Ahead of Game Seven of the Eastern Conference Final between the Capitals and Lightning, I wrote a deeply personal article entitled I want a new favorite hockey memory. Frazzled and nervous the day of the game, I talked about my proudest moment as a Caps fan (up to that point), June 4, 1998, when Joe Juneau scored 6:24 in overtime to send Washington to the Stanley Cup Final for the very first time. I was a 13-year-old middle schooler.
The Capitals, somewhat unbelievably, beat the Bolts that night, and a few weeks later, even more unbelievably, secured the organization’s first-ever championship, defeating the Vegas Golden Knights in five games.
On Monday, Cara wrote about RMNB’s most-read stories of 2018, and she pointed out that over three million people visited our site during the last calendar year.
Our site was presented with so many opportunities during the Capitals’ run of immortality that when I look back and reminisce, it’s hard to believe any of it really happened.
Because of you I don’t have one new favorite hockey memory – I have eight. Consider this article my heartfelt thank you for making 2018 the best year of my life.
This is a long read. I apologize in advance.
1) Eastern Conference Champions
This was the night where things officially became wacky. 🤦 Oh gosh, I look like such a geek.
First, some context, which I’ll pull from a previous post.
During the Capitals’ second-round series against the Pittsburgh Penguins weeks earlier, our site was getting crushed by web traffic — averaging well over 100k pageviews a day. Usually, that’s a super awesome thing — except during huge moments or goals, our site would go down due to all the excited Caps fans refreshing our website for updates. The problem got so bad that on this night when the Capitals became Eastern Conference champions, I couldn’t post to our site afterward.
20 years prior, the Capitals became Eastern Conference champions for a first time, beating the Buffalo Sabres. That night, the team flew back home to BWI and celebrated at Piney Orchard Ice Arena with fans. I remember then asking my dad if he would take me and my brother to celebrate with the team. With school the next day, it already being close to midnight, and Odenton being an hour-plus away from Frederick, my dad said no. I understood, but it was always a moment I wished I could have been a part of and regretted it. I told myself, if I ever get the opportunity again, I should take it.
So that night, with our website down and the site locking me out from posting, I said YOLO and took a tip from some readers. They let me know when and where the plane would arrive and I drove down to Dulles Airport. I figured there’d be hundreds, if not thousands, of people there and I could just take in the whole experience from afar and maybe write about it later.
Instead, it was me and maybe 10 other people. A little after 3 am, the Capitals returned home from Tampa Bay. Alex Ovechkin could be seen walking down the steps with the Prince of Wales trophy. As he walked to his car, he tried and failed to put the trophy in his trunk because it didn’t fit. So he laid the trophy across his friends’ laps in the backseat. As Ovi began to get in the passenger side seat, I said: “Hey, Ovi – it’s Ian from RMNB.”
He immediately turned around excited with a big smile. He said, “PICT-AH, PICT-AH” to the Caps fans congregated around the car and about 10 people took photos of us with their phones.
I may have also been caught by a TV camera hugging our blogging senpai, which is my most fan blog moment to ever fan blog. Young, aspiring journalists — never do this!
…But I would do it again 100 times out of 100!
I was so excited that I didn’t sleep when I got home, which made the next day really difficult. In the morning, a WUSA9 reporter called and asked if he could do a behind-the-scenes feature on our site. I said, “Sure!” This is how it turned out.
(This interview occurred a week after I was asked to do an interview on NHL Network for the first time with Jackie Redmond, which was another pinch-me-I-can’t-believe-this-is-happening moment. Thanks, Broom Guys.)
After I concluded my mini local media tour (WTF), Peter, myself, and a developer worked behind-the-scenes to move our site to a new server. We managed to do it after Game One. RMNB has had no trouble since then, officially removing that digital albatross around my neck. During the Cup Final, the Frederick News-Post, our local newspaper, highlighted our triumph over our web technology woes in a front-page sports section article entitled Stanley Cup-sized technical difficulties for Russian Machine Never Breaks.
