Hello fellow Capitals fans, and welcome to the second installment of NoVa CAPtures! The fun, weekly article that showcases the amazing content we receive from you, the fans! In the second installment of this young feature, NoVa Caps’ Chris Laroche explains how this will work, as well as present some of the submissions sent in for this week’s features.

Over the course of the season, thousands of fans show us how they Rock the Red in various ways, and we love all your submissions! This is where we will showcase your love for the Washington Capitals, as well as our own. If you would like to be featured in a future installment of NoVa CAPtures, send your content to the Community Section of our Facebook page, or by inboxing them to us on Instagram or Twitter (@nova_caps). Alternatively, if your content is used and you would like us to remove it, please message any of our social media accounts and we’ll take your post(s) down accordingly.

Please also note that submissions private messaged to our Facebook page run the risk of not being seen in time to make it to NoVa CAPtures. Please upload them directly to our page.

As I begin to write this and log the first few entries for this week’s installment, it is Wednesday night. Tomorrow the Caps will face Vegas in Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Finals series in Sin City and will be looking to close out the series and hoist their first Stanley Cup. There’s a sense of nervous excitement in the air as the game draws ever nearer. We’re not done yet, and I hope the boys remember that come puck drop. But until then, let’s take a look at come early celebrations Caps fans are having!

What a great way to get things started this week! Here we have an absolutely amazing Capitals birthday cake, complete with a hockey puck ripping out of the top of the cake. Now, I’ve been to a bachelor party or two in my time, so I’m used to things I’m not expecting jumping out of cakes, but that puck broke through the ice-icing so fast, it’d take your teeth out! Still though, it looks delicious. My compliments to whoever made this masterpiece!

Submitted by: Nando Lay

I imagine this is what the entire Capitals locker room looks like right about now if you’re a Golden Knights fan. After all, the expansion team has been slaughtered thus far in the series. Ovechkin is the corner stone of our team, and Freddy Kruger is the corner stone of horror movies, with Holtby as Jason Voorhees being another appropriate, secondary stardom fit. I can see the rest of the line up now: T.J. Oshie as Michael Myers, John Carlson as Chuckie, Tom Wilson as IT, the list goes on and on. Oh, and the tagline: “This Postseaon, Vegas’ luck has run out” Coming soon to a theater near you.

Submitted by: Chris Gay

I do so love these public displays of affection. Only when it comes to the Caps though. Here we see a banner draped across the side of what appears to be a bridge, presumably at the Arlington town limits. Forgive me if I’m wrong, I’m the one NoVa Caps journalist who isn’t from the DC area. But regardless, this simple banner reminds all drivers entering the town that Arlington is ALLCAPS and supports the team as best as anyone. I hope there are more banners just like this one hanging on the city limits around the Virginia and Maryland. That’s your new assignment, readers. If you see any banners like this one, snap a picture and send it to NoVa Caps!

Submitted by: Chris Farrar

Okay, I really love this one for a number of reasons. First and foremost, because it works on a number of levels. Here we see T.J. Oshie and a Golden Knight whom I can’t rightly identify, and it looks like the Osh babe is ready to throw hands. The Vegas skater on the other hand, appears to be recoiling, suggesting he, in fact, does not want to throw hands. Hence, Oshie’s opponent has left the match. On an larger scale, the score at the time this image was taken was 3-0 in favor of Washington. So, much like in a game of NHL 18, it would appear the Golden Knights seem to have “rage quit” in this moment, filled with frustration at the most recent goal. Another reason why I love this is because it’s so unique. We see a lot of cool things come through at NoVa Caps, but nothing quite like this. Very original! Keep sending us your fan-made content, guys!

Submitted by: Alan Scott

Did you know I love Caps pets? Well you do now. Here we have one handsome Caps pup named Zamboni, taking his seat just before the start of Game 4. He’s all business, as were the Capitals. I hope Zamboni is as happy with the results of Game 4 as I was, and I hope he’s ready for an exciting ride to the finish line. Keep cheering the boys on, Zamboni!

