ARLINGTON, Va. — Nate Wessel is the biggest hockey fan you’ll find. He loves the game. The 14-year-old from Glenwood, Md. plays for Glenelg High School and the Howard Huskies.
On Wednesday he joined another team. He joined his favorite NHL team, the Washington Capitals.
Nate signed his own contract with the Caps. He received the star treatment and spent some time with the club. It was his wish - a wish fulfilled thanks to the Make-A-Wish foundation.
"He is what they call a hypoplastic right ventricle," said Nate's mother, Megan. "Your heart has two pumping chambers. He only has one of the pumping chambers."
Nate has been through three open heart surgeries. The first was at ten days old. His second was at six months old. The third surgery happened when he was three years old.
Now he is thriving.
"He is doing really well and he doesn’t let it slow him down at all," said Megan.
He was just another one of the guys when it was time to meet his new teammates in the Capitals locker room, including his favorite player, Caps captain Alex Ovechkin.
"I just froze. It was a once in a lifetime thing. It’s crazy," described Nate about meeting Ovechkin.
Nate had his own stall with his name and No. 8 like Ovechkin. That's a good thing because he needed a place to suit up before taking the ice.
As the Caps wrapped up their practice session, Nate hopped on. He got some pointers from the best goal scorer in hockey history and used Ovechkin’s stick to shoot from the spot where Ovi has scored so much over his career - a few feet from the boards, between the offensive zone blue line and goal line, slapping a one-timer.
"It was awesome," said Nate. "It was really cool to be able to meet one of the best hockey players."
What was it like using his stick?
"That was pretty crazy. It was pretty cool."
"He is great. He had a couple goals, a couple of assists, a couple breakaways. It was pretty cool," said Ovechkin sitting next to Nate in the locker room.
The entire day was a complete surprise to Nate. It was also an experience that was supposed to happen three years ago but was cancelled because of Covid.
It was well worth the wait.
"Oh yeah. Definitely," said Nate. "Definitely. Yeah."
Nate’s day with the Caps will actually be a day and night. His wish continues on Thursday when he will be part of the festivities in D.C. when the Capitals host the New Jersey Devils.
It is sure to be a night to remember after a day he will never forget.
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