Capitals Announce Nic Dowd as Recipient of Annual Caps Care Community Award

ARLINGTON, VA - The Washington Capitals announced today forward Nic Dowd as the recipient of the organization’s second-annual Caps Care Community Award in honor of his efforts in the community during the 2024-25 season. Dowd will be recognized ahead of the Capitals April 13 game vs. the Columbus Blue Jackets in a pre-game ceremony.

The Caps Care Community Award was established in 2024 to recognize an individual Capitals player annually for his contributions to the community. A Caps Care Community Award recipient is selected annually by an internal committee on the basis of several criteria, including but not limited to: support of causes personally close to the player, participation in team and league initiatives and involvement in programming that benefits the community across Washington, D.C., Virginia and/or Maryland.

During the pregame ceremony on April 13, Elizabeth Pace, Monumental Sports & Entertainment Foundation (MSE Foundation) President and Executive Director, will present Dowd with a check for $20,000, to be split equally between So Kids SOAR and the Alzheimer’s Association – National Capital Area Chapter, charities selected by Dowd as beneficiaries. MSE Foundation provided $10,000 of the grant, with Dowd’s Crowd making a $10,000 match. Dowd. Dowd will also be presented with the Caps Care Community Award Trophy by Capitals Director of Fan Development Caroline Potolicchio. They will be joined on the ice by Dowd’s wife, Paige, and the couple’s children.

Dowd was heavily involved in the community during the 2024-25 season, including through his participation in his own player program.

In 2018, Dowd and his wife, Paige, created Dowd’s Crowd to provide children with sensory issues with the ability to attend and enjoy a Capitals games. Tickets to the game and a Dowd’s Crowd-branded sensory kit filled with items to accommodate sensory needs are provided to recipients who are selected through local organizations and schools. They also receive a tour of the sensory room at Capital One Arena. Dowd enjoys meeting and chatting with Dowd’s Crowd participants post-game and hearing about their experience.

In December, Dowd, along with Dowd’s Crowd and Capitals goaltender Charlie Lindgren’s Lindy’s Lineup, held a joint skate for an afternoon full of goals and smiles with participants from So Kids SOAR for the second consecutive year at MedStar Capitals Iceplex. So Kids SOAR provides adaptive athletic, recreational, and skill-building activities that empower youth with physical and developmental disabilities to Strive, Own, Achieve and Realize their potential.

Dowd and several Capitals teammates also met with victims’ families and first responders who were involved in the recovery of Flight 5342 ahead of the Legacy on Ice event at Capital One Arena on March 2. Legacy on Ice, a live figure skating tribute hosted by Monumental Sports & Entertainment, Entertainment Gang and U.S. Figure Skating, honored the 67 lives lost and raised funds to support victims’ families, as well as the first responders and aviation professionals who were affected by the aftermath of the tragedy. The sellout crowd of more than 15,000 has raised $1.2 million to date, which will be distributed to the U.S. Figure Skating Association, Greater Washington Community Foundation and DC Fire & EMS Foundation.

Dowd participated in additional team initiatives throughout season, including a Caps Fight Cancer skate in November, during which the Capitals welcomed 24 cancer warriors and their families to MedStar Capitals Iceplex to skate. Dowd met and skated with a child whom he previously connected with in October 2020 via video message. In collaboration with MSE Foundation, KABOOM! and the Washington Housing Conservancy, Dowd helped build a new playground at Huntwood Courts Apartments in Washington, D.C. to serve over 560 children with a safe environment for play. He also personally donated a meet and greet to the Swing Fore the Future auction to raise money for Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy in August.

Posing with his dogs, Haddie and Arlo, Dowd took part in the annual Caps Canine Calendar, with proceeds benefitting Wolf Trap Animal Rescue, which specializes in the rescue of dogs and cats in Virginia, Washington, D.C., and Maryland, and Monumental Sports & Entertainment Foundation. Along with his teammates, Dowd chipped in for charity at the third annual Caps Fore Charity, presented by TVAR Solutions with Monumental Sports & Entertainment Foundation.