ARLINGTON, V.A. — At their annual rookie dinner this year, Washington Capitals had a tall task at hands for their first-year players in Ryan Leonard and Justin Sourdif.
Both had to get up in front of everybody and perform karaoke; they could pick any song, but they had to give it their all. And Leonard was more prepared than one would think.
The 21-year-old chose Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars' "Uptown Funk," a track he was originally set to perform in his elementary school talent show.
"It was something I had all the words to, and it had a good jingle to it," Leonard quipped.
That fell through, but he did grow up singing with his older sister, Brianna, as the two would often come across toy microphones and bring them home.
So, Leonard was confident as he got up in front of his teammates and belted it out, and the song stuck. Sourdif, meanwhile, performed Kenny Rogers' "The Gambler."
"He had a great performance for us, so after that, we switched (our win song) up," Sandin said. It was fantastic."
The song is now well over 10 years old, but ultimately, it's one that the Capitals don't mind putting on blast.
"Good song with a lot of tempo and gets the guy going," Hendrix Lapierre. "(If we hear it) 22 (more) times, that would be the best... we wanna hear it."
Though it's not necessarily what Spencer Carbery would have chosen, he did say that it just goes to show how tight the group is and how important the locker room camaraderie is.
"They love each other. They're brothers,' Carbery said, adding, "It's always been a part of the fabric of our team... (you play) for the group, and it's for your brothers that are sitting next to you."