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Capitals’ pregame Lift Ritual inspired by Matthew Phillips’ small size and incredible story making NHL

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Tom Wilson, Aliaksei Protas, and Anthony Mantha lift Matthew Phillips into the air
📸: @DrJCottrell/X

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The Washington Capitals have some of the most elaborate and absurd pregame rituals in all of hockey.

Each Capitals player has specific handshakes or chest bumps they do with each other in the tunnel while Alex Ovechkin will yell gibberish at his teammates like naming real and fake Italian dishes at Sonny Milano that rhyme. John Carlson gets (sometimes painful) cup checks to make sure everything is perfectly in place.

Out on the ice, Tom Wilson and TJ Oshie exchange butt taps. Oshie is an animal all to himself as he’ll also do a puck-juggling routine near center ice and jump down the tunnel when he’s leaving the playing surface, ending his warmup by kissing a giant Stanley Cup banner hanging on the wall. Ovechkin always crashes into the same spot along the sideboards and slaps one-timers from his office in the left circle before game time. And this is just a small sampling of their ridiculousness.

This season, the Capitals added a new pregame ritual that has somehow upped the ludicrousness.

The Lift

The ritual, created by butt-tapping co-founder Tom Wilson, utilized two or three of the team’s massive wingers who are playing in that night’s game. They will then proceed to lift their much smaller teammate up or completely over their heads. The gesture highlights the massive size difference between the Capitals’ wingers and, I guess, allows their comrades to imagine what it would be like to be tall. An important note: The Lift began as a gregarious side hug.

This is a timeline that shows how The Lift has evolved and involved other teammates over time — for important journalistic reasons.

Oct 16 vs. Calgary

Tom Wilson and Aliaksei Protas put their arms around Matthew Phillips. Please notice, their arms are basically at waist level and that’s where Phillips’ head is at.

Oct 21 at Montreal

The side hug is getting longer. Warmer and cozier too.

Oct 29 vs. San Jose

UP Matthew Phillips goes! However, notice that Wilson and Protas only manage to get Phillips up to eye level. There’s room for a lot of improvement here.

Dec 7 vs. Dallas

And now Phillips is well over Protas and Wilson’s heads. He can probably see the Potomac from up there.

Dec 30 vs. Nashville

Anthony Mantha has entered the chat.

Jan 3 vs. New Jersey

Up Nicolas Aube Kubel goes!

Jan 5 vs. Carolina

Welcome to the ritual, Hendrix Lapierre!

Jan 16 vs. Anaheim

And now it’s TJ’s turn!

But why

The first iterations of the lift involved only players who were suited up as right wings. The 6-foot-4, 220-pound Tom Wilson and the 6-foot-6, 225-pound Aliaksei Protas would either hug or lift the super tiny Matthew Phillips.

“I think it was, everyone on the right wing was huge,” Wilson said to RMNB’s Katie Adler. “Like Pro, Manta, me, all really big bodies and then it was just Phil. It’s a massive, massive difference.”

“I think they used to do something years past with all the right wingers,” Phillips added. “And then one day on the ice I was kind of just standing there and they both looked at each other and just picked me up, and it’s pretty easy to pick me up.”

And like all good ideas, The Lift was well-considered and carefully plotted out.

“It was just spur of the moment,” Wilson said.

No matter if you’re the lifter, liftee, or observer, the ritual always elicits big smiles among Capitals players.

“It’s pretty funny,” Phillips admitted.

Yes, yes it is.

Phillips’ long road to the NHL

Phillips has always had doubters due to his size. And he’s frequently proven them wrong.

“I don’t feel small when I’m on the ice,” Phillips said. “It’s just, it is what it is.”

Despite putting up huge numbers as a 16-year-old in AAA — he scored 40 goals and 77 points in 37 games played with the Calgary Bisons of the Alberta Major Bantam Hockey League (AMBHL) — Phillips was only drafted in the second round, 33rd overall by the Victoria Royals in the 2013 WHL Bantam Draft.

