While Caps fans in DC are likely celebrating – with good reason – the announced trade that’s bringing Blues stand-out TJ Oshie to Washington next season, so too are longtime fans from his days playing at the University of North Dakota.
Which means that Michele Johnson – Caps fan, UND grad, and all around hockey sharpie – is probably more excited than almost anyone right now. Michele has been watching Oshie’s play since he came to Grand Forks, and can’t wait to watch him now, years later, at Verizon.
Although she’s in North Dakota right now, she couldn’t wait but to share some thoughts on why TJ is such a big deal in DC.
One cold Saturday morning in 2014, I set my DVR for Olympics hockey and headed out to Congressional Cemetery to walk my dog.
With TJ Oshie and Zach Parise strapping it on for the USA, and Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews doing the same for Canada, I was confident the alma maters of my alma mater – the University of North Dakota – would represent.
This edition of Olympic hockey meant pretty much everything to me. So it shouldn’t have been a surprise, half way through my walk, to get texts such as “OMG!” “OSHIE!” “Are you losing your mind?!?” and “Go Sioux!”
I knew it my bones: TJ Oshie, former Sioux standout, had saved the day for the U.S. team and electrified fans across the nation. Just as he had back at UND.