Game On Magazine 2017 March 2018 | Page 21

THE MAKING IT IN BIGS T he game of hockey is chock-full of surprises. For Winnipeg product and current Washington Capitals defenseman Madison Bowey, that surprise came in the form of an early October call-up to the big leagues. For a lot of reasons, playing in the NHL sure beats playing in the AHL. “I got the call late the night before our game in Philly, so that was kind of crazy,” the 6-foot-2, 200-pound blueliner said. “So I rushed down to Philadelphia as quick as I could and got settled in with the guys. There was certainly a lot of stuff going through my head. But it was very memorable for me playing my first NHL game, and it was pretty special to see. I think obviously it’s been a great transition so far, and I’m just looking to keep building off my game and keep improving.” It didn’t take long for Bowey to experience his ‘welcome to the NHL moment’, in what turned out to be an eventual 8-2 Capitals loss on the road to the Philadelphia Flyers on October 14th. “In my first game, I got nicely dangled by Jakub Voracek there,” Bowey said with a laugh. “I think that was probably the ‘welcome moment’ for me. I’ll just take that moment from my first game and not have it happen again later. It was just good to get all of the rust and nerves off P L AY OF F E DI TI ON 20 1 8 | G AM E O N | 2 1