2018-2019 Hockey Season

[@realAzhyaAryola]

https://russianmachineneverbreaks.com/2019/02/17/alex-ovechkin-on-future-caps-white-house-visit-i-would-ask-trump-when-hes-going-to-fix-the-relationship-with-russia/">https://russianmachineneverbreaks.com/2 ... th-russia/">https://russianmachineneverbreaks.com/2019/02/17/alex-ovechkin-on-future-caps-white-house-visit-i-would-ask-trump-when-hes-going-to-fix-the-relationship-with-russia/



https://nyoobserver.files.wordpress.com/2018/06/gettyimages-969551744.jpg?quality=80&w=635">



The Washington Capitals intend to visit the Trump White House to celebrate their Stanley Cup championship. The Caps and the Trump administration are discussing when, not if, that visit will occur.



"There's been some reach out from the White House and this will be a team decision, I've said that from Day One," Leonsis said on January 31. "They're in discussions right now but I think that they will have an answer to that soon. Again, it's our players and coaching staff that will decide and whatever they decide I think that the team would support that."



Alex Ovechkin and Evgeny Kuznetsov are two players eager to make the trip and they recently spoke about it with Sport-Express's Igor Rabiner.





"Of course I'll go there," Ovechkin said. "The opportunity to visit the White House is very pleasant."



Kuznetsov agreed he'd go too. "I always thought that sport is outside of politics," he said. "Everybody needs to take care of their own business. We are simple people, our business is to play hockey, not to declare how to invest the money or where and how to build a wall. And you have to respect the people. It's not like some kind of Vasya Pupkin [Russian version of Joe Schmo] is inviting you to come by to ChTZ and have a drink with him. I work in the country, and I have to respect its traditions. If I don't show up, it would be disrespectful."



Ovechkin had a wish list of what he'd like to accomplish at the White House.



"I would chat with [President Trump] for a little, take a photo." He began to smile. Then "ask when he's going to fix the relationship with Russia."



Popular in both America and Russia, Ovechkin was asked if there was something he could do to bring the two countries closer together. The Capitals captain has a friendly relationship with Russian president Vladimir Putin.



"I'm away from politics," Ovechkin said. "Politics is a separate topic. For me, the most important thing is world peace and health for all people."



Meanwhile, not all Capitals players are enthusiastic about going to the White House. Brett Connolly and Devante Smith-Pelly have pledged not to go. Brooks Orpik called the visit a "sensitive issue."



"The things that [Donald Trump] spews are straight-up racist and sexist," Smith-Pelly said. "I already have my mind made up."



"For me, I just don't think it's the right thing to do," Connolly said. "Everyone is entitled to their opinion. I think there'll be a few guys not going, too. Like I said, it has nothing to do with politics, it's about what's right and wrong, and we'll leave it at that."



Kuznetsov was supportive of teammates who choose not to attend.



"Every player has his own mentality, his own upbringing, and if somebody for whatever reason decides not to go, I will under no circumstances condemn them," Kuznetsov said. "It is their right."



But despite all this talk in the media about the visit happening soon, Kuznetsov said that behind the scenes, the planning is "so far – quiet."



"At the end of the last year, and the beginning of this year, there was a shutdown of the US government," Kuznetsov said. "Maybe that is why there still has been no [White House] visit."

[Anonymous]

Alexander Ovechkin the diplomat.

 

[@realAzhyaAryola]

https://media.giphy.com/media/l2Jhzb4qS1ySTZXX2/giphy.gif">

[@realAzhyaAryola]

Who is the oldest player in the NHL right now?



Matt Cullen, oldest NHL Player. "It's been mentioned a few times," Cullen said. "It gets around." Without Jagr in the League, Cullen is the only 41-year-old remaining in the NHL and is one of just two players who are playing at 40 years of age (Boston's Zdeno Chara will turn 41 later this season).



Matt Cullen of the Pittsburgh Penguins.



https://nhl.bamcontent.com/images/photos/281360726/1024x576/cut.jpg">

[Anonymous]

Who is the oldest player in the NHL right now?



Matt Cullen, oldest NHL Player. "It's been mentioned a few times," Cullen said. "It gets around." Without Jagr in the League, Cullen is the only 41-year-old remaining in the NHL and is one of just two players who are playing at 40 years of age (Boston's Zdeno Chara will turn 41 later this season).



Matt Cullen of the Pittsburgh Penguins.



https://nhl.bamcontent.com/images/photos/281360726/1024x576/cut.jpg">

I've heard of him.

[@realAzhyaAryola]

Rest In Peace, Vancouver Canucks.

[Anonymous]

Rest In Peace, Vancouver Canucks.

Are they officially out of the playoffs.

[@realAzhyaAryola]

They are nowhere near the playoffs, not in the recent years and I predict not for a long time.

[Anonymous]

They are nowhere near the playoffs, not in the recent years and I predict not for a long time.

