Patrick Giles will play in his 13th career NHL game for the San Jose Sharks on Saturday evening. The game will be the first time the Chevy Chase, Maryland native plays against his childhood-favorite Washington Capitals.
Giles will suit up against his hometown club less than a week after becoming just the third Marylander to score a goal in the NHL. He grew up cheering for the Capitals and told NHL.com’s Tom Gulitti that, at age 18, he was one of thousands celebrating near Capital One Arena when the Capitals won the 2018 Stanley Cup. Nearly seven years later, he’ll be actively trying to score against them.
“I was downtown right outside the [arena] because the game was in Vegas and it was packed,” Giles said.
Former Capitals forward Joe Snively had a similar story before eventually making his NHL debut with the Caps. Giles and Snively both attended Landon School in Bethesda, Maryland.
“I grew up right outside of DC and grew up a huge Caps fan,” Giles told San Jose Hockey Now’s Sheng Peng. “It was right when [Ovechkin] was getting drafted and starting his career with Washington.”
Giles was even able to take a photo with Ovechkin as a young fan, not yet knowing that he’d one day play against him in the NHL.
As he continued his development, Giles later joined the US National Development Team Program and eventually starred for Boston College in the NCAA for four years. Before becoming the third Marylander to score an NHL goal, he became just the fifth to ever play in the league.
Giles also participated in the Capitals’ 2018 Development Camp and is a regular attendee of the Capitals’ informal summer skates at MedStar Capitals Iceplex ahead of training camp each fall.
“In August, when the Caps are getting back to the area, they do skates and invite some local guys,” Giles said. “I’m usually there pretty late, so it ends up just being me and the whole [Capitals] team.”
The Capitals won’t be the only visitors from out east on Saturday as Giles’ family will be at the game for the first time since he was traded to San Jose by the Florida Panthers at the deadline, allowing them to see him compete against his childhood idol.
“It’s gonna be awesome just to be on the ice and be competing against those guys, especially with everything [Ovi]’s doing right now,” Giles said. “Going for the [NHL goal-scoring] record. I’m just excited to get out there.”
The Sharks and Capitals are set to wrap up their season set inside the SAP Center with a 5 pm ET puck drop. San Jose handed the Caps a 2-1 overtime defeat in DC earlier this year.
