Troy Brouwer stood up from his stall in the Washington Capitals’ dressing room once coach Barry Trotz ceded the floor, and Brouwer, a novelty top hat and fake beard in hand, began his off-the-cuff speech.
He praised goaltender Braden Holtby for a great game, then gave defenseman Tim Gleason a shout-out for his third-period fight. Brouwer, though, chose to honor someone who blocked shots and played well against the wall, and so after three steps toward the center of the room, he turned and tossed the props to rookie Andre Burakovsky.
“You tricked us!” right wing Jason Chimera yelled from his own stall, standing up as players applauded and hollered at the 20-year-old rookie.