“I’ve always been pretty much the smallest guy,” he said. “I’m used to it. It’s kind of like the only way that I know how to play just because I’ve always been the smallest player.”

As a 17-year-old rookie on the Victoria Royals, Phillips dominated, scoring 37 goals and tallying 76 points in 72 games. His 76 points ranked fourth-most on the Royals and was good for 19th most in the WHL that year. Phillips won the Jim Piggott Trophy as the WHL Rookie of the Year after scoring the most goals and points as a first-year WHL player.

But that big season didn’t translate well in the 2016 NHL Draft. Phillips was selected in the sixth round, 166th overall, by the Calgary Flames, giving him a 27.3 percent chance of ever playing an NHL game.

No matter: Phillips returned to junior the next year and put in even more work. During the 2016-17 season, Phillips scored 50 goals and tallied 90 points, leading the Royals in both categories. He finished tied for third in WHL goals and tied for ninth in WHL scoring.

As a 19-year-old, Phillips was named captain of the Royals for the 2017-18 season. He scored 48 goals and collected 112 points, leading the team in both categories. He was named to the WHL’s Western Conference First All-Star Team during his final two seasons.

“I think in junior I built a lot of confidence with the puck and play-making and producing, so that was something that I have carried with me,” Phillips said.

Phillips turned pro during the 2018-19 season with the Stockton Heat and it didn’t take long for him to begin lighting up the American Hockey League. During the 2021-22 season, something clicked and the 23-year-old Phillips scored 31 goals and posted 68 points, leading the team in both categories. The next season, his fifth full year in the AHL, Phillips finished second in the AHL in goals with 36 and fifth in points with 76.

“Since I’ve turned pro, I think my details have gotten a lot better and I think my competitiveness is something that I always need to have with me,” Phillips said. “Especially at my size, I definitely can’t afford to go into a battle half-heartedly. I need to be competing every time I’m on the ice. That’s something I’ve done and I think just showing well in big games has, you know, it carries a lot of weight. I’ve had good years in the American League and being a go-to guy in big moments, I think that’s been important.”

Phillips played only three games total for the Calgary Flames during that span, with the club’s brass seemingly not a believer in him despite his big numbers in the A.

So as as an unrestricted free agent, Phillips moved on and bet on himself, signing with the Washington Capitals who had also hired Phillips’ coach in the AHL, Mitch Love, as an assistant coach on Spencer Carbery’s staff.

Phillips proceeded to make the Capitals out of Training Camp after a scintillating offensive performance in the preseason where he had three points (2g, 1a) in five games. Phillips’ impressive body of work in the AHL also provided context that he was up for a bigger challenge.

It’s a story that defies all odds, as Phillips is one of the smallest NHL players of all time. Phillips is listed by the Capitals as being 5-foot-8 and 160 pounds (which might be a little bit of a fudge considering his size was previously listed at 5-foot-7 and 145 pounds).

Phillips’ size is even more staggering when compared to his teammates. Per the NHL’s media site, Capitals players are an average of 6-foot-2 and 201 pounds, meaning Phillips is six inches shorter and 41 pounds lighter than the average guy on the team.

Phillips’ diminutive size is noticeable when he’s out on the ice, but it’s even more staggering when seeing how his stick stacks up to his teammates.

But no matter, he still has managed to produce when he’s gotten the opportunity. Phillips scored his first NHL goal against the Flames in October.

He also makes subtle plays that create offense, which can be seen in his expected goals percentage of 52 per Natural Stat Trick.

“He’s small but doesn’t take contact and makes some plays,” Alex Ovechkin said.

“I’d say obviously across the board there’s bigger players here, but I think it’s just faster in the NHL and defenders are smarter,” Phillips said of his NHL experience. “I’ve found as I’ve gone from junior, to American League, to here, just the IQ of players is a lot higher, so you need to be very elusive when you have the puck.”

While Phillips hasn’t suited up for the Caps since January 3 with Max Pacioretty back from injury, his accomplishments throughout his hockey career cannot be denied. And it must be good to know that, no matter if he plays or not — his influence remains in a pregame ritual.

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