On Thursday, June 7, 2018, The Washington Capitals won their first Stanley Cup ever. They defeated the Vegas Golden Knights in five games. Longtime Captain Alex Ovechkin won his first ever Stanley Cup and the Conn Smythe Trophy for MVP during the playoffs. His Stanley Cup submits his legacy as an all time great. The capitals have had playoff failure after playoff failure throughout Ovechkin's career with the Capitals. He had never made it past the second round until this year with the Capitals when they won the Stanley Cup. The emotion on Ovechkin's face when he lifted that cup for the first time was indescribable. Ovechkin overcame all of his playoff failures with the Capitals and overcame all odds and won his first ever Stanley Cup.
He was one of multiple players on that team that had won their first ever Stanley Cup. T.J. Oshie was also one of those players who won their first championship. This was very important to him, along with his dad, Tim, who was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease in 2012.
"My dad, he doesn't remember a lot of stuff these days," Oshie said. "He remembers enough but I'll tell you what. He's here tonight, I don't know where he's at but this one will stick with him forever. You can guarantee that."
Oshie opened up about his dad in a postgame interview after the final game of the Stanley Cup Final. Those type of moments for players usually bring out moments where they talk about their family or personal life. It's moments like this that bring out the emotions during monumental achievements like winning the Stanley Cup.
The Golden State Warriors won their third NBA Championship in four years. In 2015, they won in their first season under Steve Kerr. The following season they went 73-9, an NBA record for wins in a regular season, and ended up losing in seven games to the Cleveland Cavaliers in the NBA Finals. The following season, they added a top two player in the world, Kevin Durant. and they ended up winning the NBA Championship in 2017 and 2018.
After watching these guys win their third championship, they did not seem excited like the Capitals were. Most of them seemed like they just expected to be there. There was no significant meaning for most of these players after winning an NBA championship.
You do not see this in hockey, where guys just leave to join the best team because they cannot win a championship. There was no significance for the Warriors after winning the NBA championship this year. The only thing they did was not screw up.
The amount of significance for Stanley Cups is a lot more then NBA Championships because you are held to that standard of winning championships, otherwise you are a disappointment. In hockey, there is no narrative of who is the greatest of all time or the G.O.A.T.
The point is, NBA championship have gone down in significance and in how much winning a championship actually means because people challenge the legitimacy of that championship, like they do with both of Kevin Durant's Championships. People would never think about doing that with players winning Stanley Cups.
