Goodbyes are always difficult and Friday, Capitals players had to say sayonara to a beloved teammate.
Shortly after 2pm, word leaked that general manager Brian MacLellan had traded Madison Bowey and a second-round pick to Detroit for Nick Jensen and a fifth-round selection.
While the 23-year-old Bowey had not developed into a full-time NHL player, he had made lasting relationships with his Capitals teammates from top to bottom.
Top six forward Jakub Vrana appeared to take the news the hardest, using obscure RMNB’ish vocabulary to describe his special friendship with Bowey.
“Its [sic] hard to see you leave big fella had so much fun together good luck in the future gonna miss you @m_bows4 #bappeneymarjunior #buds #brobeans,” Vrana wrote on Instagram.
Vrana and Bowey, drafted by the Capitals in 2014 and 2013 respectively, developed together as teammates with the Hershey Bears.
Last season, Vrana and Bowey became so close that they hold hands going out onto the ice for warmups.
“We’re pretty good buddies off the ice,” Bowey said of the pregame ritual. “Obviously, we’ve been together for the past two, three years now. It’s I think just kind of something that we just are kind of going with right now.
“One game we were just trying to get each other going a little bit and I lent my hand out and he gave me a little high five,” Bowey added. “Now it just kind of carried on a little bit longer.”
“He wanted to give me high five so from beginning we just do the high five,” Vrana said, “And then lately I was like holding his hand and he didn’t let it go and we just skate in the ice together.”
Another sign of Vrana’s love for Bowey can be found on Twitter. Vrana’s only “like” on his Twitter account is this GIF by RMNB staff member Brennin Weiswerda, where Vrana hugged Bowey and Travis Boyd together after Boyd scored his first NHL goal.
Vrana brought Travis Boyd over to Bowey so the three former Hershey Bears players could celebrate Boyd's first NHL goal with a group hug 🤗 #ALLCAPS pic.twitter.com/iOdYo21mVD
— b. (@youripides) December 9, 2018
Alex Ovechkin has only posted 45 times since the start of 2018, but Friday, the Capitals captain posted a tribute to Bowey, telling the defenseman “good luck brother!!gonna miss u champ!!”
The Capitals Twitter account also said goodbye.
Thanks for everything since day one, @m_bows4! pic.twitter.com/UmJLHUdiaG
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) February 22, 2019
Thanks for the memories, Madison!
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