Part of maturing as a professional athlete is figuring out what routine and mindset make you play consistently at the top of your game. For being only 22, the Caps’ Braden Holtby sounds like he has a lot figured out already.
Braden Holtby wearing the Hardhat
(Photo by @cnichols14)
This summer, the major change to his offseason routine was actually allowing himself to rest more—counter-intuitive for someone who’d usually start working out as soon as he got home in the offseason. Holtby felt, however, that pushing himself too far in the summer affected his play in the second part of the season…
It seems like a no-brainer that sitting in a suit, the weight of the world off your shoulders all while watching an NHL game from the press box would be less stressful than being out on the ice or on the bench. But it’s not – at least for Caps goaltender Braden Holtby. He finds it more stressful to sit out a game rather than play in it.
Apologies in advance for going on radio the other night with my buds at 106.7 the Fan on a crappy, overtaxed Blackberry. It’s been a burdensome spring in communications space for me. Anyway, as usual, I had a blast ‘chattin pucks with Danny Rouhier and Grant Paulson immediately after the Caps’ 4-3 overtime triumph over [...]
Capitals General Manager George McPhee has made some absolutely gorgeous decision this season. Whether it be the trade for Scott Hannan, picking up Marco Sturm off waivers or acquiring what appears to be the team’s new locker room leader, Jason Arnott, for almost nothing, GMGM should be in the running for GM of the year. To bad his most recent decision, to send Braden Holtby back to Hershey, is his worst of the year and one that could really hurt the Caps in just a few weeks.
In the interest of hockey, making fun of ourselves, and just promoting good diplomatic relations up north, OFB was pretty stoked when one of Detroit’s hockey blogs, The Production Line, reached out last week and suggested doing a Q&A between the two blogs in honor of the Caps/Red Wings showdown on Wednesday. TPL is run [...]
If you make it to the Verizon Center early enough you make get a chance to witness one of the biggest upsides to Braden Holtby’s game. Before anyone steps out on to the ice, before the lights are even turned all the way up and certainly before he has even put his equipment on, Holbty begins his pre-game routine. It can be lengthy and a little confusing, more on that later, but it is just one part of his mental game.
Last night’s game against the Carolina Hurricanes felt like another one of “those nights” for Washington where the team doesn’t look interested against a team who is in the bottom part of the league. While several guys had some pretty poor games, I am looking at you Alexander Semin and Jeff Schultz, good thing Braden Holtby showed up though. In a night that seemed to be filled with scoring it was Holtby who made the biggest difference.
The Hershey Bears (39-21-1-4) dropped a shootout decision in Portland, Maine, last night. Let’s just hope their bus driver is fresher than the skaters he’ll convoy through week’s end. When John Walton told me last weekend that beginning Saturday night the club was embarking upon a seven-games-in-nine-day stretch, I didn’t quite believe him. I actually [...]
No. 1 defensman already out. No. 1 netminder knocked out early from a laser to the ‘noggin. No. 1 center shelved early on as well. No problem. There were about 30 compelling reasons to expect the Tampa Bay Lightning to deliver an inspired performance with first place in the Southeast on the line in Monday [...]
Also filed in Alexander Semin, Eastern Conference, George McPhee, Hockey hearts, Michal Neuvirth, Morning cup-a-joe, National Hockey League, Nicklas Backstrom, Semyon Varlamov, Shootouts, Southeast Division, Tampa Bay Lightning, Washington Capitals
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The Hershey Bears held off the Charlotte Checkers in a Saturday matinee at Giant Center today, 1-0, the only goal coming off the stick of Sheldon Souray. It was Hershey’s sixth win in a row. Braden Holtby earned his fifth shutout of the season in the process, and the game’s no. 1 star, stopping 24 [...]
