WASHINGTON (AP) - The Latest on the Washington Capitals’ Stanley Cup parade (all times local):
2:30 p.m.
Barry Trotz says the Capitals are going to do it again, and T.J. Oshie led fans in a chant of “back-to-back” at the rally celebrating the Stanley Cup champions.
Captain Alex Ovechkin fired up fans who filled the National Mall down to the Washington Monument by reminding them that he said at the start of the year they weren’t going to be as bad as some thought. Then he and his teammates sang along to Queen’s “We Are The Champions” to complete the rally.
___
12:50 p.m.
The Capitals’ Stanley Cup parade has ended with a rally upcoming.
Tens of thousands of fans lined the route along Constitution Avenue, including hundreds on the steps of the national archives creating a sea of red.
The final bus with Alex Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom, Brooks Orpik, owner Ted Leonsis and team president Dick Patrick also featured the Stanley Cup.
Fans along Constitution chanted, “Raise the Cup!” and “Ovi! Ovi! Ovi!”
Ovechkin sat at the front of the double-decker bus, alternating between resting his arms on the trophy, raising it, and drinking out of his blue Bud Light bottle.
___
11 a.m.
The caravan is on the move for the start of the Washington Capitals’ first Stanley Cup parade.
More than 40 vehicles - buses and convertibles carrying players and staff - began moving down 23rd Street toward Constitution Avenue led by 30-plus police officers on motorcycles. The parade officially begins at 17th and Constitution and ends at 7th and the National Mall.
Conn Smythe Trophy winner Alex Ovechkin and owner Ted Leonsis have the Stanley Cup at the tail end of the parade.
___
10 a.m.
Capitals players, staff members and their families are on their way to the start of the parade route after taking a team photo at Capital One Arena. Fans lined the exit to the arena chanting and cheering as players boarded several buses to get to Constitution Avenue.
A police escort cleared the way for the buses to get through D.C. traffic as throngs of people waited along the route and at the National Mall, where a rally will cap the celebration.
___
6 a.m.
The Stanley Cup-champion Capitals will celebrate the city’s first major four pro sports championship in 26 years with a parade down Constitution Avenue.
It’s the first sports parade in Washington since the NFL’s Redskins in 1992. Alex Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom and his teammates will travel from 17th to 7th on Constitution to a rally on the National Mall by the afternoon.
They’ll be joined by four F-16 Fighting Falcons from the D.C. Air National Guard who will perform a flyover about 25 minutes in. Season-ticket holders who have remained from the team’s eight-win inaugural season in 1974-75, high school marching bands and the D.C. fire department pipes and drums will be among those participating.
___
More Stanley Cup coverage: https://apnews.com/tag/StanleyCupFinals
Please read our comment policy before commenting.