Late Saturday, pictures began to emerge on social media of Capitals’ stars T.J. Oshie and Matt Niskanen riding the Metro to Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final at Capital One Arena.
On Sunday, we got the chance to ask them about their journey, which began at a stop near their homes and ended at the Gallery Place-Chinatown stop underneath the arena.
“I don’t know any of the stops or anything—so I’ll just pass this one over to Nisky,” Oshie said with a smile.
Niskanen takes the train on occasion; Oshie was making his Metro debut.
Asked where they caught the train, Niskanen understandably didn’t want to reveal much.
“I don’t want to give away our location,” he said, laughing, “but there’s a stop somewhat near our house and we live in the state of Virginia.”
Niskanen did, however, say they started on the “Orange or Silver” line. Which means, at some, point they changed trains.
Now that’s commitment.
“It was great,” Oshie said. “It was actually really easy for us to get down there. Fans seemed really excited but were also very respectful. They just kinda wished us luck along the way. The closer we got the more fans got on. It was cool. I’ve never gone that way before.”
So why did two high-profile, recognizable, multimillionaire athletes take public transportation to one of the biggest nights of their professional careers?
NHL
Simple.
With several streets around the arena shut down for a variety of reasons related to the Final, they didn’t want to get hung up in traffic.
“We heard it might be tough to get to the game,” Oshie said. “So we decided to take the train, so if there was going to be any traffic, just to make it easier on us.”
Will it become a thing? You know, since the Caps won and hockey players are the most superstitious people on Earth?
It should also be noted that traffic probably isn’t going to get any better on Monday, when the Caps host the Golden Knights for Game 4.
“I don’t know,” Oshie said. “We haven’t discussed that yet.”
More Capitals:
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- Commuting to work: Oshie and Niskanen metro to Game 3
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