It didn’t take long to find the reason why Braden Holtby was stretching his legs 20 minutes before the Washington Capitals were set to start practice on Tuesday morning.
Holtby, the Capitals’ record-setting goaltender, was soon joined by goaltending coach Mitch Korn, backup goaltender Justin Peters and three other young players, each of whom skated up piles of pucks waiting inside the blue line. One by one, in rapid succession, they peppered Holtby with all manner of shots — wristers, snappers and slappers — with the thwacking of leather and the thudding of laminate echoing through an otherwise empty rink.
Preparation has always been instrumental for Holtby, whose elaborate pregame visualization routine has driven hockey superstition to a new level. This year, it’s paid off. Working with Korn, who arrived prior to the season with new coach Barry Trotz, Holtby has set myriad team goaltending records, from consecutive appearances to consecutive starts to shutouts to arguably the most important — victories.
Now, as the Capitals mark their return to the playoffs on Wednesday night at Verizon Center with a first-round game against the New York Islanders, it’s not Alex Ovechkin, the high-flying Russian superstar, who has been the key to their regular-season success.
It could very well be the 25-year-old Holtby, frequently overlooked in hockey circles and virtually unknown outside of them.
“He’s probably the MVP of our team, I think,” defenseman John Carlson said. “He’s been the rock. He’s been there the whole season. He’s been great. He’s won us games. He’s not lost us games. I think that’s all you can really ask for from a goalie.”
Korn had no idea what to think when he first had an opportunity to work with Holtby this offseason — and probably with good reason. A fourth-round pick in the 2008 draft, Holtby had always been pegged by the Capitals as a potential top-tier goaltender, but for one reason or another, the organization had found a way to undermine his progress.
Holtby made his debut during the 2010-11 season, playing in 14 games and winning 10 of them as the regular season drew to a close. The next spring, a potential breakout was hindered by the team’s acquisition of veteran Tomas Vokoun, though injuries allowed Holtby to again finish out the regular season before he found himself between the pipes for all 14 playoff games.
A lockout shortened the 2012-13 season, in which Holtby played 36 of 48 games, and last year was more of the same, with the team acquiring, and riding, goaltender Jaroslav Halak down the stretch before it missed out on the postseason for the first time in seven years.
“I think it’s always development with goalies,” said Capitals general manager Brian MacLellan, who was promoted to that post after last season but had been with the organization for 13 years. “We’ve always had the philosophy that we don’t really know what they are until they get to be 26, 27, 28 years old, and maybe he’s a little bit ahead of schedule, but I think the scouts, the personnel people have always looked at him as the potential to be that.”
Korn, who is known around the goaltending community for his unorthodox training methods, is so revered he was personally thanked by Dominik Hasek during his Hall of Fame speech last November.
In Holtby, Korn could have expected to find a player who was mentally frayed, but instead, he found someone who was eager to learn and listen. After watching enough of Holtby’s film to feel he could adequately assess the goaltender’s game, Korn, who was not permitted by the organization to speak for this story because it wants only head coach Barry Trotz to speak for the coaches during the playoffs, broke Holtby’s goaltending style into three distinct categories.
There’s simple, there’s urgent, and there’s desperation, Korn explained. Holtby had been making too many desperation saves. By simply tweaking his positioning, adjusting his approach and calming down his anxiety, Korn could allow Holtby to settle into that first category.
“I always say he’s sort of a blue-collar work ethic with white-collar skill,” Trotz said, referring to the goaltender. “Everybody knows what I think of Mitch as a goaltending coach in this league, but the player has to buy in, and credit to Braden and credit to Mitch’s skill with goaltenders … [that he’s] set to have a long, longstanding career right now the way he’s transformed his game a little bit. And, it’s not just the physical part. It’s the mental part, too. I really like where Braden’s gone.”
Holtby put the full range of his ability on display last week, stopping 27 shots en route to his third shutout of the Boston Bruins this season. His most notable save occurred at 9:43 of the second period, when Bruins left wing Milan Lucic’s breakaway attempt was stoned by Holtby’s right pad.
“We haven’t been able to get one past him,” Lucic said afterward. “He’s been real good for them against us this year, and he’s a big reason why we lost all three games against them.”
Not since Olaf Kolzig, who was credited with winning 41 of the 73 games he played during the 1999-2000 season, have the Capitals had someone in net who has been as durable as Holtby. He finished the season tied for second in the NHL with nine shutouts, had the fifth-best goals-against average at 2.22 and recorded a .923 save percentage, the seventh-best in the league.
He played more games and more minutes than any other goaltender, and, accordingly, faced 2,044 shots, the most in the league. And, according to team record-keeping, the Capitals were one of only five teams to lose no more than two games by three or more goals, excluding empty-netters, since 1997-98 — due in part to Holtby.
“He’s won us games,” defenseman Karl Alzner said. “He’s kept us in games. He’s changed momentum of games. He’s had an outstanding season for us. There’s going to be very few times where a guy has done very good or won without their goaltender being one of their best players, if not their best player, and he’s been that for us this year.”
Holtby is not, publicly, an excitable player. He’s soft-spoken and humble; before the season, he had the satellite coordinates of Lloydminster, his hometown, tattooed on one forearm, and an outline of Alberta and Saskatchewan, the provinces it straddles, tattooed on the other. He also exudes a degree of confidence that, when the discussion revolves around hockey, can be interpreted as incredulity.
That’s why, when talk of his accomplishments surfaces, Holtby seems more astonished that other goaltenders haven’t been able to do what he’s done. It’s also why he doesn’t ever expect there to be a time when he will proudly reflect upon those endeavors.
“I hope not,” Holtby said. “I hope to do it next year, too. The only time I’ll do that is if there’s a Stanley Cup ring around our fingers.”
• Zac Boyer can be reached at zboyer@washingtontimes.com.
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