Tragedy strikes Capitals forward T.J. Oshie

While teammate Tom Wilson is grabbing all the headlines for the Washington Capitals today for all the wrong reasons, Caps forward T.J. Oshie shared some somber news.

Oshie announced earlier today that his father, Tim Oshie, has passed away.

Tim, affectionately known as Coach, has been fighting Alzheimer's disease since 2012 and the Oshie family has watched as the disease has progressed strongly in recent years. Anyone who has endured a friend or family member who has battled Alzheimer's knows just how difficult it can be. The person you once knew and loved slips away day by day until they're nearly gone completely. It's a devastating illness that not only affects the patient, but everyone in his/her family.

If you need to see just how much Coach meant to T.J., check out this video of T.J. talking about Coach just moments after winning the Stanley Cup:

And indeed, Coach did remember the moment.

“This moment. I knew it was going to stick with him so to hug him down there and to have him touch and hold the Cup was a special moment,” Oshie said on Wayne Gretzky’s podcast in May 2019. “And sure enough, he woke up in Vegas the next morning, he was staying with his sister and my sister. He woke up and the first thing he said when he woke up was ‘we got the Cup.’ So, it was pretty cool experience for me to share with him.”

Love and prayers to the Oshie family right now at this difficult time.