Alex Alexeyev wasn’t the only Capitals player to attend a Hershey Bears’ playoff game last week.

Capitals checking-line forward and 2022 Stanley Cup champion with the Colorado Avalanche, Nicolas Aube-Kubel, was in the house for Game Three of the Bears’ second-round series against the Charlotte Checkers.

Aube-Kubel was photographed by his wife Madison sitting in the lower bowl of Giant Center during the matchup. She posted it to her Instagram Story.

Nic explained to me that he was there to support his Capitals teammates from this past season that are now down in the AHL to help Hershey in their playoff run.

Those players include Joe Snively, Lucas Johansen, Gabriel Carlsson, Vincent Iorio, and Aliaksei Protas. NAK is also close with Mike Vecchione and Matthew Strome, who he spent time with on the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, the Philadelphia Flyers’ AHL affiliate. Aube-Kubel spent five seasons in the Flyers’ organization before eventually going on to play for the Avalanche and Toronto Maple Leafs.

Nic first met his wife, Madison, during his time in the Flyers’ system. Madison lived in the area and attended a Phantoms game at PPL Center in Allentown, PA, with some friends in early 2019.

Their first date would be days later at the former “Irv’s Pub” in Hershey. According to their Knot page, when Madison thought Nic would cancel the date due to an unexpected snowstorm, he told her “Don’t worry, I’m Canadian. This is nothing.” He then got on the road and the 1.5-hour commute turned into a 2.5-hour drive in the snow. They went out that night and have been inseparable ever since. She retold the story on their anniversary earlier this year on her TikTok.

According to Nic, Madison’s family attended the game with them as well.

When I asked if the tickets were comped by the Bears, he said no.

“I bought the tickets like a normal fan,” Aube-Kubel said.

Since then, Nic and Madison drove back to Quebec where they’ll spend the rest of their summer.

Headline photo: Alan Dobbins/RMNB