As His Daughter Was Born A Country Away, Dylan Strome Needed Someone To Lean On. That Was Jakob Chychrun
Jakob Chychrun shares what it meant to help friend and teammate Dylan Strome through an emotional night as his third daughter was born back home during the Capitals' game in Montreal.
ARLINGTON, V.A. — As the Washington Capitals got ready to take the ice for warmups against the Montreal Canadiens, Dylan Strome was a bundle of nerves.
He’d just found out that his wife, Tayler, was in the hospital and ready to give birth to their third daughter, Sutton. It was earlier than expected for the 28-year-old, and even if he didn’t play, he wouldn’t have made it back to D.C. in time.
“It’s tough. You obviously want to be there for the birth of your children, and I didn’t know it was coming this soon,” Strome said postgame, adding, “There was nothing I could do to get there.”
“We obviously found out pretty much right before the game that Tayler was in labor and you could tell he was definitely freaking out a little bit a little nervous and anxious and not really sure what to think,. which is obviously very understandable,” Jakob Chychrun added.
In that moment, what Strome needed more than anything was support, and he found that in Chychrun.
“We were walking out for the start of the game, and he grabbed me and asked me to say a prayer for him. Man, that was awesome,” Chychrun said. “It was like the first time somebody’s done that to me in the moment. It was just a really special moment.”
It made a world of a difference to Strome, who recorded three assists en route to an 8-4 win. Sutton came into the world during the first period, and both mother and daughter are in good health.
Strome returned home on Thursday night and went straight to the hospital to be with Tayler and his new daughter, finally getting to hold her. The family returned back home together on Friday.
For Chychrun, it’s a core memory that he’ll carry with him as not only a teammate, but a friend; as Strome pointed out, “it’s a brotherhood” in the Capitals room.
“For me, it just made me feel emotional… it brought him maybe some comfort, some peace, but it was just a special opportunity for me to help him out as best I could and try to have the Lord just give me the words to ease his mind a little.”