Ahead of Saturday night’s game between the Montreal Canadiens and Washington Capitals, the Caps saw their Olympic medalists, Tom Wilson and Logan Thompson, receive some special recognition in front of a sold-out Bell Centre crowd of 20,962.
The Canadiens held a pregame ceremony to honor some of Canada’s Olympic heroes, including Wilson, Thompson, and Montreal’s own Nick Suzuki, who all won silver medals for their country in men’s ice hockey.
The three were joined on the ice by eight other Canadian medalists, including two Olympic champions, Steven Dubois and Mikaël Kingsbury.
All of the Olympians, including Wilson and Thompson, were greeted by loud cheers and applause from Canadiens fans.
Canadian Olympians honored on 2/28 at Bell Centre
Danaé Blais (bronze) – short track speed skating
William Dandjinou (silver) – short track speed skating
Felix Roussel (silver) – short track speed skating
Florence Brunelle (bronze, silver) – short track speed skating
Kim Boutin (bronze, silver) – short track speed skating
Courtney Sarault (2x silver, 2x bronze) – short track speed skating
Steven Dubois (gold, silver) – short track speed skating
Mikaël Kingsbury (gold, silver) – freestyle skiing
Tom Wilson (silver) – men’s ice hockey
Logan Thompson (silver) – men’s ice hockey
Nick Suzuki (silver) – men’s ice hockey
Canada collected 21 medals in Italy (5 gold, 7 silver, 9 bronze), finishing eighth on the overall medal table.
Almost half of those medals (10) came from their speed skaters, while they also earned five in freestyle skiing, two in ice hockey, two in curling, and one each in snowboarding and figure skating.
With the Olympians in attendance, the Canadiens took down the Capitals 6-2. Suzuki had three points (1g, 2a) in the win, while Wilson was kept off the scoresheet and Thompson served as Charlie Lindgren‘s backup.