After two losses, practice takes a surprise turn toward skills
ARLINGTON, VA. — The start of Sunday’s practice felt like something out of Pee Wee hockey. Each Washington Capitals player got a puck and skated circles with it around the rink, working on their handling. They didn’t see the return to basics as beneath them. They instead felt refreshed as the next hour focused on fine-tuning skills often taken for granted at the NHL level.
“I don’t think I’ve done that since Dallas Stars development camp,” said defenseman Matt Niskanen, who is a little more than a decade removed from that time.
With the Capitals in the middle of a three-day break between games, coach Todd Reirden asked skills coach Dwayne Blais to help run Sunday’s practice. Most on-ice sessions focus on team system and structure, but even with Washington coming off two straight losses, Reirden wanted to devote some time to individual work. Five games into the season, it was a first glimpse at how things might be different under Reirden, lauded as a gifted developmental coach. His philosophy is that helping players grow their individual game ultimately improves the team as a whole.
“It’s something I thought about this summer and I’ve always wanted to add at the right time. Just through research and dealing with some real high-end players ... and also some lower-end guys, I thought that it would be real beneficial,” Reirden said.
“It was a surprise. I don’t think anyone saw that coming,” Niskanen said of the practice. “Some guys just have it, the puck-handling skills. Other guys have to work at it a lot harder or you lose it. I’m not going to all of a sudden have hands like [Calgary Flames forward] Johnny Gaudreau because of a couple practices like that, but you can lose some puck-handling and some skills if you don’t keep at it. It doesn’t mean it has to be in a structured setting like that, “Some guys just have it, the puck-handling skills,” Capitals defenseman Matt Niskanen said. “Other guys have to work at it a lot harder or you lose it.” but I think skill can go away if you don’t keep it up.”
Blais became affiliated with the Capitals through Reirden’s predecessor, Barry Trotz. Blais had helped run some Nashville Predators prospect development camps, so when Trotz came to Washington in 2014, he asked Blais to do the same here. He was a frequent visitor to Hershey, home of the Capitals’ American Hockey League affiliate, and defenseman Madison Bowey said he and Blais worked a lot on where Bowey should place his hands on his stick. Blais will occasionally travel to a Washington draft prospect playing with their Canadian major junior team to help with his development. Reirden said that when the Capitals have an extended break in the schedule again, Blais might be back.
“I think there are good components and you can see that everyone was having fun, but we were also getting better, forward Devante Smith-Pelly said. “Guys are a little tired, a little sore, so in order to skate because we have to, we still get something done instead of going out there and battling and stuff like that.”