Hockey star turns Nats pitcher into giddy fan

This story was excerpted from Jessica Camerato’s Nationals Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

Jake Irvin is a Major League pitcher. He’s also a major hockey fan. When Irvin met goaltender Braden Holtby, a Stanley Cup winner with the Washington Capitals, on the field before a game at Nationals Park this past week, he exuded his passion for the sport.

“[I was] a little bit [nervous],” Irvin said. “It was cool. It seemed like he was a very down-to-earth dude. The nerves subside once you realize he's just another person.”

Irvin, 26, grew up in Bloomington, Minn., following the Minnesota Wild. He played hockey as a right winger through his first year of bantam hockey (around eighth grade), stopping to focus on baseball. Last winter, Irvin attended a handful of Wild games and hopes to go to more this offseason.

“I still love hockey,” Irvin said. “Hockey is just a very physical sport. It's very personal, too, because you're skating next to the opponent for the entire game. A lot of action, fast paced. Just a very unique and fun sport.”

With that love for the game also comes an appreciation for Holtby’s career. Holtby, a 33-year-old free agent, played 10 seasons with the Capitals from 2010-20. During that time, he won the 2015-16 Vezina Award, the 2016-17 Jennings Award and the 2017-18 Stanley Cup.

“Hockey was a big part of my life,” Irvin said. “Growing up watching Alex Ovechkin, [Holtby] was a part of so many of those teams with him. [He was a] Vezina Trophy winner too, which is really cool because it's kind of comparable to what pitchers do -- being a goalie or on an island all by yourself, kind of like the goalie Cy Young [Award]. He's a stud, and it was cool to meet him.”

Irvin’s dream hockey meet-and-greet would be with childhood idol and fellow D.C. athlete Ovechkin. The storied left winger attended a Nationals game in April, a few weeks before Irvin was called up from Triple-A to make his Major League debut.

“[I would want to say to Ovechkin,] thanks for the memories,” Irvin said. “[Thanks for] having a huge impact on this generation of hockey players. … [Wild left winger] Kirill Kaprizov is Russian as well, and I know that his idol’s Ovechkin. I would say, thanks for giving us Kirill and inspiring our superstar.”