(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.

“I still worked hard, but it was being more responsible with my body – making sure that  I didn’t peak at the start of the season like I felt like I did in the last couple seasons,” Holtby told OFB Saturday.

He said when he was younger, he’d set numbers he wanted to achieve going into a new hockey season. But that mindset isn’t how he’s choosing to focus this year.

“My biggest goals coming in is that I really want to work on consistency in the latter part of the season, and I really want to prove that my time up here wasn’t a fluke if I get called up again, and that I can do a better job when I get sent back down to Hershey,” said Holtby, who was 10-2-2 for the Capitals last year and finished last year’s NHL stint with a 1.79 goals against average. His numbers in Hershey ended up  17-10-2 with a 2.29 goals against average and a .920 save percentage.

Summer brought an interesting twist in the Capitals’ goalie chronicles – the  team traded one of their two starting goalies, which initially looked like a promotion for Holtby, but the eventual signing of veteran Tomas Vokoun means Holtby will likely start the 2012 season where he finished playing the last – in Hershey.

It poses an interesting dilemma for a young player: is it better to sit on a bench at a higher-level club, or get the reps and the mental comfort of being out on the ice every game at a slightly lower level?

“If you would have asked me that last year, I would have said I wanted to be playing,” Holtby said. “But this year, I’ve kind of realized the NHL is my goal … – with the practices and every experience you get up here, it’s valuable – that’s what you can’t learn in the AHL.  But at the same time, there’s positives both ways. I do want to play a lot — I’m the guy that kind of goes crazy when he’s not playing.”

Holtby finished the 2011 season like the rest of us: watching Tim Thomas play himself into a killer beard, a championship-game MVP and a Stanley Cup.

But for those Caps fans who liked Thomas’ style of play, Holtby (when asked), grants he and Thomas probably bring a similar personality to the crease.

“I think his personality’s a lot like mine on the ice,” Holtby said. “He’s very competitive, and he kind of does whatever to stop the puck. I think with me, I’d like to work on a few more technical things than he has, I guess. But it works for him—he’s obviously the best goalie in the NHL last year.”

Part of the reason for emphasizing the technical in Washington, Holtby said, is because of how the goalie compliments  the forwards here.

“You want to be looked at as kind of the steady guy back there instead of the excitement most of the time, ‘cause the excitement comes from the forwards in this group,” Holtby said.

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.

“[There’s] a lot more stress,” Holtby said. “Usually when you’re playing, you’re just focused on your game.”

The young gun has gotten a taste of playing in the NHL – and boasts a 10-2-2 record – but, as an AHL call-up and third on the Caps’ goalie depth chart this postseason, he’s spending the NHL playoffs so far in the confines of the press box.

He said he’s gotten a bit more used to being a press box observer since his first year in Hershey watching the playoffs from up top. And he does say the bird’s eye view has its advantages. For one, he never sat out games playing junior hockey and admitted that it was a “neat experience” to see the game from that angle. He’s also a visual learner and thus has another opportunity to observe Caps starting goalie Michal Neuvirth to see what he does.

Holtby said he learns a lot also of how the play unfolds and players’ tendencies, and, for a goalie, it’s a chance to observe the play away from the puck on the power play. For example, Holtby noticed in the Tampa-Washington game Friday that Stanley Cup winner and Hart Trophy finalist Martin St. Louis is “the one guy that wants the puck all the time.” Offensive superstar Steven Stamkos is always looking for the open ice.

“You can learn from that, and you can see where players have the puck in certain situations and see where the other guys are looking to go, so when you get in that situation playing, you know that much better,” Holtby said.

Holtby may say he’s looking forward to observing the game more from the press box, but puckheads know he wouldn’t be the caliber of player everyone expects if he didn’t admit that sitting there watching is “not fun.” A press box perch is less than exhilarating for the truly motivated player. But, for now, Holtby will watch, observe, and keep learning.

Hey, it worked for Tom Brady.

The easiest argument for Holtby’s demotion is the team has two goalies it needs to get ready for the postseason. That said, however, who says Holtby couldn’t be the guy to play in the postseason? As it stands now, Holtby has looked like the best goalie in the organization, and, on top of that, he has the numbers to back it up. Perhaps the most overlooked and best part about his performance this year is he has gotten better in almost every single start.

