'So Much Agape Love': Friendship, Locker Room Camaraderie Making This Year's Capitals Special

Before he could even get his gear off after shutting out the Seattle Kraken on Thursday, Charlie Lindgren heard the guitar strumming and his Washington Capitals teammates clapping along as the locker room blasted his cover of Eric Church's "Talladega."

"Right away, eh?" Lindgren cracked.

After the serenade, Lindgren was given the gold chain as the team's player of the game and delivered a heartfelt message to his group.

"I got so much agape love for you boys, it's unbelievable," Lindgren told his teammates.

The 31-year-old echoed those sentiments in his media availability, sharing just how much he loves being a member of the Capitals.

"I can’t overstate how much I love this team," Lindgren said.

Agape love is defined as the highest form of love, an unconditional and selfless love. It's also symbolic of this year's Washington squad, which consists of a tight-knit group — and a special one at that.

Teams around the league will stand by their dressing rooms, but there's something about the Capitals room that is just special. Several players have been drawn to the District over the years, and as Taylor Raddysh pointed out to The Hockey News, one of the main reasons is the room.

"It's nice when you go to a team and know a couple of guys beforehand, and they say nothing but great things," Raddysh said.

Captain Alex Ovechkin has also noticed the dynamic playing a big role in the team's success.

"You can see how many guys management signed before the season and experienced guys, still young and still hungry to win the games, go to the playoffs. The most important thing, I think we have a very group of guys in the locker room, you know?" Ovechkin said. "We always try to stick together and that's one of the reasons we are successful right now."

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Washington currently sits atop the league with a 33-10-5 and became the first team to hit the 70-point mark, and also leads the NHL in points percentage (.740). Last season, it took the team until March to pass 70 points on the season.

A lot of that success stems from the camaraderie; the locker room is tight-knit and confident, and new additions like Pierre-Luc Dubois, Jakob Chychrun and Logan Thompson have fit in seamlessly.

"Just coming here with the group we have, we've all come together pretty quickly and gelled pretty well, and everyone's just having a great time and enjoying every day."

Tie in glue guys like Lindgren and Tom Wilson, who have stepped up to fill the void with T.J. Oshie out, and you get a squad that plays for the guy next to him.

"It's kind of the mentality of our group, is everybody chips in. It's a strong team. We love playing together," Tom Wilson said, adding, "The wins are coming."

Of course, it takes more than just agape love to make a big run, and the Capitals still have a lot of hockey left and a lot more to prove if they want to go for a Stanley Cup. But it's a fundamental place to start.

"Our locker room believes that we're a top team in the National Hockey League, we're able to play with the best teams and we believe that we can do something special," coach Spencer Carbery said.