We have seen a lot of great players come through the NHL over the years. Some of them are a bit underrated compared to others. T.J. Oshie is a fine example of that.
Oshie was a first-round (24th overall )pick of the St. Louis Blues in the 2005 NHL Draft. He was a great player for the University of North Dakota and then began a fantastic NHL career.
After seven great years with the Blues, Oshie was traded to the Washington Capitals where he has been for the last nine years.
During his time with Washington, he became a Stanley Cup champion when they won it all in 2018. That is the career highlight for Oshie as a player.
TJ Oshie was very good at hockey no matter where he went
He also was a big part of Team USA on multiple occasions but nothing was bigger than the game they played against Russia in Sochi (2014).
Oshie was called upon again and again in the shootout while Russia rotated between Pavel Datsyuk and Ilya Kovalchuk. With Jonathan Quick as the goaltender, Oshie was able to beat Bobrovsky in every clutch situation which led to Team USA winning the game. It was incredible theatre.
On Saturday night, Oshie played in his 1000th career NHL game when the Washington Capitals took on the Vancouver Canucks. It was a 2-1 win thanks to a clutch goal by Alexander Ovechkin in the latter stages of the game.
Oshie was never a superstar player but he was an All-Star one time. This came as a member of the Capitals in the one year that the event was hosted in St. Louis. It was perfect.
Over his 1000 games, Oshie has 301 goals and 388 assists for 689 points. He never had 30 goals or 60 points but he was always a model of consistency which is hard for an NHL player.
He was as clutch as he could be in the playoffs too and was a big part of what Washington did in 2018. He showed in the regular season and playoffs that he could play any role on the team. If it were in the top six or the third line, he was always very good no matter what.
At 37 years old, there are more years behind Oshie in his career but he will always be remembered for how great he was both on and off the ice. He deserves all of the praise he is getting following this impressive milestone.
With it happening in Vancouver, it should be so fun to see him honored when they return to Washington.