Kalen Anderson, 16, started this morning (Wednesday) as a Caps fan — but she’ll end the day with a spot on the team’s roster.
Make-A-Wish surprised the teenage hockey player from Alberta, Canada, with a day at the MedStar Capitals Iceplex in Ballston, where she signed a one-day Capitals team contract, met her favorite player and spent some time on the ice with her new teammates.
“I haven’t been playing net in a while, and it’s just so nice to be back, and especially with the guys that like, I look up to and stuff,” Anderson said after a practice session with the team. “It’s just crazy.”
Anderson is currently in remission from synovial sarcoma, a rare form of cancer she was diagnosed with last year. She began playing hockey about five years ago as a goaltender, though the position became difficult to play through her diagnosis, her parents Ken and Isabelle Anderson said.
On Wednesday, Kalen returned to the role with her favorite team.
“For her, it’s huge, because she don’t play net anymore, because it’s too hard on her legs,” Kalen’s mother, Isabelle Anderson said. “She’s in her own element, right there,” she said, pointing to her daughter as she blocked shots on the ice.
At home, Anderson now plays recreational hockey as a right wing forward — the same position as her favorite player, T.J. Oshie. She met Oshie on Wednesday during her contract signing with the team’s assistant general manager, Don Fishman.
“I froze. I couldn’t believe it. It’s just insane — thank you for coming out,” Kalen told Oshie at the event.
Afterward, the Capitals greeted Kalen to her own locker room bench, where she met — and fist bumped — several players before heading out on the ice. She also received a Capitals swag basket and spoke to the press alongside Oshie after playing.
Ken Anderson said ice hockey was the one thing that got his daughter through her diagnosis and treatments.
“Every time that the doctors would come in, that was her first question. She said, ‘When can I get back on the ice?’ And they told her the same thing every time: ‘not for awhile, not for awhile,'” he said. “She had T.J. Oshie’s jersey hanging in her hospital room and her team jersey.”
“She’s my hero, the way she battled it,” he added.
It was a meaningful day for Oshie as well, who got back on the ice after being placed on long-term injured reserve for the season following a back injury.
“Kalen stopped all the five-hole shootouts, so she may have been watching film, I don’t know,” Oshie said. “But no, she was great, honestly great for me to be back on the ice, and what an awesome way to come back out with the fellas, to have Kalen next to me.”
Anderson first became a Capitals fan by playing the video game, NHL, in “Be a Pro” mode, a game feature that allows players to simulate their own hockey career.
“I got drafted first overall to the Caps, and ever since then, they’ve been my team,” she said.
The Andersons will stay in town for the Capitals’ annual Hockey Fights Cancer fundraiser game tomorrow night, where Kalen will participate in a ceremonial puck drop at the Capitol One Arena. She’ll also watch some of the game with Oshie and receive a VIP arena tour.
The Capitals face off against the Colorado Avalanche tomorrow at 7 p.m.