Think for a minute: we saw the best of Michal Neuvirth at the beginning of the season when he was thrust into the starting role with almost no warning. Since then, he hasn’t looked the same and has not posted those same numbers. Meanwhile, Semyon Varlamov had his solid stretch around the Winter Classic when he looked like the impenetrable wall we saw in the playoffs just a few years ago. Other than those games, though, Varly hasn’t stayed on the ice and his team has a big question mark hovering over their goalie stability now. Holtby, on the other hand, has come up and posted solid outings every time he has been called upon, sometimes with very little warning that he will be starting. With the exception of a few stinkers, Holtby has been dominate in the crease and has not had an extended period of time where he hasn’t been good. I don’t think we can honestly say we have seen the very best Braden Holtby yet.

Obviously Holtby hasn’t had the luxury to prove himself in a long-term stint, but he still has looked healthy and ready to start at the drop of a pin, which is more than you can say for Varly. The young Russian looked like the guy for the next decade just a few years ago and now he looks like he might not be on the team next year — all of this because of his injuries, which are coincidentally the biggest reason the Caps need to keep Holtby in Washington.

Neuvy is a fine number one, and, in my opinion, the guy who needs to start in just a few weeks. But what if he gets hurt, doesn’t look the same or falls ill? Then the team has to turn to Varly who hasn’t been able to stay healthy all season. And what if he aggravates his groin? Personally, Varly looks like a liability at this point. Is he really ready to play if needed when the Caps can’t even play him back-to-back games against Ottawa and Montreal? This team should be in tuneup time and not still finding out what they have on their roster.

Washington knows more than anyone that a hot goalie can steal a series and a bad one can cost a city a promising playoff run. Obviously we cannot predict the future, but once the first round rolls around would you be more comfortable with Holtby and Neuvy, two young and healthy guys ready to start at any moments notice, or Varly and Neuvy, two young guys one of whom has been on and off the injured reserve for the last two seasons? I think it is a clear answer.

Some may think I am being unfair to Varly, which I may be, but when it comes to the playoffs, the absolute best needs to be on the team because this same team will most likely not play together again. While some in the organization don’t believe it is “Stanley Cup or Bust,” the truth is they are. Sure, they may not bust many players if they lose early, but some may choose not to return to Washington and retire, like Arnott, some guys may move on, like Schultz, and others just might not make it back to the team.

Truth is, every team is “Stanley Cup or Bust” or they wouldn’t be playing. As a result, the front office has to give this team the best possible goalie tandem to win with. Varly may have been the guy in the past, but from what we have seen this year, it is hard not see the past fading away and see the future of Braden Holtby shining through — a future that should start now.

The setup: Each blog submitted a list of questions to be answered by the other site. The results: well, you’ll have to be the judge.

So what do Detroit Red Wings aficionados want to know about the Caps? Well, below are the literary pebbles (yeah, definitely not gems) that make up some of our team’s responses to the TPL questions. To read their answers to our set of questions, like what we’d see out of Mike Babcock (and his flowing locks) in an HBO 24/7 type show, check out the other half of our exchange here at TPL.

TPL: Every Winter Classic road team has lost in the Cup finals that same year (PIT 08, DET 09, PHI 10). Given the overwhelming sense that history is not on your side this year, do you think it’s still worth playing out the rest of the season? Are the Caps destined to lose in the Cup finals?

TPL's Rob, left, during a typical day in Detroit

OFB’s Mike: Traditions are made to be broken. Now excuse me while I go burn my Winter Classic jersey.
OFB’s Alex: About a month ago I would have been completely unsurprised by another Caps’ first round exit, but, especially since the trade deadline, I have been impressed to the point of pulling my Stanley Cup prediction out of the recycle bin. And that was Canucks in six versus the Caps. Damn!

TPL: How much job security does Boudreau actually have? He’s had some ridiculously talented teams fall very short of expectations. Is it Cup finals or bust this year?

