The PHT Stanley Cup tracker will keep tabs on how the Washington Capitals spend their summer celebrating
The Stanley Cup got a bit of a break last week after working its way through the World Cup, sampling a mug full of caviar and then taking a nice tour around the Czech Republic.
One would hope that the Cup got a chance to have a nice bath and maybe a massage.
The few days it did have off allowed it to travel back to North America, specifically The North Star State where it was given a hero’s welcome.
Lord Stanley’s first visit fresh off its European Tour was to Virginia, Minn., home of Matt Niskanen.
Niskanen was promptly handed the key to the city.
🔑 to the city for the Niscannon! #ALLCAPS pic.twitter.com/h9o5LwGFj6
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) July 22, 2018
The Cup doesn’t make it around those parts too often, so it wasn’t a surprise to see the long lines waiting to get a glimpse of hockey’s holy grail.
If you’re not already in line to come see Matt Niskanen and the @StanleyCup in Virginia, it might be too late. The line is currently wrapped around the parking lot, and still growing. pic.twitter.com/Q5A8l5nIRv
— Matt Halverson (@MHalverson6) July 22, 2018
From its day with Niskanen, the Cup then made its way north to the town of Warroad, which straddles the U.S.-Canadian border and is the hometown of T.J. Oshie.
Oshie isn’t the first NHLer from the minute town of 1,800 people. Warroad has produced quite a few stars across the sporting world over the years.
But Oshie is the first to bring the Cup to the northern Minnesota locale, and he did so in style on Tuesday.
Wheels: FDR’s presidential car from 1933 #ALLCAPS #StanleyCup pic.twitter.com/DRXdajaK1v
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) July 24, 2018
Speaking of famous people from Warroad, 14 years ago Oshie and Olympic gold medalist Gigi Marvin in women’s hockey were crowned the king and queen at the 2005 Warroad Frost Festival.
They each showed off some different hardware 14 years later on Tuesday.
No Cup homecoming would be complete without a Cup stand, ie. someone drinking a large amount of alcohol out of it from an awkward position.
Oshie kept the tradition going, helping a couple fellow rookie teammates get in on the action.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BlpHjrFHNV5/?taken-by=rmnb_blog
Todd Reirden, the team’s newly minted head coach following the departure of Barry Trotz, will have his day with the Cup on Thursday before the mug heads north of the 49th parallel into Canada.
Trotz will still get his day with the Cup, of course, bringing it to Dauphin, Manitoba on Aug. 22. But first, the Cup will head to Winnipeg and the home of Madison Bowey this Saturday. From there it will make stops in Ontario for Todd Wilson and Devante Smith-Pelly before heading back out to Europe for a couple weeks, including stops in Sweden, Russia and Germany.
A full list of dates and where the Cup will be on them can be found here.
Scott Billeck is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @scottbilleck
2005 Warroad Frosty Festival king and queen @TJOshie77 @GigiMarvin pic.twitter.com/q7WL5DQxes
— Brad Elliott Schlossman (@SchlossmanGF) July 24, 2018