Submitted by: Nathan Statz

This post was sent to me by a personal friend of mine. He said this pallet of insulation came to him from a warehouse in Richmond, Virginia. I also work in a butcher shop, and it isn’t uncommon for other stores in the chain to send us love notes like this one on deliveries we receive. But he saw this and instantly thought of me, and of all of us! Thank you for the awesome submission! Hopefully there are more pallets traveling around with this kind of message on them!

Submitted by: Austin Miller

We’ve all heard it before, “That goalie couldn’t stop a beach ball!” Well, truth be told, to his credit, Marc-Andre Fleury seldom has a bad night. But when the Capitals faced the Golden Knights in Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Finals, Fleury had a very bad night. The Caps’ offense was on the ball all night, (no pun intended) and to make matters worse for the face of the NHL’s newest team, Braden Holtby was on his game from start to finish, giving up very few chances for the Knights. This picture just has to make a Caps fan smile, nicely done!

Submitted by: @still_hazin via Instagram

I mean, does this photo even need any commentary? We’re all thinking it, and this guy just went ahead and did it. Much respect!

Submitted by: @mysuperfd via Instagram

The caption on this submission was simply, “It’s good year to be a Washingtonian”, I am not a Washingtonian, but I know it’s a good year to be a Washington fan! But really, I’m a fan of this Caps Kid too! Look, no pads, no blocker, no trapper, not even a helmet. Nothing but a stick. And he still manages to stop that puck dead in its tracks! MacLellan, if you’re reading this, you better draft this kid when he’d old enough!

Submitted by: @hamiltonabagailw via Instagram
Please note: It is now June 9th, 2018. The Photos from hereon out in this article have been sent to us since the Capitals have won their first Stanley Cup. Let’s see how Caps fans celebrated the big one.

I’ve always said that if I was a hockey player, and I got to spend a day with the Stanley Cup, that I would eat cereal out of it. I mean, it just seems so right. This young man had the same idea, and on the morning following the biggest win in Washington Capitals franchise history, ate the most important meal of the day out of the most important Cup in the world. I pose this question to you, dear readers, does that make this the most important meal of his life?

Submitted by: Matthew James

This is a whole lot of nope from me. But if jumping out of planes thousands of feet in the air and free-falling to the earth below is your thing, then by all means, knock yourself out. I have a very important question to ask though, who took this picture, and how? I mean, that plane has to be moving very fast, and I don’t think there’s really a place to stand on the outside of a plane to take pictures. Regardless, the woman in this picture is smiling as wide as the whole Capitals team did when they won the Cup. And she’s proudly rocking an Ovi jersey as she leaps from her plane. I hope she landed safely!

Submitted by: Sarah Brady

Here’s a really interesting submission! Is it practical to grill food that spells out words? Probably not, but it makes a nice picture! My compliments to the chef who took the time to prepare this blessed meal, everything looks delicious, and the meat isn’t even cooked yet! Truly this is a meal fit for a champion.

Submitted by: Mary N Mike Theesen

I saved this photo for last. This is by far my personal favorite submission we’ve ever received at NoVa Caps. Here we see two guys witnessing the final buzzer of Game 5 against the Las Vegas Golden Knights, and the celebration that followed. I love the anonymity of these two men. Who are they? Friends? Family? Total strangers, overcome by emotion? Was the submitter in the photo, or did he take it? This is what hockey is all about. This is why the Capitals go out there each and every night with complete disregard for their physical well-being. It’s moments like this that make what they do worth doing.

Submitted by: Nick Dowell

Join us next week for the third installment of NoVa CAPtures, where I hope to receive a lot of fan submissions from the Stanley Cup Parade and from the Cup’s trip to Nationals Park! Keep those posts comings, guys! You make this possible!

By: Chris Laroche

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