{"id":41594,"date":"2025-07-05T20:18:09","date_gmt":"2025-07-05T20:18:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/41594\/"},"modified":"2025-07-05T20:18:09","modified_gmt":"2025-07-05T20:18:09","slug":"why-alex-chiasson-ended-up-guest-coaching-at-capitals-development-camp-i-think-i-have-a-lot-to-give-back-to-the-game","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/41594\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Alex Chiasson ended up guest coaching at Capitals Development Camp: \u2018I think I have a lot to give back to the game\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

Washington Capitals legend Alex Chiasson<\/strong> spent just one season with the franchise in 2017-18 but he made the most of that opportunity, earning the title of Stanley Cup champion.<\/p>\n

After spending the next five seasons with three different teams, he decided to retire from playing hockey in January and pursue a new goal: coaching. The 34-year-old was one of multiple Caps alumni guest coaching at the team\u2019s development camp<\/a> which wrapped on Saturday<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s special, obviously, just from my time here as a player, from all that we went through that year, obviously winning at the end of the year,\u201d Chiasson told reporters on Thursday. \u201cI haven\u2019t been back since.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added, \u201cThis place means a lot to me. Learned a lot here, made some great friendships, and, you know, what a great organization. So, this week has been great, trying to be a sponge and learn as much as I can. I\u2019m on the other side now, so, you know, a lot of these things are new for me, but just a great week so far. Having access to all the staff here, asking questions, learning, it\u2019s been really fun.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chiasson received the opportunity shortly after graduating from Boston University in May<\/a>. Taking online courses as he got older, he completed his degree 15 years after first attending the university. While he has the flexibility to go into different fields, Chiasson\u2019s goal now is to stay as close to the ice as possible but in a different capacity.<\/p>\n

\u201cI helped out a little bit this year at [my kid\u2019s] school as a volunteer, and I really found a passion for the teaching and just the game,\u201d he explained. \u201cI think as a, you know, unfortunately as a player, it all comes to an end eventually, but I still have a lot of passion for the game. I think I\u2019ve lived a lot of experiences in my life as a player, and I think I have a lot to give back to the game as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chiasson said he wanted to impart some wisdom on the youngsters participating at the camp, knowing what he knows now about this particular chapter in his own career.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think I see myself a lot, you know, a lot when I was that age and coming in and wanting to impress and having fun and trying to learn,\u201d he continued. \u201cSo I think it\u2019s been a great week that way. I think a lot of the players, some of the kids have asked questions. And what\u2019s great, you know, I\u2019ve played for a lot of organizations. I got traded. I\u2019ve been through a lot of my career, and I think it just helps me with this role, you know. We\u2019ll see where it takes me.\u201d<\/p>\n

He revealed 2024 second-round draft pick Cole Hutson, a fellow BU Terrier, has been one of his favorites to watch and mentor while at the camp.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of these guys have, you know, have stood out to me. I\u2019ll be biased. He\u2019s a BU guy, so Cole Hutson, and I\u2019m a big fan,\u201d he said. \u201cHe\u2019s got a bright future ahead of him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chiasson was asked about Hutson\u2019s answer on Tuesday about majoring in \u201chockey\u201d while in college<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cActually, Cole should be going to school as well,\u201d he joked. \u201cNo, he is. I would say he just loves hockey, loves the game\u2026\u00a0But I can assure you that he still goes to school. That\u2019s for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n

Other high-profile prospects caught Chiasson\u2019s eye throughout the week, including 2025 first-round selection Lynden Lakovic and 2023 second-round pick Andrew Cristall. He found it \u201cfun\u201d to observe them without knowing any of their backgrounds ahead of time.<\/p>\n

Though, after being away from the club for almost eight years, Chiasson found comfort in reuniting with some more familiar faces in his return to MedStar Capitals Iceplex.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of the people that were here behind the scenes are still here. So it makes it easy to just walk through\u201d he said. \u201cYou know, it feels a lot like it was back then. And then obviously, like, Brooks [Orpik] and being around and seeing Holts as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

He hit an emotional chord reminiscing about his \u201cgreat memories\u201d with the organization, reflecting on the difficult nature of moving on from a team.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s hard,\u201d he explained. \u201cIt\u2019s a tough part of the game when you play and guys move on in [a different] direction. It\u2019s hard to keep in touch with everyone. So this week has been great. Just kind of sit down, you know, like, \u2018How\u2019s life? Where are the kids now? And how has everything changed in the last seven years?’\u201d<\/p>\n

Chiasson described how fast the summer of 2018 went after winning the Stanley Cup, going from a championship bender at Nationals Park with captain Alex Ovechkin and Co. to starting a new season with a new team.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had a good time, rightfully so. And then the summer started, everyone went kind of like their separate way. And I went, I signed with Edmonton. So, I didn\u2019t get a chance to come back and kind of like catch up with everyone,\u201d he explained. \u201cIt was kind of like on the go\u2026 that\u2019s how hockey works\u2026 you look back, you\u2019re like, \u2018Wow.\u2019 I guess I wish I soaked it in a little bit more. It was quite a great time.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Washington Capitals legend Alex Chiasson spent just one season with the franchise in 2017-18 but he made the…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":41595,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[42],"tags":[293,62,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-41594","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nhl","8":"tag-nhl","9":"tag-sports","10":"tag-united-states","11":"tag-unitedstates","12":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114802478725142857","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41594","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41594"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41594\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/41595"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41594"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41594"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41594"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}