(Caps Outsider)
Former Caps forward and Stanley Cup Champion Devante Smith-Pelly returned to the practice facility on Friday ahead of doing a ceremonial puck drop for the team’s Black History Month game against the New York Rangers.
“It’s a nice little send off for my career,” Smith-Pelly, who announced his retirement at the end of 2022, said. DSP, as he was known, was all smiles being back at the rink and brought smiles to the faces of former teammates.
“I miss the guys. It’s great to see them,” he said.
👋 DSP pic.twitter.com/KjsISWqHap
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) February 24, 2023
“We have a lot of great memories together,” Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin said. “We won a cup together. He was a big part of the team.”
The memories don’t just include on-ice moments.
T.J. Oshie remembers playing cards with DSP on the team plane.
“We spend so much of our time on flights, and I’ve always been a card player. Devo slid into playing cards with us. It was me, [Brooks] Orpik, Lars Eller and Devo,” Oshie said. “We had some really good fun.” Oshie added that DSP is “a great human being.”
Oshie said that he was the best card player in the group.
While Smith-Pelly was happy to be at the rink, he also recognized what it meant for a Black player to have such a huge role on a championship team in a market like D.C..
“Winning is special, but winning in this area with the demographics is huge,” Smith-Pelly said. “You saw at the parade different groups of people. … To me it’s important because it’s growing the game. Getting new people into the game. I think in 10-15 years you will see kids that were at that parade play professional hockey. It’s exciting. It’s what it’s all about.”
To Many, Smith-Pelly Represents More Than Just a Caps Championship
