Banish all Doubt -- @ovi8 gets his Stanley Cup

Written by

Janet Eagleson

Published on June 7, 2018

"If you didn't feel something watching Ovechkin celebrate, I'm not sure sports are for you." Amen. That was one of my favorite tweets.
11-time All-Star, 3-time Hart winner, 6-time Rocket Richard winner. But ALL are outstripped by a 34.5 lb silver chalice with the first name Stanley. @ovi8, this is well deserved.

Alexander Ovechkin is to Washington as Steve Yzerman is to Detroit. Discuss.
T.J. Oshie's postgame interview was raw, honest and beautiful. I dare you to watch without a tear.
Nicklas Backstrom was a beast against the Knights, despite a mangled left hand (seven points in five games). How bad was it? He needed Ovie as his wing man to hold the Cup above his head.
Road warriors. Don't look now, but the Caps won EVERY series on the road. Cool stat until you realize they didn't get to bask in the moment with their own fans. NOT ONCE.
I like John Carlson. A lot. But some team is going to seriously overpay for his services this offseason. #BadMove #DoNotTakeTheBait
Back to Steve Yzerman. He was 32 when he won his first Cup. He was criticized about his inability to lead. He had to change his game from pure scorer to two-way stud. Today, Stevie Y is considered an elite hockey leader, both from his on-ice success and his management ability. Hockey fans are just a bit too harsh sometimes.
Devante Smith-Pelly scored the same number of goals in the postseason as he did in 75 regular-season games. Brooks Orpik went from a minus-9 regular season to a plus-17 playoffs. Michael Kempny wasn't good enough for my Hawks this season, but he ended up on the top pairing for the Caps in the postseason. #RolePlayersMakeAllTheDifference
Ovie got the Conn Smythe, but these playoffs were Evgeny Kuznetsov's coming out party. His 32 points in 24 games led the team. So did his seven points (one goal, six helpers) in his last three outings. And I'll bet that arm/wrist of his has a bone crack. Or torn tendon.
Marc-Andre Fleury deserved better, but his season -- and his happy-go-lucky influence on the Golden Misfits -- is the stuff of legends.
This was the first time I watched a Stanley Cup win on an iPhone. On the side of the road, no less (safety first, of course). It wasn't but a couple years ago that I thought I'd never use my phone that way. I wonder what else I've always been wrong about ...
The entire Vegas franchise should be proud. That was the best expansion showing of any pro sport. Wow. The Golden Misfits sure figured out how to fit in.
Gary Bettman gets booed. As always. Vegas really IS a hockey town. WELL DONE.