Everything He Had: A Tribute to T.J. Oshie and the Unseen Toll of the Game
On June 9th, T.J. Oshie gave a retirement speech. He thanked the city of St. Louis and Blues fans for their support. Support he said, “I often felt that I didn’t deserve.” He talked about the phone call that ended his seven-season run with the Blues, when he was traded to the Washington Capitals. He admitted he felt like he had let down the city and the organization after coming up short of a Stanley Cup despite being part of some great teams.
He thanked the Capitals for believing in him; believing he still had something left to give. And boy, did he. He helped the Caps win President’s Trophies, lifted the Stanley Cup in 2018, and became just the 62nd American-born player to reach 1,000 NHL games.
Toward the end of his speech, Oshie thanked Capitals fans, saying:
“I hope I’ve made you and this city proud by the way I have played the game.”
Then came the part that really got me. He thanked his wife, as many players do, because let’s be honest, balancing a pro hockey career and a family is no joke. He talked about the last few years, the injuries, and how he couldn’t be as present at home with their four kids. They both cried.
He finished his speech by turning to the hockey world and saying:
“I can promise you this: I gave you everything I had. With that, after 16 seasons in the NHL, I would like to officially announce my retirement.”
The crowd went wild. Everyone started chanting his name.
Oshie had to sit out the 2024–25 season due to chronic back injuries. At the end of the 2023–24 season, and several other times before that, he underwent double ablations: a procedure that burns nerve endings to reduce pain. It’s a short-term fix, not a cure.
He’s shared brutal details. He described moments where he was stuck lying on the floor, unable to get up, having to pee in water bottles.
Capitals goalie Charlie Lindgren put it plainly:
“It’s impressive. No one outside our locker room knew what he had to do every day to make himself play-ready. He would get on the ice and play like nothing bothered him. He didn’t tiptoe around and avoid checks, that wasn’t his style.”
I was one of those St. Louis fans cheering for T.J. Oshie from the start. So, it hit hard when he said he didn’t feel he deserved our support. I don’t know a single Blues fan who had anything bad to say about him. We loved him. And even after he left for Washington, we still did.
I think one of my favorite Oshie memories was the Sochi Olympics in 2014, before Oshie got traded away from the St. Louis Blues. The moment the rest of the world saw what we’d known all along. Team USA was playing Russia, and regulation ended in a 2–2 tie. Overtime stayed scoreless, sending the game to a shootout.
Just like in the NHL, both teams picked three skaters for the opening rounds. But unlike the NHL, if the shootout wasn’t decided in those first three rounds, teams could reuse shooters as many times as they wanted.
Jonathan Quick was in goal for the U.S., Sergei Bobrovsky for Russia. Both were about to face some of the world’s top playmakers.
Oshie led off for Team USA and slipped the puck between Bobrovsky’s legs. The next four attempts for both sides were stopped. Then Ilya Kovalchuk scored to keep Russia alive.
Round 4: Kovalchuk missed. USA sent Oshie back out, he missed.
Round 5: Pavel Datsyuk scored. Oshie answered.
Round 6: Kovalchuk again, goal. Oshie again, goal.
Round 7: Datsyuk returned, SAVE by Quick. Oshie, back out, miss.
Round 8: Kovalchuk, miss.
And then… Oshie again. His sixth attempt. Between the legs again, GOAL.
USA wins.
I was screaming in the parking lot of my college apartment, wrapped in an American flag, yelling “SOCHI OSHIE.” I cried. Twitter exploded. And I still have screenshots from that day:
“Why send NHL players to the Olympics? Before today, Blues fans and a few elsewhere knew how skilled TJ Oshie is. Now the world does.”
– Gord Miller (@GMillerTSN), Feb. 15, 2014
“T.J. Oshie is now trending worldwide. The rest of the world now knows what St. Louis has known all along.”
– St. Louis Blues (@StLouisBlues), Feb. 15, 2014
He wasn’t just a St. Louis hero anymore. He was America’s hero. And what did he say afterward?
“The American heroes are wearing camo. That’s not me.”
That’s T.J. Oshie.
I started writing this post intending to talk about how physically brutal pro hockey is. How so many players grind through injuries, quietly carrying damage that lingers long after they hang up the skates.
Yes, they do it for personal pride, contracts, and maybe even legacy. But I genuinely believe (maybe I romanticize it) that they do it for the fans. For the love of the game. For something bigger than themselves.
Alex Pietrangelo, another Blues legend, is now stepping away from hockey to focus on his health. He’s been vague about the exact issues, but Vegas GM Kelly McCrimmon confirmed it: severe hip injuries requiring bilateral femur reconstruction. And there’s “no guarantee of success.”
Jonathan Toews missed two full seasons after being diagnosed with CIRS (Chronic Inflammatory Response Syndrome) and battling long-term COVID effects. He’s planning a return, not with the Blackhawks, but as a Winnipeg Jet. Toews has confidently said that he has more to give to the sport, and the NHL, and he’s ready to do that.
And then there’s Gabriel Landeskog. Possibly the most jaw-dropping comeback I’ve seen. After suffering a devastating knee injury in the 2020 playoffs, where the cartilage in his knee was cut by Cale Makar’s skate. The injury required multiple procedures including a full cartilage transplant, he didn’t skate in an NHL game for three years. He couldn’t walk upstairs. And then he came back in the 2025 playoffs. Five games. One goal. Three assists.
Only four other players in NHL history have returned from absences of 1,000+ days: Jim Peplinski, Mario Lemieux, Uwe Krupp, and Peter Forsberg. And now, Landeskog.
It’s easy to forget what these players put themselves through. But behind the highlights and the heroics are bodies pushed to the brink, families making sacrifices, and careers that come with a cost.
But still, they play. And somehow, they still give us everything they have.
To T.J. Oshie, thank you. Thank you for Sochi. For the chances in St. Louis, for winning the Cup in Washington. For showing the world what heart looks like on skates.
You gave us everything you had. And we noticed. Happy Retirement.
And I know, free agency is off the rails right now. I’ve got takes. You’ll get them. Next post.
- Penalty Box Prose