The Capitals had nothing but good things to say about their teammates after Tom Wilson and Logan Thompson captured silver on Sunday at the Olympics.
ARLINGTON, V.A. — After watching his home nation of Canada come up just short in a 2-1 overtime loss to the United States in the gold medal game at the Olympics, Dylan Strome pulled out his phone and shot a text message over to Tom Wilson and Logan Thompson.
Strome didn't say much, but had a simple message, telling the now silver medalists to hold their heads high despite the defeat.
“Tom represented this country with the utmost amount of respect and work ethic. Everyone in Canada should be proud of him and his effort," Strome said. "LT only plays in one game, but plays great and very deserving to be on the team.
"(They) made us proud and the country proud. As Canadians, we always respect the opponent... just as a fan of hockey, my heart was racing and I had the palm sweats going the rest of the game."
The Capitals had gathered together in the facility to watch the game before a busy practice, getting to wherever they could find a television to watch their teammates go head to head in an all-time historic showdown.
While there were a good amount of American-born players on the team happy to see the USA capture gold, there was a weight hanging over the players at practice, a sense of sadness for their teammates who finished as the runner-ups.
"It carried over, almost like guys were a little bit bummed for LT and Willy," coach Spencer Carbery said, adding, "They feel for their brothers that were right there, that close to a gold medal. It actually had a little bit of a downer on the practice."
Both Wilson and Thompson made their first Olympic appearances, with Wilson putting up a goal and three assists, along with several hits, for four points in six games while Thompson stopped 24 of 25 shots for a .960 save percentage and one win in his only start.
Wilson himself made a memorable impact in the gold medal game, almost scoring the game-winner in the third and delivering several memorable hits to try and shift the momentum in Canada's favor.
"Tom played a great game," Ryan Leonard said. "He's contributing his physicality in the first five minutes, setting the tone for his team, and he's getting good chances and always making the smart plays. So he played a great game, and should be proud of this tournament."
As Wilson and Thompson return to the Capitals in the coming days as Olympic medalists, Charlie Lindgren stressed again how, despite the loss, the team was proud to see them lay everything on the line on the international stage.
"We're so incredibly, incredibly proud of those guys. I've gotten to know Tom and LT really well here the last few years, and can't say enough good things about them as human beings," Charlie Lindgren said. "To actually go out and make the Canadian Olympic Hockey Team, arguably the hardest hockey team in the world to make, just a ton of credit to them, the work that they put in since they were four or five years old.
"Being able to play for their country and represent them in the best way possible, represent the Washington Capitals, I can say for the whole hockey team here, we're so, so proud of those guys."
Washington also voiced its support for Martin Fehervary, who helped Slovakia to a fourth-place finish after they fell to Finland in the bronze medal game.
"He should be so proud, because there's young Slovakian kids that watch their country compete and watch Marty Fehervary wear a letter on his jersey and do everything he could for his country," Carbery said. "They watch that, they go, 'I want to play that spot, Mom or Dad. I want to go out and skate.'"
At the end of the day, not only were the Capitals happy to have representation at the Olympics, but they were also happy to see a handful of their players involved in a tournament like this one that will grow the game for years to come.
"That's what growing the game is all about," Carbery added. "That's what a game like today in a tournament like the Olympics and hockey being on that stage can do for the sport."