Mike: No. Might be conference finals or bust, though.
OFB’s Lis: This franchise owes Boudreau a lot (see Caps: November 2007 vs. Caps: March 2011), and Boudreau seems to have more job security than Pat Sajak, frankly, compared to most of the NHL. However, with this year’s trade deadline moves, I think there’s more pressure on his shoulders, because he has the personnel to get to the Cup finals.

TPL: Leonsis and Ilitch, our respective owners, have very different styles in terms of blogger engagement. Is it nice having an owner who is actively engaged in discussing his own team or would it be better for them if he were a bit more detached?

Mike: Yes, a thousand times yes: an engaged owner is fantastic. Sure, there have been times we’ve gone against Ted’s grain and rankled him a bit — and paid the price. But overall, an owner like Leonsis is a rare and wonderful thing for any sports fan.

TPL: Across the DC sports market, where do the Caps rank in terms of the local teams?

Lis: Let’s see – sandwiched at different points over recent seasons between Albert Haynesworth, Gilbert Arenas, and the “Natinals,” the Caps have managed to remain the D.C. team with the best record and the least amount of coverage (except maybe for D.C. United).

TPL: Neuvirth? Holtby? Varlamov? If/when they’re all healthy, who’s the guy for the playoffs?

OFB’s Andrew, Dissent 1: It has to be Neuvy. I tend to like technical goalies more than athletic ones, and Varly also has a big x-factor: his problems with injuries. People call Matthew Stafford a china doll, but Stafford doesn’t have anything on Varly, who seems to only be able to play for a few weeks at a time. Neuvy has shown he can play under pressure–see his play against the Penguins. That said, Holtby is quickly jumping up my personal depth chart, and I know Lis has some thoughts on his potential—well, it is really a “love affair”–but I’ll let her explain.
Lis, Dissent 2: Welcome to the OFB civil war. Holtby will be the best goalie of them all, hands down, but Varlamov, if he’s healthy, should get the start. He responds better than anyone on the roster to NHL playoff pressure. Yeah, there have been a few bad outings, but he’ll be playing this year with a much more solid defense and a team that shouldn’t be dragging the series out to 7 games.
Mike, the Voice of Reason: Varly has the biggest upside, but never seems to be healthy. Neuvy is the most consistent. Holtby’s hot right now but makes the other two look like grizzed vets. Thus: Go into the playoffs starting Neuvy, with Varly as backup. Let Holtby lead the AHL Hershey Bears to the Calder Cup, and bring him back to DC next season.

TPL: Do they have Buffalo Wild Wings in D.C.? …and if so, what’s Boudreau’s favorite flavor of sauce?

Alex: There is in fact only one Buffalo Wild Wings inside the Beltway (and several others around). We “understand” Gabby, on his annual April vacation, discovered the robust wild wing flavor.
Mike: Based on the HBO 24/7 series, I’d say Boudreau’s favorite wing sauce flavor is Cookies n’ Cream Ice Cream.

TPL: True or False: Jason Arnott, at this advanced stage in his career, is a better fit to replace PJ Crowley than he is on the Caps current roster.

Mila Kunis, Natalie Portman - photo via awardsdaily.com

Mike: False; in fact, by Detroit standards, Arnott’s career is just beginning. Though I did hear Lidstrom is a strong candidate to replace Regis.
Lis: Plus, Arnott’s been the Ronald Reagan to ending Alex Semin’s Cold War. So keep Arnott in hockey, please.

TPL: True or False: The movie Eastern Promises was based on Semyon Varlamov’s upbringing as a Russian mob boss before he broke into the NHL.

Lis: False, but we do suspect Semyon gave Robert Pattinson his big break by turning down the role of Edward in Twilight (see Varly’s roster headshot on Caps’ website).

TPL: ….and on a Black Swan-related note, Mila or Natalie?

Alex: This is more difficult to figure out than Macaulay Culkin. Seriously, what was he thinking? However, blue-wigged stripper Alice in Closer is making me think twice about Portman.
Married Mike: Neither. Pre-married Mike: Both

Now check out TPL in the hot seat.

