Capitals Grant the Wish of 14-Year Old William Cody

Posted on January 20, 2018 by

The Capitals continued to make a positive impact on the community during Saturday’s practice as the team welcomed 14-year old William Cody as part of the Make-A-Wish Mid-Atlantic program. Cody is a native of New Jersey that was diagnosed with leukemia in 2016 and is still in treatment, on the maintenance phase. On Friday, Cody met with Capitals owner Ted Leonsis to sign a three-day contract. 

“It’s really exciting, it’s awesome. I can’t believe it’s happening,” Cody said with a happy look on his face.

“It’s a very unique experience, and we’re gonna do everything we can to make the family happy and comfortable and make sure that this moment where he’s a professional hockey player and a memorable Washington Capital is all it’s meant to be,” Leonsis added.

As it is with anybody trying to get a new job, you have to have a good resume. Cody’s hockey resume includes playing as a forward for his local hockey team, the Colts Hockey Club of Morristown, NJ.

While Cody is technically in remission from leukemia, he continues to undergo chemotherapy. His treatment is scheduled to take three years and should end in July 2019. Through his battle, Cody has endured three surgeries, ongoing chemo treatment, and countless hours in the doctor’s office and hospital. His fight through this terrible disease is a true inspiration to us all.

As Cody arrived at Kettler Capitals Iceplex he was shown to his locker, which was next to Madison Bowey’s.

Then it was time to lace up the skates and put on his new jersey (no pun intended).

Cody joined his new teammates on the ice just as they were stretching.

After the Caps completed their stretching, Cody needed to get acclimated to his new teammates and there’s no better way to get started than to dish out the puck to his fellow forwards.

Then it was time to work on shots. Cody scored his first goal of the afternoon!

Look at that slapshot, Cody looks NHL ready!

T.J. Oshie demonstrating the next practice drill to Cody. Can you guess what it is?

Cody rips the line of pucks through the net with ease.

Over on our Instagram story, Cody put a good deke on Oshie.

Cody went from shots to face-off work. Here he is up against Jay Beagle.

Cody was a hit not only with the players but the packed crowd as well! As it is with ice rinks everywhere on the weekends, youth hockey teams typically have practices or games in addition to either the pros practicing or the public ice skating. The Potomac Patriots pee wee hockey team was still waiting for their ice time for practice but weren’t impatient at all. In fact, they were marveling at Cody’s shots. Look at how he’s making that puck fly!

As we all learn in sports, you can’t make every shot. At the end of practice, Cody was having some fun shooting with Chandler Stephenson.

Even though practice ended that didn’t mean the fun has ended for Cody during his time with the Capitals. Prior to Sunday afternoon’s contest against the Flyers, Cody will join his Capitals teammates. He’ll watch warmups from the bench, be announced as a member of the starting lineup and spend time with the team postgame. The Caps hope they snap out of a two game skid and deliver a win for William and his family.

By Michael Marzzacco

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3 Responses to Capitals Grant the Wish of 14-Year Old William Cody

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