ANNAPOLIS, MD — In between on-ice training at the Capitals’ 2025 Rookie Camp in Annapolis, Md, the team’s prospects made time for some friendly competition. During a day off from skating on Saturday, players took part in an obstacle course at the US Naval Academy, clambering through a series of challenges to beat each other’s times.
“They said that was the easiest course, so — I couldn’t feel my arms after,” said Ryan Leonard. “Hats off to those guys.”
The Capitals posted footage of Leonard and Cam Allen racing the gamut, which included hurdles, hanging bars, and balancing tricks before a final rope climb.
“Cam and Leno did pretty good,” 2024 first-round pick Terik Parascak said of the pair’s performance. “Saw they raced each other a couple times and they looked pretty good at it.”
“I did great, and then I didn’t do great on the ropes,” Leonard joked. “When I got to the rope, I kind of got stuck. I couldn’t really grasp the whole, ‘get your feet into a knot and not really use all your arms.’ Those Navy guys looked like gymnasts when they were doing it.
“I said it to a couple people, ‘Those guys don’t really get enough respect for how strong they are and what they do every day for this country,’ but it was so much fun.”
Neither Leonard nor Allen, however, came out on top in the competition. That honor went to Ryan Chesley, who completed the course in a team-leading 1:10.
“I actually did pretty good,” Chesley said of the experience. “I don’t want to brag or anything…I picked up the rope climb pretty quick, and that helped me a lot. It felt like I got the technique down, so that helped my time for sure.”
While the course is generally used for Naval training, it offered the Capitals prospects both a fun distraction from the on-ice work of rookie camp and an opportunity to get to know each other better. 2024 second-round pick Leon Muggli emphasized the benefits those off-ice activities could have down the road: by the time the prospects are ready for the NHL, they’ll have already cemented bonds with their future teammates.
“I think it’s really important to just get to know the guys, even go out for dinner together,” Muggli said. “I mean, it’s a team sport. You have to know each other and that’s really good for it, yeah… You know the guy before you’re going to war with (him), so you’re willing to battle for the guy next to you.”
“I think it just gives us all an opportunity to hang out away from the rink and do something different that we’re all not used to and just hang out as a group together,” Parascak added. “It was just a good time, just to hang out, fool around a little bit, and just do something fun.”
After wrapping up Rookie Camp on Monday in Annapolis, the prospects will have a few days to prepare before the Capitals’ on-ice Training Camp activities kick off on Thursday.
