Capitals Tune In As ROC, Slovakia Win Olympic Medals; Former Cap Galiyev Takes Silver

With the 2022 Winter Olympics coming to a close and the Washington Capitals off for the weekend, Alex Ovechkin, Dmitry Orlov, Martin Fehervary and more were watching their TVs closely.

Several Capitals tuned into the Olympics, seeing their home nations face off in the gold and bronze medal games. There, they saw both the Russian Olympic Committee and Slovakia medal.

In a wild bronze medal game, Juraj Stafkovsky and the Slovaks shut out Sweden, 4-0, to clinch the nation’s first-ever Olympic hockey medal. After that, ROC and Finland clashed for gold, but the ROC fell short, 2-1, as the Finns won their first-ever gold. The Russians, meanwhile, took home silver.

Former Capitals forward Stanislav Galiyev laced ’em up for ROC. He played in four games for the Russians, going scoreless. After a wild quarterfinals series, he was the only remaining former Washington skater left.

The Capitals originally selected Galiyev in the third round of the 2010 NHL Draft. He played in 26 total games for D.C. and put up a goal and three assists. In 161 total AHL games with Hershey, he dished 52 goals and 95 points for the Bears.

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Galiyev ultimately played five seasons with the Washington organization. However, when he became a free agent in 2017, he elected to return home and play for the KHL, signing with Ak Bars Kazan. The 30-year-old forward currently plays for HC Dynamo Moscow and has 25 goals and 42 points in 47 games this season. Through 265 total KHL games, he has 79 goals and 150 points.

Ovechkin was watching the silver medal game on a big screen, and Orlov was also following along. Meanwhile, Fehervary shouted out his home nation on Instagram after their bronze medal victory.

Ovechkin had initially been named to the ROC roster, but the NHL opted out of the Olympics and he did not attend. Orlov would have likely also been a selection for the Russians. Meanwhile, Fehervary has been having a stellar rookie campaign and could have made a strong case for a spot on Team Slovakia.

Lars Eller, who likely would have represented Denmark, also watched the Danish team closely. Although the Danes fell in the quarterfinals, Eller was happy to see his country pull off a win and hopes that it leads to further growth of the game back home.

Besides Galiyev, former Capitals Aaron Ness, Daniel Winnik, Daniel Carr, Tomas Kundratek, Jakub Jerabek and Mathias Bau were also skating in Beijing.