Washington Capitals Development Camp hopefuls have throughout this week treated fans to an imaginary journey into the world of prepping for a professional hockey career.
The camp draws to a close on tomorrow (Saturday) afternoon, following intrasquad scrimmage and media interviews. But from the get-go, prospects Trevor Bruess and Braden Holtby have held nothing back in sending Twitter messages allowing fans to get into their heads – to know just what has been happening in camp and even their thoughts and feelings. And their counterparts have likewise been forthcoming in interviews.
Coach Bruce Boudreau has spoken of what Capitals expects from these young players – and of the opportunities open to them. “This year there are probably two or three in the camp that we are looking at that could make an immediate impact,” he said. “Other than that, we’ve got guys who are going to make an impact in the American Hockey League. We want to show them what it takes to be a Capital – this is how hard you have to work to be in the NHL – this is what we expect as an organization.
"And we want them going away saying, ‘Holy smokes! I’ve got to pick it up – saying this is where I want to be. I mean, they’ve got the best facility in the League. They are close to winning the Stanley Cup. This is what I want to see. … John Carlson, who was a first round draft pick last year, has the potential to crack our line-up if things go his way. We’ve got goaltending in Branden Holtby. They are young, but they are all so good. A lot of guys have the ability to open our eyes.”
On Thursday, July 9th, the first Twitter message arrived for fans. Goalie Holtby -- who was a fourth round pick last year and went to Hershey where he practiced with the Bears – wrote, “I’m looking forward to coming and working hard at camp. I’m really excited to meet the guys and see Washington.”
Four days later, the first day of work, Holtby signed again, "Doesn't feel like we’ve been away from hockey long for the guys who were with Hershey. Still, can’t wait to get on the ice.” Then he wrote, “We were supposed to be at the rink at 8:45. I think everybody was here before 8.” Later that day he added, “I was rusty out there. It’s a feeling-out process for most of us on the first day. And the first bag skate always hurts.” And still later, “Today went pretty quick. We didn’t have much time for lunch – then a nutrition talk that made me feel bad about lunch.”
Bruess jumped in, “Braden mentioned the nutritionist – that’ll have us all thinking a little more at team dinner tonight.” And -- “All in all, a good afternoon. Off-ice workouts, they wanted to make sure we had the right form for now and the rest of the summer.” Bruess, a center, signed with Washington as a free agent in March of this year.
On day two of camp, Bruess was back Tweeting at early 6:46 a.m. “Got a good night’s rest and feel good. Our group starts with an upper body workout today. We did lower body yesterday,” he wrote – later adding, “We got the nerves out in the first day. Today was still tough, but better. The drills really let you show what you can do.” And Holtby added, “A good day at the rink. Everything was more crisp and had a better pace. Easier workout this morning too.”
There was a D.C. city tour, and the next morning Holtby checked in with fans again – “Guys were pretty jealous of goalies today – they all had to do skating testing but we didn’t do a thing.”
Thursday, again around 6 a.m., Holtby described breakfast – and Bruess chimed in, “We went to track this morning, worked on proper form for sprinting. Getting in the sun was nice, but it was hot and humid.” And later, “The skate was mostly special teams. We should look like more of a team tonight, we’re getting the systems down.”
So Capitals fans following the young men’s progress got a sense of how things were shaping up in camp. With the expected desire to shine on the ice, though, some fans might have wondered whether these players, so competitive on the ice, could also be friends. That question was frequently posed by reporters, and the response, very convincingly, was always the same – these prospects did play hard on ice, but off the ice they were a great bunch of guys having fun and enjoying getting to know each other.
The 6’ 7” defenseman Joe Finley was actually asked by media to provide a scouting report on Trevor Bruess. It was perhaps his chance to offer a tepid response, but what he did instead was tout Bruess – and describe a budding friendship.
Finley's scouting report on Bruess: “Trevor is a guy who shows up with his hardhat every day and just goes to work. You could see it tonight. He went out there and worked -- worked his tail off -- and ended up getting a nice goal. You know what you are going to get from him every night, and his best attribute is his work ethic. He’s a guy who’s going to compete. You know what you get when he straps his skates on. He’s a great guy to have on your team. And it has been real nice getting to know him on another level off the ice -- and just realize what a humble, genuine kid he is and start developing a good friendship."
