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Which Caps Stanley Cup Books Should You Buy?

It took only a few days after the Capitals locked up their first Stanley Cup in team history for the books about it to hit the shelves.

Here are the ones we found so far.

Worth the Wait – Washington Post

The Washington Post cranks out more copy about the Capitals than any other publication. The book is called “Worth the Wait.” (Disclosure: I work there but employees were not given copies of this book).

It’s not even close – this is the only must-have of the bunch. Thomas Boswell, a man who has covered the Caps since their inaugural season, leads it off with a brilliant introduction. The bulk of the stories are written by Caps beat reporter Isabelle Khurshudyan, with others by Rick Maese and Barry Svrluga and Adam Kilgore. The book also has the game summaries, stats, and Washington Post photography.

Despite being put together under a tight deadline for production and distribution by Triumph Books, The Post did a fantastic job with this 128-page book. My only gripe is that it doesn’t include images of each of its front-page covers, pages that are already gracing the walls of Capital One Arena and countless walls around the Washington area. Kudos, though, for having the player illustrations from the Finals preview issue. Another story that would ideally be in there is this follow-up piece by Khurshudyan and Svrluga which perfectly sums up the season. That said, this book is still a must-have for Caps fans.

You can buy it here from Amazon. There’s also a much-more expensive version from Easton Press.

All Caps – Sports Illustrated

Sports Illustrated writer Alex Prewitt used to be the Capitals beat reporter for the Washington Post and is still a frequent presence in the press box in Washington. The long-form writing from SI is often top-notch, especially from Prewitt who has been around this team for several years now and knows them better than most hockey writers. That said, many of the stories weren’t written recently – one is a Michael Farber piece from 2006 on Alex Ovechkin – but it still captures the what Caps fans are looking for.

This book is the perfect compliment to what The Washington Post put together, as they each give different details of the Caps’ run to the Stanley Cup. You can buy it here from Amazon.

There is a regular issue of Sports Illustrated, with Ovechkin on the cover. Just know that there is only one article about it in the issue. It was the second time Ovechkin was featured on the SI cover, the first being in 2015 for a playoff preview. You can get this issue here from Amazon.

Champs

I only found this Champs book at Costco (for $10.49). It’s nothing but a bunch of Associated Press photos and little else. I highly recommend NOT buying this book, even as your wallets are wide open to dish out cash for all the Caps’ commemorative things. Seriously, don’t buy this. Even I was about to buy it before flipping through and realizing it’s just a cash-grab with little substance, and virtually nothing original. As of now, it’s not even for sale on their very own website.

Ben Sumner

Ben Sumner is the editor of Capitals Outsider. He also works for The Washington Post and contributes there when he gets a scoop.

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