Even hockey's biggest names are able to laugh off the many stumbles and tumbles they take on the ice.
Even in the heat of an NHL game, no matter the period or score, T.J. Oshie typically reacts the same way if a teammate absolutely eats it on the ice with no one else around. First, the Washington Capitals winger laughs from the bench. Falling down is hockey’s most humbling error, and therefore its funniest when committed by supposedly professional skaters. “Then,” says Oshie, “you turn to the assistant coach and go, ‘Make sure you clip that.’”
No need to ask. The evidence is always saved. Often it returns during future film sessions for the defending Stanley Cup champs, tacked onto the end like a post-credit blooper, absent only some banana peel sound effects. Other times it is stashed away for a special occasion, such as the tire-blower’s birthday. And you can bet that it will come up in the team text chain, whether looped via GIF or simply referenced through a torrent of those laughing-crying emojis. “And if it doesn’t, I make sure I get a clip and send it, to show the boys how hard I fell,” Oshie says.
The fact the Caps group chat is probably at least 30% them sharing gifs of each other eating it on the ice and then laughing heartlessly at each other for it gives me joy.
