Washington Capitals forward Joel Ward has done several things in his NHL career to earn accolades from his teammates. But nothing is likely to match the team-building experience he had Saturday prior to the Capitals' road game against the Dallas Stars.
According to the Washington Post, after a team breakfast at the Omni hotel in Dallas, Ward excused himself to go to the bathroom. He then found the door to his stall would not open. Suddenly trapped, Ward took to Twitter (@JRandalWard42).
"Stuck in the washroom … someone help?" he tweeted Saturday morning, along with the hashtags "#Dallasproblems," "#OmniHotel" and "#validexcuse."
Before long, an awkward moment was stretching into several minutes.
"Basically we had the whole Dallas SWAT team come in and still couldn't open the door," Ward told the newspaper. "The latch on the inside where I was would turn but the bolt wouldn't move; I think it was stripped."
After more than 40 minutes of hotel staff attempting to rescue Ward, teammates Karl Alzner and John Carlson found a ladder and managed to help him climb over the top of the stall door. Naturally, the entire adventure was documented on Twitter by Carlson.
Shortly after, the team stepped on the bus for the trip to American Airlines Center.
Stuck in the washroom...someone help? #Dallasproblems #OmniHotel #Validexcuse pic.twitter.com/1g7nlNy73C
— Joel Ward (@JRandalWard42) October 5, 2013
We got him!!!! pic.twitter.com/xaoGAQybMF
— John Carlson (@JohnCarlson74) October 5, 2013
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