Before the Capitals beat the Vancouver Canucks Monday night, former fourth line center and fan favorite Jay Beagle received his championship ring.
On the second leg of their Western Canadian road trip, Alex Chiasson received his ring before Caps take on Edmonton tonight. Chiasson was unable to attend the banner raising and ring ceremony in Washington earlier this month.
Chiasson’s first look at the new hardware #ALLCAPS #CapsOilers pic.twitter.com/JlgAJb1EyD
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) October 25, 2018
Chiasson received the ring from captain Alex Ovechkin before the Oilers took their pregame skate this morning.
A pregame ring ceremony for Alex Chiasson #CapsOilers #ALLCAPS pic.twitter.com/4ZlvHpJdsI
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) October 25, 2018
Before he started his pregame skate, Chiasson gave an emotional speech to the Capitals locker room, and everyone lined up for hugs.
Chiasson told Mark Spector of SportsNet that having his name on the Cup for the next 65 years was the ultimate reward for grinding the years out and hopping from one team to the next.
“When you see Maurice Richard, Jean Beliveau, Guy Lafleur… The big names that I grew up with (on the Cup),” he said. ‘The dreams as a kid, being Canadian — that sense was strong. But also family-wise, my friends, that was special as well. Because I’ve had to grind it out to stay in the league, to prove that I belong. That’s where it hit me. It was a reward for all my hard work, to get my day with the Cup, and my name on it.”
Chiasson joined the Oilers on a professional tryout contract after the Capitals let him go this offseason. He made the team out of camp, but was a healthy scratch the first five games of the season. He now plays on Leon Draisaitl’s wing, and according to Oilers’ coach Todd McLellan he’ll be ready to play against his former team.
"I think he'll be pretty fired up considering his old mates will be sitting 20 feet down the aisle from him." Coach McLellan on Chiasson, who scored his first & second #Oilers goals two nights ago vs. Pittsburgh
— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) October 25, 2018
Headline photo: @Capitals
