The Capitals’ Swedes have been keeping busy in the off-season. This Friday, Nicklas Backstrom, Christian Djoos, and Andre Burakovsky were part of a star-studded charity game in Sweden between Valbo HC and the Icebreakers at the Nickback Arena.
In case you were visiting another galaxy for the past three months (and because typing it never gets old): the Washington Capitals are the 2018 Stanley Cup champions. This feat came exactly 20 years after their first and only previous appearance in the Stanley Cup Final. Out of the greats on that 1998 team, Peter Bondra is arguably one of the brightest, and his heart still beats for the Caps.
The newest member of the DC Sports Hall of Fame has been busy this summer, but he took the time to speak to hokej.sk about what it’s like to finally see his former team raise the Cup.
On Friday, the Hershey Bears announced two veteran AHL players had signed: Adam Morrison and Logan Pyett. Pyett has a very interesting story.
The defenseman, who signed a one-year contract, is making his return to the AHL after being diagnosed with cancer during the 2015-16 season.
The day after the Washington Capitals won their first Stanley Cup, the team was gifted a symbolic championship belt via longtime wrestler Triple H.
Once the belt physically arrived at the team’s practice facility, the strap quickly made its way around Devante Smith-Pelly’s waist, where it stayed through the rest of June.
Friday, Sports Fan Island released a new bobblehead of Devante Smith-Pelly, celebrating DSP’s iconic look with the championship belt.
It’s amazing.
Capital’s defenseman Dmitry Orlov is typically quiet on and off the ice. During his Stanley Cup day, he entered a private party with flamethrowers.
But Orlov’s day with the Cup almost went down in flames due to a travel snafu. The trophy was accidentally sent to Novosibirsk, instead of Orlov’s hometown of Novokuznetsk, and the Cup had to be helicoptered in. Orlov’s event was delayed by six hours, and he will not get extended time with the trophy.
Editor’s Note: RMNB is bringing new energy to the site for the 2018-19 season. Meet our newest contributor!
Hi! I’m Julia. I will be helping cover news during the day for RMNB. I’m a Bethesda native, and have been a Caps fan since my eighth birthday. My dad took me to a game against the Atlanta Thrashers and after watching Peter Bondra play, I pointed to the ice and said “I want to do THAT!” My dad also recalls me saying it was “the best night of my life.”
The offseason is now in full swing. The Cup has been won, the beards shaved, the players re-signed. Aside from the continuing adventures of the Stanley Cup, there’s not a whole lot happening in the hockey world. Until now! Presenting a new series in which we will finally understand the true nature of the world champion 2017-18 Washington Capitals through the prism of stupid popular culture. I’m calling it Not Up For Debate because everyone everywhere will agree that these are the universal consensus picks.Â
In this episode: What if the Caps played Mario Kart?
The bullpen cart, one of Major League Baseball’s weirdest traditions, made a comeback this season after taking a 23-year hiatus. At first, only the Detroit Tigers and Arizona Diamondbacks made the cart available. Nationals closer Sean Doolittle jumped at the opportunity to get a free ride. During a game against the Arizona Diamondbacks in May, Doolittle became the second MLB player to ride the cart since its comeback.
Doo’s relationship with the cart has grown from there and now the Nationals are getting him his very own starting tomorrow. He created a custom shirt to celebrate the occasion.
If there is one image that has haunted Capitals fans, more than their near clockwork second round exit, it is Micah Blake McCurdy’s “Rainbow Death Crab.” Best known for his hockey visualizations, as soon as the Stanley Cup playoffs roll around, McCurdy’s Crab likewise makes its return to spell out the future triumphs or failures of the teams that made it to the final 16.
For anyone unfamiliar with McCurdy’s probability charts, they’re based on his model known as Edgar, which — in his own words — considers “shots generated and allowed, including their locations, shooting and goaltending results, special teams, penalties drawn and taken, rest, and home ice advantage.” Also taken into account are “injuries, suspensions, and likely roster compositions.”
McCurdy then simulates “each game ten thousand times, given injuries and coaches’ past allotments of icetime.” He then computes “probability for the home-ice team using Edgar. Different teams benefit in different amounts from home-ice advantage because of their different strengths and weaknesses.”
However, long before the Crab awakened to bestow its prophetic assessment on the 2018 playoffs, McCurdy made his own prediction. That the Capitals would, ultimately, win the Cup at the close of the 2017-18 season.
I reckon the Caps win the cup.
— Micah Blake McCurdy (@IneffectiveMath) October 4, 2017
Now, as a tribute to the Capitals historic Cup win, one talented fan has recreated McCurdy’s Rainbow Death Crab in cross stitch, and it is the perfect mixture of the nerdy, creative, and seriously epic.
Evgeny Kuznetsov didn’t want to let his fans in Chelyabinsk down.
On Wednesday, Kuznetsov spent his day with the Stanley Cup in his hometown. The Russian center participated in two public photoshoots with his supporters and the Stanley Cup, each of which lasted two hours. There was only one problem: so many fans showed up, thousands of people were unable to meet or get a picture with Kuzy.
Thursday, according to Igor Eronko, Kuznetsov decided to hold a third photo op on Friday to thank those disappointed fans and celebrate the overwhelming turnout.
