, the core of this Caps club had never reached the conference finals.
When the Ovechkin was awarded the Prince of Wales trophy after the Caps downed the Bolts in Game 7 in Tampa, there was no hesitation whatsoever after Ovi shook the hand of Bill Daly. When the Caps captain picked it up the hardware, he made sure he brought it over to his teammates so they could pose with the trophy, and take a well-deserved team photo.
Members of the Capitals weren’t the only ones to touch the trophy.
In fact, Ovechkin went even more against the grain when he took the trophy off the plane after it touched down from Tampa to Washington by letting a group of Capitals fans puts their hands on it firsthand.
Ovechkin really doesn’t care about the potential curses that could come with touching the trophy. After all, many believe that the Caps were cursed in the first place after their playoffs struggles over the years, and he finally slayed that dragon.
After beating Pittsburgh, they then rallied to win two games while facing elimination against Tampa. There was just something a little different about this Washington team.
Now, the Caps have to face their old arch nemesis Marc-Andre Fleury, the former Pen who sports .947 save percentage and a 1.68 goals against average to go along with his 12-3 record, making him an early Conn Smythe candidate.
But for now, Ovechkin and company will enjoy their time being the Eastern Conference champions, before they gear up against the Golden Knights on Monday night when Game 1 gets underway from Las Vegas.
Just for the record, Golden Knights alternatve captain Deryk Engelland touched the Calrence S. Campbell Bowl after Vegas was crowned Western Conference Champions.
In the end, each trophy won't pale in comparison to whatever team wins the ultimate prize.
(h/t Twitter/ @emilyaltman93)
