(Image source from: uk.pressfrom.com)

The Washington Capitals will celebrate their 2018 Stanley Cup with a parade in downtown D.C. and a rally on the National Mall next week, the team announced.

The parade will begin at 11 a.m. on Tuesday June 12 starting at Constitution Avenue and 17th Streets near the Washington Monument. The parade will proceed along Constitution Avenue to Seventh Street and will culminate in a rally on the National Mall.

The parade will be free, and more details will be released in the coming days, the team said in a statement.

The permit application Washington Capitals’ owner Monumental Sports submitted to the National Park Service envisions a grandiose event.

Celebration space requested includes an event stage on Seventh Street between Jefferson and Madison Drives in Northwest.

Metro announced Friday that it will operate rush-hour service levels throughout the day to accommodate for the thousands of fans expected to descend upon the area.

Metro will open at 5 a.m. and trains will depart end-of-line stations every eight minutes, with service as frequent as every two to four minutes at downtown stations served by multiple lines.

Details about the parade have been anticipated all day Friday after the Caps’ Thursday night 4-3 victory over the Vegas Golden Knights in Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final.

However, city officials had remain mostly tight-lipped.

D.C. Police Chief Peter Newsham said earlier Friday the department had been in the planning stages for quite some time.

“Washington, D.C., is a place where we hold a parade almost every weekend,” Newsham said. “This is something we do and we do very well.”

The last time one of the big four D.C. sports teams won a championship was when the Redskins won the Super Bowl in 1992 and there actually wasn’t a parade that year. Instead, more than 75,000 fans attended a rally on the National Mall that The Washington Post said was “smaller and more subdued” than previous celebrations.

When the Redskins won the Redskins won the Super Bowl in 1988, a parade and rally down Pennsylvania Avenue drew more than 500,000 fans, which actually led to police limiting the celebration in 1992.

Thousands of fans have packed the streets around the Capital One Arena in downtown D.C. for watch parties during the Stanley Cup finals. After Thursday’s victory, police said they dealt with a mostly peaceful crowd.”

“I saw a lot of hugging and a lot of celebration,” Newsham said. “We didn’t have to make but one arrest, which is really a testament to the fans here in Washington, D.C.”

By Lokesh