They had previously eliminated the Columbus Blue Jackets and their arch-rivals, the Pittsburgh Penguins, with Alexander Ovechkin finally getting one over on Sidney Crosby.
The Caps will play the Vegas Golden Knights, a 1st-year expansion team, in the Finals. This will be the 1st Stanley Cup Finals guaranteed to have a 1st-time winner since 2007, when the Anaheim Ducks beat the Ottawa Senators. If you count the current Senators (founded 1992) as an extension of the old Senators (1894-1934), then the last such Finals was 1999, when the Dallas Stars (who were 0-2 in Finals as the Minnesota North Stars) beat the Buffalo Sabres.
This is the Caps' 43rd season of play -- their 44th, if you count the canceled 2004-05 season. And it's only their 2nd trip to the Finals. The 1st was in 1998, and they got swept by the Detroit Red Wings, so they're looking for not just their 1st Stanley Cup, but their 1st win in a Stanley Cup Finals game.
But not since Joe Juneau's overtime goal won Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals over the Sabres in Buffalo on June 4, 1998 have the Caps reached the Finals. In fact, no Washington team has: The Redskins haven't played in a Finals since Super Bowl XXVI in 1992, the Wizards since they were the Washington Bullets in 1979, and the Nationals never have, the last Washington team to reach a World Series being the Senators in 1933.
You could, of course, count D.C. United and their 4 MLS Cup wins, the most recent in 2004. But most people won't. So it's been 20 years since a team representing the Nation's Capital has been to a Finals.
June 4, 1998. Just short of twenty years. How long has that been?
*
The Caps won 7 of their 1st 8 regular-season games, but followed that with a 0-4-6 stretch. By the time they moved from the Capital Centre in Landover, Maryland, just outside the Capital Beltway, to what's now named the Capital One Arena in downtown Washington in December, they had a 1-5-4 stretch. In January, they went on an 8-1-2 run, but followed that with 0-7-1. Then 6-1. They closed the season 8-2-1, but only finished 3rd in the NHL's Atlantic Division, and had the 4th seed in the Eastern Conference Playoffs.
Stars included centers Adam Oates, Joe Juneau and Dale Hunter; left wings Craig Berube, Kelly Miller, Brian Bellows, Steve Konowalchuk and the former Edmonton Oiler and New York Ranger star Esa Tikkanen; right wings Peter Bondra, Richard Zednik; defensemen Phil Housley, Sergei Gonchar, Calle Johansson, Mark Tinordi and Sylvain Cote; and the goaltending tandem of rising star Olaf "Olie the Goalie" Kolzig and the former Oilers star Bill Ranford.
The Dallas Stars, the Tampa Bay Lightning, the Carolina Hurricanes, the Anaheim Ducks, the Los Angeles Kings and, yes, the Capitals had not yet won the Stanley Cup. The Chicago Blackhawks had not won the Stanley Cup since 1961, the Boston Bruins since 1972.
The Stars (since moving from being the Minnesota North Stars), the 'Canes, the Ducks, the Lightning, the new version of the Ottawa Senators, the San Jose Sharks, the Nashville Predators and the Vegas Golden Knights. had not yet appeared in the Stanley Cup Finals. And the Preadtors, the Golden Knights, the new Winnipeg Jets (who started as the Atlanta Thrashers), the Minnesota Wild and the Columbus Blue Jackets did not yet exist.
All of those facts have since changed.
The aforementioned Predators, Kings, 'Canes, Jackets, Wild, Stars, Jets and Oilers have moved into new arenas. So have the Florida Panthers, the Toronto Maple Leafs, the Colorado Avalanche, Arizona Coyotes, the Pittsburgh Penguins, the Detroit Red Wings, and, here in the New York Tri-State Area, the New Jersey Devils and the New York Islanders.
