query: Who was the first Stanley Cup winner?
passage: List of Stanley Cup champions
Several days after the Victoria Aristocrats – Toronto Hockey Club series, Stanley Cup trustee William Foran wrote to NHA president Emmett Quinn that the trustees are "perfectly satisfied to allow the representatives of the three pro leagues (NHA, PCHA, and Maritime) to make all arrangements each season as to the series of matches to be played for the Cup." Maritime league did not challenge for cup in 1914, and folded after 1915 season.[20] The Stanley Cup championship finals alternated between the East and the West each year, with games played alternately under NHA or PCHA rules.[21] The Cup trustees agreed to this new arrangement, because after the Allan Cup became the highest prize for amateur hockey teams in Canada, the trustees had become dependent on the top two professional leagues to bolster the prominence of the trophy.[22] After the New Westminster Royal moved to Portland in the summer of 1914 becoming the Portland Rosebuds, an American-based team, the trustees issued a statement that the Cup was no longer for the best team in Canada, but now for the best team in the world.[21] In March 1916, the Rosebuds became the first American team to play in the Stanley Cup championship final.[23] In 1917, the Seattle Metropolitans became the first American team to win the Cup.[24] After that season, the NHA was suspended and the National Hockey League (NHL) took its place.[21]
passage: 2018 Stanley Cup Finals
The 2018 Stanley Cup Finals was the championship series of the National Hockey League's (NHL) 2017–18 season, and the culmination of the 2018 Stanley Cup playoffs. The Eastern Conference champion Washington Capitals defeated the Western Conference champion Vegas Golden Knights four games to one to win their first championship in their 44th season. The Vegas Golden Knights made the Finals in their first season, while this was the second Finals appearance for the Capitals. This was the first Finals series since 2007 where neither team had previously won the Stanley Cup and the third consecutive year in which a Western Conference team made their Finals debut. This was the first Finals since 2014 to require less than six games. Washington captain Alexander Ovechkin was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy as the most valuable player of the playoffs.