That's too bad for Canucks fans.

[@realAzhyaAryola]

https://img.washingtonpost.com/rw/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2019/03/20/Sports/Images/3TJ2ZUSBBUI6TE3BGAP7WW6V4Y.jpg">https://img.washingtonpost.com/rw/2010- ... WW6V4Y.jpg">https://img.washingtonpost.com/rw/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2019/03/20/Sports/Images/3TJ2ZUSBBUI6TE3BGAP7WW6V4Y.jpg[/img]



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NEWARK — The Washington Capitals will join President Trump on Monday to celebrate their 2018 Stanley Cup victory at the White House, according to a team spokesman. The visit will come nearly 10 months after the team won its first championship in franchise history, and the event is expected to be more low-key than some in the past, though plans are still being finalized.



The Capitals will be the first Washington professional team to be honored at the White House since D.C. United in 1997. Visiting the White House has long been a tradition for many championship college and professional teams, but it has been mixed with some controversy during Trump's presidency. In the week after they won the Stanley Cup, most Capitals players said they would visit the White House. Russian captain Alex Ovechkin confirmed that he will attend after the team's 4-1 win at the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday night.



"We just found out today, so I don't know what to say," he said. "I'm just excited. It's nice."



Said Swedish center Nicklas Backstrom: "It will be fun. It's exciting, I think, and every time you get an invitation from the president and being at the White House, it's going to be a great experience. ... I feel like it's always up to whoever wants to go, but we got the invitation, and it's been a tradition, I think, for many years. We're not going to mix politics with sports. It's because we won last year; that's why we're there. Yeah, it'll be a cool experience, I think."



Forward Devante Smith-Pelly, who is black and Canadian, previously said he would not want to be part of a White House ceremony because "the things that [Trump] spews are straight-up racist and sexist," he told Canada's Postmedia.



Smith-Pelly was waived in February and sent down to the American Hockey League in a salary cap-clearing move so he is no longer with the Capitals, but all members of the 2018 team are invited and will have the option to attend or decline. Players and coaches new to the team this season will not be part of the visit.



Forward Brett Connolly joined Smith-Pelly last year in saying he would also skip a White House visit, and he stood by that decision when asked Tuesday night, referencing his support for Smith-Pelly.



"I respectfully decline," said Connolly, who is Canadian. "That's all I'll say about it. Everyone is entitled to their opinion. It's obviously a big deal, and it gains a lot of attention. I've been in full support of an old teammate that I'm really good friends with who I agreed with and a guy who will be back here, I'm sure, at the end of the year. That's all I'll say."



Trump canceled the 2018 Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles' visit to the White House after some players said they would skip the ceremony to protest the president and his rhetoric. When the Golden State Warriors won the 2017 NBA championship, multiple players, including superstar guard Stephen Curry, said they were not in favor of a visit to the White House. They were later disinvited by Trump. The Warriors won another title last year and, rather than visit the White House during their trip to Washington in late January, they met with former president Barack Obama. The team visited the National Museum of African American History and Culture during its trip to Washington the previous February.



The Pittsburgh Penguins visited the White House after both their 2016 and 2017 Stanley Cup wins. In 2012, then-Boston Bruins goaltender Tim Thomas, an American, skipped the team's White House ceremony, citing his political and ideological differences with the Obama administration. The Capitals went down to the wire with this visit, discussing dates earlier in the season to no avail because of scheduling conflicts.



Clemson, winner of the College Football Playoff, and North Dakota State, seven-time winner of the NCAA's Football Championship Subdivision, are the most recent teams to visit the White House, and both were served a fast-food spread.



"It's another chance to recognize the special run that we had last year," Capitals forward Tom Wilson said Tuesday. "Anytime the group gets together and gets to see the Cup and be around it, it is awesome. We'll take it in stride and see where it goes here and look forward to celebrating that one whenever we can."



Isabelle Khurshudyan covers the Washington Capitals. A University of South Carolina graduate, she has worked at The Washington Post since 2014, previously reporting on high school sports and local colleges.

[@realAzhyaAryola]

In the photo above, my oldest son and I were wearing our championship red t-shirts and we were somewhere to the left mixed with the crowd waving our hands and screaming.

[@realAzhyaAryola]

Tonight, the puck drops at 7 p.m. Eastern at Capital One Arena. The Caps host the Tampa Bay Lightning. This will be a tough match.



https://coverthespread365.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Lightning-vs-Capitals-Free-NHL-Pick.jpg">

[Anonymous]

In the photo above, my oldest son and I were wearing our championship red t-shirts and we were somewhere to the left mixed with the crowd waving our hands and screaming.

I hope to do that in Calgary with my son...if we are still living in Calgary.

[@realAzhyaAryola]

Good luck, Fash. I hope it happens too.

[@realAzhyaAryola]

I am so very happy today. My warriors with my president at the White House today.