Playing goalie can be tough on the body and even tougher on the mind. Holtby attempts to counter that with a psychological tool known as visualization. Visualization is when a player sees himself performing on ice and visualizes what it will take to succeed and win in the net. It is a powerful tool to build confidence, focus and calm the nerves heading into game. Golfers do it when they look where they want their shot to go and see it going there before they hit the ball; basketball players do it before free throws, when they see the ball go into the net.

In Holtby’s case, it adds another level to his game, building on his physical attributes and his overall play. Just from looking at his body of work and seeing him between the pipes, it is clear he has the “stuff” to make it as a netminder in the NHL.

Photo by Tim Stough, Inside Hockey

But does he have the mental ability? How many times have we seen goalies who struggled with the “yips” when they make it to the NHL?

We saw it not that long ago with Justin Pogge of the Toronto Maple Leafs. In a 2009 National Post Article, Leafs GM Brian Burke described what makes up a good goalie in the NHL:

“There are four sides to the box that makes up a starting goaltender in the [NHL]. The first three sides are size, athletic ability and competitive spirit … The fourth side dictates whether you can be a starter and that’s mental. Can you handle the pressure? Can you carry a team on your back? Can you not allow a soft goal in the third period? That’s where most goalies fail.”

Pogge inevitably failed, and suddenly a promising netminder was not heard from again. What Holtby has going for him is that he already knows how to conquer that hurdle and how to make sure he has the fourth side. While he may not see it, Holtby’s ability to reel in his emotions and control his mental game allows him to build on his best hockey skill, his puck handling.

Bruce Boudreau has praised it, the media has asked about it, and fans have held the breath when it happens — “it” is, of course, Holtby’s ability to handle the puck out of the net. While Boudreau has said Holtby gets a bit too “cocky” with his puck handling — and I have nearly spit my soda three seats out of the press box when he fails at it — his stick handling gives him an “x-factor” that many goalies do not have. When a goalie leaves the net to handle the puck they are essentially playing roulette, and sometimes they lose. In my opinion, it is his mental stability that allows him to surpass that hurdle and move on when he does turn the puck over or play it incorrectly. His mental stability is his best asset in that situation, allowing him to control his emotions and move on. Goalies need a short memory and it seems as if Holtby has been able to develop one.

While the mental side of Holtby’s game has truly helped him succeed during his time with the Caps this season, it is also where he has the greatest room for improvement, something he has acknowledged. During a conference call on Monday, Holtby talked about how he has tried to work his mental game even more. In the past, Holtby said if he missed anything in his pre-game ritual, it would psych him out: “One of the things I struggled with for a while [was] if I didn’t do something right it would effect me [in the game].” He followed up by saying he now wanted to try to just go through his warmup with ease and be more relaxed.

We all saw how his revised mental game made him even better in Sunday’s game against Chicago. The game was far from Holtby’s best peformance, but he was still able to make several key stops, including a one-on-one right in front of the cage late in the third period. In the past we have seen some soft goals given up by Holtby in pressure situations when he struggles, but not Sunday. He gave his team a chance to win and being able to pull that off when you are not at your best is a tough mental challenge.

Winning when not at his best is what sets this Holtby call up above his last one over a month ago. Though I give him a lot of grief over it, Adam Vingan of Kings of Leonsis was right when he said Holtby didn’t look NHL-ready after a shootout loss against the New York Rangers in January. It was clear he put a lot of pressure on himself, and it seemed to buckle underneath it, as the Rangers deked him out with moves he stopped earlier in the game. His mental game was clearly not there.

That all changed against Tampa Bay at the beginning of March though. The Caps went to a shootout, and it’s fair to say a large part of Washington braced itself, remembering what had happened approximately a month earlier with the Rangers. Instead of folding under the pressure, Holtby looked confident and won. It was at that point he looked ready for NHL responsibility.

As it stands right now, Holtby looks like the true goalie of the future. To harken back to Burke, Holtby has the four pillars of a goalie. He has the size, athletic ability, he is extremely competitive and he seems to have his mental game in check. If anyone was questioning whether he can cut it in the NHL, they just need to take a look at his body of work from last week to change their mind. Holtby was named the First Star of the NHL for that week’s performance, but more importantly, he may have established himself as the No. 1 goalie of the future for Washington. It may not be this year, it may not even be next year, but I bet you Holtby will be the guy. You can hold me to it.

