Washington Caps Advance to Stanley Cup Finals

For the first time since 1998 the Washington Capitals have won the Eastern Conference and advanced to the Stanley Cup Finals.

The storyline is obviously Alex Ovechkin and his incredible Conn Smythe level performance this post season as the Caps have dispatched of Columbus, Pittsburgh, and Tampa for the right to play the expansion Vegas Golden Knights in what looms as a very interesting Stanley Cup Finals.

But for me as a fan of hockey this is Ovechkin’s post season to define his Hall of Fame career in his 13th season in the NHL.

Ovechkin in the past has had a bit of Russell Westbrook in him as a hockey player. Great stats. Hall of Fame stats, but the individual unwillingness to change his game in the name of winning the sport’s biggest prize from a team standpoint.

But this Alex Ovechkin is different. This player does all the little dirty work like role players do. Only thing is … this Alex Ovechkin is the most skilled goal scorer in the game of hockey. But this Ovechkin finally came to the realization he wasn’t winning shit from a team standpoint unless he changed as the leader of the team.

Ovechkin has led and his mates have followed suit. Kind of like what Russell Westbrook needs to do as a basketball player.

This reminds a bit of when Dirk finally won his championship in 2011.

These Caps finally exorcised the demons of the Pittsburgh Penguins and are but four wins removed from winning the Stanley Cup.

This is not an incredibly talented team, but they play smart and play with some heart. They really do. They play like this means a great deal to them to show the hockey world this is what they’re capable of doing as a team.

Tom Wilson is a role player. He’s often out there on the ice with Ovechkin as the checking forward. The checking forward basically works his ass forechecking the other team into submission and hopefully creates some turnovers which turn into goals. But most of all guys like Tom Wilson create space and time for a star like Alex Ovechkin and even fight when their teams needs them to do so.

I finally did watch an NBA game the other night when Houston of all things found a way to win Game 4 in Oakland.

But the Stanley Cup Finals is what has my attention right now in that the players seem to care more.

Russell Westbrook… please watch the Stanley Cup Finals. What could it hurt?


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