2) RMNB helps design commemorative Metro card
One viral story to come out of the Stanley Cup Final series was when TJ Oshie and Matt Niskanen rode the Metro to get to home games. RMNB broke the story with the help of some eagle-eyed readers. Behind the scenes, we got an amazing opportunity. Towards the end of the championship series, WMATA reached out to RMNB, asking if we would help them design a commemorative SmarTrip card.
We were super honored by the request and after the Caps’ defeated the Golden Knights in five games, I worked with Rachel Cohen to submit several designs for consideration.
WMATA ended up choosing a design from the Capitals’ Stanley Cup team photo, which turned out awesome. But as a graduate of art school, I was so honored to have a hand in making that special project happen. We were mentioned in the press release.
Metro and the popular new-media Capitals website ” Russian Machine Never Breaks” submitted several designs for approval. Today, Metro obtained permission from the Capitals organization, as well as the National Hockey League, to produce cards using a photo of the Capitals and the Stanley Cup on the ice immediately after their historic Game 5 victory.
WMATA’s store went down after we announced the card, which, after our website problems, felt so right.
The SmarTrip cards are still available and you can buy one here.
3) The Caps’ Cup celebration at Nats Park
In 2009, my initial roles on RMNB, beyond co-founder, were being a designer and a creative writer. Since then, it’s shifted to being an editor, publisher, and one of the main voices on the site. But on June 9, I got to shed my RMNB responsibilities for the day (Thanks, Chris Cerullo!) and be a total art/reporter nerd, covering the Capitals’ celebration at Nats Park with my Nikon DSLR. The Nats credentialed me so I could be on the field during the celebration. I took shop to the right of the Nats dugout as Alex Ovechkin brought the Stanley Cup out. I will never forget how the roar of the crowd hit me as Ovechkin walked out.
After the game, Alex Ovechkin bear-hugged fans outside of the Capitals suite. TJ Oshie also brought the Cup out for fans to see. It was so wonderful to see how excited and happy everyone was.
4) Meeting Stan
Three days later, the Capitals held their Stanley Cup team photo at Capital One Arena before the team’s championship parade.
(First! A thank you. Thank you, Goat, for letting me drive down during the middle of the night to DC and allowing me to crash on your blow up mattress downstairs with your cat. I would have never been able to do this or get anywhere in town that morning without you. You are one of the kindest and most creative people on earth. I am SO lucky to consider you a friend.)
After the Caps cheesed for the camera, the Keeper of the Cup brought the three trophies over to the side so other people could pose with the Stanley Cup, Conn Smythe Trophy, and the Prince of Wales Trophy, including owners, employees, and the police. It did not appear like media could participate so I very strategically kept a distance.
An aside: I made a pledge when I was young to never take a photo with the Stanley Cup unless the Capitals won it all. I thought it was jinx-y but I also wanted the moment to be special when it actually happened.
As I watched all of the people taking photos with the Cup, a DC police officer approached me with his phone and asked if I could be his photographer. I obliged and got down to one knee to make sure the photo was perfect and took several pics so he could pick his favorite. The cop was so appreciative of my due diligence, I guess, he asked me for my phone.
“Do you want to take a picture with it?” he said, not knowing who I was or how this was a life’s dream of mine.
I was stunned. I said bashfully, “If it’s okay with everyone else…”
He said, “Of course!” And who am I to not listen to a police officer?
As I approached the trophies, I started freaking out. OMG, I told myself. This was really happening. I got down to one knee and gave another dorky smile. I put both hands on the bowl of the Cup.
Later as Phil Pritchard began walking the Cup out of the arena for the parade, he allowed me to hold it with him for another photo.
Dreams really do come true.
5) The Parade
After that amazing experience, I walked over to the parade. I noticed that the only way to get to the media risers at the National Mall was to walk in the street on Constitution Avenue as thousands of fans looked on from the guardrails. I cannot put a number on how many people asked me to take selfies with them, but it was a lot. That made me so happy, I ended up high-fiving people down entire city blocks.
Days before the event, an NBC4 Washington producer asked if I would participate in their parade coverage. I agreed, not really knowing what that meant exactly. For instance, I didn’t realize that I would be going on live with Lindsay Czarniak, who is just… one of the best sports anchors in the nation period, and local legend Doreen Gentzler, who I’ve watched since I was a kid. There are no words for how nervous and in-my-own-head I was during this interview. But I hope you enjoy!
