“Oh, Dewey? I’ve never called him Brandon in my life,” Jakob Chychrun said, once he finally understood that reporters were asking him about Brandon Duhaime. That might sound surprising, that throughout a whole season of playing together, Chychrun has never addressed Duhaime by his surname. Yet, that wasn’t the only bizarre detail Capitals’ star dished out. Duhaime, who, like Chychrun, is playing his first season with the Washington Capitals, has a special responsibility in the locker room. The NHL forward reads out the starting lineup sheet before a match.

While you’d think someone like Captain Alex Ovechkin would shoulder that responsibility, few can match Brandon Duhaime’s unique and shocking ritual of eating the list. You might be wondering what eating the list means. Well, the meaning is quite literally, as a clip by the Capitals showed. First, Jakob Chychrun’s teammate reads out each game on the sheet with the most explosive energy he can muster. And if that doesn’t get everyone fired up, he literally tears up and eats the lineup sheet as a finale. “He’s been doing it all year. That’s why we call him Doggy,” Chychrun said in a startling admission.

“He’s like a dog on a bone, man. That’s him,” said the offensive-defenseman. Although this may be news to many Capitals fans and relatively new for the players who’ve shared the locker room with ice hockey forward, it’s something of a signature ritual for the 27-year-old. Another clip from January 2023 showed the forward doing the same thing after announcing the starting lineup.

Yet, despite sounding and maybe even looking bizarre, it’s undeniable that the Capitals forward’s ritual works. That’s because every name he read out incited an equally encouraging “Hey!” from the rest of his teammates. In fact, they even shouted, “Eat it!” after Duhaime was done announcing the names. And coincidentally, Jacob Chychrun himself is no stranger to being associated with some unconventional practices of his own.

Jakob Chychrun’s candlelight confusion

As an offensive-defenseman, even Jakob Chychrun’s role on the ice is a bit unconventional. However, the Capitals star’s true unconventionality lies in his approach to health and fitness. The 27-year-old Capitals player isn’t one to shy away from trying new things to keep himself in form for ice hockey. What’s more? Improving his and his family’s health is nearly a hobby for the hockey player.

So, Jakob Chychrun is always reading about the latest breakthroughs in the field. From incorporating new workouts to even trying more exotic methods, Chychrun keeps an open mind. So when he told his teammates about his latest experiments with beeswax candles, many found it a bit bizarre. Jason Demers even cracked a light-hearted joke about the candles.

While appearing on the Unscripted podcast, Demers closely recalled hearing about Chychrun lighting candles every night. “I heard yesterday that he’s got no light bulbs. He’s doing candlelight in his house now,” Demers said in response to the host’s question about the NHL star’s latest experiment. However, little did Demers know that the internet would blow his statement out of proportion.

Things got so bad that Jakob Chychrun had to deactivate his social media. “I told the boys, the last few nights after dinner, we like to turn the lights off in the house and do no artificial light and just light some candles,” the NHL-er later explained to Grant Paulsen and Danny Rouhier on 106.7 the Fan. Unfortunately, it was too late by then.

Fans online thought that the Capitals star had virtually replaced his home lights with candles. The Florida native explained that his social media got flooded with DMs from people sending him beeswax candle-related posts. “Now people think I’m an absolute freak,” the defenseman jokingly added. Thankfully, it died down, and people all but forgot as Alex Ovechkin broke Gretzky’s record. Now the Capitals are focused on the playoffs, and they couldn’t be bothered whether something looks bizarre, as long as it works.