Capitals Chychun Never Specialized In Hockey

One of the top defenseman in the NHL, Jakob Chychrun recently signed an eight-year, $72 million contract with the Washington Capitals. He followed in the footsteps of his father, former NHL defenseman Jeff Chychrun, so naturally, his dad pushed him into a career in hockey, right?

Wrong.

Chychrun was an NHL first-round draft pick. He’s scored 18 goals this season, equaling the career high he set with the Arizona Coyotes in 2019-20. Yet despite all his success on the ice, Chychrun wasn’t a rink rat as a youngster. He experiments with many different sports before ultimately choosing to pursue a career path in hockey.

“My dad was great. He let me play every sport I wanted to,” Jakob Chychrun told the Capitals website.

Well, almost every sport. 

“Other than football,” Chychrun said. “Football was kind of the one thing he was worried about, because I wanted to play really bad. I did weightlifting with the football team.”

That didn’t stop the younger Chychun from dabbling in as many sports as he could become involved with growing up. 

“I loved baseball,” he said. “Baseball was probably my close number two. I played first base and I loved batting. 

“I played soccer for my high school. Tennis. I love tennis.”

Living a multi-sport lifestyle in youth sports not only was enjoyable for Chychrun, it just felt right. 

“It was great,” he said. “I think it’s important to do that. 

“I think these days, the kids, they focus so much on hockey. They play hockey 365 days a year.”

Chychrun never did that and he can’t fathom why any child would want to do that, if they were given the choice to try a multitude of sports.

“I think it’s great to have breaks from the game, be a kid and play other sports,” Chychrun. “I was always so into athletics and I think athletically gifted. And I worked hard at it. 

“It would be tough for me to say I wouldn’t be in another sport, because I probably would be”

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