Newly-crowned Stanley Cup champion Alexander Ovechkin will be invited to attend the 2018 FIFA World Cup curtain-raiser between host Russia and Saudi Arabia, which is set for June 14 in Moscow.
“Soon we will contact Ovechkin to invite him to the World Cup opening game, but the exact information (regarding his arrival) will be provided later,” CEO of 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia Local Organizing Committee Alexey Sorokin told TASS on Friday.
“For now we don’t want to interrupt the celebrations. Of course we would be happy to see him at the game between Russian and Saudi Arabia.”
The Caps captured their first Stanley Cup ever on Thursday night, defeating the Vegas Golden Knights 4-3 in game 5 to win the best-of-seven series 4-1.
According to NHL tradition, each member of the Stanley Cup winning team, including players, coaches, and team personnel, gets to take the Cup to their home town (or anywhere they’d like) to celebrate for one day.
It’s not yet clear whether or not the first ever Russian Stanley Cup-winning captain will bring the Cup to Moscow for the World Cup.
“Demonstration of the Stanley Cup at the World Cup official events will be at the discretion of Ovechkin. We haven’t officially planned such kind of events,” Sorokin said, after reporters brought up this possibility.
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Along with winning the NHL’s most prestigious trophy – the oldest sports trophy in North America – Ovechkin was also named the Stanley Cup playoffs MVP.
The 35-pound silver chalice will be kept in Washington until a new champion is crowned.