The Washington Capitals have a tight-knit roster, but recently, something dastardly nearly threw that into disarray.
In the most recent episode of the Capitals’ Line Change Podcast, Justin Sourdif, a guest alongside Capitals defenseman Declan Chisholm, discussed a prank he initiated, which he entitled “Chili Gate.”
Sourdif utilized one of the team’s (and Kevin Malone’s) favorite dishes to try to turn players further against fourth-line winger Brandon Duhaime.
Declan Chisholm: We had a recent [prank]. Was it Chili?
Justin Sourdif: Oh, I mean, yeah, we’ll talk about Chili Gate.
Declan Chisholm: This was a big problem.
Justin Sourdif: So, Andre (the Capitals’ team chef), he made, like, really good chili. Everybody loves it. They’re taking some, and I tried to frame Dewey because guys were yelling, ‘There’s no chili left,’ and I’d filled up a big tub of it. I went and put it in his dry stall locker. I put it in his cabinet, and I took a picture of it sitting in his stall, and so everybody thought it was Dewey. I think guys caught on it was me now, but he got framed for it.
Declan Chisholm: Right away. What else happened, though? John was in there. Carly was a part of this, too, so he was dying laughing. I didn’t even get to try any. I come in, and I see Sourds has got this huge tub, so like everyone was pissed that it was gone. Yeah, you blamed it on Dewey, but right away, I think Dewey threw you under the bus in the group chat.
Justin Sourdif: Yeah, though they didn’t trust Dewey, they still thought it was him, so suspect number one was Dewey, and I was number two, and then Ralph Rice (Capitals’ team security) was number three. He’s going for seconds, so he got put in there in the team group chat. But it was this big thing, and yeah, John had a field day with it, too. The guys had a good laugh about that.
Sourdif’s story is par for the course for a Capitals team that appears to love driving each other crazy, especially Duhaime, who usually is in the middle of the team’s shenanigans.
Duhaime has been knee-deep in prank feuds since the outset of his NHL career, first going head-to-head with Marc-Andre Fleury in Minnesota. Duhaime has continued his hijinks with the Capitals, with recent examples including his Halloween werewolf jump scare, “Kick Me” signs during the Hockey Fights Cancer skate, and the reindeer icing co-conspiracy.
Goaltender Logan Thompson has even previously claimed that Duhaime is so married to the mischief that he’ll try to throw other players off the scent by pranking himself.
So in summary, not only is Sourdif learning from some of the best on the ice, but he’s also, inadvertently, being taught by one of the best practical jokers off of it.
Now, please, someone, get me a bowl of this famous chili.