Syl Apps, Maurice Richard, Harold "Mush" March of the 1934 and 1938 Stanley Cup Champion Blackhawks, and Murray Murdoch of the 1928 and 1933 Stanley Cup Champion Rangers were still alive. Henrik Lundqvist, Andy Greene and Rick Nash were in high school. Marc-Andre Fleury was 13 years old; Alexander Ovechkin, Jonathan Quick and Cory Schneider were 12; Evgeni Malkin and T.J. Oshie were 11; Sidney Crosby, Carey Price, Claude Giroux, Jonathan Toews and Brad Marchand were 10; Sergei Bobrovsky, Patrick Kane, P.K. Subban and Ryan McDonagh were 9; Braden Holtby and Steven Stamkos were 8; John Tavares was 7; Aretemi Panarin and Taylor Hall were 6; Connor McDavid was 1; Auston Matthews was 6 months old; and Nico Hischier wasn't born yet.
Current Devils head coach John Hynes was an assistant coach at Boston University. Doug Weight of the Islanders was playing for the Edmonton Oilers. David Quinn, just hired by the Rangers, was an assistant coach at the University of Nebraska at Omaha.
Pat Shurmur of the Giants was an assistant coach at Stanford University. Todd Bowles of the Jets was the defensive coordinator at Grambling State University. David Fizdale, newly hired by the Knicks, was an assistant coach at the University of San Diego. Aaron Boone of the Yankees was playing for the Cincinnati Reds. Jesse Marsch of the Red Bulls was playing for the Chicago Fire, an expansion team that went on to win the MLS Cup -- Eat your hearts out, Vegas Golden Knights. Mickey Callaway of the Mets was in the Tampa Bay Devil Rays' minor-league system. Kenny Atkinson of the Nets was playing in Germany's basketball league. And Patrick Vieira of NYCFC had just helped London's Arsenal FC win the Premier League and FA Cup "Double."
The Caps fell to the Red Wings, the defending Stanley Cup Champions. The titleholders in the other sports were the Florida Marlins, the Denver Broncos and the Chicago Bulls. Evander Holyfield was recognized as Heavyweight Champion of the World by the WBA and the IBF, Lennox Lewis by the WBC.
The Olympics have since been held in America, Canada, Japan, Australia, Greece, Italy, China, Britain, Russia and Brazil. The World Cup has since been held in France, Japan, Korea, Germany, South Africa, Brazil and Russia.
The idea that corporations were people, and entitled to the rights thereof, was ridiculous -- but then, so was the idea that people of the same gender could marry, and get all the rights and protections thereof.
The President of the United States was Bill Clinton, and he was under an impeachment inquiry for things far less serious than Donald Trump is under investigation for now. Trump was then married to his 2nd wife, Marla Maples. Barack Obama was a State Senator in Illinois. George W. Bush was running for re-election as Governor of Texas. Former Presidents Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush, their wives, and the widow of Lyndon B. Johnson were all still alive.
Marion Barry, defying his haters and all logic, was once again Mayor of the District of Columbia. The Governor of the State of New York was George Pataki. The Mayor of the City of New York was Rudy Giuliani. The Governor of New Jersey was Christine Todd Whitman. As for the current holders of those posts: Muriel Bowser was in graduate school, Andrew Cuomo as U.S. Secretary of Housing & Urban Development, Bill de Blasio was one of his aides, and Phil Murphy was running the Asia office of Goldman Sachs out of Hong Kong.
There were still living veterans of World War I, the Bolshevik Reovlution, the Balkan Wars of 1912-13, and the Mexican Revolution of 1910-20. There were still survivors of the 1900 Galveston Hurricane, the 1904 General Slocum fire, the 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire, and the sinkings of the Titanic and the Lusitania.
The holder of the Nobel Peace Prize was Jody Williams, for her work to ban landmines. The Pope was John Paul II. Pope Francis, the current Pontiff, Jorge Mario Bergoglio, had just been named Archbishop of Buenos Aires.
The Prime Minister of Canada was Jean Chrétien, and of Britain Tony Blair. The monarch of each was Queen Elizabeth II -- that hasn't changed. There have since been 4 Presidents, 4 Prime Minister of Britain, and 3 Popes.
