After winning the Stanley Cup, this summer's been a nonstop party for the Washington Capitals. But with practice beginning Friday, it's officially time to get back to work. See photos.
WASHINGTON — Believe it or not, the first practices for the 2018-19 NHL season begin Friday. Thus officially marks the end of the Summer of Ovi, the wildest extended championship celebration in recent, or even extended memory.
But before we drop the puck for another season, let’s take a walk down memory lane, starting with Game 5, and look at everything that’s happened since the Caps won the Cup.
June 7: Caps win Game 5, 4-3, win Stanley CupIn year three of a two-year window, Alex Ovechkin and the Caps finally won it all. They exorcised their Pittsburgh demons, their closeout game demons, their 3-1 series lead demons. They were the champions.
As the drama played out in Las Vegas, tens of thousands of fans went nuts both inside and in the packed streets around Capital One Arena long into the night.
(AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
AP Photo/Alex Brandon
Imagine winning a #StanleyCup. For this #ALLCAPS team. After all these years. Then stepping out, with all that adrenaline, into the Las Vegas night
June 15: Georgetown Hospital visit
The Cup made a visit, along with Ovechkin, to the pediatric cancer unit at Georgetown University Hospital. After all — the legendary trophy is more than just a drinking vessel.
(WTOP/Mike Murillo)
WTOP/Mike Murillo
June 18: Trotz steps downHe rode a horse. He shot a gun. But in a rare sobering moment this offseason, Barry Trotz stepped down as head coach. Trotz wanted to negotiate a better deal than the automatic extension that kicked in when he won the Cup. Unable to come to a new agreement, he signed with Islanders three days later.
(AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, File)
AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, File
June 23: Caps trade Grubauer, Orpik
More reality of the offseason kicked in with the trade of Philipp Grubauer and Brooks Orpik to the Colorado Avalanche. But the Caps were able to get Orpik back after his contract was bought out, bringing him back on a new one-year deal.
(AP Photo/Nick Wass)
June 29: Reirden introduced as head coach
Washington didn’t travel far in the search for a new head coach, promoting former assistant Todd Reirden to the head spot. He’s certainly a familiar face, having been with the team since 2014.
(AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
AP Photo/Alex Brandon
June 30: Fanfest overflows
Fans waited for hours in the summer sun for their own chance for a photo with the Cup. Unfortunately, unprecedented turnout meant some still didn’t get their opportunity.
(WTOP/Melissa Howell)
WTOP/Melissa Howell
July 4: Carlson raises money for cancer
Fresh off his new deal, Carlson used his day with the Cup to help raise $100,000 to fight childhood cancer in Bethesda, where he lives.
(WTOP/Megan Cloherty)
WTOP/Megan Cloherty
July 7: Ovechkin shows off the Stanley Cup to the World Cup
Washington’s Stanley Cup win couldn’t have come at a better time for Ovechkin, who got the chance to bring the hardware back to his native Russia just weeks later as the World Cup kicked off.
(AP Photo/Dmitry Serebryakov)
AP Photo/Dmitry Serebryakov
July 27: Caps re-sign Tom Wilson
With the re-signing of Wilson, Washington kept the team as intact as it possibly could given salary cap constraints moving into next season.
(AP Photo/John Locher, File)
August 24: Chandler Stephenson emotional Cup visit
While many of the days with the Cup were spent living it up this summer, forward Chandler Stephenson spent his day with the trophy in the 6,000-person town of Humboldt, Saskatchewan, where 16 people, including 10 junior hockey players, died in a bus crash in April.
(Kayle Neis/The Canadian Press via AP)
Kayle Neis/The Canadian Press via AP
September 14: Caps hold first practice
Whoa, that was quick. And while we may never really forget the Cup celebrations of 2018, hockey’s back already and the Summer of the Caps is officially over. Long live the Summer of the Caps.
(AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
спасибо тебе моя девочка за самый прекрасный день в жизни !!!@nastyashubskaya 