During the actual parade, Ryan and Nathan — the original Brouwer Rangers — and Cara held up three RMNB flags we had originally printed by Mike Knuble’s brother for the Stadium Series game. During the entire parade celebration, two logos I designed nine years earlier flew in the wind in front of hundreds of thousands of people on the National Mall. It was a designer’s dream.
Here are a few more Instagram photos from that day.
6) My first question ever for Ovi
The Capitals held Breakdown Day shortly after the parade. All of the players were available for interviews.
Over the eight years prior, I’ve never asked a question in a scrum to Ovechkin — though I have met him years prior at a Papa John’s commercial shoot where he took my phone for a hot second.
But on this day, I had something I wanted to ask. So after the beat writers asked their questions (new media always goes after them), I spoke up.
“When you were a kid, did you envision winning the Stanley Cup? Can you walk me through that moment?” I asked.
“Is this question going to be on RMNB,” Ovechkin said with a wry smile. Everyone laughed.
He then gave the longest answer of his 18-minute press conference to me that day.
Yeah. When you’re a little kid, you watch the highlights. Because when I was a little kid, we don’t have TV, we don’t have internet. You just watch the highlights on the videotape and you just dream about it. I remember the moment when Igor Larionov came to our locker room and he showed us how he practices, how he enjoy the moment to be in the NHL and be a Stanley Cup champion. It was something special. One day, I wanted to be in his position to raise the Cup and in the future I will share this moment with some kids. Because when you’re a kid you don’t know what your life is going to be, who you’re going to be. Of course, you dream to be a professional athlete or a very good businessman or whatever. Right now, my dream was to be a hockey player, to be a good hockey player, win the Cup, win lots of trophies, and right now I’m standing with you guys and this moment is something special. It’s unbelievable. It’s just great. I’m very happy. I’m happy for my family. It’s funny. Nastya’s sister after Game 5 (of the Eastern Conference final), we was losing to Tampa 3-2, lucky charm. She flew over in one day it was Sunday and next day she was here. Expensive tickets, right? From Moscow to D.C. Expensive ticket. She have to come here for two games and we decide, OK, we make the Stanley Cup Final, so you have to stay with us. ‘Like, what do you mean? No way. The kids have to end up at school, it was exams.’ We’re like, ‘No way, you have to stay with us.’ She stay with us till Monday, this Monday they left. My dad who was watching the game on my country house after first round, TV was broken, internet connection was broken, so he have to go back and forth at night to watch the games on computer at the apartment and my friend fix the TV at the country house and he said, ‘Hey mommy, TV is working, I don’t have to go back and forth over there.’ And my mom said, ‘No way. You have to go back and forth to watch the games.’ All those moments. We just all so happy, my wife too, it’s something special. My brother, Jesus. We’re just happiest persons right now in the world.
Later in the summer, Ovi would later wear our “Not Going To Be Suck” shirts in Florida during an autograph signing.
Months later, I’d also give Ovi a championship bucket that went semi-viral on social media.
And I’d conduct my first one-on-one interview with him.
Thanks for the time, babe.
7) The Capitalsville Parade
In July, I was asked by the mayor of Capitalsville to be a part of their championship/July 4 parade. The town’s actual name, Lovettsville, Virginia, was ironically a place my mother hung out as a high schooler.
I invited Addy Flint, who some of you may know as TJ Oshie’s wish kid, to ride on the fire truck with me. The entire Flint family is wonderful and both of our families watched fireworks together afterward.
8) Sharing this with Ethan
The best part of the Capitals’ Stanley Cup run was that I got to share it with my one-year-old son and mini-me, Ethan. Having him be by my side during this summer made everything even more special than it already was. We play hockey almost every night together. He loves the Stanley Cup. I can’t believe he already has a picture with it. He said OHHHHhhhhhhhhh as we walked up to it.
I had to wait 33 years to see the Caps finally win. But I’m flawed and don’t deserve anything easy. He is perfect. I’m so glad he didn’t have to go through what I did.
Topping this in 2019 is going to be difficult. But I’m up for the challenge. Thanks again for a wonderful 2018, everyone!
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