2005 FNHL Cup Champions

Washington Capitals

Led By GM: Moreno Zuccolo

Row 1: Roberto Luongo

Row 2: Robert Lang, Martin Havlat, Sami Kapanen, Sergei Zubov, Richard Matvichuk

Row 3: Craig Conroy, Ryan Smyth, Martin Lapointe, Nicklas Lidstrom, Mattias Norstrom

Row 4: Chris Gratton, Richard Zednik, Steve Konowalchuk, Frantisek Kaberle, Sean O'Donnell

Not Pictured: Konstantin Barulin, Ville Mantymaa, Evgeni Isakov, Alexander Tatarinov

Patience Is A Virtue:

Washington started out in the FNHL by winning the 8th seed in the first season by beating out the New York Islanders. Even though they were very happy to win the 8th seed they knew that they had to improve next season especially after an early exit to Philly in the playoffs. How do they follow up their 8th seed in the first season? They win the 8th seed in the second season. This time they beat out Florida for the final spot. What gives? Moreno Zuccolo knew that he could turn it around this time and took the 3rd season as serious as possible and traded for the right players that could have his team erupt. Sami Kapanen, Chris Gratton, Richard Matvichuk, Nicklas Lidstrom,  and Steve Konowalchuk all joined the team during the season to bolster their defense and chip in on offense as well. Moreno Zuccolo contacts the league office every single day including during the playoffs. He is the most dedicated GM in the league and his team thrived off of his energy. Patience was the name of the game though as not only was Moreno patient with most of his team but especially with Roberto Luongo who had a sub-par regular season but won the Playoff MVP award with superb goaltending. Washington went to 7 games against Montreal in the first round but then breezed through the rest of the playoffs winning the next two series a total of 8-1. Of course they ran into trouble with Vancouver but who didn't? They pulled off the upset and they did it a way that most teams don't try... patience. Congrats to Washington and Moreno Zuccolo for bringing the FNHL title back to East and defeated the best team in the FNHL in the finals.