When that game-ending horn sounds early Sunday evening back at Giant Center, what do you imagine the line will be like of Bears’ skaters awaiting submersion in training room whirlpools? And how about Walton’s voice come next Sunday? I’m guessing the Bears might take next Monday off.

This grind, all of it of course by bus, makes Dmitri Orlov’s commitment to beginning his North American pro hockey career late this winter all the more impressive, no? One wonders if General Manager Doug Yingst didn’t in fact hide the team’s March itinerary from the prospect and his agent during their discussions last month.

Walton told me he couldn’t recall such a slate in all his years in the ‘A.’ Neither could Patriot News Bears’ beat reporter Tim Leone, who’s been covering the league for more than 15 years. Three-game weekends are the norm; occasionally there’ll be four-in-five. But seven in nine? Guys who work in the American League understandably roll their eyes when the word ‘fatigue’ is uttered in association with the NHL’s two games in two nights slate.

More fun with labor on the junior circuit: The Bears have utilized seven goalies thus far on the ’10-11 campaign. Actually dressed eight. They started the season with Braden Holtby and Dany Sabourin, and because of injuries they’ve gone through three of the backstops from the Caps’ ECHL affiliate, the Stingrays (Todd Ford, Shane Owen, Jared DeMichiel). Sabourin’s been on the shelf since early February with a knee injury that required surgery. Semyon Varlamov did a conditioning stint up there. Nolan Schaeffer arrived on loan from Providence just this past weekend.

Things got real interesting the Saturday before last, when Varlamov went down in D.C. and both Holtby and Sabourin were sidelined. The Caps signed and recalled Ford for their game on Long Island. Hershey, which like Washington had a game that night, was left with a single fit goalie at 1:30 Saturday afternoon, facing a 7:00 faceoff. They tapped Bobby Jarosz, securing him on an ATO contract. Jarosz earlier this season was in net in the Central Hockey League for the Arizona Sundogs. The Bears knew him from his stint in Reading with the ECHL Royals.

And had Jarosz been unavailable? According to the Bears, they’d have been forced to ATO a netminder from HPA tenant Lebanon Valley College.

The funniest part about Saturday, February 26, and we can say this since both the Bears and Caps won that night: had Brett Leonhardt still been with the Capitals organization it would have been highly likely that he’d have been summoned to dress as backup for the Bears that night. And you just know Leonhardt Bears sweaters would have been purchased in bulk the following week.

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 night’s matchup with the Caps, and for the Caps, playing the second night of a back-to-back on the road against a comparatively rested hosting foe, to struggle. The Caps on their previous visit to the St. Pete Times rink had handed the ‘Bolts their hat (5-2, February 4). Surely Tampa wanted to atone for that. And early on, the Caps saw more key pieces skate off to the dressing room. Tampa doesn’t much do national TV, and Monday’s was a national television appointment. It was a big game. Pierre McGuire was in the house.

A victory like Monday’s by the visitors, under the circumstances the Capitals confronted, wouldn’t have been possible 10 days ago, we allege. At least, there was precious little precedent for it through the season’s first 60 games. But that’s why surgeon George McPhee took a scalpel to his roster last Monday. Down 1-0 in the third period last night, with a host of key pieces out of the lineup due to injury, the Capitals skated in statement fashion coming home, and thereby boarded a plane home with their fathers in possession of a sweep of the state of Florida, in possession of first place in the Southeast.

Speaking of heart transplants, the new EKG on Alexander Semin is mighty healthy. You get the sense with Semin that perhaps he’s not so much “mercurial” or “erratic” but rather that he just needs something large and special and good to happen for him to unleash the full compliment of his prodigious talent. And perhaps it also doesn’t hurt to have the game mean something. It also probably doesn’t hurt that he now has a legit second-line center helping him out. Sunday night in Sunrise Semin scored an overtime game-winner to catapult his hockey club into first place for the first time in months. Monday night offered the residue of that heroism: Semin was the best player on the ice sheet last night, and his game-tying goal late in the final frame seemed in its virtuosity and swagger to assure the Caps of leaving town with two points. The Capitals are a vastly different looking hockey club when Sasha skates with swagger.

