Washington Capitals Fan Guide to the 2018-19 Stanley Cup Finals

While the Washington Capitals may not be in the Stanley Cup Finals this year, there are still plenty of storylines for Caps fans to follow if they choose to watch the 2018-19 Stanley Cup Finals.

Following the 2017-18 season during which the Washington Capitals brought Lord Stanley’s Cup home to DC for the first time in the franchise’s 45-year history, the Capitals experienced an early postseason exit. While fans can at least take some consolation in that the team won the big one last year, for many fans, the thought of watching playoff hockey is still too overwhelming. For some, it takes weeks before they are able to return to watching the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs. Many others may choose to not tune in at all.

If you’re like me, coping with a Capitals postseason series loss used to mean wallowing in misery for months. Fortunately, I now can resort to watching the Capitals Stanley Cup DVD and gifs of Alex Ovechkin hoisting the cup to ease the pain.

Yet, there are plenty of great storylines and reasons for Capitals fans to watch this year’s Stanley Cup Finals and here at Stars and Sticks, we decided to provide a guide for those Capitals fans who choose to tune in.

The best (and likely only reason) to root for the Boston Bruins is former Capital Marcus Johansson.

Marcus Johansson was drafted by the Washington Capitals 24th overall in 2009 and played a huge part in the Capitals’ offensive attack for seven seasons, scoring 290 points in 501 games for Washington.

Unfortunately, the team was never able to make it over the postseason hump when he was on the roster and the Capitals traded him to the New Jersey Devils prior to the 2017-18 season.

The Capitals longtime left winger missed out on the team’s magical playoff run and had to watch many of his former teammates hoist the Cup last season. After being traded to Boston at the trade deadline this season, Johansson once again has a shot at the Cup. So for many Capitals fans, it makes sense to show support for a former Capital and root for him in his pursuit of a championship.

Marcus Johansson gave a lot to the Capitals and there’s no doubt he wants to win the Cup after seeing his ex teammates taste that glory themselves. One could imagine the motivation of being on a new team playing in your first playoff series since watching a former team win it the year before.

It’s Boston, duh.

If you’re not a Boston sports fan, the odds are you’ve been extremely annoyed (and probably a tad jealous) of the city’s sports success not only in the past decade but in this year alone. With the Red Sox winning the World Series in November and Patriots winning the Super Bowl in February, the Bruins could give Boston it’s third major sports championship in just over nine months. I’m getting sick just thinking about it.

If the city of Boston doesn’t bother you, there is one other reason to vehemently root against the Bruins: Brad Marchand.

There is a reason that Marchand is often nicknamed “the rat” by opponents. He is hands down one of the dirtiest players in the NHL. Whether it’s licking opponents or giving snarky post-game interviews, Marchand continues to make a name for himself for all the wrong reasons. While he is an extremely skilled player, his immaturity far outweighs his talent and he’ll definitely be a guy Capitals fans will want to root against this Stanley Cup Finals.

https://twitter.com/HeresYourReplay/status/1123410993206439938

This reason may seem petty to most, but is a very valid reason to not want to see the Blues win a single game: their victory song.

The Blues adopted the 1982 pop song “Gloria” by Laura Branigan as their victory anthem back on January 6, right at the beginning of the team’s turnaround.

Defenseman Joel Edmundson explained that he and a few other Blues players were at a Philadelphia bar watching the Eagles-Bears NFC Wild Card game and the bar would play the song during commercial breaks. The Blues players loved it and decided to play it in the locker room after wins. It was not much longer until the entire Blues organization and fan base began adopting the song.

Now song traditions, old and new, are not bad (the Capitals’ “Unleash the Fury” montage gets me hyped every time), but the St. Louis fanbase has gone way overboard with the playing of the song. One local St. Louis radio station went so far as to play the song for 24 hours straight. If the Blues win, NHL fans will have to suffer through “Gloria” being played constantly for months after the Stanley Cup and will witness more cringeworthy videos like the one below. That doesn’t sound too glorious to me.

So Capitals fans, who do you want to win the Stanley Cup Finals? Tell us in the comments below!