Bruess was also asked about his relationship with other players – and he mentioned Finley. “You can compete on the ice really hard,” he said. “Then once you get off, you are back to being men instead of warriors. So it’s totally fine. There’s no hard feelings or anything like that. Actually, all of the guys are really nice. I got to meet Joe Finley personally – he’s actually a great guy, and I like him a lot. We’ve competed a lot against each other … so we talk about that a little bit too, competing against each other. But he’s really a nice guy, and the other guys are super too.”
And then Bruess -- who said that he has work ethic and speed -- was asked about his hit on John Carlson, a first round draft pick who has been a standout at camp. Does it feel good to take down some of the big guys? “It does,” he answered. “It’s a good thing to throw your weight around – it’s like an accomplishment when you knock them on their butt and feel good about yourself. And more importantly, you eliminate them from the play for a little bit so that you have like a short little power play.”
When asked what camp had done for him, Bruess replied, “I was going to work hard anyway, but it gives you something to look forward to. … It has been nice to meet the coaches, the people that manage the team and everyone else in the organization. And it’s nice to meet some of the past players who played here before – and to meet some of the newer guys coming in. And all of the guys are pretty cool – so it’s kind of a cool thing for me to get in and get my feet wet.”
Capitals vice president and general manager George McPhee would likely be happy with Bruess’ remarks. McPhee has said that a primary goal of the camp is to allow the young players to meet everyone in the organization and become comfortable.
The Capitals team genuinely cares about its young players. Winning is the team’s job, but the individual players are not compromised. As an example, McPhee has stressed that the team likes to bring young players along slowly -- not rush them before they are ready. Also, McPhee has said that if players want to finish their college education before playing pro hockey, the team has never discouraged that.
And coach Boudreau has gone so far as to say that these are young guys -- that the team expects and wants them to enjoy themselves and to being young.
The days have flown by -- and the Twitter messages have continued. Fans have not only become acquainted with what it is like to attend hockey camp, but they now also feel a connection with these young hockey Tweeters. “It’s amazing," said one regular follower of Holtby and Bruess' posts, "but I have never met these guys and still feel like I know them. And I like them. I feel more connected to the team -- and now I really care about these two guys."
And becoming acquainted with them has exceeded just playing hockey. The Capitals provided access to an interview of right wing Dmitry Kugryshev. At this time last year, he spoke no English, but we got to root for him as he tried out his new English language skills in an interview – and spoke amazingly well. Kugryshev explained, "Now I can give some interviews.” When he was asked what he thought was the best part of camp, he replied, “I think scrimmage because … it’s like a game. In first scrimmage, I scored first goal of season so that’s pretty cool.” And this very warm and likeable young man was asked how he felt about the fact that Alex Ovechkin, also a native of Russia, was taking an interest in him. “I think it feels unbelievable,” he said – and then predicted that Ovi will play even better hockey this next season than last season. Kugryshev's English was amazing!
Moving toward week’s end, Bruess continued on Twitter, “It was a good game for the White Team today. We felt we outplayed them the entire game, but we had a great third quarter.” Then, “Our transition game was really working. The crowd was awesome again as well. The fans are really good here.”
Braden jumped in on Friday, “We’re waiting on 1-on-1 meetings with coaches after a pretty good short practice and workout. Can’t wait for baseball game tonight—I’m a big baseball fan. In the meantime, I promised to share some of the toughest shooters here … “
Then he continued with that message, “Perreault, Bouchard. Dubuc’s been great. Broda’s got a great wrist shot. Godfrey can bring it. I better mention Carlson, too.”
There were two final messages. First, “Got results from our on- and off-ice testing today. If you’re a good sprinter you should be a good skater – that’s usually true.” And then, “I screw up that theory. I am a good skater but a horrible sprinter – I run like I’m carrying a refrigerator. –“
So tomorrow Development Camp ends -- and, unfortunately, probably the Twitter messages will end too.
But most certainly each of these young men will leave Development Camp with a greater knowledge of how to take care of themselves and how to become better hockey players. And they will also likely leave with greater confidence in themselves -- and feeling comfortable and proud of the Capitals organization.
Twitter and interview followers will look forward to seeing these guys on the ice in Hershey Bears uniforms -- or even at some point the Caps' red, white and blue! Sphere: Related Content
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