Major novels of 1998 included Blood Work by Michael Connelly, About a Boy by Nick Hornby, and Giles Foden's dramatization of Uganda's dictator Idi Amin, then still alive, The Last King of Scotland. All would be made into major motion pictures. Alexander McCall Smith's The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency would become a TV series. Stephen King published Bag of Bones, J.K. Rowling Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, and George R.R. Martin A Clash of Kings.
No one had yet heard of Ash Ketchum, Robert Langdon, Master Chief, Rick Grimes, Wynonna Earp, Lisbeth Salander, Bella Swan or Katniss Everdeen.
Notable films of the Spring of 1998 included City of Angels, Sliding Doors, Deep Impact, Bulworth, The Horse Whisperer, A Perfect Murder, The Truman Show, Can't Hardly Wait, a terrible new version of Godzilla set in New York, a film version of Hunter Thompson's Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas that may have been too weird even for the novel on which it was based, Spike Lee's basketball film He Got Game, and a non-musical version of Victor Hugo's Les Misérables.
The idea that corporations were people, and entitled to the rights thereof, was ridiculous -- but then, so was the idea that people of the same gender could marry, and get all the rights and protections thereof.
The President of the United States was Bill Clinton, and he was under an impeachment inquiry for things far less serious than Donald Trump is under investigation for now. Trump was then married to his 2nd wife, Marla Maples. Barack Obama was a State Senator in Illinois. George W. Bush was running for re-election as Governor of Texas. Former Presidents Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush, their wives, and the widow of Lyndon B. Johnson were all still alive.
Marion Barry, defying his haters and all logic, was once again Mayor of the District of Columbia. The Governor of the State of New York was George Pataki. The Mayor of the City of New York was Rudy Giuliani. The Governor of New Jersey was Christine Todd Whitman. As for the current holders of those posts: Muriel Bowser was in graduate school, Andrew Cuomo as U.S. Secretary of Housing & Urban Development, Bill de Blasio was one of his aides, and Phil Murphy was running the Asia office of Goldman Sachs out of Hong Kong.
There were still living veterans of World War I, the Bolshevik Reovlution, the Balkan Wars of 1912-13, and the Mexican Revolution of 1910-20. There were still survivors of the 1900 Galveston Hurricane, the 1904 General Slocum fire, the 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire, and the sinkings of the Titanic and the Lusitania.
The holder of the Nobel Peace Prize was Jody Williams, for her work to ban landmines. The Pope was John Paul II. Pope Francis, the current Pontiff, Jorge Mario Bergoglio, had just been named Archbishop of Buenos Aires.
The Prime Minister of Canada was Jean Chrétien, and of Britain Tony Blair. The monarch of each was Queen Elizabeth II -- that hasn't changed. There have since been 4 Presidents, 4 Prime Minister of Britain, and 3 Popes.
Major novels of 1998 included Blood Work by Michael Connelly, About a Boy by Nick Hornby, and Giles Foden's dramatization of Uganda's dictator Idi Amin, then still alive, The Last King of Scotland. All would be made into major motion pictures. Alexander McCall Smith's The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency would become a TV series. Stephen King published Bag of Bones, J.K. Rowling Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, and George R.R. Martin A Clash of Kings.
No one had yet heard of Ash Ketchum, Robert Langdon, Master Chief, Rick Grimes, Wynonna Earp, Lisbeth Salander, Bella Swan or Katniss Everdeen.
Notable films of the Spring of 1998 included City of Angels, Sliding Doors, Deep Impact, Bulworth, The Horse Whisperer, A Perfect Murder, The Truman Show, Can't Hardly Wait, a terrible new version of Godzilla set in New York, a film version of Hunter Thompson's Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas that may have been too weird even for the novel on which it was based, Spike Lee's basketball film He Got Game, and a non-musical version of Victor Hugo's Les Misérables.
