The Washington Capitals are hoping some light can turn what is an otherwise dark time around the club. Not only are the Capitals headed down to sunny Sunrise, Florida to try and end their five-game losing skid against the Panthers, but they’re also taking their dads, brothers, and other mentors along with them.
The team’s annual Mentors’ Trip is now officially underway as the team jetted south after practice on Wednesday. Capitals’ head coach Spencer Carbery will have his father, Bryan, take part in the trip for the first time during his son’s NHL tenure. The Toronto Maple Leafs, where Spencer was an assistant coach previously, only allowed players to participate.
The joy on the junior Carbery’s face was very apparent when he was asked about his dad being in town.
“It’s going to be phenomenal to be able to share the trip,” he said. “You can say all you want about what you do but until you really experience it, see the day-to-day, all the meetings that are behind the scenes from a coaching perspective. Just show an appreciation for all the things that he has done for me as a child, as an adolescent, teenager, even into playing professionally for a little bit, and the coaching ranks. I’m really, really excited to share the weekend with him.”
Spencer’s road to the NHL has been a long and winding one. Through many of his stops, his dad has helped him navigate the twists and turns and get to the point where he’s now behind an NHL team’s bench.
“He ran into so many brick walls,” Bryan told CHEK News this past summer. “Where ‘No you’re not gonna make the team. You’ll never play pro hockey. You’ll never play college hockey,’ and it never fazed him. I said, ‘Keep going! It’s your dream.’”
Bryan Carbery has a head coaching history of his own, leading the University of Victoria golf teams for almost two decades before moving into an advisory role with the program. His son was optimistic that the presence of some familiar faces sharing in fun with the players could help spark winning ways.
Capitals PR tweeted out Wednesday that since 2008, the Capitals are 17-8-0 with their mentors in attendance at games.
“That’s what we’re looking for a little, some positive vibes coming into our locker room and building,” Carbery said. “I’ve found you always want to impress your dad, brother, father-in-law at least with effort and compete. That’s what I think we can bank on seeing on the road trip.
“It’s a special time for us to not only share and show sort of what we do on a daily basis but also let them know during the trip how much we appreciate all the things that they’ve done for us that have enabled us to get to this point in our lives. It’s just a cool thing.”
The Capitals are on the road for their next two matchups. They’ll take on the Florida Panthers on Thursday night and then fly up to Boston to play the Bruins on Saturday afternoon.
