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ARLINGTON, Va. 鈥� Eight-year NHL veteran and 2018 Stanley Cup champion Devante Smith-Pelly visited the Capitals鈥� practice facility Friday, reuniting with some of his former teammates ahead of doing the ceremonial puck drop ahead of as part of .
鈥淚t鈥檚 been a while,鈥� Smith-Pelly said of seeing his former teammates in person. 鈥淎side from Tom [Wilson], I haven鈥檛 seen any of the guys since I left. So, we still talk, obviously, but it鈥檚 not the same as hugging and looking in the eye and stuff like that but it鈥檚 great. I missed the guys for sure and it鈥檚 great to see them.鈥�
Devante Smith-Pelly is here at Capitals practice today. Here he is chatting up Alex Ovechkin on the bench.
— Matt Weyrich (@ByMattWeyrich)
Seven players from the Capitals鈥� championship roster remain in Washington: Wilson, Alex Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom, John Carlson, Lars Eller, Evgeny Kuznetsov and T.J. Oshie. He caught up with several of them in the morning before watching them practice from the bench.
鈥淚t was great,鈥� Ovechkin said. 鈥淲e have lots of great memories together. We won the Cup together. He was a big part of the team and it was nice to see him. We have lots of good memories.鈥�
Smith-Pelly, who from the NHL in December, hasn鈥檛 yet started to feel the emotions of returning to D.C. but admitted he was nervous about taking the ice Saturday at Capital One Arena for the puck drop. He鈥檚 looking forward to having one last moment with the fans to bookend his hockey career.
Though he played for four different teams throughout his career, Smith-Pelly鈥檚 time in Washington stands out in his mind. The roads are still familiar, the organization treated him well, he won a Stanley Cup and he played a role in drawing more fans from the city鈥檚 diverse population to the sport.
鈥淥bviously winning is special but winning in this area with the demographic and stuff like that is huge,鈥� Smith-Pelly said. 鈥淚 think you saw at the parade a whole different bunch of people, Black kids, Black parents, stuff like that, which to me is important. I think is important in growing the game is getting new people involved so I think in a couple of years, 10 years, 15 years, you鈥檙e going to see kids that were at that parade playing professional hockey and stuff like that and that鈥檚 exciting. That鈥檚 what it鈥檚 all about.鈥�
