A majority of Capitals players are vacationing during the team’s bye — a mandated eight-day break between games which includes the All-Star Break.
Dmitrij Jaskin, like many others on the team, is vacationing in Miami with his wife Nadi Jaskin.
Monday, Dmitrij posted a selfie of the two on his Instagram Story lounging on South Beach. But it’s the hat Nadi is rocking that I want to highlight.
The red snapback reads BATYA 1000. It appears the team made hats celebrating Brook Orpik’s recent 1,000th game against the St. Louis Blues.
Batya (or even less formal form Bat’ka) is a Russian colloquialism for “dad.” The nickname is a title that conveys certain deference and appreciation, albeit in a light-hearted manner.
In 2015, we asked Kuznetsov about the nickname.
Igor Kleyner: We have heard about your somewhat surprising close relationship with one of the team veterans – Brooks Orpik…
Evgeny Kuznetsov: Batya!
Igor Kleyner: Is that his nickname?
Evgeny Kuznetsov: Yes. Batya. He is a great guy. Very nice, funny… I feel like he is Russian. In everything, the way he acts, the way he behaves around the team, and not even just hockey stuff – life in general… he really is a good guy, a real bat’ka of the team!
Kuznetsov added that “it wasn’t like I just gave him a nickname –we asked him if it was all right for us to call him Batya, and explained what that meant – and now the whole team calls him that. He likes it! It is not a mocking or offensive nickname at all. It just fits him right. He has so much experience; he is one of the few who got to raise the Cup – we don’t have many other guys like that. He just finds a lot of the right words, and those words are easy to understand even for someone like me who doesn’t speak much English.”
So congratulations, Batya. Now, someone, please get me one of these lids!
