Hockey fans know TJ Oshie played an intense game for 16 seasons in the NHL, but even when there\u2019s nothing at stake, he remains fiery and competitive.<\/p>\n
On an episode of the \u201cSpittin\u2019 Chiclets\u201d podcast released Tuesday<\/a>, the recently retired Washington Capitals winger described a time he got a little too heated<\/a> with Vancouver Canucks star Brock Boeser during a pickup game in Minnesota.<\/p>\n \u201cI mean, in summer in the offseason and stuff, I would have fun, I would let guys do their thing unless we were losing and if we were losing, I just like absolutely reverse hitting, turn it on,\u201d Oshie described of his style of play during casual games. \u201cI think one time we were out skating with Brock Boeser and he was cherry-picking the whole day and we had a tough workout. You know those workouts where you\u2019re drained, you\u2019re in a bad mood, you gotta go skate. It\u2019s August, you feel out of shape and you got things coming up and we got a pretty heated game and [Boeser] got like three or four breakaways and his last one from across the ice, I chuck my stick \u2013 as in like slide it on the ice \u2013 [to] knock the puck out and just be like, \u2018Hey, stop doing that.\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cI let it go a little high, almost like a golf club throw [and it hit him] square across the side of his head. And he thought we were gonna fight and I had to play it off like I meant to do it, I couldn\u2019t be like, \u2018Oh, oh sorry.\u2019 Right? And so he went to the bench and changed and I just skated around and dropped some profanities and told him to stop cherry-picking\u2026 Sometimes I do get a little heated up out there.\u201d<\/p>\n Boeser, 28, is a native of Burnsville, Minnesota \u2013 a southern suburb of the Twin Cities \u2013 and shares some striking commonalities with Oshie besides both being sons of the Gopher State. The pair attended and played for the University of North Dakota (Oshie from 2004-07 and Boeser from 2015-17) and, sadly, their fathers both suffered from types of Dementia.<\/p>\n Oshie\u2019s father, Tim, passed away in May 2021 after a lengthy battle with Alzheimer\u2019s Disease, something the 38-year-old has been open and vocal about. He even debuted a documentary about his father at a DC film festival in June<\/a>.<\/p>\n Boeser\u2019s dad, Duke, passed away in May 2022. On top of fighting Dementia, he was also diagnosed with Parkinson\u2019s disease in 2010. <\/p>\n Despite the rough misunderstanding, Oshie has nothing but respect for his fellow Minnesotan.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s just so nice. Just such a nice guy,\u201d he told the podcast. \u201cHe wants to have fun out there and score some goals.\u201d<\/p>\n Oshie and his family moved back to the Land of 10,000 Lakes this summer after the 2018 Stanley Cup champion announced his retirement from the NHL due to chronic back pain. He explained how his treatment journey has him feeling \u201cgood enough to be a normal human being\u201d<\/a> but he\u2019s not quite sure if he\u2019ll jump back on the ice for another pickup game any time soon.<\/p>\n \u201cI haven\u2019t skated since [the] playoffs, when we got swept by New York in \u201924, I just haven\u2019t skated [because of] my back. [I] wasn\u2019t in any position to go on the ice at all,\u201d he said. \u201cNow I could probably maybe go for a little twirl\u2026 So I\u2019m gonna try to work my body back into it and then who knows, maybe I\u2019ll step on the ice and give it a go.\u201d<\/p>\n \t