Photo: Chris Gordon.
Day two of Capitals training camp was Saturday, and the team continued the tough pace set by Barry Trotz on Friday. Each of the three group of players spent about an hour and the half on the ice, focusing on drills designed to simulate game situations and learn the system. With the first preseason game just hours away, three groups of Caps battled along the boards for loose pucks and charged at the net. Unlike previous regimes, Trotz is throwing the players into the fire quickly.
“This is the one day we had to prepare to play tomorrow,” the coach told reporters. “We tried to get a lot of stuff in that was situational.”
“This team’s good on the rush,” Trotz added. “They can do a lot of stuff, but we just want to get a little structure in.”
Trotz’s style is interesting. The Caps have always had a bit of a reputation as a loose team and Trotz seems to be looking to change that. This year’s training camp is markedly more rigorous to ones in the past, but compared to, say, Dale Hunter, Trotz is a softie off the ice. Nevertheless, he demands quality between the boards and makes his players focus. Joel Ward, who played under Trotz in Nashville, says this is nothing new.
“It’s a lot of work and a lot of detail, but at the same time, he’s a good human being,” Ward said. “He’s not a coach that will sit there and just blow the whistle. He engages, and I think off the ice is a very personable guy. I think it makes you a little more relaxed at times, but he demands obviously a lot of hard work. I think the key word is detail on the ice and that makes it a lot more structured for us. Just being in the right place and make sure you get there. You’re working hard with a purpose, and I think that’s very key.”
Below, here are some photos from the day.
Update: Here are Amanda’s lovely pictures. Unlike me she actually got up in the morning.
