ARLINGTON, V.A. — When Ryan Leonard got to the locker room on Saturday before Washington Capitals practice, the rookie noticed something odd. His skates were facing the wrong way in his stall, and though he found it a bit strange, he didn't think much of it.
He remembered then that he had ripped one of his laces during practice the previous day, and made a mental note that he had to re-lace them at some point. Then, when he went to go tie them, he saw the job was already done, except there was an additional touch: someone swapped out his white laces for bright yellow ones to match Alex Ovechkin.
"When I put them on, everyone was like, 'Alright, you just have to leave them,'" Leonard laughed.
To the joy of his teammates, took the ice with the yellow laces. Ovechkin got a kick out of it, too, according to Leonard.
"He said I had a good day today, so might have to keep them," he shrugged.
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When it comes to the culprit, there's a clear indicator of who was responsible. Brandon Duhaime, known as the prank king in the locker room, was the first supect, though he denied it.
"Yeah, I saw someone did that before practice, so weird," he said.
Andrew Mangiapane was quick to shut down the denial.
"I think we all know who did it," he quipped.
For Leonard, though, it's all part of the fun and the strong culture the team has established.
"There's no bad blood at all on this team, everyone gets along with each other," Leonard smiled.