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If you want the identity of a fella who’d finish last in his class at medical school: Lightning coach Guy Boucher. To be fair, Boucher is an NHL rookie bench boss. But also to be fair and accurate, were he otherwise, what he did with his shootout lineup in his team’s biggest game of the season last night might have been a firing offense.

Managers pay elite talent hockey players seven or eight million dollars a season, or more, principally because of their production, but also because they’ve demonstrated a penchant for coming through when it counts most. Last night, wholly cognizant that last season’s Eastern conference representative in the Stanley Cup finals only qualified for the postseason because of shootout victory in game no. 82, Boucher allowed his big guns — St. Louis and Stamkos — to sit on the pine while the likes of Dominic Moore and Adam Hall (???) tested their penalty shot acumen on Capitals’ rookie netminder Brayden Holtby. And Boucher opted to bring a quasi washed up Vinny Lecavalier in to the contest too late in the proceedings. It was beyond stunning and shocking; for Lightning fans, it had to be appalling.

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Goals may be scarce in the Capitals’ boxscores these days, but the wins are there, and so is the conspicuous depth of talent in goal, lavishly on display in Washington’s 2-1 shootout win over the Tampa Monday night. You want to know why George McPhee refuses to deal any of his three prized young netminders, ever? Nights like Monday. But also: like all Caps’ fans, McPhee probably still has no idea who among Semyon Varlamov, Michal Neuvirth, and Braden Holby is going to emerge as go-to guy in crunch time. And all three might.

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We no longer have firing squads, meaning, almost certainly we are stuck with Pierre McGuire on Versus telecasts the remainder of the season and beyond. So insufferable. Often speaks apparently merely to hear his own voice. National Football League national telecasts had his ilk back in the day in Howard Cosell. Pretty sure Pierre could be lodged down at ice level for a late September exhibition game between Columbus and St. Louis and swear we were witness to “playoff atmosphere.”

* * * * *

Capital Braden Holtby’s most valuable asset as a goalie may be his ability to rebound from scarring experiences. His shootout debut with the Capitals earlier this season was the unfortunate kind of unforgettable, but he more than made up for that last night when he stopped Tampa’s final shooter, Vincent Lecavalier, stone cold on the goal doorstep.  Three saves by Holtby and one dirty goal by Ovechkin in the shootout sealed the outcome. Holtby’s development, however, is far from unexpected. Boudreau said back in 2009 during Development Camp that Holtby reminded him of Semyon Varlamov, who, at that point, was the darling of the Caps’ fanbase thanks to his uncanny ability to rise to the occasion in big games (in his case, the 2009 playoffs).  Holtby is showing that same almost unteachable asset as he spends more time in Washington: he gets called off the bench to start the second stanza after Michael Neuvirth took a puck to the mask in the game’s opening minutes (Neuvirth for his part deserves an iron man shoutout for finishing the period after that incident) and follows up with some spectacular highlight reel saves, including a stick save on Simon Gagne that pretty much defied the laws of physics.

The only downside to the Holtby storyline Monday was that his dad wasn’t able to join many other Capitals’ proud Papas on the annual father-son roadtrip, and see the game in person, since he was apparently on his way to Hershey when Holtby got the callup.

So this is playoff hockey: allow the other team to score just one goal, don’t score a goal until the third period, and then duke it out in overtime, with power play goals becoming an extinct animal? The power play remains a singular area of grotesque concern for Bruce Boudreau. But for what it’s worth, Chicago finished the regular season last year 16th on the power play before going on to claim the Stanley Cup (although that’s still nine spots ahead of the Caps this time around). This year, Chicago is first in the league in power play like the Caps were last year.

The usually durable Nicklas Backstrom left the game, and the Washington Post’s Katie Carrera reported afterwards that Backstrom fell on his left hand (fractured thumb) but that he wanted to return. Backstrom’s hand has been of concern lately, but it sounds like there’s nothing wrong with his work ethic. According to Carrera, Boudreau said Backstrom would be fine.

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Can the Capitals keep the Dads in tow for the next three months?