We went to camp today with two questions we wanted to pose to Capitals' campers: (1) "At what age did you fall in love with hockey, and what specifically about the sport made you fall in love with it?" And, (2) "Hockey fans miss hockey most particularly, and most terribly, in the dead of summer. As an elite hockey talent, do you, like your sport's fans, miss hockey in summer, or do you enjoy keeping your feet out of stiff skate boots, avoiding the bumps and bruises of the season, and avoiding hockey's long travels and instead staying put in one warm place (home) in the offseason?"

They weren't your conventional media kind of questions, which is why we asked them.

We got to pose them to three really exciting and promising Capitals' prospects -- Jay Beagle, Andrew Gordon, and Mathieu Perreault. We think you'll enjoy reading their responses -- they all gave us fantastically thoughtful and enthusiastic replies.

It just now occurs to us that we'll need to pass along a few postcards to convey the entirety of their reactions to you, but you've got the reading time -- you're on vacation!

Here's hoping the beach drinks are potent and the island views curvacious.

OFB

My mom would take me skating every day she could. First time I was on the ice was when I was 2. I don't remember it 'cause I was 2, but my mom says all I would say is "Hockey!Hockey!Hockey!" And then, later, I'd be ripping pucks down in the basement all day long . . .

OFB: Doing damage?

Beagle: "Yea, yea."

On summer and missing hockey or savoring the break: "It's a combination of both. There's a part of you that's missing hockey like crazy and wants to get back on the ice and get working hard again and get the legs going. And there's another side of you that loves to go to the beach and just relax and kind of get away from stuff, just to take time for yourself. But I'm always missing hockey [in summer]. I love coming out, every time, every chance I can get to skate and work on stuff."

OFB: You still watch it today?

AG: "I get new documentaries on DVD and stuff like that at Christmas every year, and every now and then I watch it -- you can't deny the passion that those guys played with back then.

"My dad's favorite team was Montreal growing up, so I got into that, and they won the Cup in '93, when I was still young enough to get excited about what it was all about. There are all kinds of factors [influencing passion], but that '72 series is what really turned my passion."

On summer and missing hockey or savoring the break: "The first couple of weeks are nice when you can just relax and are enjoying time with your friends and stuff, but for me the itch comes back pretty quickly. I miss gamedays more than anything. You know you wake up and you don't think about anything but the game that day. You're not going out and paying bills, you're not running around town, you go to the rink, you go home, you go to sleep, you think about the game.

"Whatever you do that day is solely focused on game time. All you focus on is 7:00, and in the summer, I don't wake up with that focus for the full day. I'll wake up and focus for two hours, three hours in the weight room and then . . . I'm just daydreaming all day. I miss gamedays the most."

OFB: At 2 years old, were you even on the ice then, when you were in love with the game?

MP: "No, just home with the stick in my hand. Since I was born I, I love hockey! [MP eyes glimmer]

On summer and missing hockey or savoring the break: "It's good to come here every year -- it's my third year here. You train at home, you don't see so much ice; it's more like off-ice training and it's good for skating.

"It's a fun week, too. You see all of the guys that I've met since I was drafted here. We've all become good friends. It's fun to see them, too."