Capitals, Ovechkin know repeating as Stanley Cup champions won't be easy
Turn page on last season, focus on keeping winning feeling
For Washington Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin, that moment came July 8 when he placed the Cup back in its crate at the end of his second day with it in Moscow.
"You have the Cup and then you just let it go, and you think about doing it next year," Ovechkin said. "Obviously, that was probably your best moment in hockey, but you still think, 'We don't want to lose it.'"
So although the Capitals understand the significance of raising their first Cup banner before their season opener against the Boston Bruins at Capital One Arena on Wednesday (7:30 p.m. ET; NBCSN, TVAS), they're already focused on what they need to get another one.
They know it won't be easy.
Their memories of past Stanley Cup Playoff disappointments -- not advancing beyond the second round between 1998 and 2018 -- are fresh enough for them to understand that a lot will have to go their way to repeat. But after finally getting over the hump last season, the ghosts who haunted them for so long have given way to a confidence that they know what it takes to win now.
"I really feel like how we ended the season, the way we played, we have to play the same game," center Evgeny Kuznetsov said. "If we play the same game, it's not going to be easy to play against us. That should be our mentality. I don't think we have to focus on, 'We have to win back-to-back.'"
Alex Ovechkin comes in at No. 5 on the list
Washington doesn't have to look back far for proof that it's possible. The Pittsburgh Penguins won the Cup in 2016 and 2017, going through the Capitals in the Eastern Conference Second Round each time.
After getting a little revenge by ending the Penguins' three-peat dreams in the second round last season, the Capitals appreciate more what their rival accomplished.
Washington forward Tom Wilson acknowledged that on the first day of training camp when he said, "I don't know why I'm saying this, but you respect a team like Pittsburgh when you see a team repeat like that. It's so hard to win, let alone to do it twice."
Those reluctant feelings of admiration might disappear once the season begins, particularly when the Capitals visit Pittsburgh on Thursday, but the appreciation for what the Penguins did could serve as motivation.
The last team to repeat before Pittsburgh was the Detroit Red Wings in 1997 and 1998.
"It's a huge accomplishment for them to win it back to back," center Nicklas Backstrom said. "We're capable to doing it. When you've done it once, you want to do it again. You want to have that same feeling again because it's a feeling you can't get enough of."
That feeling helped Washington keep most of its roster intact. Defenseman John Carlson passed on an opportunity to become an unrestricted free agent and was re-signed to an eight-year, $64 million contract. Defenseman Michal Kempny (four-year, $10 million contract) and forward Devante Smith-Pelly (one-year, $1 million contract) also opted to stay.
The only players not returning from Washington's lineup for its clinching win against the Vegas Golden Knights in Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final are fourth-line center Jay Beagle (signed with Vancouver Canucks) and backup goaltender Philipp Grubauer (traded to Colorado Avalanche).
"It wasn't calculated, but I think we just had similar mindsets on wanting to be back," Carlson said. "It's no shock to see other people feel the same way in terms of how close we all are. … We certainly had a lot of fun together and wanting to do it again with that same group is a goal of ours."
Washington's biggest change is the coach.
Todd Reirden, an assistant and associate the past four seasons with the Capitals, replaces Barry Trotz, who resigned following a contract dispute and was hired by the New York Islanders.
Reirden, 47, believes the continuity with the roster will make his transition easier and aid the bid to repeat.
"They're all players that I know and I've worked with," Reirden said. "So it's certainly something I'm fortunate that I'm in this situation having been here the last four years and knowing how we've had success and some of the heartache we've gone through, too."
To prepare for coaching a defending champion and trying to avoid the dreaded Cup hangover, Reirden said he researched how other teams handled it in the NHL and other sports and sought advice from other coaches. Reirden wouldn't reveal which coaches he spoke with other than his good friend, Dan Bylsma, who coached the Penguins when they won the Cup in 2009.
Reirden was coach of the Penguins' American Hockey League team in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton at the time.
"I don't need to give you what we've talked about, but it's a hard a thing to do," said Bylsma, now a Detroit Red Wings assistant. "It's a hard thing to think about coming back and there will be some challenges for the Capitals and for Todd, but it's also an opportunity that no other team has this year."
The lone Capitals player who has been through this before is defenseman Brooks Orpik, who won the Cup with the Penguins in 2009. Pittsburgh went 47-28-7 the following season but was eliminated by the Montreal Canadiens in the second round of the playoffs.
Orpik believes the Cup hangover is more about focus than fatigue from the long grind of the playoffs from the previous season.
"Whoever the Stanley Cup champion is you always kind of mark them off on your schedule, so you're getting every team's best game," Oprik said. "If you're not mentally and physically 100 percent prepared every night, you get exposed pretty quickly. I think that's the most accurate thing I can tell people. … But don't' let anybody else tell you how tired you're supposed to be from the past year because that's not very accurate."
Like with any season, there will be times when the players need rest and others when they need to be pushed. But they don't believe finding the hunger to win again will be an issue.
"We've got a lot of our team back and we have a standard around here that most guys were a part of," forward T.J. Oshie said. "That's the reason that I think back-to-back is realistic. I don't think it's going to be easy. I think it will probably be harder than the first one because of the short summer. But in my eyes, we have all the pieces still and I'm excited to get there."