George Lucas was working on Star Wars, Episode I: The Phantom Menace. If anyone told him, "Wait a minute... " about any part of it, he didn't listen. Steven Spielberg was about to release Saving Private Ryan. The Next Generation cast was filming Star Trek: Insurrection. Pierce Brosnan was playing James Bond, Dean Cain had just wrapped up playing Superman, and George Clooney (with help from director Joel Schumacher) had nearly ruined Batman, and Paul McGann's one-shot deal was the only appearance of The Doctor since 1989.
Dawson's Creek, Two Guys and a Girl, and Celebrity Deathmatch had recently premiered. Sex and the City soon would. Teletubbies had just been imported from Britain to the U.S. -- their revenge for Yorktown 1781 and New Orleans 1815 complete. Seinfeld, Murphy Brown, Living Single, The Secret World of Alex Mack, Grace Under Fire, Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman and The Larry Sanders Show had all recently aired their last first-run episodes. New York Undercover, Cybill, Family Matters and Ellen soon would. (Yep, she's canceled.)
No one had yet heard of Carrie Bradshaw, Tony Soprano, Jed Bartlet, Jack Bauer, Omar Little, Leroy Jethro Gibbs, Michael Bluth, Michael Scott, Don Draper, Walter White, Jax Teller, Richard Castle, Leslie Knope, Sarah Manning or Jane "Eleven" Hopper.
The Number 1 song in the country was "The Boy Is Mine," an duet by Brandy Norwood and Monica Arnold, both of whom went by only their first names. Geri Halliwell (Ginger Spice) quit the Spice Girls. George Michael got arrested on what would once have been quaintly referred to in public as "a morals charge." The Red Hot Chili Peppers fired Dave Navarro.
Frank Sinatra had recently died. So had Linda McCartney, wife of ex-Beatle Paul. Bob Dylan was touring in support of his album Time Out of Mind, and Michael Jackson had just become the father of Paris Jackson.
Inflation was such that what $1.00 bought then, $1.54 would buy now. A U.S. postage stamp cost 32 cents, and a New York Subway ride $1.50. The average price of a gallon of gas was $1.12, a cup of coffee $1.86, a McDonald's meal (Big Mac, fries, shake) $5.69, a movie ticket $4.58, a new car $20,238, and a new house $178,800. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed that day at 8,870.55.
The tallest building in the world was the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Mobile phones had become common, but they didn't yet have Internet connections. There was no Wikipedia, no Skype, no MySpace, no Facebook, no YouTube, no Twitter, no Tumblr, no Pinterest, no Instagram. There was no iPod, no iPhone, no iPad. The Nintendo PlayStation was the leading home video game system. There were birth control pills, and Viagra was about to debut.
In the Spring of 1998, in events unconnected to sports or the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal, the Good Friday Agreement ended the 30-year "Troubles" between Great Britain and the Catholic people of Northern Ireland. India and Pakistan both "joined the club," testing nuclear bombs. The world's longest suspension bridge opened, the Akashi Kaikyō Bridge, linking the Japanese home islands of Honshu and Shikoku. The first euro coins were minted in Pessac, France. There were riots in Indonesia, forcing out dictator Suharto. A military coup in the African nation of Guinea-Bissau began an 11-month civil war. An earthquake killed 5,000 people in Afghanistan, and a train derailment 101 people in Eschede, the Netherlands.
Justin Fashanu, the 1st British soccer player to come out, hanged himself rather than face molestation charges in America. Comedian Phil Hartman was shot and killed by his wife, who then killed herself. And James Byrd Jr. was beaten and dragged to death by 3 white men in Texas. His name, and that of Matthew Shepard, a gay college student murdered in Wyoming later in the year, would go on federal hate crime legislation passed the next year.
Pol Pot, and Barry Goldwater, and Tammy Wynette died. On the very day in question, so did Shirley Povich, who had covered baseball for The Washington Post since 1924. Elle Fanning, and Patrik Laine, and Markelle Fultz were born.
