Ryan Leonard, making his debut in a home game for the Washington Capitals, will hear 'Freebird' as his goal song, a tune linked to his triumph at the 2025 World Juniors. As captain of Team USA, Leonard played a crucial role in their gold medal victory, scoring five goals and securing MVP honors. The choice of this song, picked by teammate Zeev Buium during the tournament, reflects the camaraderie of the team, as it was played 37 times throughout the competition, capturing the excitement of their winning moments.
Leonard, who scored five goals for the US, admitted his excitement to play in front of a DC home crowd for the first time ahead of puck drop on Friday. "It should be a lot of fun," Leonard said. "All I've heard is good things about the environment there, so I'm really excited for tonight."
Team USA officials told ESPN's Greg Wyshynski that defenseman Zeev Buium was responsible for picking the song at the Ottawa-based tournament. Buium, a Denver Pioneers standout, helped knock Leonard and the rest of the Boston College Eagles out of this year's NCAA Tournament.
The Americans heard the song a tournament-leading 37 times, including after Teddy Stiga scored the golden goal in overtime on January 5.
I don't know, we were kind of on the bus, hanging out, trying to figure out a song. We were all throwing out songs, and we all kind of clicked on it.
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