At noon on Thursday, the English Premier League Trophy ended up in the Capitals’ locker room. The trophy currently belongs to Manchester City, who broke 11 records on their way to being crowned champions in 2017-18.
The EPL trophy is in DC for a first-of-its-kind fan festival being held on Saturday in partnership between EPL and NBC Sports. A few Capitals players had the chance of getting their picture taken with the trophy, and they all wore jerseys of their favorite teams.
First, Evgeny Kuznetsov stepped up to take his picture wearing a Liverpool jersey with “KUZY 92” on the back and a scarf.
In typical Kuzy fashion, he asked if he could touch the trophy and joked about doing a Cup stand, saying, “and I can’t drink from it, right?”
Nicklas Backstrom played along with Kuzy’s idea of a Cup stand, as he asked a representative, “Cup stand? No?”
Backstrom’s favorite club is Arsenal, and he scoured the trophy until he found their name.
No Cup Stands, @backstrom19… Nicky an @Arsenal Fan! #ALLCAPS @premierleague pic.twitter.com/Gztg9n3s1U
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) September 27, 2018
Alex Ovechkin sided with his countryman, as he donned a Liverpool kit during his photo shoot. Ovechkin is also an avid supporter of FC Barcelona, and he swapped jerseys with ex-Barcelona forward Neymar a few weeks back at FedEx Field.
Go @LFC!
– @ovi8 #ALLCAPS @premierleague pic.twitter.com/TuJmle5atr
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) September 27, 2018
Andre Burakovsky changed it up by wearing a Manchester United kit. His favorite player is former Manchester United and current D.C. United star forward Wayne Rooney. Burakovsky will be at the DC United game Saturday.
Andre should hit us up!
— D.C. United (@dcunited) September 27, 2018
Liam O’Brien was revealed to be a fan of Brighton & Hove Albion. Slapshot was able to meet his avian brother, Brighton’s mascot Gully.
👋 @OfficialBigTuna @capitals… #BHAFC 🔵⚪️🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/QvJX1Q3ix7
— Brighton & Hove Albion ⚽️ (@OfficialBHAFC) September 27, 2018
📸 🆚 @Capitals… @PLinUSA #BHAFC 🔵⚪️🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/wP23qKN2dk
— Brighton & Hove Albion ⚽️ (@OfficialBHAFC) September 27, 2018
The players were not allowed to touch the trophy, as only previous winners have that honor. The no-touching rule probably saved the team from denting another trophy before the season begins.
Headline photo: Washington Capitals