June 4, 1998. The Washington Capitals clinched a berth in the Stanley Cup Finals. No team representing Washington, D.C. had done so since. Until now, the Capitals again.
Can they finish the job this time, and win the Stanley Cup? Stay tuned.
Dawson's Creek, Two Guys and a Girl, and Celebrity Deathmatch had recently premiered. Sex and the City soon would. Teletubbies had just been imported from Britain to the U.S. -- their revenge for Yorktown 1781 and New Orleans 1815 complete. Seinfeld, Murphy Brown, Living Single, The Secret World of Alex Mack, Grace Under Fire, Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman and The Larry Sanders Show had all recently aired their last first-run episodes. New York Undercover, Cybill, Family Matters and Ellen soon would. (Yep, she's canceled.)
No one had yet heard of Carrie Bradshaw, Tony Soprano, Jed Bartlet, Jack Bauer, Omar Little, Leroy Jethro Gibbs, Michael Bluth, Michael Scott, Don Draper, Walter White, Jax Teller, Richard Castle, Leslie Knope, Sarah Manning or Jane "Eleven" Hopper.
The Number 1 song in the country was "The Boy Is Mine," an duet by Brandy Norwood and Monica Arnold, both of whom went by only their first names. Geri Halliwell (Ginger Spice) quit the Spice Girls. George Michael got arrested on what would once have been quaintly referred to in public as "a morals charge." The Red Hot Chili Peppers fired Dave Navarro.
Frank Sinatra had recently died. So had Linda McCartney, wife of ex-Beatle Paul. Bob Dylan was touring in support of his album Time Out of Mind, and Michael Jackson had just become the father of Paris Jackson.
Inflation was such that what $1.00 bought then, $1.54 would buy now. A U.S. postage stamp cost 32 cents, and a New York Subway ride $1.50. The average price of a gallon of gas was $1.12, a cup of coffee $1.86, a McDonald's meal (Big Mac, fries, shake) $5.69, a movie ticket $4.58, a new car $20,238, and a new house $178,800. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed that day at 8,870.55.
The tallest building in the world was the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Mobile phones had become common, but they didn't yet have Internet connections. There was no Wikipedia, no Skype, no MySpace, no Facebook, no YouTube, no Twitter, no Tumblr, no Pinterest, no Instagram. There was no iPod, no iPhone, no iPad. The Nintendo PlayStation was the leading home video game system. There were birth control pills, and Viagra was about to debut.
In the Spring of 1998, in events unconnected to sports or the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal, the Good Friday Agreement ended the 30-year "Troubles" between Great Britain and the Catholic people of Northern Ireland. India and Pakistan both "joined the club," testing nuclear bombs. The world's longest suspension bridge opened, the Akashi Kaikyō Bridge, linking the Japanese home islands of Honshu and Shikoku. The first euro coins were minted in Pessac, France. There were riots in Indonesia, forcing out dictator Suharto. A military coup in the African nation of Guinea-Bissau began an 11-month civil war. An earthquake killed 5,000 people in Afghanistan, and a train derailment 101 people in Eschede, the Netherlands.
Justin Fashanu, the 1st British soccer player to come out, hanged himself rather than face molestation charges in America. Comedian Phil Hartman was shot and killed by his wife, who then killed herself. And James Byrd Jr. was beaten and dragged to death by 3 white men in Texas. His name, and that of Matthew Shepard, a gay college student murdered in Wyoming later in the year, would go on federal hate crime legislation passed the next year.
Pol Pot, and Barry Goldwater, and Tammy Wynette died. On the very day in question, so did Shirley Povich, who had covered baseball for The Washington Post since 1924. Elle Fanning, and Patrik Laine, and Markelle Fultz were born.
June 4, 1998. The Washington Capitals clinched a berth in the Stanley Cup Finals. No team representing Washington, D.C. had done so since. Until now, the Capitals again.
Can they finish the job this time, and win the Stanley Cup? Stay tuned.
No comments:
Post a Comment