DC preparing for possible Capitals Stanley Cup celebration Thursday night

WASHINGTON - Even though the Washington Capitals are playing Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final in Las Vegas on Thursday, D.C. officials are preparing for a huge celebration on city streets if the team wins the Stanley Cup.

The District is preparing for large crowds Thursday as Capital One Arena will be packed with Caps fans inside the arena for a viewing party while thousands of others will gather on the streets outside of the arena to watch the hockey game on big screens.

If the Capitals end up winning the Stanley Cup Thursday, the city will be ready.

"We have seen a growing crowd over the past few games, but what we have also seen is MPD doing a great job at keeping things safe and calm," said Lindsey Parker, Deputy Chief of Staff for Mayor Muriel Bowser. "We are happy to know that we have got a great group of fans that aren't necessarily as rowdy as some other cities. So we are going to continue to do all the things that we do every single day to make sure the crowds stay safe."

"We are not Philadelphia. We don't have that history of burning the cars and sliding up and down the poles and all that kind of crazy stuff," said D.C. Councilmember Jack Evans. "I think it will be a much more orderly crowd than you have in some cities like that, but we are ready for it."

Earlier this year when the Philadelphia Eagles won the Super Bowl, some fans got out of hand by starting fires, breaking glass, climbing traffic lights and even a hotel canopy before it collapsed.

Philadelphia police also greased poles with oil in an effort to stop people from climbing on them during the Super Bowl celebration. However, a District official said there will no greasing of poles in D.C. because many of the poles have metal signs that are sharp and they do not want someone to slip and cut themselves or suffer a serious injury.

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