After petitioning NHL, Capitals players to take Presidents' Trophy to hometowns
/The Elbow staff
Alex Ovechkin shows off his team's hardware at a Baltimore Orioles game last week. Image source: Keith Allison & Alaney2k
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Coming off their team's second straight Presidents' Trophy win, Capitals players will begin a summer of celebration by showing off the team's newest hardware in the coming weeks.
Captain Alex Ovechkin took the trophy to a Baltimore Orioles game last week, and is set to leave for his hometown of Moscow, Russia this week to share the occasion with family and friends.
Washington general manager Brian MacLellan said that the team had been petitioning the NHL to allow teams to take the trophy for the past few months.
"Teams get to take the Stanley Cup around to their hometowns, but up until now, no regular season champion has been allowed to show off their hard-earned work," he told The Elbow.
"We reach the highest of highs after 82 hard-fought games. Surely that should count for more than just three weeks of playoff hockey, or however long that lasts."
The league responded by telling the Capitals that they could keep the trophy for as long as they want, as long as it's back by April.
"The cabinet that holds the Presidents' Trophy is always unlocked, and they know that," a league spokesman said today. "Every holiday party we have, there's always one Capitals employee who tries to get it out and parade it around the room."
"We've had this discussion with them before."
According to the GM, the Capitals should be included in the conversation regarding modern-day dynasties.
"You look at the Blackhawks and Penguins, who have won three cups in the past seven and eight years respectively. In that time, guess who's been the regular season champion the most times?"
"You hear all this talk about whether the Penguins will win their third straight Cup next season, but not a peep about if we'll win our third straight Presidents' Trophy. This is what people need to be talking about."
Forward Marcus Johansson, who on Sunday was traded from Washington to New Jersey, was reportedly devastated to be leaving for a team that has never touched what the Capitals regard as the pinnacle of the sport.
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