Players

Farewell Taylor Chorney

The Chorneys and their dog during the Caps Canine Calendar photoshoot. (Caps Outsider)

Here is a roundup of Taylor Chorney’s time with the Caps, via his No. 1 fan:

Taylor Chorney was signed by the Washington Capitals on July 1st, 2015 to a one year deal worth $700,000. He was brought in as their number seven to slot in behind Nate Schmidt and Dmitry Orlov (oh how the times have changed).

He got noticed after playing five games for the Pittsburgh Penguins in the 2015 Stanley Cup Playoffs, but when he was signed nobody really knew who he was.

Nothing more was made of the signing since the intentions were to have him as an extra man in case anything happened… and then something happened. Brooks Orpik broke.

The injury began as a day-to-day ordeal so he was called upon as usual to fill in while the injured man got himself ready to reenter the lineup. Only it wasn’t just day-to-day and he found himself becoming a regular in the lineup. It took him only nine games to record his first point.

And only one more game to double it.

Every day he would come to practice and wonder if Orpik’s health would have improved enough to sit him back in the press box. Every night he would find himself in the lineup with no indication that he would be removed any time soon.

More importantly however, every game he stepped on the ice he found himself with more fans cheering him on.

We remember the time he scored his first goal.

And got it taken away. (Damn you, Justin)

But soon enough he got the puck to the back of the net once more.

And a day after welcoming his first son, no less.

We were even blessed with the news of his first multi-year, one-way deal.

The offseason hit and his rollercoaster of a first season with the Capitals came to an end. With an entire summer off, Taylor found himself again as the Capitals seventh defenseman. But brought the season in early when he debuted in De Beauty League as the captain of Sports Digita.

He gave the fans something to cheer about and, uncommon in Caps fans careers, lifted the John Scott Cup.

The next season sadly saw his play time cut back with a healthy top 6 but, fans never lost their affinity for him. He even stepped up in the few games he found himself on the ice and brought the Caps a 13-5 records when he played.

The season ended in mirror-like fashion and the offseason followed suit with Taylor lifting his second John Scott Cup.

Having Chorney around became a usual thing in the Caps world, even if he wasn’t playing. He entered his third season with the Caps no differently than his first, as the Caps seventh defenseman, except this time around everyone knew who he was.

This story ends sadly, as yesterday at noon we were met with the news that Washington Capitals defenseman, Taylor Chorney, had been put on waivers in order to make room for newly acquired defenseman, Michal Kempny. Twenty-four hours later we were hit again when news broke that he had not cleared waivers, but was taken by the Columbus Blue Jackets. With uncertainty surrounding the look of the Capitals defense come next season and an expiring contract we knew there was a chance we would be parting ways with the lovable Caps seventh defenseman in the near future, but not this soon. 104 games, 4 goals and 23 points in a Capitals sweater taken from us in the blink of an eye. 104 games when we needed someone to fill in when our defense was hurt. 104 games that he got to show everyone that he was more than just an extra skater. 104 games that he got to skate out on the ice with fans cheering for not only the team he represented, but for the player himself. After over two years and almost three full seasons with it breaks our hearts to say this but, good luck on your next journey, Taylor.

P.s. Thank you for being my favorite player of all time. I’ll never forget how special you made not only this season, but every season you played for the Caps.

Andy Wallace

Bobblehead connoisseur for @CapsOutsider, creator of @CapsBobbles, and @4thLineBobbles mastermind.

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