Several Capitals make international history with Stanley Cup victory
The Washington Capitals' Stanley Cup championship had a global flavor.
In addition to taking home the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP and joining some elite company in the process, Alex Ovechkin also became the first Russian-born captain to win the Cup.
Nathan Walker is the first Australian-born player to hoist Lord Stanley's mug, after becoming the first player from Down Under to play in regular-season and postseason games, respectively, earlier in the campaign.
Then there was Lars Eller, who made some history of his own after scoring the most important goal of the Capitals' season.
Lars Eller, with a laugh, after having scored the #StanleyCup-winning goal and becoming Denmark's first-ever Cup champ: "It can only go downhill from here!" pic.twitter.com/8GQj0Jh4Tg
— Dave Stubbs (@Dave_Stubbs) June 8, 2018
Capitals backup goaltender Philipp Grubauer, who started Washington's first two playoff games this year, is the fourth German player to win the Cup, joining Tom Kuhnhackl, Dennis Seidenberg, and Uwe Krupp. It's the third straight year a German-born player has won it, after Kuhnhackl's back-to-back titles with the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Ovechkin became the third non-North American player to captain his team to the Cup, joining Nicklas Lidstrom and Zdeno Chara, and he's the fifth non-Canadian, joining Lidstrom, Chara, and U.S.-born players Derian Hatcher and Dustin Brown.