The Washington Capitals have waited nearly 44 years to raise the Stanley Cup for the first time.

Their only remaining obstacles are some desert-dwelling misfits who refuse to wait for anything.

The expansion Vegas Golden Knights are just four wins away from an astounding championship when they host Alex Ovechkin’s long-striving Caps on Monday night to open a thoroughly improbable Stanley Cup Final.

Even the players from the NHL’s last two teams standing seemed a bit surprised by their achievements when they gathered Sunday in balmy 84-degree Nevada weather.

”Who would have thunk it?” asked Vegas defenseman Nate Schmidt [url=http://www.authenticsbaltimoreravens.com/cheap-orlando-brown-jr.-jersey]Orlando Brown Jr. Color Rush Jersey[/url] , who played the previous four seasons for the Capitals. ”The Stanley Cup Final that was never meant to be, right?”

Indeed, a first-time NHL champ will be crowned next month after a Final between two teams that arrived at hockey’s ultimate destination from very different directions. While the Caps finally climbed over the hump in the Eastern Conference, the Golden Knights have been bulldozing every logical obstacle in their path since October.

”We’ve been able to do some things in the playoffs, but we never got to that last stage until now,” Washington forward T.J. Oshie said. ”And everybody knows what Vegas did in the first year is very special. We’re both hungry. This is going to be a beast of a series.”

The Golden Knights have exceeded every expectation by utilizing a rich expansion draft and multiple clever coaching moves to create a team that dominated the Pacific Division and then rampaged through the Western Conference playoffs. Their story still carries a ring of impossibility, but they’re close to adding a real ring to every hand in the dressing room full of self-described ”Golden Misfits,” as their T-shirts say.

The Capitals have repeatedly fallen short of their postseason goals during Ovechkin’s career, including a heartbreaking shutout loss to Marc-Andre Fleury in Game 7 of the second round against Pittsburgh last spring. After falling to Fleury’s champion Penguins in the past two postseasons, the Caps revamped their roster with youth and finally overcame years of playoff disappointment to reach their first Final in two decades. Of course, Fleury is in the way again – in goal for the Golden Knights.

Neither team was the favorite to get this far. Neither team is ready to stop now.

While Capitals coach Barry Trotz skated his now-customary hot lap before practice at T-Mobile Arena, the Golden Knights had their usual standing room-only crowd for practice at their training complex in suburban Summerlin.

Their grip on this sports-hungry town was already strong, and the 24-hour gambling mecca will come to a standstill this week during the Cup games in the arena behind the New York New York hotel-casino and its 150-foot Statue of Liberty, which has been wearing a Golden Knights jersey since April.

Speaking of larger-than-life figures in hockey sweaters, this series showcases two major talents who can cement a legacy.

Ovechkin is a formidable scorer and competitor, but he has never won an Olympic medal with Russia or a Stanley Cup ring with the Caps. He’s keeping a sense of humor about this momentous trip: With a straight face Sunday, Ovechkin said Russian President Vladimir Putin had called him to wish him luck, before adding: ”I’m just joking.”

”We want to be here,” Ovechkin said. ”We work so hard all year. I don’t think nobody believes in us, and nobody believes in Vegas, and we’re right now in the Stanley Cup Finals [url=http://www.thebengalsfootballauthentic.com/logan-woodside-jersey-authentic]Youth Logan Woodside Jersey[/url] , and we fight for a Cup. Come enjoy this moment.”

Fleury already has three Stanley Cup rings, but he has added another incredible act to his career with tenacious play for the Golden Knights, whose inexperienced pros have leaned on him to get through tough nights.

”I think it’s weird seeing that team here, being in the Cup the first year,” said Brooks Orpik, the only Washington player with a ring. ”Obviously, I’m not surprised (Fleury) is here. Without him, they weren’t beating us last year. He singlehandedly won a couple of games for (Pittsburgh) when we totally outplayed them.”

Here are more things to know about the ice hockey event in the Mojave:

COACHING CROWN

The winning coach also will raise the Stanley Cup for the first time in a fitting peak to two careers built on resilience. The 55-year-old Trotz never played in the NHL, but his 19th season as an NHL coach is ending in his first Cup Final. Gerard Gallant was a solid NHL forward for Detroit, but the 54-year-old bench boss had never even won a playoff round as an NHL coach before this spring.

(TURN)OVER KNIGHTS

Several Capitals pointed out the importance of minimizing turnovers against the Golden Knights, whose counterattacking acumen and team speed cause problems. ”They’re a very fast team and when you turn pucks over, they’re like a shark smelling blood in the water,” Oshie said. ”They all stop on a dime and want to take it the other way. That’s how they get a lot of their offense.”

CAPTAIN CHARGE

Ovechkin could become the first Russian captain to raise the Stanley Cup. If the Knights win, they don’t have a captain to raise the Cup first. Gallant and GM George McPhee decided to rely on a six-man leadership council instead. ”I think that’s the best decision we ever made,” Gallant said. ”Sure, there’s guys who could have been captain in our group, but it was their first year – and we really didn’t think we’d be grabbing the (Western Conference) trophy the Now that the Great QB Grab of 2018 is over, what's ahead for the five first-round quarterbacks selected might be more daunting than getting selected on opening night of the draft.

