Look, we know what you're thinking: Why are Joe Mantegna, Princess Buttercup, Black Francis from the Pixies and two dwarfs giving the Stanley Cup to Gabriel Byrne?
OK, you might not be thinking that. You might be thinking: What level of [expletive] hubris does it take for a Virginia-based artist to create an oil painting that depicts the Washington Capitals in the presence of something they've never seen in their arena before in franchise history:
Barack and Michelle Obama.
Oh, and a Stanley Cup victory for the home team, too.
Russian Machine Never Breaks found this painting on eBay from artist Aleksandr Reut. In fairness, he painted it after the Capitals' loss to the Montreal Canadiens in 2010, so perhaps that brings down the jinxy-ness. Although perhaps not.
Peter Hassett of RMNB cautions those who'd see this painting as symbolic of Capitals fans' sense of entitlement to chill out:
Yes, this is exactly the kind of thing we should be avoiding right now. Caps fans already have a reputation as overeager and prone to self-congratulation. But this is not that. Full of humor and fun and good will, this painting embodies what we love about each other and the team that we cheer on.
As this point, we must bring up the Jonathan Toews Pig Nose Mural from last season, whose premature depiction of the Cup with the Chicago Blackhawks threatened to karmically derail their playoff run. It was eventually whitewashed, and as a result, the Blackhawks won the Stanley Cup.
Just sayin' there's still time to take care of this, Caps fans. Bid with confidence!
Stick-tap to Russian Machine Never Breaks for the find, and Chris Cistaro for the tip.