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Undrafted free agent Patrick Giles, 18, from Chevy Chase, Md. grew up watching the likes of Tom Wilson and Connor Carrick at development camp. Now, it’s his turn to inspire the next generation of DMV hockey players.
Giles has been a Caps fan for as long as he can remember and despite only being 18, actually started playing a little before Alex Ovechkin was drafted 14 years ago. Giles said he had already fallen in love with hockey, but Ovechkin made him “love it more.”
He grew up playing for multiple local teams, trying to find the right fit for him. “I started playing for Chevy Chase, from there I played Montgomery Blue Devils, and then Team Maryland and Richmond Generals, then the Skipjacks,” Giles said. “I was jumping all over the place to be on a team that was the right fit for me.”
Like many kids, Giles wore the number of his favorite player growing up. It wasn’t an eight, it was a 52, it wasn’t a 28, but rather a 19.
“I have always been a fan of Nick Backstrom. I wore number 19 for Team Maryland after him. T.J. Oshie as well when he came to the Caps. I was definitely fond of that,” Giles said.
Prior to this season, Giles’s favorite Caps memory growing up was something very few fans have experienced.
“My favorite memory is, on my birthday, I went to a Caps game and they let me sit in the Zamboni as it went around the ice. Which was very cool.”
Having grown up in Chevy Chase, Giles could not be more thrilled to be wearing a Caps sweater. “I hope other kids realize you can play hockey in Maryland, and make it one day.”
But no matter where he’s from, he’s at a development camp for a Stanley Cup winning team. “It means everything,” he said. “But this isn’t the end goal. The end goal is to continue playing hockey for as long as I can.”
