On & Off The Ice, Capitals' Nic Dowd & Brandon Duhaime's Connection Goes A Long Way: 'I'd Be Lost Without Him'
The Capitals' fourth liners have become close friends over Duhaime's first year in D.C.
ARLINGTON, V.A. — At this point, Washington Capitals winger Brandon Duhaime can’t really envision jumping over the boards without Nic Dowd by his side.
Since Duhaime’s arrival in D.C., the two have rarely taken a shift without one another, and over the course of the year, have developed a tight bond that translates on and off the ice.
“At this point, I’d be lost without him,” Duhaime said of Dowd.
Duhaime’s made quite the impression on Dowd and his teammates in his first year with the group, bringing his unique personality, sense of humor and never-ending assortment of pranks to the District.
“It’s interesting every day,” Dowd said of being Duhaime’s teammate, tagging on with a smile, “In a really good way.”
Duhaime and Dowd spent 962:18 minutes together at all strengths over the course of the regular season, powering the fourth line while also killing penalties together.
Spending that much time battling side-by-side rubs off on you, and for Dowd, who had to say goodbye to longtime linemates Garnet Hathaway and Beck Malenstyn over the past couple of seasons, Duhaime’s been the perfect player to step in and fill those voids.
“He’s just one of the teammates that I’ll remember for probably the rest of my career. We spend a lot of time on the ice together,” Dowd said. “He’s somebody I played more minutes with probably this year than anybody else, we penalty kill together. From a work standpoint, we spend a lot of time together getting to know each other on the ice, off the ice… What he brings is invaluable.”
Duhaime’s grit and hard-working attitude on the ice earned him the nickname “Doggy,” and his hijinks and antics often garner the laughs of his teammates. When it comes to Dowd, it’s only added to the respect he has for Duhaime, who he feels he can come to for anything at any time.
“The season can really wear on you and the ability for him, regardless of what’s going on with him, he’s able to keep the rest of our teammates light, which I think is a pretty special trait of a guy at this level. It’s easy at times for all of us, right, if we’re struggling with something, whether it’s on the ice or off ice, (to be negative), and Dewey maintains a positive attitude regardless,” Dowd said. “He’s just as happy to watch his teammates have success as he is to have personal success, which I think is hard to come by in professional sports. Not that we don’t have a bunch of guys on this team that are like that, but Dewey’s just in his own group.
“You can really tell a lot about a person when things potentially aren’t going well individually or aren’t going well as a team,” he added. “If they’re able to still maintain that positivity, that’s one of (Duhaime’s) best traits.”
The feeling’s mutual for Duhaime, who’s come to admire what Dowd brings to the table on and off the ice on a daily basis.
“He’s the man, he does it all… just a true class act, and I can’t say enough good things about him,” Duhaime said, adding, “Not even me, just the locker room, the attitude he brings, the leadership, all the intangibles. He means a lot.”
Going into next season, the two are excited to continue building a strong foundation and bouncing off one another.
