The Washington Capitals embarked on their annual Mentors’ Trip this weekend, featuring (mostly) the dads, brothers, uncles, and in-laws who helped the players’ NHL dreams come true. The first part of the trip, a stop at Chicago’s United Center, saw the Capitals face off against a young Blackhawks team.
The Capitals dominated Chicago from the opening faceoff, winning the game 5-1 and getting goals from five different contributors: Anthony Beauvillier, Connor McMichael, Ethen Frank, Justin Sourdif, and Alex Ovechkin. But the dads were instrumental in the victory, as you’ll see.
Here is the most important Caps’ dads content you might have missed from the first two days of the trip, beginning on Friday and ending postgame in the Caps locker room.
All the embedded photos and video are from the Capitals and Monumental Sports Network social media accounts.
The dads explain the meaning of all these new-fangled words
The flight to Chicago
Look at all these fine gentlemen.
Connor McMichael’s dad is named Murray. Murray McMichael.
Pregame, the father of the Savior of the Franchise, which I guess makes him the Creator of our Savior, spoke to Mike Vogel about his experience thus far.
“It’s been amazing,” Murray McMichael said. “You know, with the dads, part of the Washington trip here, it’s amazing to meet them, to talk to them, to understand them. With the team itself and the fathers themselves on this trip, it’s like a big family. So it’s amazing how well everybody gets along and how much fun we’re having with each other. So it’s been really good.”
Meet John Leonard, Ryan’s dad
“It’s outstanding,” John said of the trip so far. “It’s a first-class organization getting to meet the other families, the fathers, and then see the other players is tremendous.”
“It’s gonna be a lot of fun,” Ryan countered, “but I think our fathers are looking forward to it a little bit more.”
Nic Dowd’s brother, Josh, crushes a beer after reading the starting lineups
If this doesn’t make you want to run through a wall — slightly inebriated — I don’t know what will. Well done, Josh.
It’s Patric Sandin, father of Rasmus, who likes all our Rasmus-related tweets on X
There’s nobody who is a bigger supporter of Rasmus.
Mentors celebrating
Chris Strome, Dylan’s dad, gives fist-bumps to players at the Caps bench
And here’s Chris’s video from ice level.
Spencer Carbery’s postgame victory speech
“That’s a great f***ing job, a great job in front of all our dads, mentors, of playing so connected for 60 minutes, guys on the same page, that’s a great f***ing job,” Carbery said.
Ole! Ole! Ole!
The team tried to persuade Carbery to give them the day off on Saturday with a song, but the bench boss didn’t give in. The Capitals announced a 12 pm CT practice at Nashville’s Ford Ice Center.
Players’ quotes about their loved ones
Spencer Carbery: “You could feel it all day. The mentors, the dads being around, Dowder’s brother started us off with a great lineup read to get the guys fired up. We’ve done very well on these trips; they always want to play well because I’m the least of their worries when they have to answer to dad about their individual game and how the game went. We try to do our best to put a good show on and make sure we’re playing the right way.”
Anthony Beauvillier: “Yeah, that (Dowd’s brother’s lineup read) was pretty fun. The dads were all fired up after the game, too. It’s so fun to have them around. Just brings a different energy; we needed it, and we got a big win for them.”
Logan Thompson: “Yeah, it’s good. My dad’s a bit of a pain in the ass, goalie dad. It’s been fun. It’s good that they’re here. I’m happy that I won and happy we got the win for them. Enjoying it, and now we get to go to Nashville with smiles on our faces and a happy plane ride.”
Connor McMichael: “It all started yesterday, just having that reception and a little dinner. You could just tell the vibes were up; everyone was having fun, enjoying their time. I think we carried that into today, and a lot of credit goes to the dads and the mentors.
“Yeah, that (Dowd’s brother’s lineup read) was pretty cool. I wasn’t expecting him to pull out a Bud Light there, but that was pretty good, and it definitely fired us up.
“I think I heard Carbs say this the other day that [the trip] is happening at the right time this year, right when we needed it, and that’s exactly what happens. It’s a lift in all of our spirits. You kinda just forget about the game a little bit, enjoy family time, enjoy time with the guys, and it carried into today. Everyone was just having fun, enjoying it, and we were really happy to get the two points.”
The next leg of the Mentors’ Trip will head to Nashville, where the Capitals will practice on Saturday before taking on the Nashville Predators on Sunday night. Don’t get too carried away on Broadway, you guys.
