The Washington Capitals got some bad injury news to end the season last year and stepped into the great unknown about T.J. Oshie before placing him on LTIR or Long Term Injured Reserve. Let's break down the Oshbabes injury history during his time with the Caps.
The following list comes from Fox Sports:
12/5/17 Upper body injury
3/31/18 Lower body injury
4/2/18 Lower body injury
4/7/18 Undisclosed injury
11/16/18 Upper body
4/18/19 Upper body
2/7/21 Upper body
5/3/21 Personal
5/15/21 Lower body
10/27/21 Lower body
12/19/21 COVID-19
1/7/22 Illness
1/15/22 Upper body
3/17/22 Lower body
10/9/22 Upper body
10/29/22 Upper body
12/17/22 Upper body
3/30/23 Upper body
11/24/23 Upper body
11/25/23 Upper body
12/19/23 Lower body
2/22/24 Upper body
3/20/24 Upper body
4/2/24 Upper body
9/18/24 Back
Despite all these ailments Oshie still achieved the NHL mark of 1,000 games with spending four years in St. Louis and five in Washington.
Oshie would end up scoring what would turn out to be the game winning goal on April 16 against the Philadelphia Flyers on the road.
Oshie also had a memorable hat trick in 2022 to honor his late father and he did it in none other than Madison Square Garden.
Nicklas Backstrom told Dan Rosen of NHL.com following the hat trick:
"I saw he got emotional there at the end, which was understandable. I felt like he needed a hug. I told him like 'you are the strongest person I know'. "Nicklas Backstrom to NHL.com
Oshie would channel that strength all through last season to help push the Caps to the playoffs all from the power of friendship. Earlier that year he had a hat trick against his ex on Country Music Night to send shockwaves throughout the DMV to the tune of Country Roads by John Denver.
For Oshie that January night it was his biggest game since his return to the ice on Jan. 11 after he missed 11 games with an upper body injury. Dylan Strome echoed Backstrom's statement about how good of a teammate and linemate Oshie is to Harvey Valentine of NHL.com after the win and the country music hats were all cleaned up.
"He's a special player, a special guy to have in the room. I think you can tell the way our team plays when he's in the lineup and when he's not. I think he adds a ton to our team and in the dressing room as well.""Dylan Strome to NHL.com