It wasn't a whole lot of fun for the Caps prospects earlier today, as Coach Boudreau ran them ragged on their first day of Rookie Camp. Tarik likened it to the scene in "Miracle" where Kurt Russell works his team after a game until they drop.
It wasn't meant as a punishment, though. Boudreau did it for a couple of reasons. First, he wanted to see who was in shape and who wasn't. (Karl Alzner, John Carlson passed Boudreau's test easily, while Mathieu Perreault, Anton Gustafsson and Dmitry Kugryshev, well, they were among the ones who wound up on their backs.) Secondly, Boudreau wanted to make sure that when the grueling skate was over, each of the prospects had a clear understanding of what it takes to make it in the Big Leagues.
Tim Leone of The Patriot-News likened it to Bear Bryant working out the Junction Boys when he coached Texas A&M.
Caps head coach Bruce Boudreau, playing the role of Bear Bryant in his Texas A&M incarnation, put 26 players through a vigorous two-hour workout capped by a draining 15-minute conditioning skate that dropped Dmitry Kugryshev to his knees, put Anton Gustafsson on his back, and made Mathieu Perreault so woozy he nearly fainted.
The rest of the week won't be nearly as hard, but we had to have a barometer of who is where and what stage they were ready," Caps coach Bruce Boudreau said. "We wanted to make the young guys understand there is NHL shape, there is junior shape, [and] there is AHL shape. This is stuff I had to go through as a player. I didn't understand. If we can make them understand at 19 or 20, then for some of them with their next camp, especially the first-year guys, it is 'I know what I've got to do this summer.'
Rookie Camp gives a lot of guys a taste of what it's like to play in the NHL even though they won't see any action for a year or two. First-round pick Anton Gustafsson will spent at least 2 more seasons is Sweden, and Dmitry Kugryshev will be playing the the QMJHL this year. But when they come back for their next training camps, they'll know exactly what is expected of them. As Boudreau said, they'll know how much work they have to do in the off-season and the level they have to play at to make it in the NHL.
On the other hand, the only thing the rookies need to remember is that in comparison, the rest of camp will be easy. Or at least it will seem easy after what they had to go through today.
