Braden Holtby: "It was a tough week"

Washington Capital and Hershey Bear goaltender Braden Holtby did a radio interview with a Canadian radio show called The Pipeline Show and talked for the first time about the addition of  Tomas Vokoun to the team.

“Yeah it was a tough week obviously, just because it kind of came out of nowhere in the middle of the summer, it’s a pretty big high and pretty big low but at the same time it’s basically the same set up as last year

I still have a lot to learn in Hershey. I wasn’t real proud of how I finished out the season down in the AHL, and that’s one thing I really want to work on. Obviously the second season is the toughest one so whenever I get called up again  it’s going to be an even more valuable experience to play in the NHL. I obviously want to play a lot so I guess that’s one positive coming out of this.”

Braden Hotlby in a game against the Chicago Blackhawks. Foto: Bridget Samuels

System change? What system change?

Holtby thinks that the change from the “old” to the “new” Washington Capitals isn’t as much a change in systems as it is a change in personnel.

‘I didn‘t get to experience the “old” team that much. But when I compare it to how it was the year before it really doesn’t seem to be that much of a change. When you bring in guys like (John) Carlson and (Karl) Alzner; and they play 22-23 minutes a game no matter what system you play in you are not going to have many tough scoring chances to stop when they are on the ice. Bringing in a couple of key guys: (Dennis) Wideman and (Scott) Hannan. Those guys played a big role. I don’t think it was that much change in the system I think the defense just got that much better and people started to figure out the offense a bit. I know Nicklas (Bäckström) had a few injuries that guys didn’t really know about and I think everybody has that during the year but that definitely made him not perform as well as he usually does, but you have to give guys like that a break, to perform at that level it’s really hard to do that every year so I wouldn’t be surprised if  they come back and tear it up this next upcoming season.”

If you want to hear Braden Holtby talk about the difference between playing in the AHL and the NHL, and about how it is to play on the same team as Sheldon Souray the interview is well worth a listen.

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