When NFL teams get desperate at the position, they tend to reach. Or mortgage portions of their future. Or sometimes simple blow it.

Of course, in many other instances, they nail it [url=http://www.bengalscheapstore.com/billy-price-jersey-cheap]Billy Price Bengals Jersey[/url] , from top overall selections Eli Manning, Cam Newton and Andrew Luck to wise lower picks on the first night such as Ben Roethlisberger, Matt Ryan and, yes, Aaron Rodgers.

It really is a crapshoot.

"Everybody's draft board is set up differently, and when I recite to you all the best available player in this draft for the Cleveland Browns organization, this was the best available player," general manager John Dorsey said of taking Heisman Trophy winner Baker Mayfield of Oklahoma to begin proceedings. "What he brings to this organization, I couldn't be more excited to have him. Those other guys are really good quarterbacks, too, but I just felt that this was the best fit for this organization moving forward."

As the New York Jets felt with Southern California's Sam Darnold; the Buffalo Bills with Wyoming's Josh Allen, for whom they traded up five spots with Tampa Bay to get; the Arizona Cardinals with Josh Rosen of UCLA, also by using a trade, with Oakland; and the Baltimore Ravens, who concluded Round 1 with 鈥?you guessed it 鈥?a deal with Philadelphia so they could grab 2016 Heisman recipient Lamar Jackson of Louisville.

Five QBs, the most since the 1999 draft and second to the epic 1983 first round that produced three Hall of Famer quarterbacks (John Elway, Jim Kelly, Dan Marino) of the six QBs selected.

On Thursday, as the five teams with new signal callers looked ahead, all they saw and spoke about was sunshine and success.

"We feel he has a very, very bright future [url=http://www.detroitlionsteamonline.com]Lions Authentic Jerseys[/url] ," Jets GM Mike Maccagnan said of Darnold, "and really when you put the whole thing together with quarterbacks, you analyze them from an ability standpoint, you analyze them from a character standpoint, and then you see what you think they can grow into, and we felt very good about Sam from that standpoint."

So what are the challenges ahead for these five potential franchise quarterbacks?

BROWNS

History certainly plays a role here. Since re-entering the NFL in 1999, the Browns haven't had anything more than stopgap QBs. That's almost two decades of searching, with the last two seasons' record of 1-31 as abysmal as it gets.

Enter Mayfield, who eventually should beat out newly acquired veteran Tyrod Taylor, if not immediately.

Dorsey adeptly evaluated the pros about Mayfield:

"It is a combination of things. I talk about hand size; he has 9 6-8th (inch) hands. ... That is good for the elements in November and December. He has feet to extend the play. He has really good accuracy. He has a quick release. He has a strong arm. His efficiency in the red zone offense is uncanny.

"You know what else separates him? He is hungry. He wants to be a really good football player, and he is going to be a really good football player."

Mayfield also is short for the position at just over 6-foot. He has to adjust to the pro-style offense of coach Hue Jackson. He must show he can take the kind of hits college players couldn't deliver but the pros do regularly.

And while teammates adore him for his leadership skills, there's also a cockiness and borderline rebelliousness that can take a player (and team) in several directions, not all of them positive.

JETS

Size is no issue with Darnold. Nor are arm strength or competitiveness.

Like Mayfield, he can sit behind a veteran, Josh McCown, who is a good teacher, though that won't be for too long, either.

What must be cured is Darnold's penchant for turnovers and sloppy plays.

"Obviously, we don't want turnovers on any level," coach Todd Bowles said, "but we think his upside and his ability far outweighs the turnovers. And sometimes just trying to do too much [url=http://www.authenticsseattleseahawks.com/cheap-rashaad-penny-jersey]Rashaad Penny Color Rush Jersey[/url] , sometimes trying to make the wrong reads and things he can learn from. Getting to know him, we think those things can be corrected, and I know just talking with him personally those things can be corrected."

BILLS

Allen might have a higher ceiling than any of the QBs taken Thursday. He's tall and solid and won't be bothered by fall and winter weather in Western New York. He's smart, had a sensational offseason to boost his draft stock, and throws a terrific deep ball among the many spirals he unleashes.

Allen also comes from the Mountain West, not the highest level of college conferences, and his career completion percentage is a mere 56.2.

"We just think his makeup is going to help him work on his flaws," GM Brandon Beane says. "We like a lot of his strengths. And that'll be part of our job here is to accentuate his strengths and work on his fundamentals and the things that his so-called weaknesses are."

Buffalo has veteran AJ McCarron, an infrequent starter with Cincinnati before the Bills brought him aboard this year.

CARDINALS

All three of Arizona's 2017 quarterbacks were gone, most notably the retired Carson Palmer. Although the Cardinals signed Sam Bradford in free agency, it's conceivable Rosen will win the starting job. Indeed, many NFL personnel people rated him the most ready QB for the pros.

Rosen certainly has an edge, which cuts two ways. His competitiveness and desire to outdo anyone and everyone can be a major plus. It also can backfire and lead to impatience and bad decisions.

He's also had some injury issues, including a concussion.

"To make a difference, you've got to be different," new coach Steve Wilks said. "I love his personality. He's wired the right way."

RAVENS

In some ways, this is as intriguing as any first-round selection.

Baltimore's starter, Joe Flacco, is.