Monumental Sports Network’s broadcasts of Washington Capitals games won’t have the same feel in the immediate future.
Color commentator Craig Laughlin announced during the second intermission of the Caps’ game against the Montreal Canadiens that he would be undergoing heart surgery at the end of January.
“I visited several doctors, had a lot of tests done, so I will be having heart surgery at the end of the month,” Laughlin said live on-air. “I’m focused on it, I want to meet it head on, I’m optimistic and confident that I’m going to return better than I was right now.”
The former 30-goal scorer with the Capitals will not travel and serve as the color commentator for the fourth time this season, missing Saturday’s game against the Nashville Predators. Laughlin previously missed three road games in late December: Dec. 23 against Boston, Dec. 28 against Toronto, and Dec. 29 against Detroit. They were the first games he’s missed in 30 years.
Per the Capitals, Alan May will jump back into the booth in Nashville and temporarily serve as the primary color commentator for all games on Monumental Sports Network beginning on January 21. Laughlin’s final game in the booth before the procedure will be on January 18 against Pittsburgh Penguins.
Laughlin introduced the difficult subject with his trademark humor, both to help himself get through the segment, but also his longtime best friend, Joe Beninati, who seemed to be choking back tears at times.
Per Monumental’s telecast of the game:
Joe Beninati: Locker, you told us you missed a few games recently due to a personal matter. You told us that you’re going to miss the game tomorrow night in Nashville, and you’ve also told me that now’s the time to say what’s going on.
Craig Laughlin: Well, to be right candid right off the bat, I have an upper-body injury.
Joe Beninati: Yes you do.
Craig Laughlin: A UBI. No, I’ve been advised by my group of doctors that I need heart surgery coming up. I visited several doctors, had a lot of tests done, so I will be having heart surgery at the end of the month. I’m focused on it, I want to meet it head on, I’m optimistic and confident that I’m going to return better than I was right now.
Joe Beninati: I am certain that the Loughlin family is the strongest one that I know. It starts with Linda and Courtney, Kyle, and you. You have to know that whenever you need any support from any of us in our Monumental Sports Network family, you’ve got it.
Craig Laughlin: Well, I’m incredibly fortunate when you look at the type of support systems I have. It starts with my family. I can’t go through this without them. My friends, the Caps organization as a whole, the ownership group here, the doctors, and of course Caps Nation, the fans. They’ve never wavered when it comes to supporting Caps and broadcasters and anybody involved with this team. I just want them to know I love and cherish what I do. I look forward to the great run that the Caps are going to have the rest of the season. I hope to be back by then Joe to enjoy the playoffs and a long run, the Great 8 Chase, the 50th anniversary. I’m going to battle my butt off to return as soon as I can.
Joe Beninati: I know you will and you’ll be with us for three games next week. You don’t get off the third period now, we’ve got to finish off in period three.
Craig Laughlin: Wait a sec, I thought I was going!!
Joe Beninati: We’ll miss you in Nashville tomorrow and we wish you all the very best. You know that we are in your corner very, very much.
Craig Laughlin: Thank you, thank you.
The Capitals released a statement shortly after Laughlin shared the news, giving their alumnus their full support.
“The Washington Capitals and Monumental Sports & Entertainment family wish Craig all the best as he focuses on his health and recovery from an upcoming medical procedure,” the statement read. “For more than 30 years, Craig has been a valued member of our network and is loved and respected by both our organization and the Capitals fanbase. His incredible strength and resilience inspire everyone who knows him, and we look forward to his return to the broadcast booth when he is ready.”
For many Capitals fans like myself, this news is a gut punch just because Craig feels like family, and I love him dearly. Locker has been a constant anchor in my Capitals experience since the mid-90s when I first became a fanatic of the Capitals. Craig’s unique voice, combined with his storytelling, analysis, and self-effacing humor, kept me glued to my sofa game after game after game. And I say this sincerely, I don’t know if I’d be doing this site or spending countless hours watching hockey without him and Joe B making the sport so captivating and easy to understand. Hockey has so many obscure rules (icing, two-line passes, goaltending interference), yet the pair brings us all along for the ride, no matter if we’re a novice or expert viewer.
As RMNB grew over the years, Craig and I became friends as I covered his work outside the broadcast booth. Locker started The Laughlin Family Foundation after his wife Linda was diagnosed with uterine serous carcinoma in 2018. With the help of his daughter Courtney and an army of volunteers, the Laughlins raised hundreds of thousands of dollars to defeat rare cancers, making a real difference while bringing joy to people at their events.
When I tell people what I’ve learned about Craig, I always express that he has the most special quality that any human can have: he’s a community builder. He brings people in with his passion and always treats them like family. His joy for people, especially Capitals fans, gives him a constant motor in public that inspires others to be greater than who they are. No matter if you’re a lifetime friend or someone he just met, Locker treats everyone with that same effusive energy.
My favorite story about Locker is when I went to cover an autograph signing he was participating in down in Prince Frederick, MD a few years ago with Nicklas Backstrom. About 10 minutes after the event ended, a fan who, if I recall correctly, had traveled up from Florida that day for the event, wanted his game-used Nicklas Backstrom hockey pants signed, but the Swedish center had already left. Laughlin, with empathy, talked to the distraught fan and told him, “Don’t worry, I’ll take care of this.” I never heard the conclusion to this story, but I’m guessing it got fixed. In that moment, Laughlin became a problem solver and broke down walls that usually separate athletes from the public because he never wants a Capitals fan to be let down.
I guess that’s the point of all of this. Craig has been there for all of us for so long. Now is the time to be here for him. To give him encouragement, to give him back all the love and enthusiasm he’s given us all these years, wherever our voices might touch him.
We are so very lucky to have him in this space. We should never let him forget it.
Update, 6:15 pm: Craig Laughlin shared more information in a message he posted on X.
Hey Caps fans. I just wanted to say a heartfelt thank you for all of your kind words and messages. I’m so fortunate to be a part of such an amazing and supportive Capitals community, and one that I call family.
For those of you who missed it, I will be taking a medical leave of absence and will be stepping aside from the broadcast booth beginning after the Caps game on 1/18/25 (I will also miss tonight’s game in Nashville). It’s expected that I will miss the next few months of the season while I undergo and recover from open heart surgery to repair a bicuspid aortic valve, a congenital heart condition.
I am optimistic for my return before the end of the season, and look forward to coming back and sitting next to Joe B once I am fully recovered. More details to come, but in the mean time, I just wanted to say a huge thank you to the entire Capitals organization and ownership group for their support through all of this.
And to the fans – thank you for all the love, well wishes and prayers. I will certainly miss all of you but I’m looking forward to being back for the GR8 chase and a long playoff run. I am confident that I will be back better and stronger. Love you Caps fans!
