from Isabelle Khurshudyan of the Washington Post,

The Washington Capitals will join President Trump on Monday to celebrate their 2018 Stanley Cup victory at the White House, according to a team spokesman. The visit will come nearly 10 months after the team won its first championship in franchise history, and the event is expected to be more low-key than some in the past, though plans are still being finalized.

...Russian captain Alex Ovechkin confirmed that he will attend after the team’s 4-1 win at the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday night.

“We just found out today, so I don’t know what to say," he said. “I’m just excited. It’s nice.”

Said Swedish center Nicklas Backstrom: “It will be fun. It’s exciting, I think, and every time you get an invitation from the president and being at the White House, it’s going to be a great experience. ... I feel like it’s always up to whoever wants to go, but we got the invitation, and it’s been a tradition, I think, for many years. We’re not going to mix politics with sports. It’s because we won last year; that’s why we’re there. Yeah, it’ll be a cool experience, I think.”

read on

...