The Capitals reflect on what they took away from representing Canada at the 2026 Winter Olympic Games in Milan Cortina.
ARLINGTON, V.A. — Tom Wilson is still trying to digest the whirlwind of the last few weeks.
The Washington Capitals alternate captain, along with goaltender Logan Thompson, headed to Italy to compete alongside the top players in the world at their first Olympic Games. They came up just short with a silver medal, falling to Team USA, 2-1 in overtime, in the gold medal game.
"It was just such a crazy, cool experience for all of us that I'll always look back on it as one of the highlights of my life and my career," Wilson said. "Obviously a tough ending, and I think that'll always haunt me and hurt when you look back on it."
Wilson himself finished with a goal and three assists for four points in six games, along with 29 penalty minutes and the first Gordie Howe hat trick in Olympic history. To commemorate the milestone, Jon Cooper got Wilson a Coppola cap, which everyone on Team Canada signed.
It was that locker room camaraderie that was one of Wilson's biggest takeaways from the Games.
"Truly an incredible, remarkable locker room. You had to kind of sit there at some points and just kind of look around and realize the greatness that is sitting beside you. It starts with (Sidney Crosby), he's such an incredible leader, and right down through, Connor (McDavid) and Nate (MacKinnon) and even the young kid, Macklin (Celebrini), they're just, you just realize why they are great. They work so hard, and it's contagious," Wilson said. " And I learned a lot, I tried to soak up all I could from those guys. It's a short tournament, you don't really know those guys at first, but ti's the biggest tournament of our lives and you come together as a family and you want it so much for your country and the guy next to you."
Thompson appeared in one game, stopping 24 of 25 shots for an impressive Olympic victory. The rest of the games, he was the second chair to Jordan Binnington.
Despite not getting much playing time, the 29-year-old called the experience a "dream come true" and one that he'll learn a lot from.
"It was emotional... just being able to put that jersey on and being on the bench was special," Thompson said. "But (the loss) stings as well."
Thompson admitted that he's "still not completely over it," and that the loss hurt even more for Crosby, who was injured in the quarterfinal and could have played his final Olympics.
Ultimately, though, the gold medal loss and the tournament as a whole brought Team Canada closer together.
"We're darn close now, you're almost family by the end of the tournament. It's pretty special," Wilson said. "So it was a sad day kind of leaving those guys and knowing that we were so close. But like I said, I'm proud of the group and proud of the team for how we played."
The 31-year-old also cherished getting to share the moment with his immediate family, especially his son, Teddy.
"I think that's one of the coolest parts, seeing Teddy over there. Obviously a big shout out to my wife and my parents and the in-laws for sharing the coverage on him, because having a 2-year-old running around the streets of Italy is pretty stressful," he laughed. "I didn't have to deal with that at all, but seeing the videos and the pictures and having him on the ice at the Canada house in an environment like that and just seeing him cheering at the games, it'll be fun to tell him about that one day. Just pretty cool and feel very lucky to share those memories with the family."
Wilson, who spent a majority of the Olympics on the top line with McDavid and Celebrini, called it a learning experience where he tried to take in as much as he could.
Now, he's looking forward to carrying that into the Capitals dressing room as they team makes a push for the playoffs.
"Every single detail, that was probably one of the craziest, coolest parts of it all, every single detail, the focus, the determination of the minute we came together as a group at the airport until the final buzzer, everything was so important," Wilson said. "Every detail, every conversation, every practice, every drill, you realize how dialed in everybody is and our country expects nothing but the absolute best.
"So, when you pull on that Canadian jersey, there's a pressure that every single person in the world is coming for you and want to take what's ours and the way that some of those stars and leaders on our team carried that and the way that our team carried that, I'll always be proud of. From practice to all the systems to every conversation leading up to it, Hockey Canada demands perfection, and we were pretty, pretty close. That's what will always hurt."
Thompson also emphasized just how much Wilson fit the mold that Hockey Canada had been looking for, praising his play throughout the tourney.
"I thought Tom was amazing," Thompson said, adding, "As his teammate and his friend, couldn't be happier for him. He deserved more, he played his heart out, and I think he represented the Washington Capitals and Canadians really, really well."
Looking back, both Thompson and Wilson weren't happy with the result, but said there's still pride in being able to take home silver.
That said, they also cherish the lasting impact that these Olympics will have on the game of hockey.
"Just being USA and Canada in the final and being able to play in a game like that was so cool. It's not the outcome that we wanted, but for the game of hockey, for kids in the U.S. and Canada and the next generations and when you look at the game in a big picture, it's a pretty special event to be a part of," Wilson said. "I'll always be very proud of being Canadian and bringing a silver medal home. We all wanted gold, and that'll hurt forever, but it's something that I'm very, very proud of, to go to the Olympics and play for Team Canada and come home with our heads held high."