The Washington Capitals made a touching gesture to franchise favorite TJ Oshie, gifting the veteran winger three goal pucks from his hat trick against the New York Rangers in his first game after his father’s death in May 2021.
Oshie shared the gift on his Instagram account Wednesday afternoon.
“Some goals have more meaning than others,” he wrote. “Scoring a Hat Trick the day after Coach Osh passed was one of those moments. Thank you @capitals for this meaningful gift and thanks to my teammates, family and all the Caps fans for the support then and always.”
The three pucks appear to be displayed in a shadow box display case, which features glass engravings of the Capitals logo and the “COACH” decal that the team wore on their helmets during games after Tim Oshie’s passing from early-onset Alzheimer’s disease in 2021.
The glass also features Oshie’s accomplishment, “Hat Trick for ‘Coach,'” and the date, “May 5, 2021 at NYR. ”
“I like to think I had a little bit of help out there from the big man,” Oshie said postgame. “My teammates, they were looking for me all night. I had a couple more chances than just the three. It started to get a little bit funny on the empty netter when guys started calling my name when they got the puck on the ice.
“But, I don’t know. It was amazing. I really can’t describe it. That was the most meaningful game in my career, mostly because of what my teammates did for me.”
The Capitals previously honored Coach Osh during TJ’s 1,000-game celebration at Capital One Arena. All Capitals players wore number 77 jerseys during warmups. The team then autographed the jerseys and auctioned them off in a TJ1K auction benefitting the Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation.
