If Logan Thompson is going to lead Team Canada to a gold medal, he will do so without Tom Wilson on the back plate of his goalie mask.
On Sunday, the Washington Capitals revealed Thompson’s mask design for the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games. Wilson’s grotesquely swollen face was gone and replaced by imagery even more closely tied to Canada — namely, the country’s flag and a grazing moose.
Wilson appeared hurt by the decision, replying in the comments of a Capitals’ Instagram with three dots — like WTF, mate?
While Wilson was feeling left out, Swedish defenseman Rasmus Sandin saw it as a personal callout — Rasmus, my guy, I’m not sure it is — as one of his many nicknames is “Moose.”
“Moose, is that your nickname?” Sandin was asked on the Capitals’ Line Change Podcast in October.
“Yeah, one of them,” Sandin replied. “Sandy, Rass, Sandman sometimes.”
Wilson’s swollen face currently appears on the back plate of Thompson’s mask that he wears with the Capitals’ third jerseys. He had his painter, renowned mask artist Dave Fried, add Wilson as a prank over the summer.
“Yeah, I always was joking with him last year, ‘Yeah, I’ll get you on a mask, I’ll get you on a mask,’” Thompson explained. “And then I remember this year, one of my masks was done, and he made a comment on Instagram saying, ‘Oh, I thought I was supposed to be on your next mask.’
“So that was the last mask that we had to do for my third. So I said, ‘Well, let’s throw Tom on there, and let’s throw his – he’s got a pretty big head anyway, but let’s throw it when it’s a little swollen.’”
Wilson said in October that he was “honored” to be on his teammate’s bucket, but his swollen face “wouldn’t have been my first choice of picture.”
The two trolling teammates will both represent Canada in the Olympic Games in February. They began working in their new gear — including the goalie mask — on Sunday and Monday.
Logan Thompson’s Team Canada gear
Tom Wilson’s Team Canada gear
The two friendly adversaries also took some goofy photos with each other at the end of Monday’s practice.
I hope Team Canada knows what they’re getting themselves into with these two as a pair.
