On Saturday night, when the Washington Capitals visit the Vancouver Canucks, Capitals forward, T.J. Oshie will play in his 1,000th career NHL game. He played his entire career with two teams, the St. Louis Blues and the Washington Capitals.
“I’ve been thinking about it for a couple of years because I thought it was in reach last season”, Oshie said on Friday. “I maybe even came back from injuries a little too fast trying to get in every single game I could get in. But it means a lot.”
Oshie was born in Washington State but moved to Warroad, Minnesota, his father’s original hometown, as a teenager. The St. Louis Blues chose him in the first round of the 2005 NHL Entry Draft with the 24th pick overall.
Oshie was not in attendance at the 2005 NHL Entry draft, as it was held late due to the lockout of the previous season. Instead, he was at a friend’s house where he learned the news of his selection. After the draft, he attended the University of North Dakota for three years and then turned professional after his junior year.
In The Beginning
Photo: USA Today
Oshie made his NHL debut with the St. Louis Blues on October 10, 2008, at home against the Nashville Predators. He earned his first NHL point via an assist against the Toronto Maple Leafs on the road during his third game on October 10, and scored his first goal in his sixth NHL game against the Detroit Red Wings and goaltender Ty Conklin on October 22, 2008.
Oshie played in 57 games during his rookie season, scoring 14 goals and recording 25 assists. He helped the Blues make the playoffs for the first time since the NHL lockout of 2004-05.
Oshie ultimately played seven seasons for the Blues for a total of 443 games, from 2008-09 through 2014-15. During that time, he scored 110 goals and recorded 200 assists. He was chosen as part of the Olympic Hockey team for the USA that played in Sochi in 2014 and was most memorably the shootout hero during their victory against Russia in the preliminary rounds.
The Blues made playoff appearances four times during Oshie’s stint in St. Louis, including the last three consecutive years. However, since the Blues had never advanced beyond the second round during that time frame, this prompted Blues’ General Manager Doug Armstrong, to consider trading a core player. On July 2 he traded Oshie to the Washington Capitals in exchange for right wing Troy Brouwer, goaltender Phoenix Copley, and a third-round pick in 2016.
New Home In The District
The trade came at a pivotal moment in Oshie’s life. He was having a new house built in Minnesota and was marrying his fiancé, Lauren Cosgrove, in just one week. Plus, they had a one-year-old daughter, Lyla. Oshie felt rejected and unwanted after hearing the trade news from the Blues’ General Manager and was sad to be leaving his close friends, David Backus and Patrik Berglund. But Capitals General Manager, Brian McLellan called him and told him how much he wanted him for the Capitals and Oshie felt wanted again. Oshie would be reunited with his U.S. Olympics teammates, John Carlson and Brooks Orpik.
“There was only five minutes there of me being at an all-time low, it felt like, to going right back to a very excited high of the opportunity of playing with ‘Ovi’ and Backstrom, (defenseman John) Carlson, who I knew. So I went from feeling not wanted at all to wanted a lot.”
Oshie was immediately inserted at right wing on the same line as Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom, which was lacking a good fit there since the departures of Mike Knuble and Alex Semin following the 2011-12 season. Oshie scored a then career-high in goals in 2015-16 with 26 goals and topped that figure in 2016-17 with 33 goals.
Oshie is currently playing his ninth season with the Capitals, where he has played in 556 games, scored 191 goals, and recorded 188 assists. His tenure with the Capitals has included two Presidents’ Trophies and one Stanley Cup. Now he is on the verge of playing his 1000th game. During his career, he scored at least 20 goals six times, five of them with the Capitals.
Oshie’s teams have made the post-season 12 different times, five with the St. Louis Blues and the other seven with the Capitals, including the Capitals team that won the Stanley Cup in 2018. Overall, he has scored 34 goals and recorded 34 assists in 102 post-season games, including eight goals and 12 assists during the 2017-18 Stanley Cup run for the Washington Capitals.
Oshie has dealt with numerous injuries throughout his career, especially during the last three seasons. This includes chronic issues with his back. Most recently, he missed several games due to a “non-contact” injury that caused him to collapse on the ice. Many thought that injury meant the end of his season and possibly the end of his career, despite being only four games away from the 1000-game milestone.
Celebrate Good Times, Come On
Oshie’s post-season celebrations after the Stanley Cup were memorable. He was swimming in the fountain in Georgetown with Alex Ovechkin and Braden Holtby. He chugged a beer through his jersey during the Stanley Cup celebration.
Past and present teammates have spoken many words of tribute. Alex Ovechkin said, “He’s a big part of our team on the ice and off the ice. He’s a warrior, he’s a leader and (I’m) pretty happy for him.”
Keith Tkachuk, who had played in 1281 NHL games and was with the Blues during Oshie’s early days, said, “Everybody loved him and respected him. Yeah, he had some fun, but look at what he’s doing now. He’s a mentor not only just for guys on his own team, guys across the country who are USA Hockey fans, and my kids (Florida Panthers forward Matthew Tkachuk and Ottawa Senators forward Brady Tkachuk), who saw him play at a young age.
“He plays hurt, he plays hard, he does the little things. He can beat you with his skill and he can play with anybody.”
Related Reading
The oral history of Capitals’ T.J. Oshie trade: Monumental Sports
NHL: Oshie of Capitals set to celebrate ‘a hard 1,000 games’ in NHL
“This Is Kind of Where He Watched Me Fall in Love With Hockey, It’s Pretty Special”: TJ Oshie Reflects on His Late Father Tim and His Hockey Career Prior to His Warroad High School Jersey Retirement
Warroad Road Warriors and the Washington Capitals
T.J. Oshie’s Return Brings Valued “Communication, Leadership” Intangibles To Capitals Lock Room
By Diane Doyle
