Photo: Fanatics

Washington Capitals center Lars Eller, one of the team’s unsung heroes in the team’s run to the Stanley Cup last season, took questions from Capitals’ fans on Reddit as part of Fanatics’ “Ask Me Anything (AMA) series” when he and team captain Alex Ovechkin were meeting with the company for a signing session on Saturday. Below, you can find some highlights of the online Q&A session: 

On how he got nicknamed “The Tiger”:

“Um we had an event with Tony Robbins and I was sitting front row, and one point in the event he called me to the stage, I think I was the first guy up there and he uh wants me to pick a spiritual animal and just like yelling it out in front of all the guys. I said ‘The Tiger’ and the guys were just loving it. The whole room just kinda went crazy and from that day it just stuck with me.

On whether or not he was aware no Dane had ever won the Stanley Cup before he did:

“Yeah I was, I think it was definitely a bonus and a cool thing to be the first to do something really special in your country. I mean, just winning the cup just as even the second or third or whatever would’ve been just as big. It made it even more special.”

On the impact his father has had on his NHL career:

“Uhm I think he had a uh early impact on my career in the early years, a lot of stuff that stuck with me in terms of basic work ethics and everyday habits, the basics. Yes I still speak to him regularly, he watches almost every game and yes I spoke to him after the four-goal game.”

On who is the most underrated player he’s ever played with:

“Underrated player, ummm Nicklas Backstrom & Andrei Markov. Backstrom… I don’t know why.”

On who he’d like to give a shoutout to after helping him in life and his career:

“I think I would have to say all my throughout my career, especially in the early years. Both my years in Denmark and Sweden when I played there during highschool. All of those had a different impact at different stages that helped me get me to where i am today.”

On how much sleep he got the night that the Capitals won the Stanley Cup:

“Oh, that night? I would probably guess two hours – at the most.”

On the best experience he’s ever had with a fan:

“That’s hard, but I can’t point a single one out individually. I’ve had a couple of times where a fan or somebody has started crying out of pure happiness or excitement to see you. Then you know you’re really making someone happy or making an impact on somebodies life.

I thought last year when we departed for Vegas the whole red carpet send-off from our practice rink was unbelievable. I’ll definitely never forget that that was very special.”

On the toughest goalie he’s played in the NHL:

“It’s hard to say, sometimes when you feel the puck it doesn’t matter who’s in net. I don’t know, I don’t like playing against [Evgeni] Nabakov. We don’t play a lot against each other but when he used to play against San Jose it was always hard. They had a very good defense over there, and it was hard to score against – but it doesn’t matter I still score.”

You can read the full AMA Q&A here.

By Harrison Brown