"Our family lost our best friend today": TJ Oshie mourns the heartbreaking loss of furry family member

On Saturday, former NHLer TJ Oshie shared three emotional photos on Instagram following the loss of his beloved dog Charlie.

In the first photo, Oshie posed with his wife, Lauren, their two daughters, the Stanley Cup and Charlie, who sat in front of them for the studio portrait. The second image showed Charlie sitting upright on a bed. In the final candid shot, Oshie was seen sleeping in bed, wrapped in an embrace with Charlie.

“Our family lost our best friend today,” Oshie wrote. “Charlie was the best boy you could ever ask for. 💔”

Lauren also shared an emotional story on her Instagram featuring a picture of Charlie. She wrote:

“Going to miss my sweet boy. So heartbroken.”

TJ and Lauren are a family of six. TJ Oshie met Lauren Cosgrove around 2011 while visiting friends in North Dakota. The couple got engaged in February 2014 and married in July 2015 in Minnesota. They have four children together, daughters Lyla, Leni and Lucy, and a son Campbell.

TJ Oshie bade an emotional farewell to hockey

In June this year, Washington Capitals forward TJ Oshie officially announced his retirement from the NHL during a fan event at Washington Harbour in Georgetown. It was the same location where Oshie and teammates famously jumped into the fountains after winning the Stanley Cup in 2018 with the Caps.

During the event, the Capitals and Monumental Sports & Entertainment Foundation honored Oshie’s career with a $10,000 donation to the Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation in memory of his late father, Tim Oshie, who died in 2021.

Oshie also shared a clip after suiting up for the Caps for the final time last season. He did not play during the 2024-25 season due to persistent back issues.

“This is my last time hanging up my skates,” he wrote. “What an amazing journey it has been. Thank you to my family, friends, @stlouisblues, @capitals, fans and everyone that helped me along the way.”

“I’m so grateful for what the game of hockey has given me and I look forward to the next chapter,” he added.

TJ Oshie played 16 seasons in the NHL with the St. Louis Blues and Washington Capitals, finishing with 695 points (302 goals, 393 assists) in 1,010 games. He won the Stanley Cup in 2018, played in over 100 playoff games, and is considered one of the league’s best shootout performers. He also represented Team USA at the 2014 Winter Olympics and three World Championships.

About the author

Anjum is an NHL reporter at Sportskeeda with over five years of professional experience in the spectator sports industry. Raised in Bahrain, Anjum grew up close to the Formula 1 and GP2 scene, but it was ice-sports that she truly had a chance to play at school.

Anjum prioritizes thorough research, fact-checking and verification of sources when reporting, and has worked for Oil on Whyte, Leafs Herald, the Nation of Blaugrana, Barca International Cules, FromTheBend, Last Word On Sports and NASA.

She got interested in ice hockey after watching the “MVP” trilogy as a second grader and has not gotten over the sport yet. Her favorite player is Alex Ovechkin, whose legendary one-timers live rent free in her heart. The iconic moment when Ovechkin reached 800 career goals with a hat trick in Chicago as the away crowd chanted “Ovi, Ovi” is probably her happiest memory from an ice-rink.

When not enjoying the game, Anjum can be found sailing, star-mapping or collaborating with fellow citizen scientists at NASA.

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Edited by Anjum Rajonno